17 Nov Mind Mapping: Time for Creative Ideas
“Share your knowledge” is an important part of our corporate philosophy and therefore also part of the PRINCIPLES of WARGITSCH Transformation Engineers. In October, our Transformation Consultant, Alberto Vera Ramirez, therefore held an internal workshop on Mind Mapping and shared his knowledge with his colleagues.
Complex problem solving, critical thinking and creativity – these are the three most important skills in the 21st century, according to the World Economic Forum. Transformation Consultant, Alberto Vera Ramirez, presents a tool at his workshop that combines all three of these skills: Mind Mapping can be seen as a creativity method that involves capturing and structuring thoughts. The result of this process is called a Mind Map. The benefits are organizing and connecting knowledge as well as information.
Vera Ramirez begins his workshop with a digression about the human brain. The workshop participants quickly realize that Mind Maps and the brain are very similar. The latter is an “incredible machine”, as Vera Ramirez describes it. Neurons enable communication between the brain and the body. They can be found billions of times in the human body and are highly complex. Because of its complexity, the brain is capable of incredible things – especially in terms of creating as well as processing data. By regularly repeating certain content, it is also possible to strengthen neuronal connections – “routes”, so to speak. At this point, the connection between the human brain and Mind Maps can be seen: The latter is also about routes.
Vera Ramirez explains that Mind Maps are a tool that facilitates the structuring, learning and memorization of information. Simply explained, Mind Maps are a creative way of taking notes that have visual similarities to a map. The visual component is the reason that Mind Mapping is such a successful tool. It is as practical as it is efficient. The British author, Tony Buzan, who passed away in 2019, is considered the inventor of Mind Mapping. Vera Ramirez learned the content that he imparts to his workshop participants in 2017 at the ThinkBuzan Institute in Cardiff, England. His teacher was Tony Buzan himself. Buzan developed Mind Mapping as a working and visualization method that combines linguistic-logical with intuitive-image thinking. With regard to the digression about the human brain: Mind Mapping uses the full range of our brain’s capabilities such as words, pictures, numbers, logic, rhythm, color and spatial imagination and consequently becomes an effective technique.
But what does a Mind Map look like and what needs to be considered when creating it? Vera Ramirez turns special attention to the practical component during his workshop. A Mind Map resembles a tree in its structure. Starting from a concrete topic – the tree trunk – branches grow out of the Mind Map. From these branches, more branchlets and leaves sprout. This means the following: The object of attention crystallizes in the center. The main themes of the object radiate from the center in form of branches. These branches contain key words written on a line connected with the central theme. Subordinate themes are represented as branchlets and leaves that connect to the branches visually as well as content-related. All branches, branchlets and leaves together form a structure of interconnected nodes: The Mind Map! Since Mind Mapping offers many possibilities and opportunities, the creativity method can be slightly overwhelming, especially for beginners. Therefore, Vera Ramirez provides his workshop participants with the five most important elements when creating a Mind Map:
- A central image is the starting point of each Mind Map.
- The branches are categorized main ideas, represented as curved lines.
- One keyword per branch is sufficient; full sentences should be avoided.
- One color is chosen per branch for categorization.
- Pictures in form of drawings and symbols are a visual support.
Since “learning by doing” also applies to the creation of Mind Maps, the practical application of what has been learned is not neglected in the workshop. On the one hand, due to small exercises with pen and paper, and on the other hand, through an introduction to the iMindMap software, which allows users to digitally explore the full range of Mind Mapping. At the end of the internal workshop, Vera Ramirez certifies all participants as “ThinkBuzan Practitioners in Mind Mapping”.