The Back Of The Napkin (Expanded Edition) by Dan Roam - Book review

The Back of the Napkin (Expanded Edition)

Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures

By: Dan Roam

Published: December 31, 2009
Format: Hardcover, 304 pages
ISBN 9781591843061
Publisher: Penguin/Portfolio





"The problems we face today are global. To solve them we need a global language. Simple pictures that align with basic human perception will be that language", writes President of Digital Roam, Inc., and consultant, Dan Roam, who adds to his ground breaking, creative thinking, and problem solving techniques in The Back of the Napkin (Expanded Edition): Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures. The author adds all new material and color touches, to add even more value to the already classic book, about conveying ideas through simple drawings.

Dan Roam understands the power of a picture or diagram for exchanging thoughts and ideas. The concept of expressing thoughts and ideas through simple line drawings is deceptively simple, and often dismissed mistakenly as a result. Very complex ideas can be distilled into a few easily drawn pictures, and understood readily by a very wide audience. The ability to create easy to grasp drawings requires a thorough understanding of the problem at hand. Dan Roam describes in vivid detail how to approach the crux of any problem, through his processes for seeing the big picture in new and exciting ways. When the totality of the problem is understood, the complexity falls away, leaving the core issues of the problem, leading to its solution. That problem, solution, and process for achieving successful implementation, can all be expressed through pictures, helping to sell the solution through deeper understanding.



Dan Roam (photo left) recognizes that not all people are artists, and also that not everyone will accept his powerful problem solving techniques at face value. Instead of forcing his concepts onto the reader, he gently draws the skeptics into his problem solving tools, through understanding that people approach problems in different ways. The use of simple line drawings, arrows, and other visual cues, presents even the most difficult and perplexing obstacle in a different and manageable format. When the process is completed, the basic issues of what seemed like an insurmountable wall, present themselves as answers and viable solutions. Through demonstrating the ability to express the problem and solutions in pictures, the individual develops a deeper and more insightful understanding of all of the underlying complexities of the problem. As a result, the solution can be shared with others in pictures and diagrams.

For me, the power of the book is Dan Roam's powerful and universally applicable process for understanding problems and developing creative solutions. These problems and solutions, when seen through the different eyes and ways of seeing presented in the book, become more manageable and become solvable. The discovered solutions, that present themselves through the drawing technique system, become readily understandable and ready for successful implementation. Dan Roam guides the reader through each one of his techniques, including real world case study examples, in a friendly and engaging style. The book contains so many hidden and overt elements of fun and enjoyment, that the reader can't wait to finish the book and apply the drawing techniques to existing problems. The recognition, by the author, that pictures and drawings are a universally understood language, is especially critical in today's globalized economy. Pictures require no additional languages, as they are a cross cultural language themselves.

I highly recommend this expanded and updated edition of the classic book The Back of the Napkin (Expanded Edition): Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures by Dan Roam, to anyone seeking a powerful, breakthrough problem solving technique. This is such a useful and important book that it will be turned to for inspiration again and again. The material can be read and reread, with deeper insight into drawing and pictorial representation of problems and solutions discovered every time. There appears to be no problem too difficult for the drawing concept to overcome. The material in the book is simply that powerful as a creative thinking tool kit.

Read the absolutely essential book on problem solving The Back of the Napkin (Expanded Edition): Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures by Dan Roam, and put even your most stubborn barriers to the test. When the systems described in the book are employed, the problem loses its power as its vital elements appear as simple drawings. The solution will soon follow. This is a book that every business person should have on their shelf, and turn to every time a problem arises. Let Dan Roam, and the power of simple drawings, picture your success.

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