Winter 2015 : The mindmap converts

I didnt know my mindmaps have drawn a lot of attention in my class. I heard people talking about my mind map, lecturers acknowledged my maps and there were instances where a few people took photos of my maps. 

I have the habit of sitting at the same spot, in the front row, in all lectures. During the first semester, I sat with two good friends, Hanna from Indonesia and Hedy from China, for WEGE lectures every Friday. 

I was so happy one day when I saw both of them started mindmapping. Keep it up guys! It takes time to convert from linear note-taking to mindmapping. You'll get there one day :)

Graphic Note 101 : The talk

(Saturday - random stuff day)

I was requested to deliver a talk on Graphic Note - that's what I call my work - before I left for Manchester. I didnt only do mind map, but I combine my day-to-day note-taking with sketchnote. It is the hybrid and I call it Graphic Note.

I didnt expect many people would turn up since I posted the ad at the last minutes. I emailed the HR Training Unit to borrow some markers and some post-its notes for my talk. To my surprise, they didnt only agreed to supply everything that I need for the session, the HR officers were also interested to come and find out what my notion of Graphic Note is all about! I was speechless!

The session went well. I have the best participants! I love to see my boss enjoyed the session very much. Everybody has tried their best, pushed their limits during the practical sessions and in the end, we laughed at each others' drawings! That was the best way to end the day.

I glad to share the knowledge and skills with the rest. I hope it will benefit them as much as it benefited me.

Map everywhere!

My map on the office's fixed glass window.

This is how I de-stress (enjoying the view outside) and thinking about work (the mind map) at the same time. LOL.

Huge Mind Map Assignment 04 : The Conclusion

I was truly grateful to be chosen to perform this task. It was a quantum leap for me. From mindmapping / sketchnoting on A5 to visualised the whole discussion of the top management, on huge papers, for TWO DAYS. I thanked  Alvin Ung, the author of Barefoot Leadership, who has hand-picked me for this task =)

Yes, I know, no blue box on my face

Allah knows how panic I was a week before the event. I didnt know what to anticipate. 

But I did it. Right until today I cant believe I've nailed it! I need to improve on the colour scheme, layout, font thickness and everything. I am still learning. 

This was during the wrap up session. Mr. Ung presented every map to the management, to recap what they have been discussing and debating from the first day and night until the end of day two, and to see whether they have achieved the objectives of the retreat, by looking at the content of these mind maps.

Some of the maps are ok. Some not even up to my standards, but considering the time given, the intensity of the discussions and the size of the paper, I am quite happy with the outcome. 

Huge Mind Map Assignment 03 : The Tools

The most crucial tools for me for this assignment are Kurecolors and a big fat black marker. Grey Kurecolor is important for shading purposes.

My tools. Kurecolors are mine. The rest are provided by the organiser. 

Huge Mind Map Assignment 02 : The Artist Platform

I finally posted this two-year-old draft because I have promised my English teacher today that i will show her the huge mind map. Today is the last day I see her and my handphone was running out of battery. 

First, read about the Huge Mind Map Assignment 01 (here).

Huge mind map assignment - sounds interesting, yes? I was invited to be the mind mapper / sketch noter for the top management meeting in Malacca. The instruction given was simple. Mindmap the whole thing. 

And "the whole thing" is actually a long list of discussions and debates on international trade, import, export, GNI, GDP, investment, local industries, SMEs and the list goes on.

This is the spot where I supposed to work. I called it The Artist Platform. It is located in front of the hall. 

This is the view from the Platform. Well, that was during group presentation. Before, the boards were not there. I need to see their faces/mouths in order to capture everything they said. Mindmapping is about capturing the gist ON THE SPOT.

This is the (self-proclaimed) artist at work. In her most decent position. I was writing, colouring and drawing like mad because I need to stick the paper onto the wall, once the last person finished his last word. They will go through the map after the discussion. 

The initial plan was for me to draw directly on the paper pinned to a panel but the panel is quite high and I am short +_+. So the markers slanted down a bit and no ink came out after a few strokes. So, I opted for a platform.

The platform comes with the gravity. 

1st ASEAN Malaysia Young Entrepreneurs Forum

I attended this forum today.

It started with Keynote Address by the SecGen of MITI and a talk by ABAC Chairman. Followed by a forum by four panels - founder/CEO/director of Sakae Holdings Ltd (think Sakae Sushi), Soft Space, Leaderonomics and Special Adviser from METI, Japan.

Afterwards, TokPa made an appearance and talk about AEC and had dialogue with the participants. He ends the session by officiating Malaysia Association of ASEAN Youth Entrepreneurs (MAAYE).

I am glad to be part of this history.

Since the participants are mostly young, we were frequently reminded to update everything on social media #malaysia2015 #asean #mymaaye. This is the first time I saw a lot of people taking photo most of the time (well, at least people around me did that) and uploaded it to social media. Of course I did that too although I found it a bit awkward.

These are what I managed to capture during the session. I tweetted it to MAAYE, to share the notes with others who couldnt make it to MECC today.

Huge Mind Map Assignment 01 : THE Assignment

One fine day, I received an assignment from Alvin Ung.

Assignment to be a visual architect. A mind mapper to be exact.

 It was the most intimidating assignment I ever received in my life. I think.

Capture a mind map?
Big piece of paper?
Drawing some visuals?
Visual fun?
I was hyperventilated for 2 weeks. I emailed Alvin at 3.00am for a couple of days just to tell him I cant sleep thinking about of this assignment. lol.

Wanna know what happened next? 
STAY TUNE!

Last minute organisational chart

I started to feel that entries and photos on food slowly taking over this ART blog.

But after thinking about it for a while.... Cooking is a form of art. Food photography is totally an ART by itself. So, there you go. 

___

I was invited to a management retreat last week. The task given is simple. Mindmap the whole thing. It was such a fascinating event. I wanted to share everything about it in this blog but I didnt know where to start. Hmm...

Anyway, I will start with this. The last minute request for an organisational chart. The instruction given was simple - produce a huge hand-drawn organisational chart, with no names and a bit of space, large enough for people to stick their dots. This is the sketch. How are you going to translate that? :)

This is what I came out with within the time stipulated. I printed their photos from the net. No names, right? I got help from Ustaz, Mufsi, Aju and Mr Zainal to draw some lines and colour the block letters because I was mapping a discussion at that time. Thank you, guys. Although it was hard to control the outcome when 4 people were working on single sheet at the same time (different strokes, wrong colour coding, etc) but the SecGen said it is perfect. 

The exercise. Senior officers should indicate their involvement under specific programmes and pillars by sticking coloured round stickers with their initials, under the activity leaders' photos. By the end of this exercise, they will be able to see how they relate to others' work and how they could contribute in helping the leaders to achieve their desired outcomes and KPIs. Sounds complicated, right? Just focus on the chart, that's the main thing I am telling you about now. Let them deal with the complicated stuff.

The completed exercise.

Love the dots!

Mindmapper

I am a mindmapper.

I cant jot down anything but in a non-linear way.

I want to show you the whole book, but it is a classified document. 

These are the least, but I still have to make it a bit blurry. Mind map rocks.

Mind Mapping Course

I have been mind-mapping since I was a kid. As far as I can remember, it was all started during primary school. No one taught me how to do it, but I enjoy doing it all the times.

Last two weeks, I have attended a Mind Mapping course by one of Tony Buzan's students. The course really helps in making my mind map more structured and organised. Now, I am really into mindmapping :)