Slow down

“Slow down, you move too fast”. This Simon & Garfunkel song was stuck in my head while writing the part of my book about brainstorming, more specifically the different modes (pressure cooker or the opposite building ideas gradually?). As this mind map was partly finished, we crossed it out (the publisher and I didn’t want to have too many different topics in the book).

As I sat down for lunch with Hans Terhurne in New York, he was talking about slow mapping as opposite to live mapping, but not really defining it, it triggered me to pick up this mind map from december 2010.

“Slow down, you move too fast”. When it comes down to mind mapping and you consider what is being produced on the Internet it is certainly true. It’s all about speed. The new iMindmap5 even has a speed mode. The slow movement started in Italy with the concept of slow cities (1999). Quality, sustainability, inspiration are the keywords. In my opinion a mind map is intrinsically ‘slow mode’. Nothing wrong with speed mode (for some applications it can be great), but good thorough thinking is not done in a pressure cooker.

So here is my idea of slow mind mapping: thinking at a snail’s pace, de-stressed, defocussed, zen-like, aimed at quality (and not quantity), at gradual building of concepts or ideas. Ideal for brainstorming, live mind mapping (!) and in education for children with learning problems.

Reactions are welcomed.