MIND MAPPING TO HELP A TRAINING COMPANY TRANSFORM THEIR BUSINESS MODEL

1. Challenge

I run my own marketing consultancy specializing in commercial acceleration. My clients are  large Life Sciences corporates. Exceptionally, a friend who owns a medium-size,  international training company asked me to help facilitate a process to define a new,  digitally-enabled business model for his company, including a roadmap on how to achieve  the end-to-end digital transformation of the business as soon as possible.

The high urgency is due to the coronavirus crisis. While the training company has a strong  proposition and a long, successful track record, it’s fairly ‘old-school’ in its content,  approach and methods; it relies almost entirely on large face-to-face classroom trainings to  get the job done for clients. This no longer works in the era of social distancing and remote  work and must be urgently evolved.

The expectation is to upgrade content, ways of working and customer experience using  technology with the overall goal of step-changing growth. This company not only wants to  survive the crisis but also thrive in the new post-covid19 reality. I will be working amidst  internal and external uncertainty, with a small team who worries about their current  situation and manages budgets tightly. I want to use the Design Thinking approach to  address the challenge. This paper will focus on how I will use MIND MAPPING to bridge the  path from What Is to What if.

2. Selection

I have used mind mapping formally and informally in the past but never as part of the  rigorous yet flexible process Design Thinking provides. In the context of Design Thinking  mind mapping is an incredibly powerful tool which allows its users to translate tons of  disparate data into meaningful, communicable insights which deliver criteria on which to  build innovation.

I am awed by this prospect as I know from experience that teams typically drown in data  and do not use its full potential. I want our solution to be founded on robust data and  insights. Mind mapping will help me achieve the transition from What If (during which we  will collect a lot of data) to What If (during which we apply it to develop potential solutions)  by identifying insights and design criteria.

As Darden Silvia Robbins said in the opening parts of her Coursera video ‘Mind  mapping is one of the most powerful tools in the design thinker’s toolbox. It’s used to look  for patterns, it’s used to look for insights, that lead to more creative solutions to your  design challenge.’

I am looking forward to harnessing mind mapping for my project.

3. Application

I will use mind mapping - as Robbins puts it – ‘as the engaging alternative to a giant  report we might otherwise have written to sum up and communicate (…) step 1 (What Is).     I will approach the task as follows:    • Gather disparate data from as many stakeholders and sources as possible including

internal and external qualitative interviews (using projective techniques), ecosystem  analysis, competitive analysis, best practice and technology analysis, quantitative data  and other ways to mine information. This phase will yield a lot of data which will feed  into the mind map as a CUSTOMER-centric input.

• ‘Art Gallery’. As I am unable to work with the team face to face, in an ‘art gallery’ or an

‘incident room’ and so I will do it remotely, using technology while keeping faithful to  the offline principles of mind mapping proposed in this course. I have identified a highly  engaging brainstorming and workshopping platform called Klaxoon (if interested pls see  https://soto.com/listregister.asp) and purchased their license to be able to deliver mind mapping  remotely in an engaging, intuitive, visual and fun way.

1. I will set up a ‘virtual gallery’ with the help of selected 2 team members. We will

screenshot and scan diverse items from different data sources and post them in  the common virtual space on Klaxoon. This will be a great way of displaying and  aligning everyone to ‘what is’. This step might take 2 hours on a Zoom call.

2. I will then invite everyone in the team (ca 10 people) to view the ‘virtual gallery’

as well as input any missing data in a central team workspace on Klaxoon. I will  do it via a plenary zoom call with all of the team members present but will  subsequently allow individual time to think and access to peruse the gallery over  a few days following the call. Participants will be asked to choose items that  resonate with them. They will capture their ‘favourites’ on new virtual post it  notes. This will represent their individual view of what could help us with our  design challenge.

3. Participants will then be divided into 3 breakout teams and asked to first

individually clean up and organize items they picked up and then share their  favourite/highest potential data/ideas with the team. Subsequently breakout  teams will work to cluster, prioritize and develop themes and ideas. Examples of  potential relevant themes for this project include ‘remote work’, or ‘content that  wows online’ ‘or a ‘fully automated webinar model’ etc etc etc.The team will also  discuss any ‘outlier ideas’. The output of the breakout teams will be formulated  as insights related to each cluster captured in a team’s dedicated virtual board.  This step should take about 1-2 hours in 3 parallel teams working in their  breakout rooms on Zoom.

4. We will subsequently reconnect in the plenary during which teams will debrief

their work and capture insights together. We will be asking ourselves a joint  question about what we can uncover from every team’s observations and  insights using the ‘so what’ inquiry. We will also look for connections and/or  redundancies between clusters. We will arrive at the joint list of key insights  informing our design criteria.

