I recently had a conversation in which someone mentioned how on a trip to the doctor, the doctor pulled out a notebook and sketched out the parathyroid in support of a discussion about symptoms and treatments.
Here’s an example of a situation where there’s complex information that needs to be conveyed about how the human body works, with the potential for loads of jargon, and where there is a high degree of information asymmetry – the doctor knows way more than the patient about how the body works.
Instead of spewing out facts (the firehose that I imagine you’ve experienced during one healthcare visit or another), this doctor decided to slow down, sketch out the situation, and talk through treatment options.
How empathetic and helpful, right!?
Note that information asymmetry can occur in the other direction as well – the patient knows so much more about their own medical history than what any doctor can glean from a ten-second scan of their chart.
That’s what led Katie McCurdy to develop her own set of visuals to bring doctors up to speed, from computer-generated graphs to drawing out symptoms on a body form template.
Imagine having those in hand when you’re communicating with a medical professional. How easier would it be to tell your story? How much more likely would it be that they actually listen to you?
In our interactions with others, we’ll never start or end the conversation with complete information parity. But in those cases where there’s a large degree of information asymmetry (especially when power dynamics are at play), visuals can help to bridge the gap.
So I encourage you to consider these questions:
- What situations are you currently facing that involve power dynamics and information asymmetry?
- If you’ve got the knowledge and power, what might you sketch out in real time as a way to slow down your communication style while simultaneously closing the information gap?
- If you’ve got the knowledge but not the power, how might you summarize in a diagram the key information that you need the other party to consider?
Sketched visuals have the potential to bring the other party up to speed, and to keep you both on the same page throughout the conversation.
Want to tap into that potential?
That’s what our library of courses is designed to help you with.
Check them out, and if you’ve got any questions about where to start, send me an email and let’s chat: doug@verbaltovisual.com.
Cheers,
-Doug