Enterprise Architecture Mantra

Find the downloadable mindmap version (.mmap) on biggerplate.

Mind mapping versus “Communication”

Colleague of mine wrote on my #fb’s wall, this comment: “Sure, you can get things done through Mind Maps. But to convey a clear message I prefer the traditional A4 page – that is read from top to bottom.

http://blog.iqmatrix.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/how-to-mind-map.jpg “

I will skip the get things done thing, because obviously, he didn’t get what I was referring to… His comment made my mind spin regarding “communication” and mind mapping. OK, I am a mind mapping addict, as I like to call myself “the crazy mind mapper…” but this doesn’t mean I am blinding myself. So my first answer to him was:
Emeric Nectoux …Mind mapping gives its best benefits when used for yourself or in small teams. When it comes to communicate, traditional ppts or equivalent are still the best. This is mainly due to people you are presenting to were not with you when you did journey. (building your mind map).
By the way, the map you are pointing to is a nightmare. 😉 Make me wonder about the mental health of his creator. 😀

In a second thought, here is what I would like to add:

We all know the resistance that we can encountered when using mind mapping in a professional environment. Serious people will tell you that your little drawings and weird “spider web” are nice, but they are not here to play, but to work… blahblah blah… Well, I am not a salesman and never wanted to be. If people don’t want to use mind map, I don’t care, actually, I do think this is dangerous to use it if you don’t understand the rules. Lot of people see mind maps as a big mess, this is totally the opposite. Mind maps helps you to keep your ideas unstructured for a while, till you need them to be unstructured, but then, you have to process your mind map to take out the final result of it. If you stop half way, then you are either not finished or even worst… lost.

So, is it possible to communicate with mind map to people who are not mind mappers and who didn’t participate to your mental journey? My answer is of course: YES. But this requires a lot of rigor. It requires you to sort out ideas you throw in your map first, then to extract the Material Facts from what you did. Add pictures, colors, find out key words… well, in short, work out your map as you would if you were preparing a serious presentation.

At the end, after all these efforts, you will get a map that every regular man would understand. But even though, you reach such point, one point is still not secured and very dangerous: this same serious guys who told you before that they are not here to play, but to work…

So yes, using mind maps in presentation is possible, but reminds to be a dangerous bet. To be fully honest, I use it only when I know the people who are seating in from of me are ready for it. And in most case, I am using my “presentation mind map” only as a “structure portal” to my power points. Next time, I will g through a example for you ;o)

Cheers