The Back of the Napkin (Dan Roam) - Amazon USA Store: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1591842697?tag=9natree-20 - Amazon Worldwide Store: https://global.buys.trade/The-Back-of-the-Napkin-Dan-Roam.html - Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/us/audiobook/finish-the-fight/id1602696658?itsct=books_box_link&itscg=30200&ls=1&at=1001l3bAw&ct=9natree - eBay: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=The+Back+of+the+Napkin+Dan+Roam+&mkcid=1&mkrid=711-53200-19255-0&siteid=0&campid=5339060787&customid=9natree&toolid=10001&mkevt=1 - Read more: https://english.9natree.com/read/1591842697/ #visualthinking #businesscommunication #problemsolving #sketching #storytelling #presentationskills #diagramming #TheBackoftheNapkin These are takeaways from this book. Firstly, Why simple pictures beat long explanations, A central idea of the book is that clarity often comes faster through a rough sketch than through paragraphs of text or crowded slides. Roam emphasizes that visual thinking is not about polished design, but about making meaning visible. Simple drawings can show relationships like cause and effect, parts to whole, priorities, and trade offs in a way that linear sentences struggle to convey. When you sketch, you externalize thinking, which reduces mental load and makes gaps easier to notice. This is especially useful when problems involve multiple variables, competing goals, or uncertain assumptions. The book also highlights a practical benefit for persuasion: audiences can follow a visual explanation step by step, see how conclusions arise, and remember the structure later. In meetings, a shared sketch can become a neutral object everyone can point to, critique, and improve, which lowers friction compared to abstract debate. The takeaway is that the value of drawing is not artistry but speed and shared understanding. A quick picture can become a working model of the situation, enabling better questions, faster alignment, and more confident decisions. Secondly, The SQVID approach to choosing the right kind of drawing, Roam presents a way to decide what to draw based on what you need to show. The SQVID framework encourages you to think along five dimensions: simple versus elaborate, quality versus quantity, vision versus execution, individual versus comparison, and change versus status quo. These pairs help you match the drawing style to the communication goal. If you need fast alignment, you might favor simple over elaborate. If you need to persuade with evidence, you might shift toward quantity or comparisons. If you need to rally a team around direction, you may lean into vision, while operational planning needs execution detail. If stakeholders are choosing between options, side by side comparisons clarify differences quickly. If the main question is what is happening over time, the drawing should emphasize change rather than a static snapshot. The framework turns drawing into a deliberate decision instead of a vague creative act. It also prevents common mistakes, such as over designing a sketch when speed matters, or showing a beautiful concept when the audience needs a practical plan. The result is more purposeful visuals that fit the moment and the audience. Thirdly, Six ways of seeing that organize any problem, Another core method in the book is a set of simple visual lenses that help you analyze and explain almost anything. Roam popularizes the idea that most business and everyday questions can be framed as who or what, how much, where, when, how, and why. Each question suggests a natural kind of picture. Who or what points to portraits, icons, or labeled elements. How much suggests charts or counts. Where suggests maps or layouts. When suggests timelines. How suggests flowcharts or process diagrams. Why suggests cause and effect structures, such as branching logic or layered re...