Figure 4.1 Identifying Main Branches
Creating idea maps requires mastering three basic, fundamental skills and then applying them. They are:
Once you have developed these skills you can create idea maps with ease. Your proficiency in creating idea maps then becomes a function of practice. You will work through a series of activities to learn more about each of these skills.
One of the laws of idea mapping referenced in Chapter 3 explained the rationale behind the use of one single key word per branch. While nearly 90% of text is comprised of non-essential words (like of, the, at, and, in, a, was, etc.), an idea map uses only the essential words (and images) necessary for you to meet your objective or purpose for taking or making notes. Read the following paragraph. Underline or circle what you consider to be the key words for you.
Born February 11, 1847, Thomas Edison was an inventor and a scientist. At that time electricity was thought of as a fad. By the time he died in 1931, entire cities were being lit by electricity. Edison patented over 1,000 inventions. His most famous invention was an incandescent light bulb. Edison improved upon the original designs of the stock ticker and the telephone. He developed the phonograph and the kinetoscope, a box for viewing moving films. He created his most significant and far-reaching invention between 1883 and 1884 when he introduced the world’s first system of centrally generated and distributed electric heat, light, and power. He believed in hard work, sometimes working 20 hours a day. Edison was quoted as saying, “Genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.”
Add up the number of individual key words you circled and give yourself a total. It will probably be somewhere in the range of 6 to 36 words. The quantity of key words identified in any situation will depend on a variety of factors, including your familiarity with the material, the amount of detail you need to capture, your purpose and level of interest, and how much you trust your memory. I find that many people take notes as if they are going to be tested on the material rather than pick out the information that is important to them. Therefore, the tendency is to have more words in the map than necessary. It is perhaps more difficult to see this in the previous example because it’s a generic activity and there’s no defined purpose. It will be easier to demonstrate this in a real situation. For now just be aware of why you highlighted or circled your particular words.
The most obvious advantage of using fewer words is that it saves space. Therefore, much more information is contained in an idea map where key words—rather than phrases or sentences—relay an idea. It is also much easier to see the relationship between thoughts. Key words provide a foundation of words and thoughts for you to choose from when creating your idea map. Just because you circled a word does not guarantee that it will be included in your eventual map. Based on your purpose you may decide to exclude or even change the word to something more meaningful to you.
Choosing key words from written material is different than identifying them in the moment while in a meeting or conference. You need to be mentally present in order to decide how to condense a thought or a phrase into a single word. The benefit of this is that the added pressure helps you to stay focused and naturally alert during the mapping process and encourages you to ask the question, “What does this mean to me?” You are listening, internalizing, and making decisions about where to place the key words in the map—all at the same time. This adds up to greater learning and recall.
The most conducive scenario for determining key words is when you are externalizing your own thoughts. This practice is similar to the one used in the idea map you created at the end of Chapter 3. For a final exercise on determining key words, return to your baseline notes from Chapter 1. These are the linear notes I asked you to keep under the heading “A Look at Your Own Notes.” Briefly review these notes and remind yourself of your purpose for capturing this information. Why did you keep these notes? What future purpose will they serve? Now, if you know that you don’t need to refer to these notes again, please throw them away (after the next exercise). However, if you need to keep them, the following exercise may reinforce the importance and recall of the information.
Similar to what you did in the paragraph about Thomas Edison, highlight or circle the key words in your notes. The purpose this time should be much clearer because you—using your notes—have defined it. Once you have identified the key words, keep these notes available and we will revisit them in another activity later in the chapter.
