better business blog

Tips and stories to add value to you and your organisation

Map It

14 September 2014

I love geography* and it is far and away the best subject you can learn at school. Feel free to agree/disagree in not more than 500 words…

However, whatever your thoughts are about geography, the big win with it is the way it encourages us to stand back and view the landscape in context. For example, if you spot a U-shaped valley on your travels (a classic example of glaciation) it is likely to have moraine (boulders) in it and a little meandering stream in the bottom. Seeing all these elements together gives us a good idea of what the glacier was doing to the landscape and how it affected the world around us. We can fix these geographical elements on a map and share the map to spread the wonder that is glaciation.

Business is the same. We can map elements of a process to see where the confusion and waste is hiding. We can draw a sales pipeline to show where we need to bolster activity. We can draw the links between departments to identify areas of collaboration or lonely isolation.

I was asked recently to explain how Transactional Analysis can be used to develop leadership skills and create a positive culture to enable change programmes to thrive. In my struggle to describe the beauty of the links between models, I had a brainwave – and drew a map.

In doing so I created my Organisational TA Engagement Map, which shows how useful tools and concepts link together and self-support the process of change. The client was pleased and I was reminded that when you are stuck it pays to put down the iPad, get out the pencil and get creative.

If you would like a FREE copy of my A4 Organisational TA Engagement Map please email me directly with the words ‘Map Please’ in the subject line.

So, this week my invitation to us all is to think about how we can draw maps and diagrams to explain ourselves clearly and make sense of complexity in our working worlds.

Next week: Hot Tub Heaven

 

* Richard Maun, BA Hons Geography 2:1, Lancaster University 1989

…and proud to be a member of Pendle College on campus, where I effectively mapped the bar for three years, but that’s a whole ‘nother story…