6.8
MIND MAPPING: A BREAKTHROUGH TOOL
Inspired by Tony Buzan, Will McWhinney, Bernie Novokowsky, Jim Webber, and Doug Smith.Many concerns faced by leaders are complex and fuzzy and have multiple causes and solutions.
Mind mapping is a creative, real-time, energizing method for illustrating issue complexity and
systemic interrelations. Mind mapping promotes creative problem solving by helping partici-
pants to visualize data (helpful for visual learners); to see interrelationships among data ele-
ments; and to look at new solutions. Done well, this mind mapping tool can lead to break-
throughs by reframing an issue or finding a better solution.
There are five typical steps to producing a mind map:
SECTION 6 TOOLS FORCRITICALTHINKING ANDINNOVATION 193
Set the
Stage✔ As necessary, explain what a mind map is, why it is helpful, and how to construct one.
✔ Clarify ground rules as necessary; no evaluation during the first pass, clarification okay, okay to
➟ suggest topics or interlinks to be drawn.Create a
First-Pass
Map✔ Place a large sheet of paper on a wall or use a large whiteboard.
✔ In the middle, write a word or phrase that frames the problem.
✔ Ask participants to write on the paper related topics, concerns, causes, solutions, and systems;
then discuss their placement on the map, and their connection to each other.
✔ Encourage outside-the-box ideas and connections.
✔ Work until new ideas and links seem exhausted.➟
Step Back✔ Staying in a developmental mode—not yet evaluative—step back and look at the emerging map
in a holistic way. In step 2, the problem was broken into its elements; in step 3, ask participants
for a synthesis of the data.
✔ Ask participants what new insights they are developing into the original concern. If potential
actions are suggested, place these on a Parking Lot sheet for possible action later.
✔ Look for clusters of topics; circle them with a unique color. Label the cluster. Draw new lines to
show interrelationships as needed.➟
➟
Plan
Action✔ Looking at the map, ask, “When should action be taken? On which elements, clusters, or
relationships?”
➟✔ Clarify and document the action plan.➟
Redraw
the Map✔ At this point, a new map should be emerging. Draw this new picture of the concern on a new
sheet of paper or whiteboard, illustrating its relationships. On this redrawn map, new and
➟ perhaps better sources of action should emerge.
➟➟