Mind Map

1. Challenge:

I was leading a team of Software engineers where the team was responsible for enhancing  & maintaining a very complex Application catering to a leading Financial Services Customer.

Considering the complex nature of the application and given that application was built  incrementally over the decades , it was imperative that we need to not only have a very  robust Knowledge Management System in place but also to have a good adoption by all the  stakeholders to ensure high quality & timely enhancement or maintenance of the  application.

With the above stated objective , we invested in setting up a Knowledge Management  System and also conducted awareness sessions with the team members .

But , after 6 months of rolling out the Knowledge Management portal , we observed  following –

a) The adoption or usage of the KM tool among the team members was very low  b) And there were huge Quality issues in the Delivery due to lack of Knowledge

Hence , we set out to understand the Root Cause of Low Usage of Knowledge Management  Tool leading to low Quality of Delivery .

2. Tool Selection:

For the challenge mentioned above , I zeroed down to one specific tool – Mindmapping .

What is Mindmapping  Mind mapping is simply the method for creating a visual map of your thoughts in mind.   Mind mapping is formalized by Tony Buzan.     A definition of mind mapping is:

“Graphical technique for visualizing connections between several ideas or pieces of  information. Each idea or fact is written down and then linked by lines or curves to its  major or minor (or following or previous) idea or fact, thus creating a web of relationships”

Another definition from the Mind Map book by Tony Buzan:

“The Mind Map® is an expression of Radiant Thinking and is therefore a natural function  of the human mind. It is a powerful graphic technique which provides a universal key to  unlocking the potential of the brain. The Mind Map can be applied to every aspect of life  where improved learning and clearer thinking will enhance human performance. The  Mind Map has four essential characteristics:

•  The subject of attention is crystallized in a central image.

•  The main themes of the subject radiate from the central image on branches.

•  Branches hold a key image/word printed on the associated line – details radiate  out.

•  The branches form a connected nodal structure.”

Why I selected Mindmapping Tool for the mentioned challenge

I selected MIndmap tool for following reasons –

a) Mind Map Structures large information

Mind maps can store and structure vast amounts of information. They display hierarchy,  show relationships between individual ideas and enable you to see the “big picture” at a  glance.

b) Mind Map enhances Productivity

Mind mapping enables you to learn faster, communicate more efficiently and brainstorm  more effectively.

c) Mind Map improves memory & recall

Mind maps present information visually. They feature a number of powerful mental  triggers such as images, colors, shapes and connections which help our brain process  and memorize large amounts of information.

3. Application:

We employed the following approach ( while applying the Mindmapping method )

Pre-Setup Done

Huddled the team members from each Skill Centres ( who are expected to use KM Tool )

Set up Empty Chart Papers on the walls of a Conference room and provided coloured  sketch pens to each participants

Requested each participant to use 1 Chart Paper each

Next , we requested each participant to depict their thought on how they perceive the  Knowledge Portal using Mind Mapping technique ( through following 4 steps )

Step 1 – Each of them to Start in the middle of their respective Chart Paper by mentioning  the Central Idea which they first conjure of when thinking about Knowledge Management .

Step 2 – Next , they should mention / represent sub topics relevant to Knowledge managent

Step 3 – Add relevant details to each sub-topic wherever required ( and the information  could be in any form – Picture , text etc )

Step 4 – Make connections to each of the Subtopics , representing the relationship between  the Central Idea & various sub-topics.

Step 5 – As the Final step , we requested each member to give a ranking to each subtopic  as per their assessment of the relative order of importance of the subtopics.

4. Insight:

The key insight drawn from this exercise is following –

We were able to extract many key information on

a) What is really expected by users from Knowledge Management Portal  b) What is that missing from the current KM portal

And How Mind mapping helped us to gather or elicit required input –

a) As each users were asked to develop their own Mind Map , they were not influenced

by other’s view / opinion ( avoiding the pitfall of GroupThinking )

b) As each users were asked to express their opinion in free form format , they were

not hindered by their limitation of ‘Language Expression’ or ‘Writing Skills’

And at the end , we applied the convergence of the outcome from the Brainstorming using  Mindmapping with the Design Thinking to come up with a precise definition of the Problem and  subsequent solution to the same ( keeping the end user at the centre of the whole exercise )

5. Approach:

As a team , we immensely benefitted from the whole exercise in terms of redefining the  Core Problem statement & devising a solution for the same ( while keeping the end user at  the centre of the whole exercise ) .

6 months after applying the necessary corrective actions identified through Design Thinking  ( using the mindmapping tool ) , we noticed significant increase in the adoption / usage of  the Knowledge Management Portal by the team which eventually resulted in lower Quality  issues in our Delivery .


