I was speaking with a co-worker at UKG about doodling last week and thought I would repost an oldie but a goodie from several years ago on that very subject.  I hope you enjoy the read and video.

Being voracious doodler, I have always been self-conscious in the board room.  I am always fearful that I might be viewed as not paying attention to the task at hand as I scrawl images on my legal pad. No matter how I try to keep my red Flair pen at bay, it always gets the best of me. (See the picture below from an internal meeting where we were developing marketing concepts for an NC-based restaurant company.)

After watching the presentation below from a TED conference by Sunni Brown I feel ashamed no more. Ms. Brown helps companies visualize complex ideas through the use of “infographics” and story-boarding.  In her presentation Ms. Brown validates all the positive aspects doodling has in helping with thought retention. She goes on to explain how doodling is an incredibly powerful tool and has a profound effect on how we solve problems. It has been shown that people who doodle, while being exposed to verbal information, have 29% greater retention of that information than their non-doodling counterparts. “We think doodling is something that you do when you lose focus, but in reality it is a preemptive measure to stop you from losing focus.”  I think she sums it up here beautifully. “My friends, the doodle has never been the nemesis of intellectual thought…It is one of its greatest allies.” I couldn’t agree more.

Jim Thomas is an Enterprise Account Executive for UKG (Ultimate Kronos Group) the world-wide leader in HCM solutions.  Jim helps retail, hospitality and entertainment companies improve performance, communication and, employee engagement at every level of their workforce with UKG HCM solutions resulting in a better customer experience.