Sketchplanations

Podcast sketches

Explore sketches, drawings, and illustrations that simplify ideas related to Podcast.

Everyone's a geek about something with people geeking out on many different activitiesEveryone's a Geek About Something — Revised and ExpandedYes Sayers are rewarded by adventure, No Sayers are rewarded by safety — wisdom from Keith JohnstoneYes Sayers are Rewarded by Adventure, No Sayers are Rewarded by SafetyEponym examples, explanation and etymology explained in a sketch with Erno Rubik of the Rubik's Cube, the Jacuzzi brothers, the 4th Earl of Sandwich, Lázló Biró, Etienne de Silhouette and Rudolf Diesel and his diesel engineEponymWhat is Hanlon's razor example explained: never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity. Here, it's explained in a cartoon of someone getting mad at dropped litter when it accidentally was dropped out of the bin bag of another person around the cornerHanlon's RazorDetecting prostate cancer summary - how screening for prostate cancer has changed DRA, PSA blood test and MRI screening compared in the old way and new wayDetecting prostate cancer: old way, new wayAnchors and tugboats illustration: a swimmer thinking negative thoughts is pulled back by an anchor and thinking positive thoughts is pulled forward by a tug. Confused fish look on.Anchors and tugboatsCake wreck: a cake where instructions for the cake—"Happy birthday in purple, no nuts"—have been smartly written across the front. Intended as a metaphor for literal misinterpretation.Cake wreckFortnightly: a person considers whether 'biweekly' really means "twice a week" or "every two weeks" and resolves to use fortnightly for "every two weeks" in the future.FortnightlyWhat does a Pyrrhic victory mean example: King Pyrrhus laments a victory that wasn't worth winning as he surveys the remains of his troops after a victory on the battlefieldPyrrhic victoryWhat is Optimism bias example explained: A stunt rider overestimates their chance of leaping a canyon thanks to optimism bias. Various onlookers gasp. "Huh" says the riderOptimism biasWhat are the NATO phonetic alphabet words: helping two pilots correctly identify Y I V B D T which is easily misheardPhonetic alphabetWhat is phubbing - snubbing someone or ignoring them for your phone - example: Someone sat in a cafe being phubbed by their friends on their phones while a parent and child walks by, gently heartbroken by being upstaged by a phonePhubbingSharpen the saw from Stephen Covey illustration: A woodcutter explains that they have no time to stop and sharpen the saw as they have so many trees to cutSharpen the sawWhat is Groupthink: People acquiescing to the manager's and what they see as others' views during a meetingGroupthinkWhat does pleonasm mean? An unexpected surprise seeing a personal friend in a museum with exact replicas and free giftsPleonasmWhat is the meaning of fungible and non-fungible goods with examplesFungible - non-fungibleAn urban area next to a more natural rural area showing how the urban area gets hotter than the surrounding landHeat islandsOnly dead fish go with the flow quote. Two fish in a stream. One is dead and floating with the current. The other is swimming against it and jumping out of the water.Only dead fish go with the flowSneaky averages: A statistician sinking in the deep part of a pond by a sign saying the average depth is 3ftSneaky averagesDon't fill the silence illustration: Someone does much better at eliciting a more in-depth response by simply waiting after asking their question rather than filling in an awkward silenceDon't fill the silenceWhat is the meaning of Flotsam and Jetsam illustration: a bright yellow rubber duck floating in the sea is flotsam; as it is an item of cargo accidentally lost overboard from a container ship listing heavily to one side (left). This is contrasted by jetsam; green crates, actively being thrown overboard by a team of sailors desperately trying to avoid their small boat from sinking (right). Flotsam and jetsamWhat is the Front stage back stage metaphor example: the Irving Goffman metaphor of life as theater illustrated with a couple and a waiter at a fancy restaurantFront stage, back stageWhat is yak shaving and what does it mean example: someone looks on confused as another explains the convoluted story which led to them sitting there shaving a yak, just like solving problems in software developmentYak shavingTime passing on an inside bend illustration (UK edition): showing a two-lane carriage way bending to the right with a red arrow to show the shorter route for overtakingPassing on an inside bendThe bystander effect: a lady sits dazed on the floor in a busy train station while others ignore her or walk on by — someone really ought to check she's okThe Bystander EffectWhat is a microadventureMicroadventureStarting a Company - Reid Hoffman quote illustration: a brave soul leaps off a tall coastal cliff with only a backpack for survival. On their way down, they quickly assemble a plane from the components in the backpack and pilot it away from the beckoning sea - just in time! Written in the sky is the quote: "Starting a Company is like jumping off a cliff and assembling a plane on the way down."Starting a companyPollution from idling cars exhaust - 150 balloons filled by the exhaust of an idling car in a minuteIdlingWhat is a nurse log - a fallen giant tree providing a linear nursery for young treesNurse logWhat is the meaning of Schadenfreude with an example: a double layer of schadenfreude as an onlooker laughing at someone tripping is about to fall into a hole and get their comeuppanceSchadenfreudeFinishing Lines, Stevie Smith quote illustration: a cyclist sits on their bike about to set off on a long journey - the bike is heavily loaded with panniers at the front and the back. The thought bubble above their head shows them visualising the finish line of their journey as their motivation to get going. As Stevie Smith suggests: "The most important role of a finishing line is to get you over the start line."  