CHAPTER 4

The Three Basics of

Idea Mapping

49

Creating idea maps requires mastering three basic, fundamental

skills and then applying them. They are:

1. Identifying key words.

2. Creating main branches.

3. Drawing simple icons.

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.

Identifying Key Words

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 nonessential

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 fa-

50

mous 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.

Benefits of Using Key Words

The most obvious advantage of using fewer words is that it

saves space. Therefore, much more information is contained

The Three Basic Ideas of Mapping

51

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.

Key Words-Your Own Notes

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

IDEA MAPPING

52

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.

Identifying Main Branches

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 subbranches.

Your assignment is to create an idea map from the

following list of key words using WORK as the central theme:

Travel Desk Boss Computer

Telephone Colleague Proposal Salary

Commute Interview Goals Office

Holidays Commission Customer Staff

Overtime Position Challenge Projects

Coffee Hours Meeting Team

Mission Job Product Training

Competencies Leadership Success Schedule

Website Values Benefits Aspirations

Vacation Coaching Delegate Bonus

The Three Basic Ideas of Mapping

53

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.

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.

Continuing with Your Notes

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

IDEA MAPPING

54

The Three Basic Ideas of Mapping

55

Figure 4.1 Identifying Main Branches

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.

Drawing Simple Icons

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.

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.

Adding Images to Your Baseline Notes

Let's revisit your baseline notes and idea map one last time.

So far you selected key words, created main branches, and

IDEA MAPPING

56

The Three Basic Ideas of Mapping

57

Figure 4.2 Drawing Simple Icons

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.

Lesson Six-

Use key words, identify main

branches versus subbranches,

and learn to draw simple icons.

An Idea-Mapping Exercise

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.

IDEA MAPPING

58

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

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.

The Three Basic Ideas of Mapping

59

Getting your arms around

complex data

Customer profile

Project

Meeting agenda

Performance review

Phone call

Career plan

Organizational vision/

Job description

Notes on an important

article or document

Difficult conversation

Develop or deliver

training

Negotiating

Marketing

IDEA MAPPING

60

Figure 4.3 Chapter 4 Summary