Do you have ideas in your mind, but you don’t know how to visualize and share them? Maybe I have  a solution for your problem. On exploratree.org you can find a set of different templates to visualize your ideas. Using these tools as thinking guide, you can structure your vague ideas and get them to the point.

Just go to the page, have a closer look at the tools and let me know what you think about it. Are they helpful to structure ideas? Would you use these online tools to share business ideas with your colleagues? Do the templates require special knowledge or are they self-explaining?

I was playing with the templates a little bit and wrote down the plus and minus points of the tool. Click at the picture to see my findings.

Considering the vast amount of literature concerning the »management« of change the title is quite a bold promise. But decide for yourself:

Click to enlarge. Found via FlowingData.

Great overview over the roots and main branches of complexity science inlcuding actual hot topics like self-organization, emergence and ecologies.

Found at Wikimedia.

Peter Hinssen explains the Cost-Value-Model using »AniMo’s«. Visualization at its finest…

If you missed the beginning, just click »Step 1« at the lower left

Direct link.

Source: http://www.it-fusion.com/

Do you also have (had) problems to remember or explain to others which side of the brain stood for which aspect of thinking (structural, emotional, …)?

I sense this days are finally over…

You can find the source here.

Some things can’t be said too often: The key skill in todays business is the provision of concise »on the point« information. Of course this doesn’t only work with coffee.

The following scribble shows an example how to display business processes along with their underlying technical counterparts (services and databases).

The diagram was used in one of my last engagements and provided a lot of information in one view:

• The business process
• The (external) services called
• Necessary middleware/adapters
• Underlying datasources

The boxes pointing to the right symbolize »callbacks« i. e. calls in an asynchronous scenario with arbitrary time between the calls. The boxes with an open left side stand for the counterpart waiting for such calls. If services couldn’t be called directly e. g. because protocol conversion had to be considered (RMI2SOAP, …) the adapter swimlane was used to show the middleware in use.

Of course the boxes were labeled with even more information but for now the general blueprint is interesting enough. Techies and Business Folks were discussing the same diagrams. Questions of data origin and synchronisatin problem could be simultaneously discussed in terms of processes and technical constraints.

Of course there are countless variations of this swimlane-like type of diagram. Any ideas? What are possible improvements? What do you use in similar contexts?

Presenting information in a clear and time saving way is the skill for us IT-folks to develop and nurture. Today Lokesh Dhakar shows us what condensing and visualizing to the point can look like.

We proudly present his blueprints for what I would call CAL (Coffee Layer Architecture) (click to enlarge):

Isn’t this great? You get a lot of important information in one view:

• What sorts of coffe are there?
• What is the difference?
• How can I make one myself?
• What is the correct pronunciation?
• …

What would it take to accomplish this with pure text? Would you (want to) read it?

You can find the whole set and sizes on flickr.

Visual Facilitation is one of our favourite tools to handle todays information overload and get creativity going.

I love to introduce people to things I like so I’m always looking for examples which are not to difficult to explain but nevertheless show what’s it all about.

In this regard I found something perfect on Andy Bragerbecks site: A graphical facilitation of Barack Obamas inauguration speech drawn while the speech being held. Though I didn’t hear the speech myself  I now vividly can imagine what was going on.

What about you? Does the graphic speak to you or would you rather prefer an abridged textual version?

Can you imagine a strategic visioning workshop not resulting in a lengthy report but in an image like this? If so don’t hesitate! Begin tomorrow and explore the world of Visual Facilitation!

Edit: Thanks to Achim for his facilitated comment (pdf)!