The Polymath Experiment

Free · 16 pages · PDF

The Redraw Kit

Draw your problem twice: first as it feels, then as it works.

When a problem won't move, it's usually because you're working on it in the shape it feels: a long list, a chain of worst cases, the obvious fix. This kit gives you a four-step way to redraw it, one example worked from start to finish, and eight one-page canvases, one for each kind of problem. Print one tonight and use it on whatever's in front of you.

The Redraw Kit cover, with a family dinner redrawn around the one oven

The method, in 16 seconds

Draw it as it feels. Redraw it as it works.

This is the kit's worked example. More helpers and an earlier start never got the dinner out on time, because every dish was waiting for one oven. Once it's redrawn, the change worth making is obvious, and it isn't more effort.

16 seconds · the first drawing, then the redrawingA big family dinner that's always late: more helpers change nothing while every dish waits for one oven.

Eight canvases, one for each kind of problem

Stages 01 – 08
  1. 01 · LearnThe Operating MapInterested in too many things, finishing none of them.
  2. 02 · SeeThe System CanvasThe same problem keeps coming back, however often it's fixed.
  3. 03 · KnowThe Claim CanvasNot sure who or what to believe about something that matters.
  4. 04 · DecideThe Decision CanvasGoing back and forth, unable to decide.
  5. 05 · ActThe Fear CanvasWanting to act, afraid of how it could go wrong.
  6. 06 · AdaptThe Redraw CanvasA plan that isn't working, and no way to tell whether to push on.
  7. 07 · CreateThe Make CanvasTwenty ideas and nothing finished.
  8. 08 · IntegrateThe Life CanvasA life running on defaults.

Inside the kit

A5 pages · print at home
Draw It Twice: a family dinner that's always late, drawn as it feels and then redrawn around the one oven.
Which Stage Is Your Problem In? Eight problems in plain words, each pointing to a canvas.
The Decision Canvas: six boxes from the decision and the options to what you expect, and a box for the first step.

Where it leads

Each canvas is one page from a field manual or workbook. When one fits your problem, the full version adds the six questions worked through on a real case, eleven short units and three field cases, for €19. Or get everything in one download.

Who it's for

Anyone with a problem that won't move: at work, at home, in a plan or a decision. It's free to share with anyone, whole and unchanged. Nothing in it is medical, financial or professional advice.