Monday
Nov082010
Forensics
Monday, November 8, 2010 at 8:10AM
To know who you are and where you have been can tell you what to do next. How about the notion of studying your footprints? Your own and those of your coworkers. Where have you been geographically and conceptually? What did it bring you?
Photo by Neil Armstrong Flickr CC
In an article last year Reuters tell about a monk praying so devoutly in the same place that his footprints in the wooden floor are inches deep. By praying thousands of times each day for decades, his footprints now serve as an inspiration to younger monks - have you done something similar?
Imagine if you would do a map of your actions by simply putting pins at every location you visited last week. Maybe you could draw on the map and mark areas of special interest, then compare it to where you went. On a third level, you could even put different color pins depending on the objective or even outcome of the visit - another alternative is putting a small flag on the pin, with a note or reminder.
On television we see it all the time in detective stories, making maps, writing on boards or glass panes. The idea being that if you map the past you can foresee the murderer's next move. How about making a forensic board of your own actions?
Now for the next step, how about mapping your suppliers? The success of your organization depends on the success of your suppliers, if they are on the wrong track your business is not sustainable.
Continuing the thought about sustainability, are your customers on a sustainable path? If not, well your business model needs thinking through.
Geographical maps are an easy concept, but how about conceptual maps? Is it possible to draw maps of ideas?
One intermediate step could be to make overlay maps of statistical data on the geographical maps, maps looking a bit like weather-maps but with other data - maybe population growth instead of temperatures.
Would it be possible to draw maps purely of ideas, what do you think? Any experiences to share?
Photo by Neil Armstrong Flickr CCLeaving foot-prints
In an article last year Reuters tell about a monk praying so devoutly in the same place that his footprints in the wooden floor are inches deep. By praying thousands of times each day for decades, his footprints now serve as an inspiration to younger monks - have you done something similar?
Mapping yourself
Imagine if you would do a map of your actions by simply putting pins at every location you visited last week. Maybe you could draw on the map and mark areas of special interest, then compare it to where you went. On a third level, you could even put different color pins depending on the objective or even outcome of the visit - another alternative is putting a small flag on the pin, with a note or reminder.
On television we see it all the time in detective stories, making maps, writing on boards or glass panes. The idea being that if you map the past you can foresee the murderer's next move. How about making a forensic board of your own actions?
Map your suppliers
Now for the next step, how about mapping your suppliers? The success of your organization depends on the success of your suppliers, if they are on the wrong track your business is not sustainable.
Map your customers
Continuing the thought about sustainability, are your customers on a sustainable path? If not, well your business model needs thinking through.
Conceptual maps
Geographical maps are an easy concept, but how about conceptual maps? Is it possible to draw maps of ideas?
One intermediate step could be to make overlay maps of statistical data on the geographical maps, maps looking a bit like weather-maps but with other data - maybe population growth instead of temperatures.
Would it be possible to draw maps purely of ideas, what do you think? Any experiences to share?
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