5. In that same call we will translate insights into design criteria that must be

fulfilled for our challenge to be successful. These conditions will be based on the  insights we mined in course of the mind mapping process. One of the criteria  might as well be ‘fully remote delivery’. There will be other criteria that will fit  with customer journey and day to day life. All these criteria will form a basis for  ‘What if’ stage of the Design Thinking process. Step 5 and 6 will probably take ca.  2 hours of plenary work online.

4. Insight

I anticipate that the insights and resulting design criteria collected and generated through  the mind mapping exercise will not only be of superior quality but will also be fully  understood, aligned, embraced and owned by the team. I anticipate that this methodology  will allow all teams members to understand deeply and viscerally what’s going on (What is)  including some inconvenient truths where their business is in the eyes of the customer at  this moment of the company history… This will allow us to have a great basis for the What  If stage of the work – undefensive and open minded, working together to build the future  as one team.

I also expect that there will be some unexpected new ideas and realizations, previously  blocked by people’s resistance and ‘denial’ of the present reality. Some team members  may want to desperately hang on to the ‘normal’ represented by the work completed in  the past whereas the company’s success in the post-covid19 world requires fresh new  approaches which are 100 percent digital and thus bulletproof for remote and dispersed  client teams. A new sense of urgency and a ‘burning platform’ may be created in this  company as a ‘side effect’ of going through the mind mapping exercise. This would be a  wonderful bonus.

5. Approach

My project has not been initiated yet so I can’t share specific past learnings. However I  wanted to highlight a few potential challenges and solutions I anticipate as part of it being  a fully digital/online journey.

1. I anticipate potential issues moving from observation or themes to insights creation.

In the best of times this may be a tricky moment let alone when all the work needs  to be completed remotely. The fact we can’t be physically in the presence of team

members may further exacerbate this problem. I will make sure to pay particular  attention to this point of the process and allow enough time for this.

2. The timings proposed by prof. Cristian should be extended to allow for the fully

remote/online work, for each step of the mind mapping process.

3. I need to investigate in detail how to create good enough design criteria. I am aware

that different methods exist to achieve this.

4. I might also want to create a summary document (a report!) capturing key data,

insights and design criteria as a physical representation of our virtual work. I know  mind mapping is meant to replace a boring report but I would love to document our  journey, using a ppt, or maybe a video (tbd).

Thank you very much for your attention and time reading my work.

