Mind mapping as a tool to frame a problem
Information Overload Is a Filter Problem by Stephen E. Arnold
"The final issue I have is that I don’t have an answer to this question: “When I don’t know what I need to answer my question, what do I filter in and out?”
Indeed, this is a critical question that kick starts the thinking process. A good starting point is to map out the problem and identify as many attributes and components of the question.
Mind mapping facilitates identification and organization of complex ideas into clearly defined concepts and ideas. Using mind mapping tools helps immensely to portray the problem by using keywords, short phrases, and pictures which all are interconnected.
The strength of this approach is its simplicity. Through associative thinking, brainstorming, any problem will reveal links with relevant concepts and relationships. In fact, visually mapping a problem serves as an effective filter to frame the issues and validate understanding of the problem. Once this is done it is much easier to search for answers.
Download Context Organizer today.
Tags: 1-Sentence Summary, Information Overload, mind mapping, mind maps
November 23rd, 2008 at 4:20 am
Henry and I talked about is using Context Organizer as a proxy to understand expertise or a measure to compare what is needed to what is available.
I have just been able to complete my research on how to best do this and I have a description at http://personati.wordpress.com
The first idea here is Persona or a mask that people can wear or remove. The mask is made up of stories and processes to provide a unique perspective to those who wear it.
Marketers are served by using a Persona perspective as it helps them remember that people change quickly and for their own reasons. Different people can also act the same way regardless of which marketing label attached to them.
The second idea is that success with customers requires a product or service to be matched to what they want or need today, not what we believe they bought yesterday. Combine this with a Persona and we have started to create measures and perspectives that will help us succeed.
The third idea is the Story Lens which is described on my Scenario2 website.
Stories are the core of who we are and what we will accomplish–Tell a Story twice and it is a Process, tell it again and Software is written to accelerate processes, tell it again and Brand Value is created and tell it again and a measure is created.
The fourth idea is the concept of Creativity being the core of Innovation and that Innovation only happens when Creativity is supported by Processes. If a company cannot support Creativity with old or new processes Innovation doesn’t happen regardless of how many brilliant ideas you document. Creativity is simple and implies that something is created, not just more ink on paper.
Now let’s put all four ideas together and look at them from a business perspective and consider this question.
How do we Innovate in an environment where we have severe business stress, mergers acquisitions and most companies are cautious or worse?
Let’s start with Creativity and think about it in a way that applies to other business change as once we know where we are and understand where we want to go then why we decided to change doesn’t matter anymore. We just do it!
Creativity requires the support of processes to manifest value from ideas and it is easier if we understand the skills of the people we work with everyday. My suggestion is to think about what people can do and when I do it formally with an inventory I call it a PEP or Persona Expertise Program where I substitute expertise for product when I describe how I think about Persona.
Persona Expertise Programs or PEPs can be used to inventory the expertise elements across a company and its value chain to understand what is available to manifest innovation value from creativity.
Think of a Persona Expert as an ideal combination of process expertise needed to manifest value from creative inputs. We employ the concept of a Persona Expert to identify where the expertise needed to perform the new processes resides.
Once we know the combination of experts needed to transfer expertise identified with the Persona we might help the client with setting up processes to transfer that expertise to the people tasked with the new processes–EAT. Expertise Acquisition & Transfer.
Let’s EAT!
Cheers,
Nick
http://www.scenario2.com