If I start talking about doodles, what will you think of me?
If I told you a good old fashioned doodle can do you the world of good – that it relieves tension, that it opens yourself to new experiences and that it even changes the way you understand and retain knowledge.
Would you believe me?
I know, I get it. Sometimes doodles get this bad wrap at times, because sometimes those who use doodles (incorrectly I might add) seem somewhat disengaged, preoccupied and maybe even bored or contemptuous.
And so doodling is perceived as this foolish activity, a waste of time. or maybe not even considered anywhere near the realm of creativity. Even the bloody dictionary is taking pot shots. Check this out:
Verb – to doodle = to be lazy, to waste time in aimless or foolish activity. < But this is not true.
And today, we have what is perhaps our most offensive definition, at least to me, which is the following: “To doodle officially means to dawdle, to dilly dally, to monkey around, to make meaningless marks, to do something of little value, substance or import and,” my personal favorite, “to do nothing.” No wonder people are averse to doodling at work. Doing nothing at work is akin to masturbating at work. It’s totally inappropriate.” – Sunni Brown – Ted X talk – Doodlers. Unite!
I can tell you now the one thing that doodles are not – and that is a waste of time. They’re not just for the bored office worker sitting through hours of mind numbing meetings, they’re not just for the child who is trying to communicate their understanding of the world around them, or the high school student making lewd images just to try and make that boring class more bearable. They’re not even just for the hell of it.
Not always and not when used correctly, anyway.
So why would you want to be able to know how to ‘doodle’ proficiently, other than killing it at Pictionary?
Well, the brightest people use their doodles to change the world. (Now if that isn’t enough to sell you then I don’t know what will?)
So, enough said? No?
Alright. So you need a little more convincing.
THE EXTENDED DOODLE.
For one, Doodles should not just be considered as this flaccid thing that are likely to be used and abused, on the contrary. Doodling should be considered in much higher esteem, since they are, or it is, after all, the building blocks of almost every great idea.
Without doodling you would not have the groundwork for some of the greatest inventions of all time. It is a native human trait (something we have done for over 30,000 years – yeah those cave guys really started something huh?), and could even be considered instrumental in the evolution of mankind. (Maybe that’s too far, maybe not).
But if you consider for a moment that Leonardo Da Vinci, Thomas Edison and even Albert Einstein used doodles to achieve breakthroughs in their work – because they were able to experiment and link together ideas and concepts – you may just start to look at doodling in a completely different light (which may have been candle light had Thomas Edison not been able to envision and therefor invent the lightbulb).
Just imagine if they weren’t able to communicate these ideas or work through them visually, how advanced do you think we would be?
So this is what I mean when I talk about the extended doodle. But let me explain a little more.
Doodles, can work in (at least) two ways:
1. As a helpful distraction, as an escape, as something to do to pass the time.
2. As an active way to engage the mind and creative processes, to be able to see things in new ways. To think visually. To create something new. > Extended Doodle.
Moving on from the unfocused and free drawings mostly associated to ‘doodling’ (which in itself can stimulate brain and hand connections which is amazing for creativity and idea generation), doodles can be used to plan out ideas in a visual way, and considering that 90% of information that comes to the brain is visual, it only makes sense that when we are working on ideas, concepts or problems that we use visuals to work through that information as well.
And this is where doodles really begin to shine.
FOR CREATIVITY
Doodling goes hand in hand with creativity, which seems fairly obvious right? But why? And how would it benefit those in business?
Before anything else, this (not so) mindless mark making opens up the creative pathways, which is like pushing back the overgrowth and revealing a new way ahead. It’s a gateway to your subconscious. Sometimes the more logical side of the mind is closed off, disabling innovation because the ideas cannot be set free.
Allowing yourself this free form of drawing without worrying about end results, allows you to connect with the creative side which requires, at times, unfocused attention and a sense of play to bring about problems to solutions and innovative ideas.
And then going beyond that, doodling and visual thinking – (discussed in Part Two – Coming soon) allows you to visualize the idea not only in your mind, but also before you, allowing you to interact with that idea. This process engages and activates the mind, allowing you to visualise and manipulate concepts, see patterns and connections you may have missed, in a way that may elude you if you don’t take advantage of the visual aspect of Doodling.
We think in images, so laying out your ideas in visual form, no matter how crude, allows you to utilize the natural way our brains function, instead of fighting against it.
Now, if you imagine that much of business comes down to risk taking, problem solving, idea generation, and telling a story – or sharing images (amongst other things) – getting right down to the very basics of creativity, that thing that is accessible to everyone, allows even the most (self professed) uncreative entrepreneur to tap into something they may not believe was there, or that they may struggle with.
Their creativity.
But maybe more importantly it teaches you to use visual imagery, via the doodle, to brainstorm and share ideas with others in a way that is much more productive than verbal or written communication, which is essential for both individual innovation and collaborative projects.
And as a bonus, doodling helps those that don’t feel creative, become more creative.
PS. Next time you see yourself just scribbling away, think about what it is you’re doing, and take notice of the patterns and images that you draw over and over again. (eg. are you someone who draws spirals, or faces, or actual full blown sketches/doodles?)
And now, even if you’re trying to come up with a new idea, start sketching out (and I mean it can be really really rough) what it is you’re thinking about. We’ll discuss in Part Two just how to doodle and use visual thinking, notetaking and language to generate ideas, retain information and explore more creative and innovative ways to approach your Business.
And just for a little extra fun, do you remember those little edge of the notepad flipbook style sketches, where a little stick figure would go for a walk, or get carried away by a balloon (or any number of actions?) Well check out the video below: