Maps, Concepts, Process
Tools for Knowledge and Innovation
Dan Keldsen - Co-founder at InformationArchitected.com

And so the journey of 130
slides begins!
(or rather, continues)

Premise:
What happens when...

You take the best of...

Knowledge Management

Business Process Analysis

Advanced Search

Collaboration

And Visualization
Techniques?

And of course,
the human brain...

BUT BEFORE WE GO
TOO FAR HERE...

LET’S START SMALL &
BUILD A FOUNDATION

Infinity out of 12

No lack of “music”

Innovation != Invention

It’s...
Building on top of the Past

How to connect past to
present to future state?

Maps Here!
Get Your Maps Here!

(examples from Chuck Frey’s “Power Tips & Strategies for Mind Mapping, Second Edition”

(examples from Chuck Frey’s “Power Tips & Strategies for Mind Mapping, Second Edition”

(examples from Chuck Frey’s “Power Tips & Strategies for Mind Mapping, Second Edition”

(examples from Chuck Frey’s “Power Tips & Strategies for Mind Mapping, Second Edition”

(examples from Chuck Frey’s “Power Tips & Strategies for Mind Mapping, Second Edition”

From liftfest.org Content Architecture
17 July 2002
See also the liftfest.org styleguide at
www.liftfest.org/styleguide
By Timo Arnall
www.elasticspace.com

How to create connections...

Fun with Facets
Finding the Common and Uncommon Threads

Why do we want ideas?

Can’t we just go for one
“Big Idea” to propel our
company?

NOTHING SO
DANGEROUS AS AN
IDEA...
...as when it’s your only one

SO, LET’S GO FOR,
SAY...
...a MILLION...

Kaizen, Lean

Power of One

or Power of MANY?

Need Techniques
for Individuals AND Teams

To Accelerate Ideas
Sustainably, For Everyone, All the Time

Back to the brain for
a second...

Memories & Connections

Forge Connections
Expand & Strengthen

Power of Tuples

This meets That

Hand connects (to) Fingers

Hand connects (to) Arm

Fingers connect (to)
Hand connects (to)
Arm

The leg bone’s connected to
the... you get the point

Chaining tuples together,
builds larger concepts

Which leads us to...
Concept Maps

Problem Solving Maps Can Be Cornfusing!

Great Start, More Coming
Using TRIZ Toolbox

Chaining and Branching

Hideously important to all
“thinking” maps

Such as:
Mindmaps
Concept Maps
Process Maps
TRIZ Maps

Branching! Ah, Metaphors...

Taxonomy & Classification

How do we classify
information, knowledge,
problems, opportunities?

Similarities or Differences?

Shades of Gray or
Black and White?

Jorge Luis Borges

From “The Analytical Language of John Wilkins”:
These ambiguities, redundancies, and deficiencies
recall those attributed by Dr. Franz Kuhn to a certain
Chinese encyclopedia entitled Celestial Emporium of
Benevolent Knowledge.
On those remote pages it is written that animals are
divided into:
(a) those that belong to the Emperor, (b) embalmed
ones, (c) those that are trained, (d) suckling pigs, (e)
mermaids, (f) fabulous ones, (g) stray dogs, (h) those that
are included in this classification, (i) those that tremble
as if they were mad, (j) innumerable ones, (k) those
drawn with a very fine camel’s hair brush, (l) others, (m)
those that have just broken a flower vase, (n) those that
resemble flies from a distance.

Grouping Techniques &
Mental Models affect your
ability to generate ideas

All Hands On Deck!

Trapped by the Past?

Need new connections?
Looking to tap a larger network?

Classic R&D vs.
Brainstorming

Classic Brainstorming
Killers

Brainstorming
vs. Idea Seeding

Low Cost Thinking Tools

Card-based Creative
Thinking Tools
ThinkPak
Creative Whack Pack
Innovative Whack Pack
Ideation International Innovation Planner
Inventium: The Inventive Card Game

ThinkPak

Innovative Whack Pack

Inventium

Innovation Planner

How do Management
Theories come into play?

