While writing my book on management I had this overwhelming sense that either I was writing about the same thing more than once, or that the chapters were out of order, or I had not stressed the main points I wanted to, or all of the above. Something was nagging me. My editor, Susan Ortiz, introduced me to the concept of Mind Mapping, where you literally map your thoughts as they occur. Seemingly these maps are freeform, but once you do one you learn that they are far better than lists or ‘org chart’ or ‘flow chart’ styles.
I then created a mind map of thoughts in the chapter entitled “Blue Collar Managers – A Changing Environment. Interestingly enough, as I drew this map I learned something powerful – as your mind flows through an idea it automatically begins to expand upon the knowledge and the questions it brings up. AND the documentation of these organic maps makes it easier than bulleted lists to visualize where you are going.
This is a tool that I have been using for ‘note making’, and am now using it when I talk to clients, getting them to expand upon thought lines. The visual of the maps also greatly enhances the presentation of knowledge, and audiences ‘see it’ more readily. This isimportant because our minds retain images easiy, but lists, not so much.
Another arena I use it in is designing my speeches. I like interactive audiences, and prefer a more free-form approach to topics. But I could get to be a little too free-form. So having a map helps me continue threads of an idea to the end, stay on point, and keep the audience with me.
The book that helped me understand this, The Mind Map Book, by Tony Buzan, is available at many bookstores. The software I use is also by Tony Buzan and available at iMindMap.com
Enjoy learning and organizing your thoughts!
Bart Gragg
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