Finishing linesWhat is the Peter Principle explanation: a confident and competent junior worker gets promoted to a senior level. At the senior level, they appear very happy and excel such that they get a promotion to Director. As a Director, their competence has been exceeded and we see them in a state of stress and disarray. Oh dear. The Peter PrincipleThe cost of being late illustration: an executive walks into a meeting 10 mins late adding up to 100 total lost minutes of everyone else's timeThe cost of being lateThe Law of Diminishing Returns illustration: a chart of broth quality increasing from a lone chef stirring a large pot to eventually decreasing once again as a crowd of chefs get in each other's way and goof off. Standard.Law of diminishing returnsWhat is The Doppler effect example showing how a wave changes from a static source and gets either bunched up or spread out if you're standing in front of or behind a moving source like a sirenThe Doppler EffectWhat are the 5 Ways to Wellbeing poster: in a busy park scene the 5 ways to wellbeing are depicted as families and friends come together to socialise and interact with their surroundings to Connect, Be Active, Take Notice, Keep Learning and Give. 5 Ways to WellbeingWhat is The Shirky principle explained — from Clay Shirky — illustration in a garage where a manager is astonished by a mechanic fixing the cars so they'll never need to come backThe Shirky PrincipleWhat is Human Risk example: an enormous line of Mongol soldiers easily march through an open gate in the Great Wall of China as the two bribed guards take a nap. Human riskWhat is the accountability ladder example explained: A child explains to a parent why homework wasn't done, illustrating each rung of increasing accountability on the accountability ladder from a victim mindset to a powerful accountable oneThe accountability ladderWhat is Tsundoku meaning and example: the act of collecting books without reading them shown by a person snoozing happily on their bed surrounded by books, books and booksTsundokuImposter Syndrome illustration: even as an appreciative audience applaud, an award recipient at the rostrum on stage questions whether they actually deserve this recognition. Imposter syndromeWhat is the hungry gap explained showing a timeline with a full box of Winter vegetables leading out of April, a nearly empty box in May, and an overflowing one in the SummerThe Hungry GapWhat is Marchetti's constant example explained: chart showing how Berlin increased in size with new means of travelling faster through walking, electric trams, and subways, to carsMarchetti’s constantWhat is the Fun scale explained showing Type 1 fun as skiing, Type 2 fun as mountaineering and Type 3 fun as surviving a bear encounter (the best story)The fun scale: understanding the types of funWhat is Dunbar's number example explained: a person can't remember the name of the one person outside their circles of closer friends, super family, clan and tribe behind themDunbar’s number: 150What is crossmodal perception example showing that coffee tastes better when the machine is quiet and why plane food is less tastyCrossmodal perceptionHow to grow your own fresh air illustration: examples of common houseplants that help create an environment with relatively cleaner air; the Areca Palm, Mother-in-law's Tongue and the Money Plant.  How to grow your own fresh airWhat is the windscreen phenomenon explanation: showing a 1970 truck with bugs splattered on the windscreen and a 2017 with very few, reflecting, most likely a general decline in flying insectsThe Windscreen PhenomenonKaffikok meaning - what is a kaffikok - the distance you can go before needing a cup of coffeeKaffikokGoodhart's law illustration showing a manager frustrated by 1000's of tiny nails when measuring on number of nails made, and pulling their hair out when presented with giant nails when measuring on weightGoodhart’s Law: when a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.What is The golden circle from Simon Sinek example explained: illustrated with the start with why circles, and Martin Luther King and the "I have a dream," not the "I have a plan," speechThe golden circleWhat is the Peak-end rule example: chart showing two experience lines, one with more downs that ends on a high that's remembered as better than the one that's more steady throughoutThe peak-end ruleThe real shape of a crossing illustration: as cars and a cyclist stop at a red light for pedestrians to cross the road, we see that people on foot start crossing before they reach the designated crossing area that is typically perpendicular to the road. The real shape of a crossingBrowse line illustration with a deer reaching up to eat the leaves off a tree and creating a tidy line at the height they can reachThe browse lineThe basic colour wheel illustration: a doughnut-shaped colour wheel shows the 3 primary colours, with secondary colours sandwiched in-between. Complementary colours are then shown as those that sit opposite each other. The basic colour wheelGoldilocks Tasks: a spectrum where the challenge is not too easy, not too hard, but just right for flow and masteryGoldilocks tasksCompliments are gifts - not sharing one is like keeping a gift in your pocket: with one person complimenting another and it feeling like receiving a giftCompliments are giftswhat is a Phoenix tree explained with a toppled tree shown pencil-sketch style with its roots still connected at one end, side branches along the trunk becoming trees in their own right, and one putting down rootsPhoenix treesWhat is the Fresh Start Effect example explained: a brave person thinks challenge accepted on Monday 1st January thanks to the Fresh start effect from Katy MilkmanThe fresh start effectWhat is a Thoughtless Act example of a teabag wrapped around a handle of a mugThoughtless actsUse of the car horn chart showing the uses in decreasing order of "Idiot!", "It's green!", "I'm outside!", and, lastly, the intended "Watch out!"Use of the car hornThe Smart Little People problem-solving method from TRIZ: someone wonders how little people would solve a technical problem of fixing a leakSmart little peopleWhy beaches are amazing for play showing a parent and child at the beach and listing out many aspects of what make beaches amazingBeaches: amazing for playOur senses are built to take in information at human pace illustration showing more input as you go from cars and trains to bikes and walkingOur senses are built to take in information at human paceThe 4 pillars of too much: too much stuff, too many choices, too much info and too fastThe four pillars of too muchSitting at the piano without any music is a great way to get started composingWant to compose? Just sit down without any musicWhat is a nappuccino example and tiredness can kill: Pull over, neck coffee, get 15 min shuteye for the caffeine to work then cruise onTiredness can kill. Take a breakThe difference between compliment and complement explained with someone complimenting a shirt and a wine complementing a cheeseCompliment and ComplementWhen to use Affect vs effect: one person affects another by pushing them into the water. The effect is a big splash.Affect. EffectAmateur vs professional meaningFor the amour of it
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