The Three Mapping 'Hats'

The Three Mapping 'Hats'

In most instances, a good Social System Map requires a minimum of three different kinds of thinkers. We call these the 'thinking hats'. Of course there are more 'thinking hats' than just these three. And more thinking types are valuable to the mapping process, but in our experience, without someone having strengths in at least those three mental skill-sets, a project falls flat somewhere along the way. The potential it represents never gets accessed. 

Of course, we're all multi-dimensional, complex human beings, no-one wants to get put in a box, and some of us CAN and WANT to wear more than one hat in a project (as well as in life :-) )

Still - it's rare that one person is really strong in all three areas. And our dominant thinking habits can put us in a rut. This means that at it's best, Social System Mapping is inherently and inevitably a collaboration among very different thinking types

And even if you are that rare Unicorn who can be creative across the whole range of skills, it's useful to keep in mind which hat you're wearing at different times. Wearing them all at once often makes you do a mushy job.

The three hats:

Visionary

The Visionary inspires and facilitates - listening carefully to people's imaginations to determine what information is needed. This is a people-y, facilitative type of thinker.
This hat is most needed before there is a map to look at. This person helps others envision what they need to create together. Without one of these, the map risks being boring, derivative and superficial.

Technician

The Technician deals with technical tools to gather and represent the needed information using online platforms. This is a tech-y data-intensive type of thinker.
This person takes the survey design and turns it into an online map. Without one of these, you'll run into technical roadblocks and much of your creative juices won't flow into an interesting outcome.

SenseMaker

The SenseMaker deals with training & systems-thinking & active inquiry to help others distill meaning from the information that has been gathered and represented. This is a conceptual, teacher-y type of thinker. This person helps the network get the most from the map after it has been created. Without one of these, people won't know what to do with the map and you'll have this great tool sitting there that few people use.

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