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3 Elements of Mind Mapping
Many have seen me use mind mapping in meetings, workshops, brainstorming sessions and even in project planning. Now what many don’t know is how and when to use mind maps. So I’m going to share with you some quick insights on its origin, usage and basic guidelines.
Origin
“Min-Map” as a term was made popular by Tony Buzan in Britain in the 1950s though the term itself was present before. Nevertheless, visual representation of information is not a novel idea, it dates back to the third century when Porphyry of Tyro, a philosopher, graphically represented Aristotle’s concepts. Back then they knew the value of graphical representation of ideas and it’s still valid till today…people retain graphical information more than textual.
Usage
If, like most people, you think that mind maps are a tool for brainstorming only…think again! It can be used in a multitude of ways..some of them are:
- Note Taking
- Project Planning
- Cause-Effect Analyses
- Root-Cause Analyses
- Brainstorming
- Evaluation
- Creativity Enhancing
- Concept Explanation
- Listing of Related Items
Obviously the list is not exhaustive, but it gives you a good idea of where to start.
Guidelines
Now if you’re planning to do a mind map, here are few recommendations by Buzan himself (with personal amendments) to ensure you’re utilizing it well.
- Start with a word or image at the center.
- Use not only words but also images, diagrams, drawings or anything that helps in expressing.
- Switch between Upper and lower cases when needed to stress on some main ideas.
- Each word/item is to be put on a line by itself, they don’t like sharing the same line.
- All items must be connected starting from central idea/word/image and growing outwards, no hanging fruits.
- Draw thicker/longer lines for more “important” ideas.
- Use different colors for branches, ideas..etc. to stress on differences.
- Try out several small mind maps to find your style before you start using it for business or studying.
I hope the above helped a little bit and I wish you the best of luck in mapping your mind!
Systems Thinking: Understanding the Complexity of Our World
Systems Thinking is based on the field of system dynamics, founded by MIT professor Jay Forrester in 1956. The idea behind systems thinking is to be used when analyzing change, interventions and solutions to consider how the component being under study is interacting with other components in the system.
So for example, if we’re trying to introduce new roles in the organization or solve a social issue or introduce new projects and initiatives in the community or organization…we need to consider how those interact with other parts of the system. Many of the traditional methods take a sequential approach to analyzing issues, systems think
This leads us to actually ask, what is a system? Well in a nutshell, a system is a group related, interdependent, bound and related components that interact together. So the computer you’re using is a system, organization you work in is a system, the city you’re in is a system, the country you’re in is a system. In this context, systems can be a “component” of a bigger system. Thus our world is constantly interconnected and has multiple influences from the broader system on the smaller ones, and vice versa.ing on the other hand focuses on the big picture and how are it’s components interacting thus a more complex and iterative approach.
For example, the company’s “system” is made up of:
- Policies & Procedures
- Human Capital
- Facilities & Equipment
So to introduce a change in one of those 3 elements, whether it’s team performance or overall cost reduction, there will be an impact on the other 2 elements and thus in many organizations instilling some change in one element will end up leading to un-expected changes in the other and thus the “original” problem would be resolved, but other problems would’ve popped up.
The key benefit of Systems Thinking is that it provides a better way for analysis and for solving most complex problems that are plaguing our world from governments to communities to business and so on.
Systems Thinking is being used in very wide spectrum of fields today and this proves that the people are becoming aware of it’s value. Some of the fields where it is being utilized are:
- Engineering & Construction
- Management & Consultancy
- Environment
- Health & Medical Services
- Manufacturing & Industry
- Business Analysis
- Project Management
- Policy Making & Governance
- Community Development
- Computing & Information Technology
- Sustainable Development
In conclusion, with the increasing complexity of our world today it becoming a necessity to be able to see the “big picture” and understand the systems we are working with or else our proposed solutions and improvements will fail to reach the impact expected with long lasting sustainability.
