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Strategic tool combines tacit, explicit knowledge to seek a competitive edge
I In the 1988 movie Working Girl, Melanie Griffith's character has an epiphany on a train that a customer should invest in radio after reading an article in a newspaper regarding an upcoming social event. She uses her explicit knowledge and puts together tacit knowledge with Harrison Ford's character to create a proposal for a business development opportunity, much to the chagrin of her boss played by Sigourney Weaver.
The deal resulting from it is a great example of mind mapping, though no mind map was used in this movie. This was also an example of an employee with no knowledge of business development finding success through knowledge sharing and transfer. Yes, it was a movie, but gathering and using both explicit and tacit knowledge is useful in business development.
Tony Buzan introduced mind mapping to the masses through his books Use Both Sides of Your Bram: New MindMapping Techniques in 1991 and How to Mind Map in 1993. These books introduced creativity and a process to map knowledge to topics selected by authors as needed to develop their mind maps.
Anyone on a business development team can start mind mapping, but it is most beneficial to start in the capture phase of any proposal efforts. It is through knowledge sharing and knowl- edge transfer of the team that the mind map becomes a useful tool.
WIIFM for organizational business development
For an organization, business development is one of the most complex and critical factors necessary for success. Developing and growing a business, from employees to profits, come from valueadded processes that organizations use to build working relationships that, in the end, benefit all players.
Whether the relationships are the organization's place within a market or as a partner on a contract, business development is a must-do and must-keep-upwith function of an organization. Using a mind map adds value to an organization in the form of fact-based and actionable knowledge to develop business. This value is the WIIFM, the "What's in it for me?" for the organization.
The business development team may be interested in pursuing an examination of the viable markets for areas of growth. Developing mature and cooperative relationships with other...