Posted by : Unknown Chủ Nhật, 15 tháng 9, 2013



Let go of linear thinking and map out your thoughts and ideas in a visual and more effective manner.

by Ruben D. Canlas

There are many ways to improve your thinking powers, but one of the most effective tools I’ve discovered is mind mapping. Let me share some tips to get you started doing your own mind maps and become an effective thinker quickly.
Begin with a central idea
We credit Tony Buzan for inventing mind mapping. He created it as a way to improve his note-taking skills.
Writing, he realized, should reflect the way we think, which works a lot like web surfing. It starts from a central idea and jumps playfully from branch to branch in a radial/neural fashion.
The mind map below shows this central idea and the main ideas branching out from it.


It’s hard to capture thoughts in one line

Mind maps look pretty much like neurons – the cells that carry thought signals.
Conversations and meetings also work this way. Your team meets up to get some project updates. Next thing you know, you’re talking movie gossip, often unable to trace how you got there.
Linear writing cannot capture this whimsical nature of thinking and discussion. Paragraphs, once written down, are static. It’s hard to insert additional notes in between the sentences, unless you have tiny penmanship.
Branch out: expand on the main ideas
Below you’ll see an expanded view of the first idea in our mind map.

My actual process for making this mind map was non-linear. I grew one branch, stopped, went to another, jumped to another, and so on.
Note that I added the topic numbers later, to suggest a reading sequence. I did not necessarily start with Number 1.


Build on your idea with lines and circles

Because we also think visually, an important part of making mind maps is to make them visual. We do this by adding pictures, images, and icons. We emphasize visually using bold, italics, different colors, and heavy lines.
Drawing clouds or circles helps cluster ideas. Lines and arrows point to related topics.
The example below shows some of the key tips mentioned here. For instance, take note of the red line showing a link between two branches.
It’s also important to limit text. Avoid long sentences. Instead, use key phrases.


Make mind mapping work for you

You will find many uses for mind maps. They have helped me organize my thoughts and discover existing and new patterns of ideas.
I’ve used mind maps to help surface the different assumptions and mental models of team members in conflict. In very controversial debates, you could ask colleagues to first make mind maps on how they feel and think about the issue. They then present their personal mind maps to everyone or in pairs.
Mind maps are very helpful in conveying complex topics very quickly so they’re really good at improving teaching and training. Instead of slides, I show my students a main mind map and discuss the subject using the map. The students make their own mind maps as I discuss. Then I ask them to share their personal mind maps in pairs or small groups, noting and discussing differences.
Buzan cites many examples about how test scores improved after using mind maps. I have personal experience on this too and could attest to its effectiveness.
If you want to get deeper into mind maps, the web has a lot of tutorials and readings. Visit www.tonybuzan.com for a quick intro and more tips. My personal favorite is Buzan’s The Mind Map Book, which helped me start on my own, before the web became a rich resource for mind mapping. (FreeMind is a good tool; it’s an app that’s freely downloadable online.)

Creative thinker Edward de Bono said, “The purpose of thinking is not to be right, but to be effective.”
Mind mapping has helped me become an effective thinker. But more importantly, it has helped me improve the way I see things and work.

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