Some years ago, I stumbled across a simple design exercise that helps people understand and solve complex problems, and like many of these design exercises, it kind of seems trivial at first, but under deep inspection, it turns out that it reveals unexpected truths about the way that we collaborate and make sense of things.
幾年前, 我偶然發現一個簡單的設計練習, 它幫助人們了解和解決複雜的問題, 像許多這類的設計練習, 它剛開始看起來很不起眼, 但深入審視之後, 結果它會揭開令人意想不到的真相, 有關於我們如何合作 以及對事情的理解。
The exercise has three parts and begins with something that we all know how to do, which is how to make toast. It begins with a clean sheet of paper, a felt marker, and without using any words, you begin to draw how to make toast. And most people draw something like this. They draw a loaf of bread, which is sliced, then put into a toaster. The toast is then deposited for some time. It pops up, and then voila! After two minutes, toast and happiness.
這個練習包括三個部分, 由我們都知道如何做的事情開始, 即如何烤土司。 首先拿來一張乾淨的紙, 一枝馬克筆, 不用文字描述 開始畫出如何烤土司, 大部分的人畫出像這樣的東西, 他們畫出一條切成薄片的麵包 然後放進烤麵包機。 經過一段時間。 土司彈起來,完成! 二分鐘後,心滿意足地享受土司。
Now, over the years, I've collected many hundreds of drawings of these toasts, and some of them are very good, because they really illustrate the toast-making process quite clearly. And then there are some that are, well, not so good. They really suck, actually, because you don't know what they're trying to say. Under close inspection, some reveal some aspects of toast-making while hiding others. So there's some that are all about the toast, and all about the transformation of toast. And there's others that are all about the toaster, and the engineers love to draw the mechanics of this. (Laughter) And then there are others that are about people. It's about visualizing the experience that people have. And then there are others that are about the supply chain of making toast that goes all the way back to the store. It goes through the supply chain networks of teleportation and all the way back to the field and wheat, and one all actually goes all the way back to the Big Bang. So it's crazy stuff. But I think it's obvious that even though these drawings are really wildly different, they share a common quality, and I'm wondering if you can see it. Do you see it? What's common about these?
這些年來,我收集 好幾百張這種畫土司的圖畫, 有些畫得相當好, 因為他們將烤土司的過程 說明的相當清楚。 有些畫得並不是很好。 說實在的,真的很糟, 因為你不知道他們要表達什麼。 更進一步的審視, 有人揭露了烤土司的某些手續, 但隱藏了一切其他手續。 有些完全和土司有關, 完全和土司的變化過程有關。 還有一些完全有關烤麵包機, 工程師最喜歡畫這種機械圖形。 (笑聲) 還有關於人的圖像。 將人類的經驗視覺化。 還有的圖則是關於土司的整個供應鏈, 從產品製作一直到產品上架。 經過快速運輸供應鏈網路, 畫出供應鏈的最初的田園和麥田, 其中有一張圖竟然 回到了宇宙大爆炸時期。 真是瘋狂的想法。 但我認為,很顯然, 即使這些圖畫是如此不同, 他們有一個共通的特質, 我猜想你們是否能看出來。 看出端倪了嗎?其中的共通點是什麼?
Most drawings have nodes and links. So nodes represent the tangible objects like the toaster and people, and links represent the connections between the nodes. And it's the combination of links and nodes that produces a full systems model, and it makes our private mental models visible about how we think something works. So that's the value of these things. What's interesting about these systems models is how they reveal our various points of view. So for example, Americans make toast with a toaster. That seems obvious. Whereas many Europeans make toast with a frying pan, of course, and many students make toast with a fire. I don't really understand this. A lot of MBA students do this.
大部分的圖形有「節點」和「連結」。 「節點」代表的是有形的物體, 像是烤麵包機和人, 「連結」則代表 「節點」與「節點」之間的關係。 結合「連結」和「節點」 產生一個完整的系統模型, 它展現出我們個人的心智模式, 展現出我們認為某些東西如何運作。 那就是這個構想的價值。 這系統模型的有趣之處 是在於揭露不同的觀點。 例如:美國人用烤土司機來烤土司。 這似乎是顯而易見的。 然而很多歐洲人會以平底鍋煎土司, 有些學生生火烤土司。 雖然我不是太懂, 但有很多工商管理碩士生如此做。
So you can measure the complexity by counting the number of nodes, and the average illustration has between four and eight nodes. Less than that, the drawing seems trivial, but it's quick to understand, and more than 13, the drawing produces a feeling of map shock. It's too complex. So the sweet spot is between 5 and 13. So if you want to communicate something visually, have between five and 13 nodes in your diagram. So though we may not be skilled at drawing, the point is that we intuitively know how to break down complex things into simple things and then bring them back together again.