Warmest regards,

Hennie Dijkstra


MIND MAPPING TO HELP A TRAINING COMPANY TRANSFORM THEIR BUSINESS MODEL 1 . Challenge I run my own marketing consultancy specializing in commercial acceleration . My clients are large Life Sciences corporates . Exceptionally , a friend who owns a medium - size , international training company asked me to help facilitate a process to define a new , digitally - enabled business model for his company , including a roadmap on how to achieve the end - to - end digital transformation of the business as soon as possible . The high urgency is due to the coronavirus crisis . While the training company has a strong proposition and a long , successful track record , it ’s fairly ‘ old - school ’ in its content , approach and methods ; it relies almost entirely on large face - to - face classroom trainings to get the job done for clients . This no longer works in the era of social distancing and remote work and must be urgently evolved . The expectation is to upgrade content , ways of working and customer experience using technology with the overall goal of step - changing growth . This company not only wants to survive the crisis but also thrive in the new post - covid19 reality . I will be working amidst internal and external uncertainty , with a small team who worries about their current situation and manages budgets tightly . I want to use the Design Thinking approach to address the challenge . This paper will focus on how I will use MIND MAPPING to bridge the path from What Is to What if . 2 . Selection I have used mind mapping formally and informally in the past but never as part of the rigorous yet flexible process Design Thinking provides . In the context of Design Thinking mind mapping is an incredibly powerful tool which allows its users to translate tons of disparate data into meaningful , communicable insights which deliver criteria on which to build innovation . I am awed by this prospect as I know from experience that teams typically drown in data and do not use its full potential . I want our solution to be founded on robust data and insights . Mind mapping will help me achieve the transition from What If ( during which we will collect a lot of data ) to What If ( during which we apply it to develop potential solutions ) by identifying insights and design criteria . As Darden Silvia Robbins said in the opening parts of her Coursera video ‘ Mind mapping is one of the most powerful tools in the design thinker ’s toolbox . It ’s used to look for patterns , it ’s used to look for insights , that lead to more creative solutions to your design challenge . ’ I am looking forward to harnessing mind mapping for my project . 3 . Application I will use mind mapping - as Robbins puts it – ‘ as the engaging alternative to a giant report we might otherwise have written to sum up and communicate ( … ) step 1 ( What Is ) . I will approach the task as follows : • Gather disparate data from as many stakeholders and sources as possible including internal and external qualitative interviews ( using projective techniques ) , ecosystem analysis , competitive analysis , best practice and technology analysis , quantitative data and other ways to mine information . This phase will yield a lot of data which will feed into the mind map as a CUSTOMER - centric input . • ‘ Art Gallery ’ . As I am unable to work with the team face to face , in an ‘ art gallery ’ or an ‘ incident room ’ and so I will do it remotely , using technology while keeping faithful to the offline principles of mind mapping proposed in this course . I have identified a highly engaging brainstorming and workshopping platform called Klaxoon ( if interested pls see https://soto.com/listregister.asp ) and purchased their license to be able to deliver mind mapping remotely in an engaging , intuitive , visual and fun way . 1 . I will set up a ‘ virtual gallery ’ with the help of selected 2 team members . We will screenshot and scan diverse items from different data sources and post them in the common virtual space on Klaxoon . This will be a great way of displaying and aligning everyone to ‘ what is ’ . This step might take 2 hours on a Zoom call . 2 . I will then invite everyone in the team ( ca 10 people ) to view the ‘ virtual gallery ’ as well as input any missing data in a central team workspace on Klaxoon . I will do it via a plenary zoom call with all of the team members present but will subsequently allow individual time to think and access to peruse the gallery over a few days following the call . Participants will be asked to choose items that resonate with them . They will capture their ‘ favourites ’ on new virtual post it notes . This will represent their individual view of what could help us with our design challenge . 3 . Participants will then be divided into 3 breakout teams and asked to first individually clean up and organize items they picked up and then share their favourite / highest potential data / ideas with the team . Subsequently breakout teams will work to cluster , prioritize and develop themes and ideas . Examples of potential relevant themes for this project include ‘ remote work ’ , or ‘ content that wows online ’ ‘ or a ‘ fully automated webinar model ’ etc etc etc . The team will also discuss any ‘ outlier ideas ’ . The output of the breakout teams will be formulated as insights related to each cluster captured in a team ’s dedicated virtual board . This step should take about 1 - 2 hours in 3 parallel teams working in their breakout rooms on Zoom . 4 . We will subsequently reconnect in the plenary during which teams will debrief their work and capture insights together . We will be asking ourselves a joint question about what we can uncover from every team ’s observations and insights using the ‘ so what ’ inquiry . We will also look for connections and/or redundancies between clusters . We will arrive at the joint list of key insights informing our design criteria . 5 . In that same call we will translate insights into design criteria that must be fulfilled for our challenge to be successful . These conditions will be based on the insights we mined in course of the mind mapping process . One of the criteria might as well be ‘ fully remote delivery ’ . There will be other criteria that will fit with customer journey and day to day life . All these criteria will form a basis for ‘ What if ’ stage of the Design Thinking process . Step 5 and 6 will probably take ca . 2 hours of plenary work online . 4 . Insight I anticipate that the insights and resulting design criteria collected and generated through the mind mapping exercise will not only be of superior quality but will also be fully understood , aligned , embraced and owned by the team . I anticipate that this methodology will allow all teams members to understand deeply and viscerally what ’s going on ( What is ) including some inconvenient truths where their business is in the eyes of the customer at this moment of the company history … This will allow us to have a great basis for the What If stage of the work – undefensive and open minded , working together to build the future as one team . I also expect that there will be some unexpected new ideas and realizations , previously blocked by people ’s resistance and ‘ denial ’ of the present reality . Some team members may want to desperately hang on to the ‘ normal ’ represented by the work completed in the past whereas the company ’s success in the post - covid19 world requires fresh new approaches which are 100 percent digital and thus bulletproof for remote and dispersed client teams . A new sense of urgency and a ‘ burning platform ’ may be created in this company as a ‘ side effect ’ of going through the mind mapping exercise . This would be a wonderful bonus . 5 . Approach My project has not been initiated yet so I ca n’t share specific past learnings . However I wanted to highlight a few potential challenges and solutions I anticipate as part of it being a fully digital / online journey . 1 . I anticipate potential issues moving from observation or themes to insights creation . In the best of times this may be a tricky moment let alone when all the work needs to be completed remotely . The fact we ca n’t be physically in the presence of team members may further exacerbate this problem . I will make sure to pay particular attention to this point of the process and allow enough time for this . 2 . The timings proposed by prof . Cristian should be extended to allow for the fully remote / online work , for each step of the mind mapping process . 3 . I need to investigate in detail how to create good enough design criteria . I am aware that different methods exist to achieve this . 4 . I might also want to create a summary document ( a report ! ) capturing key data , insights and design criteria as a physical representation of our virtual work . I know mind mapping is meant to replace a boring report but I would love to document our journey , using a ppt , or maybe a video ( tbd ) . Thank you very much for your attention and time reading my work . Warmest regards , Hennie Dijkstra