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.
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.
Check out our course Applied Visual Thinking for INNOVATION.
A few are real words, but most are taradiddle (made-up). Can you spot the real ones? (Read on for the answers.)
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!
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.
Answer key: The real words are whatchamacallit, doohickey, cattywampus, bumfuzzle, and gardyloo.