Mind Mapping as a Tool to Navigate the Complex Smart City Landscape

Challenge

I work in a real estate development company which has set a new growth direction for the next  decade, in development of smart and sustainable solutions for the built environment. We deal with  many diverse groups of internal and external stakeholders – including local governments, private  landowners, private developers, research institutes, technology solutions venders, regulators,  specialist consultants and functional heads in corporate strategy, engineering, sales and marketing,  project management, operations, etc. Every stakeholder has a very different interpretation of what a  ‘smart city’ encompasses and entails as well as what defines sustainability. This has led to countless  long meetings, conversations and brainstorming sessions with no effective convergence into tangible  ideas, hence no consensus on near term plans for prototyping and testing.

Selection

As a member of a small department formed to spearhead this new initiative, we need to urgently  find a way to facilitate more effective communication with various stakeholders. I selected Mind  Mapping as it give a quick helicopter view of the numerous solutions (in the count of 50 and above)  that can be explored as a suite to serve the township operators, estate/ facility managers and offers  a visual ideation and organisation tool that can easily be expanded, revised and added on to over  time.

Application

The department managers who deal with different stakeholders are first tasked to do a ‘stock-take’  of all the solutions they are exploring with ecosystem partners and new ideas that are generated in  response to new use cases. Next a virtual cloud based mindmap is created and managers start  adding and then clustering the ideas on the mind map. The first manager mentioned he was  exploring collaboration with an autonomous vehicle company and would classify under ‘Smart  Mobility’ theme, the rest of the managers sieve out the solutions they were looking at like shared  electric vehicle booking app, micro mobility sharing platform, etc. and added to that theme. This  process was repeated until all the managers have contributed all their solutions and ideas onto the  mind map. The end result are 2 mind maps – one grouping into themes (smart mobility, smart  community, smart utilities, smart governance, smart operations), and one grouping into target  segments and customers (smart government, smart township, smart buildings, smart homes).

Insight

This exercise helped the managers visualise how the work they do can be organised, structured,  streamlined and most importantly how they can be synergised and integrated with the solutions and  ideas others are working on with their respective stakeholders, in order to present comprehensive  solution suites for potential clients. Different ways of grouping - into types of functions and themes,  and into application scenarios offers clarity and aids in focusing discussions with vendors and clients  by zooming in to a particular “cluster of ideas" to continue ideation or discussion. Having the same

mental framework is very powerful and makes meetings more efficient. Mind maps are also easy to  edit and ‘grow’ by adding new branches.

Approach

This mind map has to be done virtually due to covid social distancing measures, with all managers  working from home. This has its challenges as well as opportunities. The challenge lies in getting  everyone to be comfortable and familiar with the mind mapping interface, where to add a point,  how to change the connection, how to move the bubbles around, which was never a concern when  we stick, organise and reorganise post-it notes on a board. There was also moments of confusion  when a number of users attempted to edit at the same time. However the benefit it brought is the  ease of sharing, editing, and even presenting as an engaging interactive slide show. I foresee I would  use mind maps repeatedly and frequently, for almost every meeting and discussion; as I have  witnessed the huge advantage in setting the mental framework, to prepare the minds of business  and technical personnel for tackling complex projects and challenges. One thing I might do  differently is to conduct journey mapping for each of the 2nd tier “application scenarios" before  generating the 3rd and 4th tier ideas and solutions. The coupling of these tools can help shape more  robust proposals.


Mind Mapping as a Tool to Navigate the Complex Smart City Landscape Challenge I work in a real estate development company which has set a new growth direction for the next decade , in development of smart and sustainable solutions for the built environment . We deal with many diverse groups of internal and external stakeholders – including local governments , private landowners , private developers , research institutes , technology solutions venders , regulators , specialist consultants and functional heads in corporate strategy , engineering , sales and marketing , project management , operations , etc . Every stakeholder has a very different interpretation of what a ‘ smart city ’ encompasses and entails as well as what defines sustainability . This has led to countless long meetings , conversations and brainstorming sessions with no effective convergence into tangible ideas , hence no consensus on near term plans for prototyping and testing . Selection As a member of a small department formed to spearhead this new initiative , we need to urgently find a way to facilitate more effective communication with various stakeholders . I selected Mind Mapping as it give a quick helicopter view of the numerous solutions ( in the count of 50 and above ) that can be explored as a suite to serve the township operators , estate/ facility managers and offers a visual ideation and organisation tool that can easily be expanded , revised and added on to over time . Application The department managers who deal with different stakeholders are first tasked to do a ‘ stock - take ’ of all the solutions they are exploring with ecosystem partners and new ideas that are generated in response to new use cases . Next a virtual cloud based mindmap is created and managers start adding and then clustering the ideas on the mind map . The first manager mentioned he was exploring collaboration with an autonomous vehicle company and would classify under ‘ Smart Mobility ’ theme , the rest of the managers sieve out the solutions they were looking at like shared electric vehicle booking app , micro mobility sharing platform , etc . and added to that theme . This process was repeated until all the managers have contributed all their solutions and ideas onto the mind map . The end result are 2 mind maps – one grouping into themes ( smart mobility , smart community , smart utilities , smart governance , smart operations ) , and one grouping into target segments and customers ( smart government , smart township , smart buildings , smart homes ) . Insight This exercise helped the managers visualise how the work they do can be organised , structured , streamlined and most importantly how they can be synergised and integrated with the solutions and ideas others are working on with their respective stakeholders , in order to present comprehensive solution suites for potential clients . Different ways of grouping - into types of functions and themes , and into application scenarios offers clarity and aids in focusing discussions with vendors and clients by zooming in to a particular “ cluster of ideas " to continue ideation or discussion . Having the same mental framework is very powerful and makes meetings more efficient . Mind maps are also easy to edit and ‘ grow ’ by adding new branches . Approach This mind map has to be done virtually due to covid social distancing measures , with all managers working from home . This has its challenges as well as opportunities . The challenge lies in getting everyone to be comfortable and familiar with the mind mapping interface , where to add a point , how to change the connection , how to move the bubbles around , which was never a concern when we stick , organise and reorganise post - it notes on a board . There was also moments of confusion when a number of users attempted to edit at the same time . However the benefit it brought is the ease of sharing , editing , and even presenting as an engaging interactive slide show . I foresee I would use mind maps repeatedly and frequently , for almost every meeting and discussion ; as I have witnessed the huge advantage in setting the mental framework , to prepare the minds of business and technical personnel for tackling complex projects and challenges . One thing I might do differently is to conduct journey mapping for each of the 2nd tier “ application scenarios " before generating the 3rd and 4th tier ideas and solutions . The coupling of these tools can help shape more robust proposals .