Mind Map 1 . Challenge : I was leading a team of Software engineers where the team was responsible for enhancing & maintaining a very complex Application catering to a leading Financial Services Customer . Considering the complex nature of the application and given that application was built incrementally over the decades , it was imperative that we need to not only have a very robust Knowledge Management System in place but also to have a good adoption by all the stakeholders to ensure high quality & timely enhancement or maintenance of the application . With the above stated objective , we invested in setting up a Knowledge Management System and also conducted awareness sessions with the team members . But , after 6 months of rolling out the Knowledge Management portal , we observed following – a ) The adoption or usage of the KM tool among the team members was very low b ) And there were huge Quality issues in the Delivery due to lack of Knowledge Hence , we set out to understand the Root Cause of Low Usage of Knowledge Management Tool leading to low Quality of Delivery . 2 . Tool Selection : For the challenge mentioned above , I zeroed down to one specific tool – Mindmapping . What is Mindmapping Mind mapping is simply the method for creating a visual map of your thoughts in mind . Mind mapping is formalized by Tony Buzan . A definition of mind mapping is : “ Graphical technique for visualizing connections between several ideas or pieces of information . Each idea or fact is written down and then linked by lines or curves to its major or minor ( or following or previous ) idea or fact , thus creating a web of relationships ” Another definition from the Mind Map book by Tony Buzan : “ The Mind Map ® is an expression of Radiant Thinking and is therefore a natural function of the human mind . It is a powerful graphic technique which provides a universal key to unlocking the potential of the brain . The Mind Map can be applied to every aspect of life where improved learning and clearer thinking will enhance human performance . The Mind Map has four essential characteristics : • The subject of attention is crystallized in a central image . • The main themes of the subject radiate from the central image on branches . • Branches hold a key image / word printed on the associated line – details radiate out . • The branches form a connected nodal structure . ” Why I selected Mindmapping Tool for the mentioned challenge I selected MIndmap tool for following reasons – a ) Mind Map Structures large information Mind maps can store and structure vast amounts of information . They display hierarchy , show relationships between individual ideas and enable you to see the “ big picture ” at a glance . b ) Mind Map enhances Productivity Mind mapping enables you to learn faster , communicate more efficiently and brainstorm more effectively . c ) Mind Map improves memory & recall Mind maps present information visually . They feature a number of powerful mental triggers such as images , colors , shapes and connections which help our brain process and memorize large amounts of information . 3 . Application : We employed the following approach ( while applying the Mindmapping method ) Pre - Setup Done Huddled the team members from each Skill Centres ( who are expected to use KM Tool ) Set up Empty Chart Papers on the walls of a Conference room and provided coloured sketch pens to each participants Requested each participant to use 1 Chart Paper each Next , we requested each participant to depict their thought on how they perceive the Knowledge Portal using Mind Mapping technique ( through following 4 steps ) Step 1 – Each of them to Start in the middle of their respective Chart Paper by mentioning the Central Idea which they first conjure of when thinking about Knowledge Management . Step 2 – Next , they should mention / represent sub topics relevant to Knowledge managent Step 3 – Add relevant details to each sub - topic wherever required ( and the information could be in any form – Picture , text etc ) Step 4 – Make connections to each of the Subtopics , representing the relationship between the Central Idea & various sub - topics . Step 5 – As the Final step , we requested each member to give a ranking to each subtopic as per their assessment of the relative order of importance of the subtopics . 4 . Insight : The key insight drawn from this exercise is following – We were able to extract many key information on a ) What is really expected by users from Knowledge Management Portal b ) What is that missing from the current KM portal And How Mind mapping helped us to gather or elicit required input – a ) As each users were asked to develop their own Mind Map , they were not influenced by other ’s view / opinion ( avoiding the pitfall of GroupThinking ) b ) As each users were asked to express their opinion in free form format , they were not hindered by their limitation of ‘ Language Expression ’ or ‘ Writing Skills ’ And at the end , we applied the convergence of the outcome from the Brainstorming using Mindmapping with the Design Thinking to come up with a precise definition of the Problem and subsequent solution to the same ( keeping the end user at the centre of the whole exercise ) 5 . Approach : As a team , we immensely benefitted from the whole exercise in terms of redefining the Core Problem statement & devising a solution for the same ( while keeping the end user at the centre of the whole exercise ) . 6 months after applying the necessary corrective actions identified through Design Thinking ( using the mindmapping tool ) , we noticed significant increase in the adoption / usage of the Knowledge Management Portal by the team which eventually resulted in lower Quality issues in our Delivery .