We gesture before we speak. We point to show what we mean. We sketch something out when we’re stuck explaining it.
David Sibbet, in Visual Meetings, reminds us that drawing isn’t just a creative skill—it’s a communication superpower built into how we think. He puts it simply: drawing is gesture, made visible.
So why do so many of our meetings ignore it?
Everyone’s a visual thinker—Yes, even you
There’s a myth that drawing is for designers or creatives. In reality, all you need are boxes, arrows, and circles. This isn’t about being polished—it’s about being clear.
Recently, we worked with a climate-focused nonprofit tackling a complex systems challenge. Lots of players. Lots of pathways. Through the act of visualizing their work together, we helped surface new, clearer ways of framing the process—ways they hadn’t considered before.
This one shift—drawing the thing—made the project easier to explain to others, easier to build on, and easier to take action from.
Why teams stall (and how to break through)
You’ve seen it before: cross-functional teams get together to solve something hard. Everyone has a slightly different idea of what’s going on. As people talk, others ask questions that often get perceived as challenges. The tension ticks up. The team loses focus.
When everyone’s trying to hold the whole system in their head, progress slows down.
But if you can draw it—even roughly—everything changes. You create a shared visual everyone can look at, talk about, and build on. The conversation stops being personal, and starts being productive.
Draw it like you gesture
Not sure where to start? Just imagine you’re explaining something with your hands:
- Use boxes for steps
- Arrows for movement or flow
- Circles for loops or feedback
- A stick figure or dot for a person or role
These simple elements are enough to make a team pause, see what’s really going on, and often discover gaps, overlaps, or better paths.
The tools are already in your hands
We’re lucky—today’s tools make this easier than ever:
Miro, FigJam, Mural, even Canva or Google slides let teams draw in real time from anywhere.
These tools weren’t just made for designers—they were built for collaboration. And they turn the power of drawing into something the whole team can do together.
Why this works
Visuals act like a group compass:
- They reduce miscommunication
- Help onboard new team members faster
- Create a neutral “third object” everyone can point to
- Lead to breakthroughs you wouldn’t get from words alone
- Support teams where English isn’t everyone’s first language—because pictures speak across language barriers
Whether you’re mapping a system, aligning a strategy, or just trying to get unstuck—drawing helps.
So the next time your team feels scattered, try putting a marker to whiteboard (or mouse to canvas). The act of sketching something out—together—might be what gets you moving again.
🎨 Curious what that looks like in practice? [Drop your link to visuals or examples]
And if you want to dive deeper into this approach, I highly recommend Visual Meetings by David Sibbet—it’s full of practical ways to turn collaboration into something you can see.