Innovation uses
Strengths & Weaknesses

Innovation means
Threats & Opportunities

Clayton Christensen
Innovator’s Dilemma (Threats) &
Innovator’s Solution (Opportunities)

BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY
Differentiate (Strengths) &
Avoid/Minimize (Weaknesses)

So in a business setting,
where do we start to
problem solve?

Before Ideation
(Idea Generation)

What problem(s) do you
need to solve?

Six-Sigma as problem
identifier?

Competitors offerings as
intrusion on turf ?
(Management strategy by reading the newspaper)

Let’s start with
a process view...

Process Mapping & Analysis

As a way to define your
problem(s)

Concept-mapping
(Semantics) as a way to
codify a process

Great Start, More Coming
Using TRIZ Toolbox

TRIZ: Russian Theory of
Inventive Problem Solving

Ties it all together

9 Windows Model

(blank) (blank) (blank)
YOUR
(blank) PROBLEM (blank)
HERE
(blank) (blank) (blank)
Center the Problem
Systems Thinking - TRIZ Style

Past Present Future
Sub-
(blank) (blank) (blank)
system
YOUR
(blank) PROBLEM (blank)
System
HERE
Super-
(blank) (blank) (blank)
system
Frame It

Time-based Thinking
Past: If I could travel back in time and do something to
prevent this problem, what would it be?
Present: If I could do something different right now so
that this problem wouldn’t be happening, what would it
be?
Future: The problem is happening, and I wasn’t able to
prevent it. How can I fix it?

Systems Thinking
Sub-systems: the parts that make up the system
System: the problem/issue/conundrum itself
Super-systems: the environment the system operates in

Example 1 Example 2 Example 3
Equipment Pages Cars
Sub- Doctor Words Trucks
Nurse Concepts Buses
system
Records Pictures Roads
System Doctorʼs Office Book Transportation
Library
Super-
Healthcare Bookstore Society
system Online Bookstore
Examples of System Hierarchies

Examples of P-TRIZ
Process TRIZ

Sarcasm as a
consulting tool!

Ok, at least pointing out
contradictions is useful here...

Mini Sales Process Model

Company going Money running Family
Redundancy
out of business out breakdown
New career
Time to think
idea
Map Your Problem
Getting used to terminology of a new mapping
system is always fun

Mechanically Generate Options
1. Find a way to eliminate,reduce or prevent
[the] (Company going out of business) in
order to avoid [the] (Redundancy).
2. Find a way to eliminate,reduce or prevent
[the] (Redundancy) in order to avoid [the]
(Money running out),under the conditions of
[the] (Company going out of business),then
think how to provide [the] (Time to think).

Mechanically Generate Options
3. Try to resolve the following contradiction:
The harmful factor [the] (Redundancy)
should not exist in order to avoid [the]
(Money running out),and should be in place
in order to provide or enhance [the] (Time to
think).
4. Find a way to eliminate,reduce or prevent
[the] (Money running out) in order to avoid
[the] (Family breakdown),under the
conditions of [the] (Redundancy).

Mechanically Generate Options
5. Find an alternative way to obtain [the]
(Time to think) that offers the following:
provides or enhances [the] (New career
idea),does not require [the] (Redundancy).
6. Find an alternative way to obtain [the]
(New career idea) that offers the following:
eliminates,reduces or prevents [the] (Money
running out),does not require [the] (Time to
think).

My point overall?

Brainstorming is great

Feed that brain, so you can
tap it later

Group or individual
brainstorming

With time-bounded limits
improve odds

Going through rigor of
mapping

Allows technology to
amplify the reach of your
resources

Because even the best read
don’t know it all

And in the end, remember...

Change is Disruptive
But it creates opportunity... turn weakness to strength,
and ride the disruption

Can You Radically Improve
Innovation in your Organization?
Is Your Innovation Architected?
Dan Keldsen
Co-founder at
www.InformationArchitected.com/InnovationManagement
dk@InformationArchitected.com
617-933-9655