Mind	
  Mapping	
  for	
  Organizational	
  Improvement

By	
  Brian Kelly

Challenge	
   I	
  lead	
  a	
  large	
  functional	
  group,	
  including	
  more	
  than	
  110	
  people	
  distributed	
  across	
   the	
  United	
  States,	
  Mexico,	
  the	
  United	
  Kingdom,	
  Poland,	
  and	
  India.	
  I	
  inherited	
  a	
   substantial	
  portion	
  of	
  this	
  group	
  with	
  the	
  singular	
  goal	
  of	
  improving	
  its	
   performance.	
  Previously,	
  this	
  group	
  had	
  been	
  divided	
  into	
  five	
  separate	
  teams,	
  each	
   of	
  which	
  was	
  functioning	
  below	
  its	
  capacity,	
  disrespected	
  by	
  the	
  organization,	
  and	
   experiencing	
  low	
  morale.	
  	
  When	
  I	
  inherited	
  these	
  functions,	
  and	
  was	
  promoted	
  to	
   lead	
  them,	
  I	
  was	
  concerned	
  about	
  two	
  things.	
  First,	
  how	
  to	
  determine	
  and	
  prioritize	
   what	
  problems	
  the	
  group	
  was	
  struggling	
  with.	
  Second,	
  how	
  to	
  implement	
  solutions	
   to	
  these	
  problems	
  in	
  a	
  manner	
  that	
  would	
  prompt	
  buy-­‐in	
  from	
  the	
  managers	
  who	
   would	
  need	
  to	
  lead	
  the	
  changes.	
  	
  	
   	
   Selection	
   In	
  order	
  to	
  investigate	
  the	
  totality	
  of	
  the	
  group’s	
  challenges,	
  I	
  devised	
  a	
  number	
  of	
   qualitative	
  and	
  quantitative	
  research	
  methods	
  to	
  yield	
  different	
  kinds	
  of	
   information.	
  These	
  included:	
  a)	
  organizational	
  maturity	
  ratings,	
  b)	
  stakeholder	
   interviews,	
  c)	
  team	
  member	
  interviews,	
  d)	
  employee	
  satisfaction	
  surveys,	
  e)	
  work	
   product	
  completion	
  and	
  satisfaction	
  surveys,	
  f)	
  capacity	
  assessments,	
  g)	
  allocation	
   reports,	
  h)	
  case	
  studies,	
  and	
  i)	
  anecdotal	
  reports	
  of	
  successes	
  and	
  failures.	
  Armed	
   with	
  so	
  much	
  data	
  –	
  from	
  so	
  many	
  disparate	
  sources	
  –	
  it	
  quickly	
  became	
   overwhelming	
  to	
  make	
  meaning	
  of	
  it	
  all.	
  Thus,	
  I	
  organized	
  a	
  Mind	
  Mapping	
  activity	
   to	
  discern	
  and	
  prioritize	
  themes	
  for	
  improvement.	
  Mind	
  Mapping	
  is	
  a	
  way	
  of	
   “looking	
  for	
  patterns	
  in	
  the	
  large	
  quantity	
  of	
  data	
  you’ve	
  collected”	
  (Liedtka	
  and	
   Ogilvie,	
  81).	
  	
   	
   Application	
   The	
  Mind	
  Mapping	
  activity	
  was	
  a	
  full	
  day	
  activity	
  that	
  took	
  place	
  on	
  a	
  Tuesday,	
  so	
   that	
  all	
  participants	
  would	
  have	
  time	
  to	
  fly-­‐in	
  and	
  be	
  rested,	
  and	
  was	
  held	
  off-­‐site	
  to	
   avoid	
  work-­‐related	
  distractions.	
  I	
  invited	
  all	
  directors,	
  managers,	
  and	
  leads	
  from	
   within	
  the	
  group,	
  which	
  totaled	
  21	
  people.	
  I	
  began	
  by	
  creating	
  a	
  gallery	
  that	
   spanned	
  three	
  smaller	
  rooms.	
  Every	
  artifact	
  was	
  displayed	
  in	
  one	
  of	
  the	
  rooms,	
   including	
  both	
  raw	
  data	
  and	
  summary	
  reports.	
  I	
  divided	
  the	
  larger	
  group	
  of	
  21	
  into	
   three	
  smaller	
  groups	
  so	
  that	
  they	
  could	
  more	
  easily	
  move	
  from	
  room	
  to	
  room.	
  I	
   began	
  the	
  gallery	
  walk	
  by	
  leading	
  a	
  general	
  orientation,	
  which	
  was	
  followed	
  by	
  a	
   one	
  hour	
  silent	
  walk	
  during	
  which	
  participants	
  noted	
  themes	
  and	
  observations.	
   Each	
  group	
  then	
  clustered	
  these	
  themes	
  into	
  key	
  insights,	
  which	
  they	
  shared	
  out	
   with	
  the	
  larger	
  group.	
  We	
  then	
  synthesized	
  these	
  into	
  a	
  collective	
  set	
  of	
  ten	
  themes,	
   and	
  prioritized	
  them	
  into	
  a	
  criteria	
  list	
  for	
  improvement.	
  This	
  list	
  was	
  then	
  released	
   to	
  the	
  larger	
  organization	
  for	
  working	
  groups	
  to	
  tackle	
  and	
  report	
  on	
  over	
  the	
   upcoming	
  year.

