Co-Create Shared Understanding with Napkin Sketching

You’re late to the brainstorming session and find a sheet of crumpled scrap paper with half-drawn arrows pinned up front. As the slideshow drones on behind you, the group critiques each arrow in hushed tones. You pull out a napkin, sketch your own take in two minutes, and slide it across the table. Quiet murmurs turn to nods, and soon the whiteboard looks nothing like the original slides.

That afternoon, the marketing team at a food startup used this method to rethink packaging for a new snack. Six people sketched their visions, iterated twice in rapid rounds, and ended up with something none of them would’ve drawn alone—a clean, bold design that instantly stood out on crowded shelves. Motion-blurred sweat drying on their foreheads, they realized they’d created clarity no memo or presentation could match.

Behavioral science shows that co-creation triggers feelings of ownership and agency. When people see their ideas—and the tweaks they made together—in the final picture, they care about the outcome. Napkin sketching strips away hierarchy, speeds up iteration, and forges shared understanding. It’s a quick hack to get everyone thinking in the same language.

Find 5 colleagues tackling a common challenge, give everyone a napkin and two minutes to draw their best idea, swap sketches for two rounds of rapid iteration, then vote on the strongest elements and do one final sketch together. You’ll walk away with a visual everyone helped create—and truly owns—so get out those napkins tonight.