Business on the Back of a Napkin

It’s amazing that this topic isn’t already the subject of some degree course or other. Today Business Week has an excellent article exploring what is almost now such a true genesis of pure creativity.

Its mythical status as the emergence of ideas is commonplace. The excellent Dan Roam book out soon The Back of The Napkin: Solving Problems And Selling Ideas With Pictures - And see the "slideshow" here.

Business Week extract by Douglas MacMillan

Who says doodling is a waste of time? Here are four ways to solve serious business problems with a simple drawing

No e-mail, no spreadsheets, no PowerPoint—no problem. All you really need is a pen and a cocktail napkin, says Dan Roam, a visual thinking consultant.

Take the story of Southwest Airlines (LUV): During a dinner meeting with his lawyer in 1967, Texas entrepreneur Rollin King jotted down the names of three cities on a napkin—San Antonio, Houston, and Dallas—and connected them to form a triangle. A small airline that offered non-stop flights between these hotspots, he explained, would have an edge over big airlines like American and Continental, which forced travellers in the region to fly through expensive and time-consuming hubs.