Many BAs are familiar with the Rich Picture, a dynamic and creative freeform drawing technique used to explore an organisational situation and get to grips with what is going on. The people, culture, structure, complex relationships, working environment, views, values, issues, problems, opinions and more are explored using pictures, symbols and words considered useful.  

A Rich Picture can be created by one person who has gathered information via interviews, workshops or document analysis. However, this business tool is at its most powerful when stakeholders collaborate around a real or virtual whiteboard, on which the picture evolves, provoking discussion and generating key insights. It's easy to confuse the Rich Picture with visual note-taking, however the two are completely different.

Visual Note-taking shows a Moment in Time…

Like a Rich Picture, visual note-taking is used to communicate information through pictures, symbols and illustrations. However it captures a static snapshot which will not change over time. For example, somebody watching a conference presentation or attending a meeting or workshop conveying the core messages as a bite-sized visual summary. This type of sketch note will usually represent one person's perspective at one point in time. There may be minor edits to 'tidy up' the image, but a sketch note won't be updated with new information.

A Rich Picture Changes and Grows

The Rich Picture, in contrast, is dynamic in nature and changes as time progresses and as new information emerges. A key word here is synthesis.  A range of information and viewpoints, which may have been obtained over a period of time, are brought together. Even after the initial Rich Picture is created, parts of the drawing can be deleted, while more information can be discovered and added, highlighting connections between different concepts and ideas. As the picture changes and grows, areas of conflict and contradiction start to emerge. What once seemed simple and straightforward is now a crowded, diagram which far better represents the complexity of the situation. 

Dynamic, Complex… and Never Finished

A Rich Picture can never be 100% complete. It's impossible to capture every conceivable piece of information or viewpoint on a situation, not least because the situation itself is forever changing too. Voltaire is quoted as saying: 'Perfect is the enemy of good', wise advice for anybody creating a Rich Picture. If it can show the big picture and interconnections, build understanding, drive the necessary conversations and serve as a starting point for with strategy and modelling, then it's more than good enough.

Find out more about Rich Pictures, here. 

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