Sometimes you just have to draw the wrong picture to get the right thing to happen.

 
Let me explain…

There are so many times in business when we are deep into hot debates with others about why doing things this way or that is best, when it becomes clear things are just not going to resolve themselves without someone caving on their opinion. Even presenting “data” to support your position doesn’t always help sway them in some cases.

I’ve found its in those moments where you are completely convicted things should proceed in a particular way (let’s call it “A”) that you have the opportunity to persuade by an unorthodox method – draw the opposing “B” and try to defend it.

And by drawing, I mean whiteboarding, sketching, visualizing, prototyping, coding, acting out, etc. Whatever captures its essential qualities and behavior.

You will probably find that by drawing the other solution “B” yourself, rationale and detail emerge for you that weren’t there before. Seeing from another’s perspective is illuminating. You may even find yourself empathizing with it or even liking it.

But more importantly for the convicted, you have the opportunity to defend “A” without being so overt. Drawing “B” in whatever fidelity will show its weakness to its supporters without you having to beat them over the head with it. The truth lies in the realized version, not the rhetoric and bluster of its proponents.

They’ll see when you draw “the wrong picture” perhaps there was something they missed, not you.

Either way, exploring more than one solution fully is never a bad idea.
They were just wrong ;-)