Building Bridges with Concept Maps: Linking Design Thinking, Systems Thinking, and Business Model Generation

Discover the forgotten gem in every thinker’s toolkit

Creative Thinking is another form of Design Thinking. The common theme is problem solving — Image by rawpixel.com on Freepik

When you walk into a room of people that is part of a SMB (small to medium-sized business), you are quickly reminded of the once popular motto, “Keep it bleeding edge -1 or -2, not bleeding edge.” You have to drop your big corporate thinking at the door.

There is no time for the latest buzzwords or complicated tools. The objective is to establish common ground as quickly as possible. What is the business all about? What is the problem or opportunity? How can we use this time together most effectively?

Often times, the best tool to grab from the toolkit is one that has been around for a long time. Something that has been scientifically proven to work in situations like this where everyone is attempting to arrive at a common understanding; a common vocabulary; to collectively engage in discovery learning — ultimately to walk away with some kind of plan of action in as short a time as possible.

Fortunately, there is a tool that came out of learning psychology research: concept maps. Prof. Joseph Novak was the one who first developed and designed these maps with a learning focus. The theory behind concept maps is based on D. Ausubel’s work on meaningful learning in educational psychology.

Ausubel made the very important distinction between rote learning and meaningful learning. Meaningful learning requires three conditions:

• The material must be conceptually clear, and it must visually present an example that is relevant to previous knowledge.
• Everyone present in a session where the material is discussed must have relevant prior knowledge of the topic at hand.
• Everyone present must choose to learn meaningfully. This normally requires a commitment to incorporating new meanings into prior knowledge.

So much of creation is about discovery — and you can’t discover anything if you can’t see what you are doing. You cannot change something unless you understand it. Concept mapping allows you to visualize the structural aspects of knowledge.