# Unfolding the Napkin
## Metadata
- Author: [[Dan Roam]]
- Full Title: Unfolding the Napkin
- Category: #books
## Highlights
- we need to recognize the limitations of words. ([Location 171](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=171))
- pictures add enormously to our ability to think, to remember, and to do. ([Location 185](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=185))
- (a) “personal,” (b) “participatory,” and (c) “ ([Location 324](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=324))
- paper or a personal whiteboard. ([Location 326](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=326))
- simple proposition ([Location 345](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=345))
- We can solve our problems with pictures. ([Location 346](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=346))
- problems, what pictures, and what people ([Location 354](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=354))
- learning to look better ([Location 403](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=403))
- seeing ([Location 406](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=406))
- imagine ([Location 407](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=407))
- showing ([Location 407](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=407))
- questions—“framing” the problem ([Location 428](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=428))
- Being able to map out the pieces of a problem means we understand the problem well enough to be able to solve it. ([Location 431](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=431))
- Whoever is best able to describe the problem is the person most likely to solve it. ([Location 439](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=439))
- Whoever draws the best picture gets the money. ([Location 442](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=442))
- Arthur Laffer ([Location 457](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=457))
- tax income ([Location 469](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=469))
- “at some point reducing the tax rate actually increases the amount the government collects. ([Location 470](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=470))
- picture—draw a circle and give it a name. ([Location 488](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=488))
- upper left-hand corner ([Location 488](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=488))
- circle in the lower left corner. ([Location 496](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=496))
- “my problem. ([Location 497](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=497))
- third ([Location 506](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=506))
- the middle. ([Location 507](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=507))
- universal problem-solving tool kit, ([Location 512](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=512))
- a virtual Swiss Army knife. ([Location 515](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=515))
- first set of three blades. ([Location 528](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=528))
- our eyes, ([Location 529](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=529))
- our mind’s eye, ([Location 529](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=529))
- our hand-eye coordination. ([Location 529](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=529))
- magnificent visual-thinking engine that we were born with. ([Location 551](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=551))
- Black Pen people. ([Location 562](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=562))
- jump to the whiteboard and start drawing ([Location 562](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=562))
- Yellow Pen people. ([Location 565](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=565))
- happy to watch Black Pens ([Location 565](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=565))
- Red Pen people. ([Location 569](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=569))
- Red Pen is the type with the greatest grasp of the details and facts, ([Location 573](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=573))
- Black Pen gets the process started ([Location 576](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=576))
- Yellow Pen adds connections and insights, ([Location 576](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=576))
- Red Pen’s critical facts and details ([Location 577](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=577))
- Go to the board and start writing categorized lists. ([Location 586](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=586))
- Write a few words then put boxes around them. ([Location 593](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=593))
- Flip through and see if anything interesting pops out. ([Location 596](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=596))
- Grab a napkin and ask the waiter for a pen. ([Location 601](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=601))
- Take a deep breath and take in the whole view. ([Location 606](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=606))
- active looking. ([Location 814](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=814))
- active, and intelligent, looking. ([Location 818](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=818))
- Thinking simultaneously in words and pictures activates our whole brain ([Location 862](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=862))
- Pictures are pure excitement for our ([Location 869](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=869))
- break it into bite-size pieces. ([Location 918](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=918))
- Most of us are not very good at understanding big problems, ([Location 919](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=919))
- Unwritten Rule 2—we can’t solve a problem that overwhelms ([Location 929](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=929))
- There are only six kinds of problems ([Location 940](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=940))
- our vision system has evolved to become really good at understanding three-dimensional space. ([Location 986](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=986))
- The 6-W coordinate ([Location 1003](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=1003))
- Six problems, six pieces: ([Location 1021](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=1021))
- our brain creates simple working models ([Location 1028](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=1028))
- Heads: there are only six kinds of problems out there. ([Location 1031](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=1031))
- Thomson Corporation bought Reuters, ([Location 1365](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=1365))
- we can create pictures to represent any problem. ([Location 1394](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=1394))
- “Who and what ([Location 1406](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=1406))
- visual lists stick better than word lists ([Location 1492](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=1492))
- Where are we now relative to our competitors? ([Location 1686](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=1686))
- Where is the best place to locate one item relative to the next? ([Location 1689](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=1689))
- Where should I concentrate the main players ([Location 1691](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=1691))
- all maps ([Location 1695](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=1695))
- the spatial relationship of one item to another. ([Location 1696](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=1696))
- we collect enough “whens” to build a model of cause and effect. We see “ ([Location 1906](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=1906))
- Over the years, we combine all our “hows” to build a good-enough model of “ ([Location 1988](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B002YKOX8Y&location=1988))