Before you read any further, take a second for a simple test.
Pretend that you've been asked for directions to your home. Sit at your desk (any table will do), take out a pen and paper, and write those directions down. When you're done, check what you did. Did you write a list, with one street after the other? Did you draw a map, with neat, square corners? Or did you do both? Believe it or not, it matters more than you think.
If you wrote a list ("take Elm Street to Pine Avenue and turn right, then go two blocks…"), you tend to think in linear, logical terms, with close attention to detail. If you drew a map, you tend to think in visual, spatial terms, with a talent for seeing the big picture. If you did both, you have a blend of styles.
Most of the world's planning software favors the linear model. For example, you can use Pocket Word and dozens of other programs to make lists of all kinds, from simple to baroque. But at best these programs let you re-order those lists as your ideas change. There's little if any sense of the visual realm of your thoughts, and as we all know, "a picture is worth a thousand words."
Enter the mind map, a graphical way to brainstorm, take notes, and inject your plans with a little visual order. By their very nature, mind maps can dramatically improve your work in problem solving, presentations, decision making, and more. If you doubt it, consider the fact that Boeing, the world's largest maker of aircraft, relies on a twenty-foot mind map of jet aircraft designs to enable a team of engineers to learn in weeks what often takes years. And they save $10 million in the process.
Exactly what are mind maps?
According to Dan Bradbary, a project manager and expert in corporate communication, "Mind maps are visual tools that let you use both sides of your brain. You can brainstorm a project by linking seemingly random thoughts to a central topic, then, while watching the picture grow, see how it all fits together."
Unlike other capture and planning tools, you don't have to think in a fixed order, line by line, with one thought after the other. According to Dan, "you can think the way your brain works: in little explosions of thought… You can jump from here to there, then drag and drop your thoughts to organize them into a picture."
The result is a powerful way to commit everything to paper, from grocery lists to factory inventories. As a result, mind maps sometimes look like a piece of art, or the shadow of a magnificent spider stretched across the screen. If you'd like to learn more about them, visit the Buzan Centre's Web site (http://www.mind-map.com).
Mind-mapping software began on desktop PCs and has migrated relatively recently to handheld platforms. Two mind-mapping products dominate the Pocket PC market: MindManager Mobile Edition by MindJet, and Pocket MindMap by JKRB Software.
MindManager 2002 Mobile Edition—powerful companion to desktop PC version
MindManager's desktop edition is the Cadillac of mind-mapping software. It has more features and a better interface than any of its competitors, and runs without a hitch. Its Mobile Edition lets you build and edit mind maps on any Pocket PC running Windows Mobile 2002 or greater, and sync them with the desktop PC version of the program.
Mind map of a wireless communication project, displayed using the desktop PC version of MindManager 2002. Mind maps let you create simple or sophisticated project maps.
MindManager 2002 Mobile Edition includes many of the features found in the desktop PC version of the program. However, the mind maps appear differently on the mobile edition, which can be confusing.
Printer-friendly version
