Scriberia Academy
Empower yourself to use drawing as a tool for strategic thinking and communication.
When the Covid pandemic created an urgent need to share specialist knowledge about end-of-life care, Hazel White discovered the power of visual communication. The experience not only helped clinicians learn quickly in a time of crisis — it changed the way she thinks about communication forever.
Hazel White, founder of Open Change, helps organisations navigate complexity, uncertainty and transformation. But her journey into visual thinking began in one of the most challenging periods many healthcare professionals have ever faced.
Communicating when it mattered most
At the start of the pandemic, doctors from a wide range of specialisms found themselves working on Covid wards, caring for patients who would not always recover.
Many had little experience of having conversations about death and end-of-life care.
Suddenly, there was an urgent need to share the expertise that existed within palliative care and geriatric medicine quickly, clearly and at scale.
Hazel began working with consultant geriatrician Lara Mitchell to capture and communicate that knowledge.
"We developed visuals that distilled what she knew would be helpful to others in that situation — key points to explain, phrases to use, practical guidance — and turned it into a series of easily absorbed visuals that sat on a single page."
The hand-drawn resources were shared widely, both within the UK and internationally, helping clinicians learn quickly and gain confidence in incredibly difficult circumstances.
What surprised Hazel most was the reaction to the drawings themselves.
"People seemed to find the hand-drawn aspect quite comforting."
It revealed something important about visual communication.
"I realised that drawing brings humanity into communication in a way that hard black-and-white text often can't."
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Drawing creates possibility
That experience sparked a deeper interest in visual thinking.
Although the project had been created rapidly, driven by necessity rather than process, Hazel could see there was something powerful happening beneath the surface.
Curious to learn more, she enrolled on Scriberia's Using Ink to Think course before progressing to the Visual Thinking Diploma.
Today, she regularly uses visual thinking in her work with organisations that are trying to imagine and create different futures.
"In a lot of the work we do, we're helping people imagine a new future," she says.
"Drawing quietens the voice that stops people imagining. It helps people move beyond budgets, policies and constraints and consider new possibilities."
Visual thinking creates a space where ideas feel less fixed and more open to exploration.
It encourages experimentation rather than certainty.
Returning to curiosity
Hazel believes one of the most overlooked benefits of drawing is the way it changes conversations.
Written documents can sometimes intimidate people. We assume they are finished. We assume somebody else understands them better than we do.
Drawings have a different effect.
"When something is in writing, we're expected to have a level of competency that makes us less inclined to speak up when we don't understand."
"Drawing puts people into a slightly uncomfortable zone because they don't feel so literate in that medium."
Paradoxically, that discomfort can be liberating.
People become more willing to ask questions, challenge assumptions and admit uncertainty.
"Drawing takes us back to our childlike curiosity. It makes it okay to say: 'I don't get it.' 'What do you mean?' 'Why?'"
Hazel White, Founder, Open Change
For Hazel, that curiosity is one of the most valuable ingredients in learning, collaboration and change.
Learning to simplify
Hazel describes the Diploma experience as warm, supportive and deeply practical.
The structured exercises, combined with detailed feedback from tutors and peers, encouraged experimentation and helped participants build confidence regardless of their starting point.
"People often wonder whether they need a certain level of drawing skill before they join. I don't think they do."
"It's such a welcoming environment. You can come in at any level and learn something genuinely valuable."
Among all the lessons she took away, one stands above the rest.
Simplify.
"What is the simplest way you can say this?"
It's a question Hazel now asks herself constantly, whether she is designing a workshop, developing learning materials or writing content.
"I'm ruthless in the editing now. Take that out. Take that out. You've said that already."
The Diploma reinforced a simple but powerful truth.
"It's not about making yourself look clever. It's not about showing off your skills."
"It's about communication. Always. It's about helping people understand."
