The Management Tip of the Day from Harvard Business Review

July 9, 2015 Use Mind Mapping to Spark New Ideas Like brainstorming, mind mapping helps teams come up with ideas quickly when starting from scratch. It lets people think associatively and visually to develop a constellation of interconnected ideas. Your team can generate more connections between ideas using mind mapping than by brainstorming or simply listing ideas. Start by writing a keyword or concept relevant to the situation at hand in the center of a blank page or whiteboard. Have your team free associate by adding words that relate to the original concept. Don’t evaluate or judge any ideas — even the most outlandish words or phrases can generate fresh thinking. Connect your ideas by drawing lines between them. Encourage your team to use colors to indicate action items, ideas, doubts, and other factors. You’ll end up with a visual mind map, which is a messy web of related concepts. Have the team discuss it so everyone understands each other’s viewpoints and what comes next. Adapted from “Innovative Teams (20-Minute Manager).”

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