Turbocharged SWOT

In this post I discuss how you can take the commonly used tool, SWOT Analysis and combine it with Mind Mapping to greatly improve the quantity and quality of ideas.

What is SWOT?

SWOT is most useful for large, general overviews of situations, scenarios, or business performance. It is often helpful to consider SWOT before implementing a major change or new company initiative. SWOT is also useful to add clarity as part of a marketing plan. It is sometimes criticised as outdated and insufficient in isolation, as it needs further work to uncover strategic actions and next steps. Mind Maps fulfil the role of in-depth thinking and strategy.

One of the major benefits of Mind Mapping is how you can take a conventional thinking tool and improve it by wrapping a Mind Map framework around it. Mind Maps by their nature are generative thinking tools; i.e. they promote the creation of multiple new ideas. Thus, any process that you plug into a Mind Map automatically generates more outcomes.

The key to having better ideas is to have more ideas. You can then push past the obvious and explore innovative and creative solutions to problems. It’s like panning for gold. The more sand and grit you put into the pan and swish around with water, the more gold you find.

SWOT Analysis is historically credited to Albert Humphrey, American business and management consultant, in the 1960s. Though its attribution remains debatable. It is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses Opportunities and Threats.

The Traditional Process

Typically, a facilitator draws four quadrants on a flipchart and asks people to call out suggestions for each of the factors in turn. This kind of group discussion is often doomed to mediocrity from the outset.

When ideas are called out, it is always the extrovert characters who tend to be heard and dominate the discussion. Often, the quiet ones are more thoughtful and may have some very pertinent thoughts but are drowned out. Equally important, is that each word called out and written up influences the thinking of everyone in the room. Rather than a wide-ranging diverging, generative session you actually end up with a narrow, though possibly winding, path. There is a wealth of possibility off the beaten track which is never explored.

A slightly better approach is to use post-it notes. Each person writes their ideas on notes and sticks them to a board, in the relevant category, in turn. This is more divergent, as ideas are not influenced as much by those previously suggested. It is important that the notes are anonymous so no one is called out for a seemingly silly suggestion.

No matter how the lists are compiled, it is generally the case that as soon as the box or board is full, the thinking stops. It takes time to eliminate the obvious to discover novel ideas, so it is probable that the process ends just as it’s starting to get useful. This is a great shame.

How Does Mind Mapping Improve the Process?

Create a Mind Map with the central image representing the overall issue, product or project and four main branches for Strengths, Weaknesses Opportunities and Threats.

Mind Mapping allows parallel thinking whilst maintaining categorisation. For example, when thinking about an opportunity, a threat could come to mind. This can easily be added to the threats branch and captured. If you were working purely on one category at a time, as in the traditional format, the idea would most likely be lost. You can dart back and forth around the Mind Map adding ideas as they come to mind and where they best fit. Of course, you are still influenced by previous ideas but, as they are all visible on a single page and none of the categories are closed, they stimulate rather than restrict diversity of thinking.

What is more, a Mind Map takes the thinking a step further. You can create a new Mind Map for each of the four factors if you have a crowded idea generation Mind Map. Alternatively, just add to it if space allows.

Strengths

Having identified them, you can add ideas on how to play to your strengths, maximise, protect and maintain them. Therefore, you’re not merely identifying the strengths but creating useful, winning strategies.

Weaknesses

Explore how to minimise your weaknesses. Even better you can show how a weakness can be transformed into a strength.

A genius example of this was an advertising campaign devised in 1962 by New York advertising agency, Doyle Dane Bernbach. They were working for Avis car rental. At the time, Hertz was the market leader and Avis was number two. Obviously, this would seem to be a position of weakness for Avis. The successful ad campaign turned this on its head by using the slogan, “When you’re not the biggest in rent cars, you have to try harder. We do. We’re only No.2.” They successfully instilled the strength of better customer service and just being ‘nicer’ as a trait of Avis, thereby significantly increasing market share.

Opportunities

Some opportunities can be seized and implemented right away. Others however, require resources such as investing time and money to develop them. It may not be feasible to embrace every opportunity suggested. The Mind Map can help you to clarify and identify the outlay required and thus prioritise investment.

Threats

It is vitally important not just to identify threats but to take action to defend against them. Once again, the Mind Map comes to your rescue as you can capture ideas to minimise impact, reduce or eliminate each risk. Can you have a ‘Plan B’ as a fall-back position should the risk materialise? Can you share risk? What is the probability and worst-case-scenario?

Better business is all about having better ideas. You can see how Mind Maps promote a much more in-depth understanding and thinking about any project. I oft quote the wisdom of Warren Buffet, “Risk comes from not knowing what you're doing...” - “I insist on a lot of time being spent, almost every day, to just sit and think.”