Mind Mapping and Knowledge Management
Nick Duffill and Patrick Mayfield
When someone gives you an updated copy of the company organization chart, it is probable
that the first thing you do is to take a look to "see where you are", or rather, assess the reach
of available power bases. What lies behind this simple action?
First, we note that a diagrammatic representation is the accepted medium for organization
charts. Only if you wanted to actively hide information would you consider writing it out
longhand - the recipients would need to read it carefully several times to be certain whether
they had moved up, down or sideways.
Second, it is much easier to discern relationships in diagrams than in paragraphs of text. This
is because you are additionally using visual processing faculties as well as reading words,
and a lot of evolution has gone into understanding spatial relationships and anticipating
consequences. An organization chart in particular describes relationships, influences, and
ultimately causes and effects. It provides an insight into the hierarchy which words alone
would have difficulty in conveying.
Many other kinds of information are hierarchical structures, but are less commonly
represented diagrammatically. However, the advantages of using a diagram are the same as
in the case of the organization chart - a clearer understanding of relationships within the
information, by using the visual cortex to help process the data.
Tony Buzan recognized this many years ago in his 'Mind Mapping' technique, developing the
idea of using hierarchical maps to help with the learning process, and extending it with
colours and symbols to trigger later recall. A key part of the Mind Mapping process is the
development of skills in creating Mind Maps through understanding the relationships between
pieces of information, rather than just trying to remember items in isolation. This exploits the
mind's natural ability to link things together and recall connected sequences rather than
random facts. A subject which is understood is far easier to remember than one which makes
little sense. Not only does mapping out information visually help with understanding, but it
also helps considerably in the creative process. Seeing one's thoughts on paper increases
awareness of causes and effects, and makes symmetries and gaps more apparent. Thinking
about fundamental relationships rather than just facts is a trigger for new ideas in the best
traditions of de Bono's creativity techniques.
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Pen-and-paper Mind Mapping has enormous value as a personal tool, but does not follow
through into the phase where most of us operate the best - continuous refinement. It is
typically easier to make a series of small improvements on something than to get it "right first
time". Worse, relatively few managers in Western business are ready to accept mapped
information as opposed to traditional documents. The good news is that Mind Mapping
software has now come of age, providing an environment where maps can be endlessly
manipulated and developed without showing signs of ageing. Detail can be hidden or shown
at will, and the results can be instantly published as diagrams, documents or interactive
websites. MindJET's MindManagerTM software, for example, supports concept mapping from
a few early thoughts right through to a complex project, and all points in between.
So how does this relate to Knowledge Management? First, an environment which stimulates
and fosters the elicitation process is a powerful tool, especially when used interactively. The
visual feedback from the map creates a sense of shared understanding rather than mere
information extraction, and helps enormously in clarifying misunderstandings before they can
take hold. When you write something down, you are taking notes, perhaps for later analysis. If
you draw it in a diagram, you are illustrating your comprehension, which is a very different
matter. Second, the fact that a map shows insights beyond the words it contains makes it a
potential vehicle for transferring knowledge as opposed to information, if we temporarily
define knowledge as "information in context".
The army does not sit soldiers in a warm classroom and teach them how to be disciplined,
and how to respond in life-threatening situations. It takes them out into muddy ditches, day
after day, and just makes them do it until it becomes instinctive. It would be too costly to hope
that soldiers could bridge the gap from classroom theory to ugly reality and draw practical
conclusions fast enough to stay alive. Yet most of us make these mental leaps (in a business
sense) every day, when trying to apply ideas from books or courses. This is the "medium
gap", where potentially valuable knowledge is presented in one medium, but applied in
another; such sacrifices are made for the sake of optimizing the interface at the point of
transfer. Techniques which aim to close that gap contribute towards a more effective transfer
of knowledge, on the basis that knowledge is not something you know, but something you can
actually use. By far the most valuable parts of a textbook on applied mathematics are the
worked examples, just in case they look a bit like your homework problem.
A flexible Mind Map also allows elements of the Knowledge Base to be cross-referenced in
novel ways, re-assembled and mobilized to meet a specific client requirement. For example,
suppose a service business offers a wide portfolio through a group of operatives, who are
geographically dispersed in the field. Knowledge management can help identify and track
such things as products and competencies. But can such elements be creatively and rapidly
linked to a specific, unique client requirement? What is needed here is not just a repository of
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knowledge. The organization needs to identify potentially relevant and potent new
configurations of people and products that could provide a better service to the client.
Innovative solutions are often required, rather than simply relying on minor improvements to
off-the-shelf solutions that may have worked in the past. The Mind Map provides an
opportunity to take a different view of things: not only to see new synergistic relationships of
items intellectual capital within a business, but to go further and provide reassembled maps
as a customer proposition. Using a computerized tool such as MindManagerTM, either solo or
in a team setting, these reassembled propositions can be developed quickly, and tested for
coherence and availability.
The ultimate "cookbook" is thus a single medium which contains the information, the
explanation, the worked example and the tool with which to apply it all to real-world problems.
MindManager's Expert Package concept delivers just this, using maps to guide the approach
to a particular task. This provides a framework which stimulates the user into developing their
own understanding of their own task, borrowing some ideas and triggering new ones to
achieve something beyond a textbook worked example. This combination of facts,
understanding, experience and suggestions in a form which can be applied to real tasks is a
potent example of the meaning of "the medium is the message".
Nick Duffill, M-Urge Ltd, http://www.mindman.co.uk
Patrick Mayfield, Pearce Mayfield Associates, http://www.p-m-a.co.uk
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