所以計算「節點」的數量, 來判斷其複雜性, 平均每張圖表有 4 到 8 個點。 少於這個數字,圖說會顯得太瑣碎, 但可以一目了然, 超過 23 個節點,圖形會顯得雜亂。 太複雜了。 所以最好是介於 5 到 13 之間。 假如你想要視覺化地傳達某些觀點, 在圖形上的「節點」 介於 5 到 13 之間。 或許我們對於畫圖表不是在行, 重點是直覺地將複雜的事 分解為簡單的事,然後再合併一起。
So this brings us to our second part of the exercise, which is how to make toast, but now with sticky notes or with cards. So what happens then? Well, with cards, most people tend to draw clear, more detailed, and more logical nodes. You can see the step by step analysis that takes place, and as they build up their model, they move their nodes around, rearranging them like Lego blocks. Now, though this might seem trivial, it's actually really important. This rapid iteration of expressing and then reflecting and analyzing is really the only way in which we get clarity. It's the essence of the design process. And systems theorists do tell us that the ease with which we can change a representation correlates to our willingness to improve the model. So sticky note systems are not only more fluid, they generally produce way more nodes than static drawings. The drawings are much richer.
所以這帶領我們進入第二階段的練習, 也就是如何烤土司, 只是現在用的是便利貼或卡片, 將會發生什麼事呢? 如果使用卡片, 人們傾向畫得較清楚,較詳細, 以及更多具邏輯性的「節點」。 你可看到循序漸進的分解過程, 當他們擴增模型,會移動「節點」, 重新安排,就像在堆樂高積木。 看上去雖然瑣碎,但相當重要。 這種快速重複的陳述, 然後反思和分析, 是搞清楚弄明白的唯一方法。 這是設計流程的本質。 系統理論家告訴我們 這方式易於修改其表述方式 與我們的想法產生關連, 以改善模型。 所以便利貼系統不只流暢, 一般說來比靜態圖型 產生更多「節點」。 其圖型會更加豐富。
And this brings us to our third part of the exercise, which is to draw how to make toast, but this time in a group. So what happens then? Well, here's what happens. It starts out messy, and then it gets really messy, and then it gets messier, but as people refine the models, the best nodes become more prominent, and with each iteration, the model becomes clearer because people build on top of each other's ideas. What emerges is a unified systems model that integrates the diversity of everyone's individual points of view, so that's a really different outcome from what usually happens in meetings, isn't it? So these drawings can contain 20 or more nodes, but participants don't feel map shock because they participate in the building of their models themselves. Now, what's also really interesting, that the groups spontaneously mix and add additional layers of organization to it. To deal with contradictions, for example, they add branching patterns and parallel patterns. Oh, and by the way, if they do it in complete silence, they do it much better and much more quickly. Really interesting -- talking gets in the way.
這下就讓我們來看看第三部分的練習, 也就是畫如何烤土司, 但這次是一群人去做。 將會發生什麼事? 將會發生以下的事。 剛開始有些混亂,然後還是混亂, 然後更加混亂, 但當有人將模型精確化, 最好的「節點」也就更加凸顯, 加以重述,模型就越清楚, 因為人們將自己的想法 架構在他人的構想上, 產生這種統一系統模型的是 整合每個人多樣性的個別觀點, 與我們平時在會議上所發生的 結果非常不同不是嗎? 這些圖包含 20 個以上的「節點」, 參與者沒有感覺到圖形雜亂, 因為他們參與其中建造自己的模式。 還有令人感到有趣的事是: 當群體自然地融合在一起, 和加入額外的組織層級, 例如,處理相互矛盾的事, 加入分支樣式和平行樣式。 順道一提,如果他們 完全沉默地完成這個實驗, 他們會做得更好更快。 討論會礙事,真是有趣。
So here's some key lessons that can emerge from this. First, drawing helps us understand the situations as systems with nodes and their relationships. Movable cards produce better systems models, because we iterate much more fluidly. And then the group notes produce the most comprehensive models because we synthesize several points of view. So that's interesting. When people work together under the right circumstances, group models are much better than individual models.
