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The Hardest Mind Mapping Law to Follow is …?
Feb 4
The hardest mind mapping law to follow is ...?
Mind mapping is based on “laws” (first documented by Dr Buzan) that should be followed in full to extract the very best that mind mapping has to offer. With the onset of computer mind mapping software, a number of good software programs have automatically incorporated a number of the critical mind mapping laws into their functionality. This leaves you with the task of simply inserting the content, adding images/style and re-arranging your content for maximum readability.
Having said that, one of the hardest mind mapping laws to follow is using one-word per branch. This is particularly difficult for lawyers who, on average, will generally explain things in many words for fear that one word would only serve to confuse or result in ambiguity. I’m guilty of this myself.
Therefore, how does a lawyer, who is creating a mind map and is struggling to limit his thoughts to one-word, follow this law religiously?
The answer is simple: DON’T! … if it is not helpful to do so.
I still agree with Dr Buzan that it is ideal to use one word per branch of your mind map where possible, but I would like to think that Dr Buzan would agree with me when I say it is far more important to actually mind map your thoughts first (multliple words per branch if necessary) and then worry about refining your mind map down to one word per branch where it is possible or valuable to do so.
I have set out my approach on mind mapping in a previous post (“The SimCAMM Rules for Mind Mapping“) and in it I suggest that you “download” your thoughts into a mind map rapidly in the first instance and then rearrange and stylise your content next. The importance of “brain dumping” your content first is critical because:
- our memories are susceptible to short term cloudiness that can often result in us forgetting valuable information within seconds once our thoughts are interrupted by “other” thoughts. You need to record your thoughts quickly to make them a “prisoner on paper” forever; and
- just like you would plan an essay, a letter or a project (or other similar task), the value of a mind map comes from rapidly recording all the information you have available to you and then analysing it from a “50,000 foot” level where the details have a relationship to each other and can be rearranged rapidly and more effectively.
Whatever you do, don’t get “hung up” too much on the “one word per branch” rule. It’s a great guide but it should not retain all your focus. On the contrary, it would be very ineffective to write paragraphs of information on your branches as this results in a return to limited linear thinking – something that mind mapping surpasses.
If you mind map, let me know if you stick to the “one word per branch” mind mapping law or whether you are a little more relaxed about it.
2 Responses to “The Hardest Mind Mapping Law to Follow is …?”
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One word per branch is very powerful at the creative stage of project. The ambiguity should encourage you to add more words which clarify the initial word. It also allows you to generate alternatives and to show why you reject them.
I do try to stick to it but not very often.
My recent profile created in iMindMap is a map with mainly single words
http://www.cabre.co.uk/maps/imindmap/Andrew_Wilcox_Profile.html -
Andrew, I agree with you that “one-word-per-branch” at the creative stage is “very powerful”. However, I believe there are two angles from which a person can develop a mind map that results in two different approaches.
Firstly, when brainstorming an idea (ie, starting from first principles), I agree with your comment and think it is much easier to note down one word at a time. However, when you are studying legal material or summarising a case, legislation or other legal text, reducing material that you read in the first instance into some logical format based on one-word-per-branch is not easy and, in fact, I would suggest could result in a person missing important information from their mind map. I would suggest it is better to record a few extra words initially so that when you review your mind map immediately (or after letting it “simmer“), you can:
1. more relevantly arrange your mind map without needing to refer back to the source material (and then cut back on the text until you are as close as possible to the “one-word-per-branch” goal); and
2. you can keep a record of your first mind map and use it as a teaching/learning aid at a later date if your “fine tuned” mind map is a little too thin on content to make complete sense.
Thanks for the comment!
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