Divergent Thinking - Mind Map Style
Divergent Thinking - Mind Map Style is a relationship mapping exercise for divergent ideation: it helps participants open up more possible ideas before choosing a direction.
How to run it
- On a large blank piece of paper, write your central topic or challenge in the middle of the paper and circle
- Ask yourself, "What else can I add to the map that is related to this theme?
- Write down ideas, branching
- Have participants share their mindmaps with other players
- Have participants work in People Science teams and focus on the same problem so that they can see the
- To increase divergent thinking - have each person start a mindmap and then after an allocated time
- ask each person to pass the mind map to the right and have the next person continue building
- Share discoveries
Run this exercise live
The facilitator console stays in this browser. Its QR handoff is a short-lived participant snapshot containing only public exercise instructions, phase, prompt, and timer state.
What participants need now
Materials:
This is a participant-safe snapshot, not a response form. It sends nothing back to the facilitator.
Prompts to use +
On a large blank piece of paper, write your central topic or challenge in the middle of the paper and circle
Ask yourself, "What else can I add to the map that is related to this theme?
Write down ideas, branching
Have participants share their mindmaps with other players
Have participants work in People Science teams and focus on the same problem so that they can see the
To increase divergent thinking - have each person start a mindmap and then after an allocated time
Run this with your AI assistant +
Works with Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or your own local model: paste this prompt and your AI will co-facilitate this exercise with you.
Adapt this exercise for my exact room. Exercise: Divergent Thinking - Mind Map Style. Readiness: Publishable Draft. Core moves: On a large blank piece of paper, write your central topic or challenge in the middle of the paper and circle; Ask yourself, "What else can I add to the map that is related to this theme?; Write down ideas, branching; Have participants share their mindmaps with other players. Return a concise facilitator script with timing, wording, safety notes, and remote/in-person adjustments.
Origin unverified
- Where we observed it: The strongest current observations come from Relationship Makers Handbook; aggregators are listed as additional observations, not origin proof. (1 source observed, including Relationship Makers Handbook.)
- What that means: we track where an exercise has been observed in public sources. We do not claim to know who created it, or how popular it is.
- No efficacy claims: appearing in this library is not a claim that the exercise is proven effective. Facilitator judgment and context decide whether it works for a given room.
- Corrections: if you have evidence of an earlier or more accurate source, read our methodology and trust boundary and tell us.