這裡有些關鍵課程, 可以從中看出端倪。 首先,圖形幫助我們了解情況, 即系統的「節點」和節點間的關係。 移動卡產生較好的系統模型, 因為我們更加流暢地重複執行。 然後團隊使用便利貼 製造出最讓人理解的模型, 因為我們綜合不同的觀點。 所以那很有趣有趣。 當人們在適當的環境一起工作, 群體模型比個別模型更好。
So this approach works really great for drawing how to make toast, but what if you wanted to draw something more relevant or pressing, like your organizational vision, or customer experience, or long-term sustainability?
這個方法對如何繪畫 製作土司流程而言相當好, 但如果你要畫與工作相關 或有迫切需求的事物, 像是公司的願景或客戶經驗, 或永續經營呢?
There's a visual revolution that's taking place as more organizations are addressing their wicked problems by collaboratively drawing them out. And I'm convinced that those who see their world as movable nodes and links really have an edge.
現在正在發生一個視覺的變革, 當更多組織提出很棒的問題, 以共同合作方式將圖形畫出來。 我相信,把他們的世界看成是 可移動的「節點」和「連結」的人 的確有他們的優勢。
And the practice is really pretty simple. You start with a question, you collect the nodes, you refine the nodes, you do it over again, you refine and refine and refine, and the patterns emerge, and the group gets clarity and you answer the question.
這練習相當簡單。 你由問問題開始,收集「節點」。 推敲琢磨「節點」, 然後再做一次, 你一再推敲,模式就產生出來, 團隊得到清晰的構想, 而你回答問題。
So this simple act of visualizing and doing over and over again produces some really remarkable outcomes. What's really important to know is that it's the conversations that are the important aspects, not just the models themselves. And these visual frames of reference can grow to several hundreds or even thousands of nodes. So, one example is from an organization called Rodale. Big publishing company. They lost a bunch of money one year, and their executive team for three days visualized their entire practice. And what's interesting is that after visualizing the entire business, systems upon systems, they reclaimed 50 million dollars of revenue, and they also moved from a D rating to an A rating from their customers. Why? Because there's alignment from the executive team. So I'm now on a mission to help organizations solve their wicked problems by using collaborative visualization, and on a site that I've produced called drawtoast.com, I've collected a bunch of best practices. and so you can learn how to run a workshop here, you can learn more about the visual language and the structure of links and nodes that you can apply to general problem-solving, and download examples of various templates for unpacking the thorny problems that we all face in our organizations. So the seemingly trivial design exercise of drawing toast helps us get clear, engaged and aligned.
一而再,再而三地做 這個簡單的視覺化動作, 產生一些令人意想不到的結果。 最重要的是要去了解 溝通是這個過程中的重要方面, 而不僅僅是模型本身。 關聯的視覺架構 可以發展成數百種 甚至上千種「節點」。 以下是一家名為羅達爾公司的例子。 它是一家大型的出版公司。 這家公司有一年損失了很多錢, 他們的高階團隊以三天的時間, 將整個營業流程視覺化。 有趣的是,在視覺化整個商業流程後, 系統架構在系統之上, 他們的營收已回復至五千萬元, 在他們客戶的評比中, 由 D 等級變成為 A 等級。 為什麼? 因為經營團隊做了調整。 我當前的任務,是幫助公司 以協同視覺化的方式解決棘手問題。 在我架設的網站 drawtoast.com 上, 我收集了許多最有效的練習, 你可以學到如何經營一家工作坊, 可以練習更多視覺化語言, 「連結」和「節點」的架構, 可以應用在一般的問題解決, 並下載各式樣式的範例, 以解決我們在工作上 碰到的棘手問題。 這個畫土司設計練習看起來平凡簡單, 實則幫助我們搞清楚, 緊密結合和密切合作。
So next time you're confronted with an interesting challenge, remember what design has to teach us. Make your ideas visible, tangible, and consequential. It's simple, it's fun, it's powerful, and I believe it's an idea worth celebrating.
下次你面臨一個有趣的挑戰時, 記得設計教會我們的道理。 將你的構想視覺化, 明確化,將產出結果表達出來。 這簡單,有趣且功能強大, 我相信這是一個值得慶祝的構想。
Thank you.
謝謝。
(Applause)
(掌聲)