ABOUT
About Zukai Soken
The Diagram Research Institute helps create an environment where diverse stakeholders can share the same intentions by visualizing complex information and concepts through diagrams.
Everyone has their own way of perceiving things. Diagrams align people's perceptions and function as infrastructure for communicating on an equal footing. By using diagrams in various communication situations, people can share their perspectives and thoughts and move things forward.
PURPOSE
Bringing people and society closer together through illustrations
At Zukai Research Institute, we use the tool Zukai to create an environment where people can make their voices heard in society.
Currently, social issues are becoming more complex due to environmental changes caused by technological advances, the spread of new values, fluctuations in the international situation, etc. In order to understand and act on these situations, discourse unfolds every day, new concepts and ideas are born, and information is circulated.
However, these concepts and ideas are not always presented in a way that is easy for everyone to understand.
The learning costs of understanding difficult concepts and the communication costs of accurately understanding each other's thoughts are enormous. This environment places an enormous burden on individuals. When faced with the costs, many people think, "It seems somehow difficult," and avoid facing the issue. If you avoid the issue in this way, the sense that it is difficult will only grow over time. People find it difficult to voice their opinions about things they don't understand. As a result, they are unable to see society as something that concerns them personally, and society gradually begins to seem distant.
On the other hand, only those who can afford to pay such costs can get closer to society. Only those with access to such information can understand the social situation based on that information and then reflect their own opinions on society. When people try to communicate under these circumstances, power relationships arise. Depending on the knowledge or lack of knowledge, one voice will be weaker and the other will be stronger. This is unhealthy communication. This kind of unhealthiness means that power is unevenly distributed. In other words, only a few powerful people can feel that they can directly influence society, or in other words, those who are close to society are limited to those who have the power.
Therefore, we at the Diagram Research Institute want to overcome this unhealthy situation by creating diagrams as a communication tool. Our diagrams serve as a "common language," opening up complex information to more people, giving them the ability to use it as their own, and share it with others. By inventing diagrams as a "common language" and making them the foundation of society, we can create a situation in which more people can participate in society as if it were their own, bringing people and society closer together.
MISSION
The invention of a common language
Zukai Soken works with experts to invent diagrams as a "common language." Experts from companies, research institutes, government agencies, etc. share their expertise (specialized information) with Zukai Soken, which then structures that information to create diagrams that are easy to understand and communicate to more people.
Diagrams as a "common language" are tools that use a common format to organize and structure information on a specific topic (concepts, social issues, etc.), lowering the cognitive hurdle and lowering the cost of communication with others. What one person is thinking in their head cannot be seen by others. This is why sometimes it is difficult to communicate what you want to say, and discussions become a battle of the air. By having a tool like a diagram that "makes what's going on in your head visible to the outside world and allows you to share the same understanding," it helps to lower the cost of communication to accurately understand each other's thoughts.
Our diagrams organize and structure information into a shared format. As long as you understand the rules, you can share literacy with others through the diagram, regardless of differences in prior understanding of the subject of the diagram, and communicate by rectifying differences in perception. In other words, diagrams function as communication tools.
For example, when you think, "Let's think about a business model for a business proposal," what is a business model in the first place? What should you be thinking about to say "thinking about a business model?" If there is no consensus on these points, you will not be able to have a discussion among team members in the first place. Not all team members necessarily have the same knowledge. It is also unclear whether they have the same amount of knowledge. Therefore, it is necessary to first align your understanding.
In this way, a large communication cost occurs due to the difference in assumptions when talking about the contents of a "business model". In some cases, some people may have to learn about concepts such as business models for the first time and start from scratch. The learning cost of having to learn about unfamiliar concepts and then participate in discussions will be a large cost for the team and, above all, for the person in question. But what if there was a diagram? One of our diagrams is the "Business Model Diagram".
This "Business Model Diagram" defines the business model and the rules for interpreting it. It also provides a toolkit for creating your own business model. If the tools and rules of this "Business Model Diagram" are shared with your team, it will help coordinate how you view and think about business models. Also, by understanding the rules and using the toolkit, you can communicate your business model ideas to your team members in a format that is easy to understand.
In this way, by sharing the diagram as a foundation with the team, it reduces the learning cost of the business model, reduces the communication cost of adjusting differences in understanding, and creates an environment in which all team members can assert their opinions on an equal footing. The business model is just one example. With diagrams as a shared format, it is possible to create a foundation for people to communicate on an equal footing on various topics, while suppressing the power imposed by knowledge or lack of knowledge. The rules of the diagram eliminate the uneven distribution of power and create a route for people to participate in the discussion. In other words, diagrams become a common language for people, helping them regain their voice.
MORE INFORMATION
