Making Smarter Decisions

Kevin Hoffberg of Decision Quality has a nice presentation:Making Smart Decisions

I particularly like his straightforward process for making a difficult decision:

bCisive Online and bCisive desktop are flexible enough to apply these steps.  Give it a try!

Anecdotal proof that argument mapping helps with essay writing

Bali-based educationalist and teacher trainer Steve Bolton has been getting results with Rationale.  He writes:

Finally some proof that argument mapping works. My current class have been reeling off fantastic essays after planning them using argument maps. Here we can see low and high tech versions. Today a student handed me a six-page (A4) map of an essay, and while I am clueless about Novi’s field of study, I can follow her reasoning with ease. Exciting stuff!

My emphasis.

We already know that argument mapping improves critical thinking [pdf].  Of course seeing the results in one's own classroom must be extremely gratifying.

How your computer can help you think

Here's a nice video tutorial from Thomas Teepe about using mind-mapping software for problem-solving:


His technique of using a "mentor map" which captures abstract process to help build a more concrete "work map" is nice, and neatly addresses the problem of "starting with a blank screen".

Building your own "mentor map" is a great way of organizing the processes that one finds personally useful, and the overall process looks like it should be easy to learn.

Note that whereas in mind-mapping tools one must be use multiple windows, all of Austhink's products support multiple maps per workspace.

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When we add user-editable template support to bCisive Online, we should also consider including a starter "mentor map", as an out-of-the-box template.

My favorite box

My favorite box is the plain box.  It has three great uses:

• Brainstorming
• Categorizing
• When no other box will do

Brainstorming
In bCisive (Online and desktop) and Rationale you can get an empty box by just double-clicking on the workspace.  This is great for brain-storming -- just getting ideas onto the workspace:

Brainstorming for this article

The next step is to bang them together into a basic structure:

Same ideas, with an initial organization

And then assign the boxes a type, and elaborate:

Same ideas, elaborated

Categorizing

Sometimes you have lots of related ideas, questions, whatever, and it is helpful to introduce categories to break things down.  The plain box can help.  For example: What was one option can easily become a elaborated into a number of variations.

The plain boxes group related options

Throwing in an plain box can be visually effective in giving a break from all the strong graphics.  This act of categorizing (also called abstracting) works well whether you are working top down or bottom up.  Top down you start with the original idea and then break down into several variations.  Bottom up, you start with a long list of ideas, and then cluster them when you notice which ones are related.

When no other box will do

Sometimes I get bogged down because I don't have the exact right box type for a particular idea.  In bCisive Online I can just change a heading (e.g. relabel a "Pro" as a "Reason"), but sometimes none of the images seem appropriate.

When no image fits, just use no image!  The plain box saves the day again.

Video: Plan and write a great essay with Rationale

Along with free-form mapping to encourage the development of critical thinking skills, Rationale includes a nifty Essay Planner to help students learn how to plan and produce clear, well-written essays.

We've produced a 3-minute video showing the Essay Planner in action: (To watch it at full size, click Play and then click the title or the YouTube logo)



If you'd like to try it for yourself, download a free Rationale trial.

Customized methodologies

Visual thinking is probably most effective when using a suitable methodology as an aid to construction and communication. Simply said

Visual methodology = visual language + rules of thumb

For example, bCisive Online comes with the following set of boxes, which together making up its out-of-the-box visual language:

This set descends from the non-visual Issue-based information systems (IBIS) methodology, and is suitable for activities including Dialogue mapping when working in a group or facilitating a meeting, and Issue mapping when working solo.

A map using the default visual language

An example of another visual language / methodology is the set of boxes and templates that we designed for use with bSelling, based loosely on the non-visual Solution Selling methodology (and simplified a good deal):

This set is designed to help a salesperson understand the needs (pain points) of a prospective client, the cause of the pain, who else is affected, and what capabilities would help address each pain.  Here's an example of how visual thinking using this visual language can help lay out a picture of the prospect:

Diagnosing Customer pain with the bSelling visual language (click to enlarge)

So different visual languages work better for different purposes.

Rationale is mainly built around a visual language for argument mapping;  bCisive has several; with bCisive Online we plan to offer the possibility of organization-tailored visual languages plus templates.

bCisive Online vs WebEx and friends

Screen-sharing programs like WebEx, GotoMeeting, etc. allow you to show a desktop over the internet. They allow one person to present at a time, by broadcasting that person's computer's desktop to all participants.

bCisive Online instead provides access to a common virtual workspace -- and a superbly functional one at that! -- with one person able to edit at a time (to maintain order!), and the ability to pass editing "control" to other participants.

It's the difference between taking turns presenting, and really getting work done together.

To enhance participation all participants are equipped with virtual "laser pointers" that enable everyone to point at boxes in the workspace when making comments:

A remote participant uses his virtual "laser" pointer to
draw attention to the Option

That's for real-time collaboration. The results of your remote meeting are centrally stored in a Space and members of your "site" can revisit as needs dictate.

Note: At this time bCisive Online does not provide audio chat. We suggest that you use whatever you're using now. E.g. Skype or Google Talk.