Innovation Thingies

October 29, 2021

The Art of Applied Visual Thinking

The official newsletter of Applied Visual Thinking SUPERHEROES. Vol. 2 No. 22 October 29, 2021

What's your go-to name for the thing that just doesn't have a name? Can you draw it? Sometimes words are just not enough.

I’m terrible at remembering names of actors, movies and historical figures. No, I don’t play Trivial Pursuit much. Pictionary, on the other hand, is a favorite. I love how sometimes it’s the people who say they can’t draw who sometimes come up with the most innovative ways of conveying the hidden word to their teammates using only simple marks on a whiteboard.

When I have worked on international teams, I have found that the more I could provide in the form of tables, illustrations and diagrams, the lower the risk of misunderstandings.

Making work visual levels the playing field for people who understand words differently.

On the other hand, sometimes words can create a fun, sometimes humorous opportunity for cross-cultural exchange, perhaps even leading to a new INNOVATION. For example, when I was on a group camping trip with my son, we were paired with another mother and son to help prepare breakfast. My son and his friend were given the task of trimming the non-edible tops off the strawberries. The Mom told them to "take the jimmy-jams off the strawberries" and the term sent us all into fits of laughter.

The humorous moment led us to focus on how to handle the "jimmy-jams" and the most efficient, safe way to accomplish the task. I prefer holding the leaves and cutting a circle around them, but this requires the right knife and a steady hand. Tearing off the leaves first reduces the risk of leaves in the bowl, but requires slicing the strawberry in a different way. The conversation resulted in the two boys figuring out the system that worked for them – spontaneous INNOVATION.

Want to read about more ways to spark innovation?

Check out our course Applied Visual Thinking for INNOVATION.

drawing of a strawberry with top partially removed

Here are some of our favorite crazy names and visual translations.

A few are real words, but most are taradiddle (made-up). Can you spot the real ones? (Read on for the answers.)

1.) Whoosie-what's-it = when you just can't remember what it's called

drawing of a confused person with thought cloud over their head containing a question mark

2.) Roundtoit = that thing you never seem to have time for

Purple circle containing a white circle, containing orange text

3.) Jimmy-jam = the non-edible green part at the top of the strawberry

4.) Doohickey = a small thingy, usually attached to a larger thingy

Drawing of a blue purse with yellow clasp with fringe. An arrow points to the fringe.

5.) Fiddly bits = the nit-picky details

drawing of a puzzle broken into small and large pieces with an arrow pointing to the small pieces

6.) Cattywampus = askew, awry, kitty-corner

drawing of white, yellow, blue and purple squares at odd angles inside a large blue square.

7.) Koosie-hitchie = you know, the thingy

drawing of an open box with a question mark over it

8.) Bumfuzzle = confuse, perplex, fluster

drawing of a person scratching his chin in confusion with question marks next to his head

9.) Whatchamacallit = too technical a name to recall, or a candy bar

drawing of a shoe with laces untied. An arrow points to the plastic piece at the end of one of the laces.

10.) Gardyloo = in old Edinburgh, a warning cry when throwing slops from the window into the street

drawing of a woman holding a bucket on a windowsill with flowers. The woman is calling out

Wacky Word Innovation template - 3 column blank template

Want to jumpstart your innovation brain?

Try inventing your own wacky words, definitions and icons. Download this FREE WACKY WORD INNOVATION template to get started. Send us your favorites, and maybe you'll see your creation pop up in a future issue of The Art of Applied Visual Thinking Newsletter!

Download Your Free Handout HERE!

Want to learn more?

Our FOUNDATIONS and INNOVATION courses are designed to give you and your teams the easy-to-learn, fast to implement visual tools so you can draw anything and innovate your products, goods, or services.