Shape shift your challenge: The butterfly as a catalyst for creative thinking

February 23, 2026 Newsletter by Iryna Molodecky

Earlier this month, I spent a week at a community-focused conference in Morelia Mexico where I facilitated a workshop on “VisualSolving: Applying Simple Visual Tools to Complex

Problems” The conference, dedicated to building conscious, thriving global communities was extremely energizing, and I was grateful and honoured to work with 25 changemakers from around the world who are committed to meaningful change.

Afterward, we visited the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, a 56,000-hectare sanctuary high in the mountains. Each autumn, billions of monarchs return from across North America, clustering in trees so densely they bend the branches. When they take flight, their wings sound like soft rain—an unforgettable expression of nature’s intelligence.

The monarch butterfly is an incredible creature that goes through three amazing transformations during its life: the caterpillar, shedding or molting its skin an amazing five times before the pupa stage, and finally birthing an extraordinary creature from the decay. 

Monarchs produce up to four generations in one summer and complete an extraordinary multi-generation migration spanning thousands of miles, yet their survival is increasingly threatened by the loss of milkweed, their sole food source. Their journey feels like a timely reminder: transformation is natural, necessary, and powerful.

Like the monarch, we too are being called to shed what no longer serves and take part in creating what comes next. Their multi-generation migration—fragile, powerful, and mysterious—is a living example of shape shifting: shedding, becoming, and returning renewed. That experience feels especially aligned with this month’s card.

This month’s card: Shape Shift

This month, I invite you to disrupt the familiar and reimagine your challenge through the “Shape Shift” card from the Explore category of the Visual Thinking Strategies Card Deck. When thinking becomes predictable or stuck in straight lines, Shape Shift introduces curves, edges, tension, and flow. It unlocks imagination and invites fresh neural pathways to light up.

Try this visual experiment:

Bring it into form. Draw a circle, square, triangle, star, cloud, and an organic shape. Place your challenge inside each one. Let the shape hold it.

Feel the shift. Notice how each form changes the emotional tone and meaning of the words. Does the circle soften it? Does the triangle sharpen it? Does the cloud open it? What surprises you?

Enter the shape. Imagine your challenge from within the geometry. Where are the edges? Where is the movement? What expands? What constrains? Which shape transforms the challenge most dramatically?

Tell a new story. Sketch or write a short narrative where your challenge fully inhabits its new form. What becomes possible that wasn’t visible before?

Creativity is not a talent—it’s a practice. Whether you’re helping learners grasp complex ideas, designing transformative experiences, or facilitating bold collaboration, these tools are designed to spark insight, agility, and breakthrough thinking.

Explore the full collection in the Visual Toolkit Shop at izmvisuals.com/shop—a curated library of high-impact, intuitive visual tools for facilitation, education, and creative problem-solving. The Complete Visual Toolkit is available for instant digital download.

Thank you for being on this journey with me. Together, let’s shed the old and birth a new identity for this earth.

With warmth and creativity,

Iryna

izmvisuals.com

Facilitating Creative Change with Visuals