Insight	
   The	
  Mind	
  Mapping	
  exercise	
  revealed	
  ten	
  key	
  insights	
  related	
  to	
  the	
  organization’s	
   maturity,	
  processes,	
  skills,	
  staffing	
  allocations,	
  leadership,	
  and	
  output.	
  One	
  key	
   insight,	
  for	
  example,	
  was	
  that	
  the	
  organization	
  was	
  understaffed	
  relative	
  to	
  industry	
   norms	
  and	
  in	
  a	
  few	
  key	
  areas,	
  including	
  visual	
  design	
  and	
  traffic	
  management.	
   Another	
  key	
  insight	
  was	
  that	
  the	
  team	
  lacked	
  transparency	
  around	
  how	
  it	
   prioritized	
  projects.	
  Once	
  identified,	
  these	
  insights	
  could	
  be	
  clearly	
  articulated,	
   translated	
  into	
  organizational	
  initiatives,	
  and	
  implemented	
  by	
  working	
  groups.	
  In	
   addition,	
  each	
  “problematic	
  insight”	
  was	
  rephrased	
  as	
  an	
  opportunity	
  statement,	
   such	
  as,	
  “We	
  will	
  create	
  mechanisms	
  to	
  transparently	
  prioritize	
  and	
  report	
  on	
   work.”	
  These	
  insights	
  helped	
  me	
  to	
  realize	
  the	
  value	
  of	
  design	
  thinking	
  in	
   organizational	
  design	
  and	
  improvement.	
  	
   	
   Approach	
   Mind	
  Mapping	
  proved	
  to	
  be	
  a	
  highly	
  effective	
  approach	
  because	
  it	
  enabled	
  us	
  to	
  a)	
   synthesize	
  a	
  large	
  amount	
  of	
  data	
  very	
  quickly,	
  b)	
  arrive	
  at	
  consensus	
  around	
   improvement	
  criteria,	
  and	
  c)	
  achieve	
  employee	
  buy-­‐in.	
  Because	
  these	
  insights	
  were	
   identified	
  and	
  prioritized	
  by	
  the	
  team	
  itself	
  –	
  and	
  not	
  be	
  the	
  senior	
  leadership	
  or	
  a	
   consulting	
  group	
  –	
  employees	
  identified	
  with	
  the	
  criteria	
  and	
  were	
  willing	
  to	
   volunteer	
  to	
  participate	
  in	
  working	
  groups	
  intended	
  to	
  address	
  each	
  insight.	
  In	
  the	
   future,	
  there	
  are	
  three	
  things	
  I	
  would	
  do	
  differently.	
  First,	
  I	
  would	
  engage	
  in	
  design	
   thinking	
  to	
  establish	
  the	
  initial	
  research	
  tools	
  that	
  would	
  inform	
  the	
  later	
  Mind	
   Mapping	
  activity.	
  Second,	
  I	
  would	
  include	
  the	
  entire	
  group	
  –	
  not	
  just	
  the	
   management	
  team.	
  Third,	
  I	
  would	
  spread	
  the	
  mind	
  mapping	
  activity	
  over	
  two	
  days,	
   rather	
  than	
  trying	
  to	
  complete	
  the	
  activity	
  in	
  just	
  one	
  day.	
  Although	
  the	
  Mind	
   Mapping	
  workshop	
  happened	
  only	
  a	
  few	
  weeks	
  ago,	
  it	
  has	
  already	
  improved	
   employee	
  morale	
  and	
  solved	
  several	
  critical	
  problems.	
   	
   Works	
  Cited	
   Nora Mero	
  and	
  Chris Taylor.	
  Designing	
  for	
  Growth:	
  A	
  Design	
  Thinking	
  Toolkit	
  for

Managers.	
  New	
  York:	
  Columbia	
  Business	
  School	
  Publishing,	
  2011.

