SolveYourProblem
Article Series: Brainstorming
Brainstorming, Where Do I Begin?
Brainstorming
Strategies: Mind Maps
The
phrase "think outside the box"
has become so familiar in the world of business it borders
on cliché, yet few actually know what it is or how to
do it. People are simply expected to figure out how to heed
the order or be prepared to go look for another job elsewhere.
Even in organized brainstorming sessions, what has the potential
to be a powerful process can sometimes descend into havoc and
chaos. Thinking outside the box can be taught. It is a skill
that can be honed and developed. And an excellent training
technique for teaching, honing and developing this skill is
with a brainstorming strategy called Mind Maps.
Mind
Maps provide a number of benefits to a group dynamic. It
behaves as an icebreaker. It points participant’s minds
in the same direction. And it promotes thoughts and ideas that
may not otherwise come to the surface in the course of a typical
brainstorming session.
To do it, take a group of 5 or less people (and if your group
is larger, divide it up into smaller groups of around 5 or
less people each). Provide each group with a large piece of
paper and a variety of colored markers. Instruct the group
to then write the stated focus of the brainstorming session
in the center of the paper with a circle drawn around it. Then
have each of the groups start drawing lines that branch out
from that center point and writing down at the ends of each
of those lines any ideas that come to mind.
The group can then draw circles around these ideas and draw
branches out of them to create sub-topics or series’ of related
ideas. In many cases different sub-topics or related ideas
will relate to others on different branches, in which case
the group should also draw new lines connecting them.
What emerges from this process is a map of ideas, oriented
as they interrelate to one another and, most importantly, to
the core idea at the center of it all. This visual idea network
is a Mind Map.
What often becomes apparent to groups conducting a Mind Map
exercise is that the larger topics and subtopics branching
off from the main idea are ideas and actions already in place
or familiar to many in the group, the business, and the industry.
But as branches continue to sprout from these initial ideas,
new ideas begin to show forth - imaginative and innovative.
After the Mind Maps are created, take some time to review
each one together with the whole group. Highlight the ideas
that strike the group as new, imaginative, innovative. Initiate
discussion on seemingly unrelated items to see if your collective
genius can’t find another branch waiting to be drawn between
them. Find similarities and repetitions of ideas within individual
Mind Maps and between two or several Mind Maps. Often these
will indicate ideas the group already believes should be implemented,
and actions that the group already agrees should be taken. # # # # # SolveYourProblem.com
: 2008
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