In many organizations, the problem is not that people aren't coming up with new ideas to get things done - the problem is keeping track of them so you can follow through with them.  Getting a group of people together to brainstorm a solution is a great idea, but if no one is capturing and organizing the thoughts that are presented, then it is as if they were never presented to begin with.  One way of resolving this is by using the technique of "mind-mapping."

A mind map is simply a diagram that is used to represent any number of words, ideas or tasks that are linked to a central idea.  It can be a much more effective way of tracking ideas than using an outline or just taking notes because it helps to better connect ideas together.  A map can either be very simple with multiple central ideas and single "spokes" to convey ideas attached to that central idea or a map can be more complex with ideas that branch off in further idea sequences from the central idea.  However you use the map it helps to connect the ideas together in a way that doesn't happen with just making a list.  

There is no one set way to do a mind map.  Some people will freehand draw a map while others like to have something that is more structured.  There is also software that is designed to help with keeping your mind map organized and can let you print and/or share with others in a variety of ways.  You can find a list of some of the software at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mind_mapping_software

There is a repository of historic fire insurance maps containing information that could be vital to your current work especially if you work in commercial real estate, development, urban planning, or insurance. I am referring to the collection of fire insurance maps retained by and offered through EDR as the Certified Sanborn® Map Report. This is a collection containing the original fire insurance maps of American cities and towns drafted by the field survey crews of the Sanborn Map Company. Crews mapped as many as 12,000 American cities and towns starting from the late nineteenth century and well into the twentieth. They collected information critical to fire insurance underwriters. The fire underwriters needed to know information about the risk associated with the building in question, its’ use, nearby structures, occupancies of those structures, location of fire hydrants, and generally the surrounding area. They mapped areas at large scale to provide the rich details. They noted construction methods, type of building materials used, processes undertaken inside buildings, and storage. Because the Sanborn crews returned approximately every 10 years, the maps represent a long-term record of land usage. Today this information is useful to developers who want to know about hidden risks, land use planners seeking the history of a location and its’ previous uses, and environmental historians. EDR supplements the digital Sanborn map with a series of historic aerial images by decade, city directories, as well as USGS topographic maps. EDR certifies the package of maps and images as accurate to a set of standards so that the information is in a sense validated for any potential legal issues.