Hello again Mapper!
Today we’ll create a System Deconstruction Map.
The name sounds super technical but it’s what every Mind Map does: break down whole systems into their simpler parts to see how they interact and derive new insights.
More importantly, this exercise will train your powers of observation and critical thinking. This analytical mindset is in fact one of the most useful things I picked up from Google’s world-class strategy team.
It’s a meta cognition skill that allows you simplify any problem or challenge, no matter how complex. It’s a superpower that let’s you calmly approach challenges that would overwhelm most other people.
And guess what? Mind Maps just so happen to be the best “mental gym” to train that skill.
Today we're going to breakdown an ordinary object, but the principles apply to the biggest projects and even understanding people.
Simply choose something nearby so you can closely examine its composition. It can be your phone, a houseplant, the chair you’re sitting on, your dog, your lunch - anything really!
Also - don't research anything! The purpose of this exercise is to divide your subject into its smallest possible components following your natural curiosity.
This is the most free flowing exercise of the whole course, so have fun and be creative with mapping elements that aren’t immediately obvious.
📺 Related video lesson
Estimated time: 15-30 minutes (depending on how deep you go ;)
Here are the step-by-step instructions to make your own Deconstruction Map:
1. Draw your central topic. In my case, I’m deconstructing the cafe I’m at right now.
2. Start expanding the immediate building blocks of the central topic into main child nodes. For the Stable Cafe, I divided it into Rating, Design, and Location because I’m interested in both how it's put together but also how it ranks amongst the other cafes in San Francisco.