Solving complex problems requires that we harness the perspectives and creative energies of diverse people. Graphic facilitation provides a process that for bringing those people together to:

• Share
• Reconcile
• Design
• Debate
• Learn
• Innovate
• Integrate
• Organize
• Prioritize
• Strategize
• Plan

Visual models provide a tangible representation of the problem around which to organize the above activities. The unique affordances of visual models make them an effective tool for capturing the complexity the problem and promoting robust qualitative reasoning within the group. Visual models can help make explicit the varied dimensions of the problem and what the group knows, thinks, feels, and wants to accomplish. In doing so, the models can help the group think more clearly about the difficult issues they face.

The visual facilitator should provide skills in dialog facilitation, visual representation and the dynamics of group decision making. In addition, as a generalist, the facilitator should bring to the group a broad set of transdisciplinary knowledge – a repertoire of models, theories, and perspectives – that should:

• enable the facilitator to quickly understand the nature of the group's problem
• introduce new models that can help the group see their problem in new ways
• help the group see the box they're in, and how to think outside it.
• help the group focus on the important issues and potential actions

The visual models created by the group may serve their purpose merely in catalyzing dialog and stimulating thinking during the group’s meetings. Furthermore, they may be revised and refined to serve as a map of the group's ideas, designs, strategies, plans, etc. and/or be translated into other media – web-sites, brochures, PowerPoint presentations – to communicate the group's thinking to others.