--- title: "Southwest Model Draw" description: "The facilitator draws a three-node diagram stroke by stroke while participants guess what is forming. The completed sketch reveals the three-city airline route network that founded Southwest Airlines." last_updated: "2026-09-07" canonical: "https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/southwest-model-draw/" --- # Southwest Model Draw The facilitator draws a three-node diagram stroke by stroke while participants guess what is forming. The completed sketch reveals the three-city airline route network that founded Southwest Airlines. **Time:** 10 minutes. Source cites under 5 to 15 minutes; 10 minutes allows time for progressive drawing and debrief. **People:** 4 to 24. Whole group with facilitator at the front board ## Choose this exercise **Purpose:** Demonstrate how a few basic visual elements turn an abstract business idea into an understandable operating model. **Use it when:** Use when introducing strategic modeling, visual thinking, or product simplification to a group. **Skip it when:** Skip when the team needs detailed technical process mapping rather than a quick demonstration of conceptual simplicity. ## Materials and tools - 1 flipchart easel or whiteboard - 2 dark chisel-tip markers ## Before participants arrive 1. Set up a flipchart easel or clear a whiteboard visible to all participants. 2. Test markers to confirm lines and letters are legible from the back of the room. ## Say this to open I will draw a diagram on the board, one mark at a time. After each mark, call out what you think I am drawing. Wild guesses are welcome. ## How to run it ### 1. Explain the guessing rules (2 minutes) Deliver the opening script. Explain that you will add marks one by one, pausing after each stroke to hear what people think is forming. Participants may call out freely, type guesses in chat, or observe quietly. No one will be singled out to guess. ### 2. Draw the three nodes (3 minutes) Draw mark 1: a small circle top-center. Pause and ask what it is. Draw mark 2: a small circle lower-left. Pause and collect guesses. Draw mark 3: a small circle lower-right, completing an equilateral triangle layout. Pause and prompt for guesses. Early guesses often sound like bowling pins, traffic lights, or molecules. ### 3. Connect the nodes and label (2 minutes) Draw mark 4: a straight line connecting the top and lower-left circles. Pause for guesses. Draw mark 5: a line connecting the lower-left and lower-right circles. Pause for guesses. Draw mark 6: a line connecting the lower-right and top circles. Pause for guesses. Label each node: write DAL at the top, HOU at lower-left, and SAT at lower-right. Explain that these are the airport codes for Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. ### 4. Debrief strategic simplicity (3 minutes) Explain the origin: the business model evolved from a visualization sketched on a napkin to pitch a point-to-point shuttle between those three Texas cities. Read the debrief questions. Invite two participants to share reflections, each answering whichever single debrief question they prefer. ## Debrief questions - At what point did the abstract shapes turn into a recognizable system for you? - How does reducing an entire operating idea to three nodes and connecting lines help or hurt alignment? - Where in our work are we overcomplicating an idea that needs a simple napkin sketch? **Finished output:** A completed three-node triangle diagram on the board illustrating a point-to-point operating model. ## Remote Share a digital whiteboard canvas. Draw each circle and line step by step using a pen or shape tool. Pause after each stroke to read aloud guesses entered into the meeting chat. ## Hybrid Broadcast a shared digital canvas on the room screen and to remote participants, or point a dedicated room camera at the physical flipchart. Remote participants enter guesses into the chat while a co-facilitator reads them aloud alongside room voices. ## Access and participation choices - Participants can call out guesses, type them in chat, write them down privately, or observe without guessing. - No participant is called on individually to guess. ## If the session gets stuck **A participant immediately recognizes the airport codes or route model and shouts the answer early.** Affirm the correct identification right away, draw the remaining lines briskly, and transition directly into the debrief on simplicity. **The room stays quiet and nobody offers guesses during the initial circles.** Offer an absurd neutral guess yourself, such as three billiard balls or missing pizza slices, to lower the barrier to speaking up. ## Terms used here - DAL: Dallas Love Field airport code, Dallas, Texas. - HOU: Houston Hobby airport code, Houston, Texas. - SAT: San Antonio International airport code, San Antonio, Texas. ## Sources and adaptation Observed in Relationship Makers Handbook, pages 378-379, referencing the Southwest Airlines route napkin sketch. Retained the progressive seven-step drawing sequence, the Texas triangle nodes (DAL, HOU, SAT), and the napkin origin from observation-0. Added UWT step timings, structured access options, explicit explanation of airport codes during labeling, and clear debrief selection rules. Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/southwest-model-draw/