How on earth do you measure perception?

With a Flowscape of course. This graphic organiser is an elegant and effective way of looking at your own perceptions. Of catching yourself out. Designed by Edward de Bono (1993), it visually represents the connections that make up how you see a certain situation.

It brings to the surface your mental model at any given moment. By making it ‘go visual’, you’re able to reflect on your thinking. And possibly change it.

So how do you construct one?

1. Choose a subject or situation you want to investigate
2. Write a list of around 10 to 12 words that come to mind when considering your chosen topic. Try not to take too long on this. Working quickly encourages you not to attempt the ‘right answer’.
3. When you’ve finished, give each word a letter (starting with A).
4. Starting with A, choose one other word from the list that most strongly links to it. One word only, even if you feel several are equally connected. Do this for every word in your list. A word can be chosen twice. You should have two columns of letters side by side. Link them with an arrow depicting the flow.
5. Map these links. Draw the pairings by linking the letters with arrows arrows that indicate the ‘flow’. 
6. Now analyse your Flowscape. Identify the different types of connections made. 
   
   • Chain is a series of connections that depict a continuous flow from letter to letter. Reflect on wheher you considered such chain had this degree of logical significance in your thinking
   • Collector point is a letter that has received more than one flow of arrows. De Bono suggests that when Flowscapes are constructed to help solve problems, such collector points are important. They may prove to be areas where action can effectively be taken.
   • Stable loop is a pair of letters that have reciprocating arrows. They reinforce one another. De Bono strongly suggests that there should be at least one in every Flowscape.

You can see a Flowscape below on what I think makes a successful thinker. When starting the exercise, I didn’t have a clear idea how it would turn out. I wasn’t trying to manipulate the process by imposing my conclusion. It just developed. And because of that, it stimulated more reflection than simply mapping out an intended message.

It’s particularly powerful when individuals need to get to know each other and gel rapidly.

Reference:
de Bono, Edward, 1993, Water Logic, Penguin

Download a high res A4 pdf of this graphic