My comment
Starting with a mind map is definitely a more "relaxed" technique during
the brainstorming stage of an MDM endeavor, compared to immediately
using a data modeling tool. The relationships between master data
entities are simply specializations, so, at the first stage, the
creative process is not overloaded with the pressure to name
relationships and assign cardinalities.
Therefore, this approach is more suitable to obtain acceptance from the target audience (stakeholders / representatives of the business units). Their engagement and contributions are not only indispensable to find and define master data entities as the center of operational transactions, but also to build a sustainable basis for analytics processes: As you mentioned in your blog, master data are about the Who (Party), What (Product / Service) and Where (Location), i.e. these master data entity categories (together with When = Time) also define the dimensions of the analytics space, as most business questions can be projected into and then answered from this 4-dimensional structure.
Therefore, this approach is more suitable to obtain acceptance from the target audience (stakeholders / representatives of the business units). Their engagement and contributions are not only indispensable to find and define master data entities as the center of operational transactions, but also to build a sustainable basis for analytics processes: As you mentioned in your blog, master data are about the Who (Party), What (Product / Service) and Where (Location), i.e. these master data entity categories (together with When = Time) also define the dimensions of the analytics space, as most business questions can be projected into and then answered from this 4-dimensional structure.
