The Tipping Point

So, mind mapping. What does it really mean? Words in bubbles pointing to other little bubbles, which in turn take you to other little bubbles until the page is filled with untraceable scribblings of (you guessed it) little bubbles.

No. Not quite. I always assumed that mind maps and spider diagrams were the same thing, and to be honest I didn't like them. They don't work for me and never have done, so when I found out we had to complete a task using mind maps I was just thrilled as you can imagine.

However, I was pleasantly surprised. We were asked to map out The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell, using the method taught by Tony Buzan in The Mind Map Book. We were to give a brief description of each chapter and then to go into greater detail on a specific chapter.

When doing the overview in Buzan's style I found that it was in fact a simple way to remember facts. The method is to use different colours for each different branch, in this case this was each chapter, and also use varied text or sketches to help you if you want. The mind map method is very free and flowing and unregimented unlike standard bullet pointed note taking. Using this method you can quickly and easily find and jump to the piece of information needed.
For the next part of the task we had to map out an individual chapter, mine being The Law of the Few: Connectors, Mavens and Salesmen. I felt this particular chapter was interesting and had a wide depth of information which explained a lot about the spread of epidemics and how they are down to a select number of people.

Although I was pretty sceptical at the start about the whole process of mind mapping, I do however now see the benefits of this process and hopefully will be able to put them into practice again. There was one down point however. Using different pens for me means making lots of mistakes and poorly trying to hide them, so if you look close enough you will realise that I am a boy badly in need of tipex.