Thanks for sharing.

I've been interested in mind mapping for a while. I have a hard time finding other people at work or in my social circles who are at all interested.

In the last 10 years of my professional life, I've had maybe two or three requests for a brainstorming session - or something that could be considered remotely like brainstorming.

For the sake of discussion, let's say that my work life sample is normal. So, why don't people want to brainstorm with other people at work? I think it's because that's not part of the game that people play at work.

At work, ideas are valuable - and people want to be considered valuable.

So, managers want to play the "Take the Credit, Assign the Blame" Game to justify their hierarchical dominance over workers. Workers want to play the "I've Got a Monopoly on Valuable Tacit Knowledge" game so they can increase their indispensibility. There's also the "I'm the Ultimate Source of All Good Ideas" game that's a big hit with many.

There are typical moves to these games including "pretend that insightful email i just got from a worker was never sent - then wait a while and re-brand the info and take credit." - or the "that's an okay idea, but I'll just make a comment to refine it further before you say it, so I can claim the idea and then go tell my new idea to decision-makers."

Anyhow - that might sound negative - and we're all supposed to run from negativity - but that's only to set up the following point (and it's only observation made from real-life situations).

If your workplace is interested in mind mapping software and brainstorming, then one can probably take that as a very good sign that people value collaboration and individual contribution - and you might find that place to be somewhere that offers self actualization in work life.

So, maybe we should find and gravitate toward people who are interested in mind mapping, collaborative tools, brainstorming and the like - if that's the kind of world we want to live in.

Regards,

Bill