How to Build a Business Mind Map
Well, hello everybody. Happy 2019!
For some of us, today may be the first day back at work after a well-deserved few weeks off. And for others, we may have slowly rolled back into the swing of things last week. I’m going to assume that no one worked straight through the holiday because… well, that would just stink.
I personally spent the week between Christmas and New Year’s one part lazy and one part introspective. I did the most New Year planning / setting that I’ve done in a looooong time. It’s interesting how some years, strict, SMART-goal-setting appeals to me; then other years, it’s more about selecting a general intention or word; and then in other years, it’s more like, “Nope, not interested. You can’t make me excited about the new year.” So, wherever you happen to be for 2019, I’m with you.
For me personally, this year I was craving a mashup of all three approaches, and I kicked it off with a mind map.
Mind maps may or may not be new to you; they happen to be popular in my yoga circles. My friend Rebecca Pacheco writes about them in her book Do Your Om Thing. Start by drawing a big circle in the middle of a page. Inside the circle, write things you want more of, stream-of-conscious style. Then, outside the circle document what you want less of. These can be physical things, experiences, habits, feelings, anything!
Anyone can do this. We had our friends’ kiddos over last week, and they had fun with their own mind maps. (No matter what Dave tells you, they wanted to; I did not force them to be my little goal-setting pupils, haha).
In 2019 Violet wants better handwriting and to be nicer to her brother, and she doesn’t want to compare herself to other people. (ME TOO, VIOLET)! Isaac, on the other hand, wants more bananas, pineapple, and Oreos; he wants less of the Colts winning and going to the SuperBowl. So, you know… it’s all about balance 🙂
If you want to kick things up a notch and use this exercise in the context of your 2019 business, expand your one circle of “want” and “don’t want” into four circles, and label each as a category of the balanced scorecard:
1. Financial
Do you need more income? Is growth the focus? How are acquisition rates and expenses? What does all this look like in the context of ROI?
2. Customer
Do you want to change, eliminate, or improve any product/service attributes? Is customer satisfaction the focus? How is company reputation performing?
3. Operational
Is productivity good? How’s quality perceived? Is cost to produce rising?
4. People
Is this the year to focus on your people? Help them develop new skills? Articulate the growth potential of each person? Find new ways to recognize employees?
For each area of the business, follow the same formula for “what I want/don’t want.” I suggest that you start with the topic that speaks to you the most. Don’t overthink it; one will resonate more than the others.
For example, maybe your employees are really on your mind right now. So, in the People circle you write “high quality hires.” And also, maybe what you need less of with your people is “distracting office gossip.” Write that outside the circle. Do this for each “bucket” of the business (financial, operational, and customers).
After you’re done, step back and take it all in. Are you surprised at anything on the paper? I bet you’ll find that how you’re spending your time in real life isn’t matching up to what you want more of. Don’t worry, it happens to all of us.
Of course, this isn’t the end; this is just meant to get the juices flowing. Once you recognize and sit with what you do and don’t want for your business this year, it’s action time. Tie your mind map to why your company exists, create your 2019 priorities, and then get to work!
