Blah Blah Blah: What To Do When Words Don't Work

494 Pages·2011·13.89 MB·English

by  Dan Roam

ALSO BY THE AUTHOR

The Back of the Napkin (Expanded Edition):
Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures
Unfolding the Napkin:
The Hands-On Method for Solving Complex Problems with Simple Pictures
BLAH
BLAH
BLAH
What to Do When Words Don’t Work
DAN ROAM

Portfolio / Penguin
PORTFOLIO / PENGUIN

Published by the Penguin Group Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, U.S.A. • Penguin
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First published in 2011 by Portfolio / Penguin, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Copyright © Dan Roam, 2011
All rights reserved

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING IN PUBLICATION DATA Roam, Dan.
Blah blah blah : what to do when words don’t work / Dan Roam.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-10155-870-6
1. Thought and thinking—Art. 2. Visual communication. 3. Communication. I. Title.
BF441.R58 2011
153.4—dc23 2011021787
Designed by Daniel Lagin
Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into
a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without
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For Sophie and Celeste.
Watching you learn illuminates the world for me.
For Kay M. Roam.
Fly, Mom—fly!
CONTENTS
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
INTRODUCTION: Half of What We Think About Thinking Is
Wrong

t="1em" width="0">PART 1: The Blah-Blahmeter

1 Exploring the Land of Blah-Blah-Blah
2 Advanced Blah-Blahmeter Use
PART 2: If I Draw, Am I Dumb? An Introduction to
Vivid Thinking

3 Two Minds Are Better Than One
4 Together Again: The Fox and the Hummingbird
5 The Grammar of Vivid Thinking
PART 3: The Forest and the Trees: The Seven
Essentials of a Vivid Idea

6 The Vivid F-O-R-E-S-T: The Six Essentials of Vivid Ideas
7 F Is for Form: Vivid Ideas Have Shape
8 O Is for Only the Essentials: Vivid Ideas Fit in a Nutshell
9 R Is for Recognizable: Vivid Ideas Look Familiar
10 E Is for Evolving: Vivid Ideas Are Complete—but Not Done
11 S Is for Span Differences: Vivid Ideas Include Their Opposite
12 T Is for Targeted: Vivid Ideas Matter to Me
filepos=0000601423 >PART 4: Conclusion

13 Bye-Bye, Blah-Blah-Blah
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
APPENDIXES

Appendix A: How We Lost Half Our Mind
Appendix B: Connections Back to The Back of the Napkin
Appendix C: The Complete Vivid Checklist
NOTES
BIBLIOGRAPHY
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
(CAST OF CHARACTERS)
In Order of Appearance
PART 1
Author searching for a better way to think about complex things
Me
WWII journalist and lover of words
John Hersey
Hello! It’s a pleasure to have you along
You
World’s bestselling author you’ve never heard of
Ted Geisel
Entrepreneur; sales genuius but no operational skills
My Former Boss
Commanding General of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, 2010
General Petraeus
TV personality; can’t recall how many sides a “pentagon” has
Jon Stewart
44th President of the United States of America
Barack Obama
Radio personality; struggles to recall what she read yesterday
Terry Gross
A Coca-Cola product of uncertain character
27"r
VitaminWater
CEO of Condé Nast; sends confusing memos
Chuck Townsend
“Sully”; pilot’s pilot and hero of the Hudson
Captain Chesley Sullenberger
Department of Defense “Super User”; overwhelmed with information
Mr. X
Wall Street charlatan, former high-flyer now in jail
Bernie Madoff
My second grade teacher; likes ducks
Miss Brown