Newsflash: I am not a firefighter.

Surprised? It’s true. I am not an expert in fire prevention. I have never fought a wildfire in my life.

I wanted to get all of that out of the way up front, so the next part lands a little harder.

A few weeks ago I stood up in front of a room full of firefighters, utility crews, and wildfire experts, and summarized nine hours of everything they had covered.

Why some poles burn and some do not.

What it costs to send one person into a fire.

How the insurance world is bracing for all of it.

How they trim brush back so the power lines cannot spark.

As I just mentioned, am not trained nor an expert in any of it.

However, if you asked me to stand and talk about that brave, high-stakes world with real understanding, I certainly could - and it is only due to one thing.

Because I drew it.

Yep. That is what happens when you put colorful pen(s) to something. When you listen while you draw.

You absorb the content differently. It sticks in a way that just sitting and listening never quite manages.

When you draw while you listen, you hold onto far more of it than the people around you who only listened.

I will be the first one to tell you that you don’t have to be a gifted artist to get the true benefit of the drawing method. Anyone can draw while they listen, and in doing so, learn better.

We have mostly been trained out of it. Somewhere along the way we were told to stop doodling and pay attention, when the doodling was the paying attention.

Even when I get it wrong

Here’s another newsflash: it’s okay to make mistakes, especially while drawing. I still get things wrong all the time.

At that same wildfire management event, I drew a firefighter in full gear, mask and all. A chief with 45 years in the field stopped the room to point out that anybody wearing that mask into an actual wildfire would be dead. It blocks your vision outside. (Ah - good to know!)

So I wrote it right on the sheet.

“Expert advice: do not send this guy into a wildfire.” The room chuckled.

Guess what happened after that? That chief was the first person to ask me for a copy. He wanted it on the wall of his firehouse. Even wrong, the drawing did its real job. It got people talking about the thing.

Bring the markers

It is important that people realize that this whole thing isn’t just a special Wade talent. It is a method, and methods can be learned. The drawing skill just makes mine look nicer. The remembering comes from the act of listening with your hand moving.

What if you walked into your next big meeting with a pad and a couple of markers instead of a laptop? I bet you would walk out remembering more of it than you have in years.

I am still not the expert in many of the rooms I walk into. But I get to draw what the experts say, and by the end of the day I understand it, and so does everyone else in the room.

You could do the exact same thing. Honestly, the hardest part is just leaving your laptop closed.

Grateful you are here,

Wade

PS - Going to cover how to do this in the Draw for Work course we're putting together. Jump on the waitlist to know when we have it finalized.

Here's another board from that event.