Archiv der Kategorie: Creativity

Creativity covers the area from idea generation to concept development.

Mind map 2.0 multiplies your efficacy

In the past, we were prepared for our professional life by learning reading and writing, basic arithmetic and geometry, music, art and sport in ex-cathedra teaching. Group work and business exercises or computers and visualizations were rarely used. An example of an approach is the Mind map. All kinds of ideas, structures and sketches can be created: e.g. brainstorming’s, strategies, goal hierarchies, business developments, project plans, minutes, problem solutions, speeches, time management, etc. The efficacy of Mind mapping can be multiplied by using IT-based tools such as Mindmanager, XMind, iMindMap, iThoughts and others.

In addition to the tips and tricks, the internet also provides rules for mind mapping. The following suggestions are primarily intended to enable the use of IT tools.

  • Anything goes
    Actually when you create your mind map with an IT program, all the common rules are
    no longer necessary. The now realizable size exceeds the limits of a sheet of paper by far. This also applies to the number of branches and the number of detail levels as well as to the labels and other media (see below). The development of a mind map can be done on your own or in a team by using a beamer or large video screen, or even in virtual videoconferences with worldwide distributed participants. Depending on the number of participants, the effort for the coordination of the branches of the resulting map increases.
  • Use the media
    Whereas one is conventionally limited to writing, drawing and gluing images in paper-based mind maps, one can use a wide variety of multimedia objects to integrate them in a tool-based way – texts, images, videos, links, office files, etc.
  • Any contribution counts
    If one works on paper, then the rework, i.e. above all the simplification, is somewhat complicated. In an IT-based mind map, the branches can be reassigned as required, including all sub-branches attached to them. This supports the usual brainstorming approach of simply capturing each post without discussion. That way maps can be developed in separate working groups. The final incorporation creates an aligned, joined result.
  • Be aware of your gut feeling
    A practical feature is the subsequent arrangement of the branches. The graphical presentation supports thereby the intuitive editing of the content. You can move branches into others and get inspired by the new formation. Visual thinking does not simply follow conscious logic. Through the graphical structure, the subconscious mind assists in the alignment. In the interest of a skillful result you should always listen to your gut feeling, even if you cannot always understand the reasoning behind.
  • Keep on going
    Software tools live on their juncture to the world. The Mindmanager offers connectivity to Microsoft products, for example: MS-Excel, MS-Word, MS-PowerPoint and even MS-Project. This means that the captured content can continue to be used in the sequence. Thus, the activities of a project, including dates and dependencies, can be planned with the Mindmanager and then transferred to the MS-Project format.

Bottom line: Tool-supported mind mapping, like Mind map 2.0, expands the use of this approach. This allows the multi-medial creation of mind maps of any size. At the same time, open approaches for the development can be used and sub sequentially integrated to a coherent overall picture. With the graphic representation the subconscious areas of thinking are also used. Eventually, all the results can be reused in classic office tools. Thus, Mind map 2.0, i.e. the use of software-supported mind mapping, multiplies the efficacy of the mind mapping.

Explore with PO potentials

In digital times, not many people are aware of how limited bivalent choices are. Even though the analogue reality takes place between the two poles of one and zero. The Western value system shows, how strongly this thinking affects every single pore. They oscillate between good and evil; between right and wrong; between black and white. The fact that the area in between contains an immeasurable number of alternatives does not always seem to be clear. The huge gray area is ignored. There is for a long time a way out of the dilemma of yes and no – by exploring with PO potentials.

Edward de Bono described the concept in detail already in the seventies. And yet, it seems to have slipped past everyday life. For this reason, here are a few possibilities for PO.

  • Use the impossible
    An alternative, which is to be rejected for good reasons, is far more than what speaks against it. Just as everything always has two sides, there is in every rejection additional potential for further solutions. Instead of using the classic No to suppress further reflection, the application of PO prevents to terminate the thought process prematurely. The associations attached with the negative alternative can be further used. Good examples are Post-its. The question of the meaningfulness of an adhesive which does not adhere would have been prevented removable notes and papers of any size. PO creates the freedom to continue toying with a thought, instead of immediately burying a proposal with a No. The number of solutions that is prevented is infinitely great. PO helps to rephrase the No.
  • Use the nonsense
    A major challenge is dealing with obviously absurd connections. The potential for completely new solutions can be found exactly here. Let us take the current trend of agility in bureaucratic companies as an example. How do you disrupt the inertia of the participants? Take an object that is within your reach. Connect agility with the object! Overcome the incomprehension of the first moment. Do not reject the context a priori! Use PO to step back and look at the two facts with a fresh look. If you have already overcome your resistance, you are already creating unexpected connections. Transfer your insights from the links that you’ve found. Whatever it is, it will make the introduction of agility more likely. PO is the fuel that enables to think the unthinkable.
  • Further develop feasible
    If you found the right thing, the spontaneous joy of the Eureka slows down the further kneading of the thought. And there is always more in something good. The best solution is always connected to further alternatives. The tendency to interrupt the flow of thought is the greatest hurdle for more. This could lead with additional tinkering to further or even completely new solutions. If, for example, the complete juice was pressed out of an orange, one might be tempted to throw away the skin. Although it contains active ingredients that help with respiratory problems, skin problems and an increased cholesterol level. This will enable further use of the already positive effect of the vitamin C. PO increases an already effective result.

Bottom line: PO opens up the world of possibilities. It helps not to give in to the first impulse, and to interrupt the productive flow of thought by not making any further thinking. A negative result is not sufficiently exhausted by rejection, although it provides the basis for further ideas. The accidental linking of completely absurd aspects can lead to entirely new inspirations. Even the positive solution can be multiplied by continuing thinking about it, despite its good results. PO is the missing link in yes-no cultures for an open approach to the endless opportunities that could be discovered. No more $ale of the century. From now on, more often exploring with Po potentials.