A bold new way to tackle tough business problems — even if you draw like a second-grader.

When Herb Kelleher and Rollin King were brainstorming about how to beat the traditional hub-and-spoke airlines, they grabbed a bar napkin and a pen. Three dots to represent Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. Three arrows to show direct flights. Problem solved, and the picture made it easy to sell Southwest Airlines to investors and customers.

Used properly, a humble napkin is more powerful than Excel or Powerpoint. It can help you crystallize your ideas, think outside the box, and communicate more powerfully than any traditional business presentation.

Consultant and lecturer Dan Roam argues that everyone is born with a talent for visual thinking, even those who depend mainly on their left-brain analytical skills. The problem is that most of us — especially in the business world — are never encouraged to develop our intrinsic ability to create pictures. Roam teaches business leaders around the world how to look, see, imagine, and show — with immediate results.