The thesis “pictures speak louder than words” is absolutely firmly anchored in common parlance. However, the fact that this motto can be used very meaningfully and usefully in the context of creativity and innovation has not yet become established in general thought.
In doing so, it is very often useful to first visualize a problem in order to better penetrate it than to merely formulate it. This often brings out emotions and illuminates the subject from an absolutely new perspective.
This is precisely the approach taken by the “Pictures instead of Words” method, which calls on participants to first sketch out all the visual elements and connections for a given challenge and problem, and then discuss the resulting “pictures” in the group of participants.
The different perspectives of the participants then often bring out complementary aspects, which enriches the formulation of the problem and offers more room and potential for attack for the later brainstorming to trigger a larger circle of people.
