How do we get better at getting better? That’s the core question behind Adam Grant’s book Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things.
In one section of the book Grant discusses the character skills needed to improve our improvement process. He notes, “If personality is how you respond on a typical day, character is how you show up on a hard day.”
The specific character skill I’d like to explore is embracing, seeking, and even amplifying discomfort. Discomfort is a necessary component in learning anything new or improving at something you’re currently bad at.
It’s natural to want to stay comfortable and lean into activities we enjoy. This is the basis behind the concept of learning styles—the idea that you learn best in a particular mode (visual, auditory, or kinesthetic, for example) and that should stick to that mode.
But as we’ve explored, learning styles are a myth. That might be the mode that makes you most comfortable, but it’s not necessarily how you learn best. Instead, you should look for the right method for the task at hand and be prepared for that method to be uncomfortable, at least in the beginning.
Learning Through Discomfort
Let’s examine a few examples from Grant’s book before discussing what this means for visual thinking skill development.
Language Learning
When learning a new language, particularly for those who struggled with languages in school, the best approach is to actually speak it. When you start speaking a new language, you’ll inevitably make mistakes and occasionally confuse people. But it’s through those interactions—uncomfortable moments with real people—that you learn. Not by reading books or using language apps, but through the discomfort of awkward conversations that lead to discoveries about what you’re trying to say. You can then laugh at yourself, recover, and jump back into another potentially uncomfortable situation that allows you to learn something new.
Steve Martin’s Comedy Career
Steve Martin, now well-known for his comedy career, had a shaky start. Initially, he improvised much of his routine, enjoying the spontaneity that aligned with what might be considered his learning style. Despite enjoying this approach, it wasn’t getting laughs—his sets weren’t very good.
Once he started writing his material, despite finding the process uncomfortable, he discovered that written, prepared sets actually got laughs. This helped him perfect his comedic style. By going through the uncomfortable act of writing, he discovered what was truly funny, which allowed him to enjoy making people laugh. This cycle of discomfort, discovery, and delivery led to his decades-long successful career.
Applying This to Visual Thinking
Let’s apply this character trait of embracing discomfort to visual thinking, where your task is to sketch out drawings and diagrams to help you understand new concepts, solve challenging problems, or share ideas with others.
The right method for this task is to actually draw—make rough sketches on a whiteboard, in your notebook, or on your tablet. If you didn’t grow up doodling, this will likely feel uncomfortable at first, both in making marks and then looking at them thinking “that doesn’t look right…”
But it’s only through the discomfort of that first sketch that you’ll discover how you want things to look—what you actually want to draw to capture the essence of your ideas and gain clarity. Through the discomfort of making unfamiliar marks that don’t look right initially, continued sketching helps you discover what works and what truly represents your ideas. This results in a visual artifact you can keep or share before taking a break and preparing to embrace discomfort again for your next challenge.
The Pattern of Growth
In language learning, you need to say it wrong until you get it right.
For Steve Martin, he had to write it wrong until he got it right.
For visual thinkers, you need to draw it wrong until you get it right.
Expect those initial sketches to be uncomfortable, and remember that’s exactly what recycling bins and erasers are for. It’s not about where you start or those first attempts—it’s about what those uncomfortable experiences teach you and what they allow you to create.
The quicker you move through this cycle, the better you’ll get at improving. Don’t be afraid—seek opportunities to make more mistakes, not fewer. Make mistakes in conversations, on the page, and on the whiteboard so you can learn and grow.
A Resource for Visual Thinkers
For those developing visual thinking skills, I’ve created a resource to help you make productive mistakes: The Verbal to Visual Notebook. It provides activities and prompts to ease your transition into this state of productive discomfort, offering scaffolding for making marks beyond words. While uncomfortable at first, this practice unlocks tremendous learning, problem-solving, and communication potential.
I encourage you to seek conditions that align your learning method with the skill you’re developing—conditions that allow you to enter a state of discomfort, learn from it, and recover, so you can improve at the skills that are important to you.
Cheers,
-Doug