After the school day, I would spend a lot of time at my father's Martial Arts school, waiting for him to wrap up his classes. To help make the time pass, he would give me a piece of paper with Korean words written out. The goal was to make these words disappear by drawing a visual that both disguises the word and expresses its meaning.

The general principles I'd follow while playing this game:

Do you know that strange phenomenon when you look at a word for too long and it stops looking like the word? I would intentionally practice doing something similar with the Korean words in front of me. Instead of "seeing" the word, I would closely analyze the different lines, intersections and shapes of the letters. I'd start to see the possibilities beyond the word itself, focused on what I can create with the given shapes and lines.
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I would think beyond the dictionary definition of the word, considering the context that this word is usually in: What other elements or objects relate to the word? If the word is an object, what setting does this object typically exist in? If the word is a feeling, what other objects or circumstances help evoke this feeling? (i.e. if the word means happiness, what things in the physical world bring me joy?)
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After taking time analyzing the word and its context, I at this point have a rough idea of what I want to draw. For example, for the word "rose", I know that I'd fit a drawing of a physical rose in there somewhere. I also decide I'd include a vase, since people put flowers in vases after receiving them. How many roses would I draw though? I haven't made those specific decisions yet. But having a rough visual in my head before starting helps guide me.
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Time to put pen on paper. It's not going to look perfect at first, but the drawing will slowly come to life with every stroke I make. If I think I made a mistake making one line, I take a step back and relook at the entire word as well as the space around it. How can I adapt the rough idea I had in my head with the drawing I have in front of me so far? Sometimes as I draw, I start to see something different than what my first rough idea was, so I adapt.
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Sometimes the first couple of tries are a bust. And that's okay. I would try to avoid using the eraser, and instead, keep the "failed" drawings so I can look back and reflect on what I could do differently the next time I try. I would practice over and over again drawing a fish, and soon my piece of paper that was once blank has a ocean of fish with subtle traces of the word "물고기".

I've adapted these principles throughout the years to both my life and my work:

I've learned to look at things from a different perspective. This game has strengthened my visualization skills and fostered my imagination to help find those new perspectives.

Asking myself "what do I know about this word outside of its definition?" has translated to my curiosity in understanding a problem's context and background.

Make a plan. I've learned to break down seemingly daunting problems down into smaller tasks and to prioritize those tasks.

Things don't always go as planned. I've learned to adapt quickly to unforeseen situations.

Practice, fail and try over and over again, or else I'll never improve and grow.