A New Feature For Mind Mapping Software

Using Tool Maps

Using Tool Maps: A New Feature of Mind Mapping Software Start I would like to present a new feature of mind mapping software. This feature provides help right in the mind map you are working with. You can take single items or entire templates from help and use them in your map. These help items come from a second background mind map called tool map. This new feature does not yet exist, and I want to point out its many applications and advantages. For shorter reference, let’s call this yet nonexistent software MiHX, the Mi standing for Mind Mapping Software and the HX suggesting ‘heuristic expansion‘. And now:

Imagine Imagine you are dealing with the task of constructing a car. You have already developed ideas on the motor and the bodywork (not shown in the example), and your next topic is passenger safety.

Passenger safety

Bodywork

Car construction

Motor You feel you could do with some help, so you mark the branch ‘Passenger safety‘ and press ALT + help. This is what you get:

Bodywork

Passenger safety

Analysis Help

Assessment Creativity

Car construction

Motor

The help branches fold and unfold like a menu as you are navigating them by mouseclicks or arrow keys. They are highlighted to indicate that they are not a part of the original map.

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Using Tool Maps

Analysis Assessment
Brainstorming

Bodywork

Passenger safety


Osborn's checklist Help Creativity

Look for
analogies

Analogies from nature Analogies from art Analogies from technology

Car construction

Motor The book symbols on some branches indicate that additional information about a technique can be found in the textnotes attached to that branch. You decide that looking for analogies from nature is a promising approach. After a doubleclick on that branch, two things happen: 1. The chosen branch is attached to the branch ‘Passenger safety‘ from where you started help. The initial highlighting for this help item vanishes. 2. The other help items disappear automatically.

Bodywork

Passenger safety

Analogies from nature

Car construction

Motor

You start thinking about analogies from nature and do some conventional mind mapping without noticing the help function. Here comes a rather, well, imaginative example: Eggs

Bodywork

Passenger safety

Analogies from nature

Fill car with water Hard material for bodywork

Kangaroo babies

Safety pocket for passengers

Car construction

Motor

After a while, you want to examine one of your courageous ideas more closely. You mark the relevant branch, press ALT + help a second time and start navigating the help branches.

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Using Tool Maps Analysis Strength Fill car with water


SWOT Help

Weakness Opportunity

Assessment

Threat

Eggs

Bodywork

Passenger safety

Pros & Cons

Analogies from nature

Creativity Hard material for bodywork

Car construction

Kangaroo babies

Safety pocket for passengers

Motor

In many cases, getting inspiration from the help branches will be sufficient. But in this case, you will again implant help items in your map: With a doubleclick on SWOT, you take over that template to your map. (Remark: The textnotes to SWOT have been removed automatically.) Fill car with water

Strength SWOT

Eggs

Bodywork

Passenger safety

Analogies from nature

Car construction

Safety pocket for passengers

Motor

The support information comes from a second mind map, which will be called help map.

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Opportunity Threat

Hard material for bodywork Kangaroo babies

Weakness

Using Tool Maps

In the above example, it looks like this:
Key questions Analysis


Main elements
Divide into parts Strengths Weakness


SWOT

Opportunity Assessment

Threat Pros

Pros & Cons

Cons

Help


Brainstorming Make it larger Make it smaller


Osborn's checklist

Use other materials

Problem solving tools

... Creativity

Analogies from nature

Look for
analogies

Analogies from art Analogies from technology

(Using only one branch should simplify the process of copying branches from the help map and pasting them into your principal map.) One of the central ideas of the concept is that users can create and adapt their own help maps. For example, you could add planning procedures to your help map:
Key questions Analysis


Main elements
Divide into parts Strengths Weakness


SWOT

Opportunity Assessment

Threat Pros

Pros & Cons

Cons
Brainstorming Make it larger

Help


Osborn's checklist

Make it smaller Use other materials ...

Creativity

Problem solving tools

Look for
analogies

Analogies from nature Analogies from art Analogies from technology

Aims

Collect aims Choose aim

Planning Procedures

Collect procedures Choose procedure

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Using Tool Maps

Next time you press ALT + help, this is what you get: Fill car with water

Strength SWOT

Eggs

Bodywork

Passenger safety

Analogies from nature

Weakness Opportunity Threat

Hard material for bodywork Analysis Kangaroo babies

Safety pocket for passengers

Car construction

Help

Assessment Creativity Planning

Motor

Creating and adapting help maps makes MiHX an outstandingly versatile tool.