Once you’ve chosen a word to include in your idea map, the next challenge is deciding if it is a main branch or a subbranch. Again, five to nine main branches is an ideal number to include within the map. The best way to illustrate how this works is to complete a practice activity. The purpose of this activity is to teach you how to determine main branches and sub-branches. Your assignment is to create an idea map from the following list of key words using WORK as the central theme: Put the word WORK (or an image that represents work) in the center of your paper, and remember to turn your paper sideways (landscape). Scan the listed words and choose a main branch that could hold two or more of these words as subbranches. The title of your main branch (or subbranches) may or may not be among these words. For example, I might choose the word People as one of my main branches. It’s not in the list, but when I see words like staff, colleague, boss, team, and customer, I think People would describe this branch well. This grouping of words is a personal choice. You may have an entirely different way of categorizing the words. Choose the way that makes the most sense to you. You may consider using highlighters or symbols (boxes, circles, stars) to determine categories on this chart prior to drawing your idea map.
Travel
Telephone
Commute
Holidays
Overtime
Coffee
Mission
Competencies
Website
Vacation
Desk
Colleague
Interview
Commission
Position
Hours
Job
Leadership
Values
Coaching
Boss
Proposal
Goals
Customer
Challenge
Meeting
Product
Success
Benefits
Delegate
Computer
Salary
Office
Staff
Projects
Team
Training
Schedule
Aspirations
Bonus
Draw each main branch on your idea map and then connect all the associated words from the list on subbranches or sub-subbranches. As you add words to your idea map, cross them off the list and continue the process until all words are used somewhere in the map. See Figure 4.1 for an example of how I might organize these words into an idea map.
Figure 4.1 Identifying Main Branches
Let’s go back to your baseline notes again. You already identified the key words. Now it’s time to begin building an idea map of these notes. Start with a blank sheet of paper and draw a central image. Review the key words you highlighted and determine the main branches. Remember just because you highlighted a key word it does not mean that it must go in the idea map, and you may need to create a main branch to hold some of the key words. This might mean coming up with words that were not in the original text. Take the time to create the main branches for your notes. Complete the entire map before moving on.
Imagery is one of the greatest tools to integrate into your idea maps—yet for many it is the most intimidating. When was the last time you learned to draw anything? A long time ago, right? “I can’t draw” is likely what you are saying to yourself. But you CAN! Even stick people are fine. Remember that in most cases you are the only one who needs to know what the picture represents.
Learning to draw simple icons is a lesson in breaking a task into manageable, component pieces. Take a piece of paper and copy each step as we build the following three examples found in Figure 4.2. Start with the far left drawing and make additions to your drawing proceeding from left to right through the frames. Use color to enhance the images.
Figure 4.2 Drawing Simple Icons
How did you do? Now try one on your own. Find a simple icon (from coloring books, comic strips, a website, or company logo) that you would like to draw. Start by looking for some portion of the icon that seems doable. Add to this basic shape in small pieces until you’ve recreated the image. Continued practice will enable you to draw from your memory.
Let’s revisit your baseline notes and idea map one last time. So far you selected key words, created main branches, and completed your idea map. Does the current map include any images? Where could you add a symbol, code, or picture to enhance your recall and increase your interest in this information? Add your own images to this map now.
Using your baseline notes, I walked you through the incremental steps to creating an idea map from your existing notes. Now it’s time to put these basic skills (combined with the laws learned in previous chapters) into practice by completing an activity for which written notes may not currently exist. From this point forward, your idea maps should be practical applications that will be useful to you. Here are some of the tasks for which idea mapping can be extremely useful. Use this as a springboard for your own ideas.
Creating and delivering a presentation
Problem solving
Job interview
Strategic plan
Decision making
Personal vision/mission
Group or individual brainstorm
Book review
Study for certification or further education
Planning of any kind
Getting your arms around complex data
Customer profile
Project
Meeting agenda
Performance review
Phone call
Career plan
Organizational vision/mission
Job description
Notes on an important article or document
Difficult conversation
Develop or deliver training
Negotiating
Marketing
Before reading Chapter 5, create one or two idea maps that will help you with a specific task, challenge, decision, project, or issue you are currently facing. See Figure 4.3 for a summary of this chapter in an idea map.
Figure 4.3 Chapter 4 Summary
