Inspired by ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, this technique involves creating your own symbolic language to represent your problem. By stripping away words and using only simple icons (ideograms), you force your brain into a holistic, non-linear mode of thinking that reveals connections and narratives that text-based logic often obscures.
The Language of Symbols
Hieroglyphs were more than just pictures; they were a way to convey complex ideas through visual metaphor. When you stop using words, you stop using the “scripts” and “clichés” that keep you stuck.
Define Your Key Concepts
Break your problem down into its essential elements (people, objects, feelings, obstacles).
Example: “How can we improve the employee onboarding process?”
- Concepts: New Employee, Information Overload, Team, Culture, Manager.
Create Your Hieroglyphs
For each concept, draw a simple, symbolic icon. Don’t worry about being an artist.
- New Employee: A stick figure with a question mark.
- Information Overload: A head with 20 arrows pointing into it.
- Culture: A heart or a group around a campfire.
- Manager: A guiding hand.
Build the Visual Narrative
Arrange your icons to tell the story of the problem. Use arrows to show the flow.
[New Employee] → [Information Overload] → [Feeling Lost] → [Low Productivity]
Rearrange for the Solution
Change the order or add new symbols to create a “Happy Ending.”
[New Employee] → [Guiding Hand/Manager] → [Campfire/Culture] → [Roadmap] → [Lightbulb/Productivity]
Practice
Problem: “A website with a high bounce rate.” Symbol for Website: A House. Symbol for User: A Bird. Symbol for Bounce: The bird flying away. What new symbol (e.g., a “Seed” or a “Warm Light”) could you add to the house to keep the bird there?