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Using Tool Maps

Applications Imagine tool maps about the following topics: • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Project planning tools Consulting, with tools for analyzing business situations Analyzing marketing strategies, with questions about market situation, competitor analysis and tools for improving own marketing success Examining lawsuits Studying, with questions supporting critical thinking Scientific work, with advice on information retrieval, argumentation and methodology Specialized creativity tools supporting advertising agencies Developing computer programs, with style guides or information on syntax Information for job beginners to support rapid learning on the new job Information from seminars that should be directly accessible Solving math problems, with heuristic strategies, questions, useful mathematical principles and tools for dealing with mathematical objects (a pet subject of mine) Creative writing Self-help, with suggestions for analyzing and overcoming personal problems Personal growth, with questions about your aims and suggestions for change in your life

On most of these topics there are numerous excellent books. Condensing information from these books into tool maps is simple. Tool maps allow you to transform dormant information from books into working knowledge.

Advantages •

• • •

•

•

User-friendly tutoring: Tool maps provide large amounts of support information at a keystroke. You do not have to use another program or another file. Help is simply there where you need it. Reminder function: Tool maps remind you of tools you might otherwise have overlooked. Flexibility: You can adapt the tool maps to any kind of problem and any kind of expertise. Working knowledge: With tool maps, information from books, seminars or talks with your collegues quickly becomes part of your working knowledge: First, you do some active work on that information by integrating it into a tool map. After that, you can access this information most easily. It is quite easy to extract the essential information from a book. In contrast to merely reading a book, its content can become part of your work by using help maps. Knowledge management: By sharing tool maps, information and working knowledge can be circulated quickly. This is of prime importance for companies, schools and universities. Self-improving: The tool map concept encourages you to improve your ‘toolbox‘ for mental work. This improves not only your set of tool maps, but at the same time your working habits.

Miscellaneous ideas • • • •

Tool maps should be searchable from the principal map. Otherwise it might be difficult to find relevant information in large tool maps. It might be useful to edit the tool map directly in your principal map. The help branches could be adapted to the principal map (with regard to size, font etc.). If the tool map is large, the distance between the branch from which you started help and the help branch you have chosen by doubleclicking may be considerable. Animations could help avoid confusion.

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Using Tool Maps

Literature I have used ideas from the following books. De Bono, Edward: de Bonos neue Denkschule. Mvg Verlag, Landsberg 2002 Buzan, Tony: The Mind Map Book. BBC Books, London 1995 Buzan, Tony: Business Mind Mapping. Ueberreuter, Frankfurt 1999 Dörner, Dietrich: Problemlösen als Informationsverarbeitung. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1987 Dörner, Dietrich: Die Logik des Misslingens. Rowohlt, Reinbek 1989 Dörner, Dietrich: Bauplan für eine Seele. Rowohlt, Reinbek 1998 Engel, Arthur: Problem-Solving Strategies. Springer, New York 1998 Funke, Joachim: Problemlösendes Denken. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2003 Higgins, James M.: 101 Creative Problem Solving Techniques. The New Management Publish Company, Winter Park 1994 Hoenig, Christopher: The Problem Solving Journey. Perseus Publishing 2000 Jones, Morgan D.: 14 Powerful Techniques for Problem Solving. Three Rivers Press, New York 1998 Mason, John: Hexeneinmaleins. Oldenbourg, München 1985 Michalko, Michael: Cracking Creativity. Ten Speed Press, Berkeley 2001 Nelson-Jones, Richard: Using Your Mind. Cassell, London 1997 North, Klaus: Wissensorientierte Unternehmensführung. Gabler, Wiesbaden 2002 Von der Oelsnitz, Dietrich; Hahmann, Martin: Wissensmanagement. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2003 Polya, George: How to Solve it. Princeton 1957 Pricken, Mario: Kribbeln im Kopf. Schmidt, Mainz 2001 Robertson, S. Ian: Problem Solving. Psychology Press 2001 Sell, Robert; Schimweg, Ralf: Probleme lösen. Springer, Berlin 2002 Zeitz: The Art and Craft of Problem Solving. Wiley, New York 1999

5. December 2003, slightly revised 13. November 2008

©

Dr. Thomas Teepe Alosenweg 37 70329 Stuttgart Germany E-mail: [email protected]

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