Doodling is not a kid's activity anymore.
Doodling good for business. When was the last time you doodled? Were you in a meeting? On the phone? Or brainstorming new ideas? Doodling has always been deemed an activity that diverts people's attention, when in fact it has been proven to increase and retain information, especially when doodling during presented information.
According to a study published in the Journal of Applied Cognitive Psychology, doodlers find it easier to recall information (up to 30 per cent more) than non-doodlers, because the latter were more likely to daydream, how's that for irony. So if doodling is a good thing, how can this activity benefit business?
Benefits of doodling for business:
- Doodling is a focused way to ignite your creative side. Igniting your creative side opens the door to thinking out of the box and to new innovative ideas. Since businesses strive for innovation, doodling is a great tool to assist in achieving this.
- Doodling is a great technique to expand your organizational vision statement by taking words and transforming them into doodles full of symbols and deeper meaning. The doodle is a representation of what you believe and want for the future. A picture is worth a thousand words and allows for a deeper connectivity to organizational goals and purpose.
- Doodling is a fantastic way to analyze your own or group thought process by seeing what was doodled. Doodling is a form of drawing and drawing has been around for centuries and is a wonderful way of telling a story. Doodling can be a window into the culture of an organization and help key stakeholders understand the mood of its employees that words are unable to express and provide additional insight to make an organization better.
- Doodling something complex into manageable chunks makes it easier for ideas or projects to be implemented. Mind Mapping is a great tool that through doodling can help break things down and help with seeing and retaining information that would be lost if captured in words.
- Doodling is fun and brings out the artistic side in everyone, whether you have artistic talent or not. Having fun connects us to our core being and opens us up to new experiences that enhance who we really are.
Doodling is a great business tool. By guiding the doodles with specific questions that require reflection we can get to a deeper meaning of our business goals and to a deeper consciousness that connects us in a way that words alone are unable to do. So go ahead and doodle at your next meeting. In fact, have a meeting that is all about doodling and see what new and creative ideas emerge that may propel your company to the next level greatness.
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