How to find the charting methods I don't know about?
November 14, 2015 10:38 AM Subscribe
I have been a big fan of mind mapping for almost 20 years now, and within the last 5 years started drawing flowcharts for use in my business planning processes. Recently I've taken to using gantt charts, too. I choose to hand-draw all three most of the time, and I get a lot of enjoyment out of it. So what are some other types of charts out there that I don't know about, that could be useful? Is there a catalog of visual language out there that I should know about, where all these different kinds of charts are listed?
Best answer: Unified modelling language has lots of types of diagrams for representing structures and processes
posted by crocomancer at 11:31 AM on November 14, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by crocomancer at 11:31 AM on November 14, 2015 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Some relevant usernames in this thread
There are a lot of sources for these; the neat thing is that pretty much any outline of a process can become a diagram or a sketch. http://www.quickmba.com/ has some good ideas, especially in the strategy section. The Fifth Discipline has some fascinating systems diagrams that can stand on their own or be worked into other charts/visuals (it is better than most business books, in my opinion.)
Building a custom TRIZ matrix can be fun as well, though you will have to run a lot of decisions through it before a meaningful number of grid locations have the advice generalized in a useful way.
posted by michaelh at 11:36 AM on November 14, 2015 [4 favorites]
There are a lot of sources for these; the neat thing is that pretty much any outline of a process can become a diagram or a sketch. http://www.quickmba.com/ has some good ideas, especially in the strategy section. The Fifth Discipline has some fascinating systems diagrams that can stand on their own or be worked into other charts/visuals (it is better than most business books, in my opinion.)
Building a custom TRIZ matrix can be fun as well, though you will have to run a lot of decisions through it before a meaningful number of grid locations have the advice generalized in a useful way.
posted by michaelh at 11:36 AM on November 14, 2015 [4 favorites]
Response by poster: Super answers here. Thank you.
> Mind Tools is a super useful resource.
So, are you a member there? I've been getting their emails for a while and am really on the edge of joining. but the $20/mo. fee seems steep. Any thoughts?
posted by circular at 4:33 PM on November 14, 2015
> Mind Tools is a super useful resource.
So, are you a member there? I've been getting their emails for a while and am really on the edge of joining. but the $20/mo. fee seems steep. Any thoughts?
posted by circular at 4:33 PM on November 14, 2015
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 11:12 AM on November 14, 2015 [3 favorites]