6/26/2008

Maps for rethinking over and over


Lately I have an important event from my company within the region I am responsible for. I am collaborating meeting the multinational strategies to the points in which this region can take advantage of.
That suppose rethink over and over in different time schedules and with different people, also contrasting these ideas every day in the last month in order the get something consistent enough.
This format is helping me with, cause the map is not really fully overloaded with information.

6/17/2008

Two Mindmapping styles


After a comment made by Robin Carper, I take the opportunity to explain in detail the two mindmap styles I used to work with.
Style no 1 is the one in the previous post, whenever I have a central idea and I must think over and over getting more ideas and relationships, that is the result from such a process. Examples of use: preparing meetings, speeches,...
Style no 2 is whenever I must attend a meeting, a conference,... where every detail counts on. In such a case, my mindmaps designs gather quite a lot information, and mostly I have no time to make drawings, but on the other hand I have the instrument to get details in the future. In the following picture you can get a live mindmap created within a meeting. I always try to transform the style no 2 in the style no 1 making a simpler map the next day.

6/12/2008

Criticizing my mindmaps


As it is pretty clear within this blog´s contents, I use mindmapping everyday (in both ways, software one and handmade).
Here it is located the last one, I have made (excuse because it is in spanish), it determines the two Siemens in Asturias (the spanish region I am responsible for) positioning keys (the business and the social one).
Key issues to improve: colors and drawings.

6/11/2008

Mindmapping video


I have found in Philippe Boukobza´s blog a video talking about mindmapping concepts, which are extremely useful to get deeper on it.
Currently it is in Spanish and French.

Mindmapping for facing crisis times


Some weeks ago, I was questioned by Chuck Frey about the possibilities to use Mindmapping as a mean to face, in a better position, crisis times. Chuck gathered that information coming from different sources and join it up formatted.
Getting deeper in this blog, we talked about using Mindmapping to reduce cost even in a supermarket, also to consider different alternatives in order to get a low-cost decission and lately we have been talking about the relationship between Mindmapping and Productivity.
In my personal case using Mindmapping helps me to make tasks in less time, also I rank the task in different priority levels, so I am always focused on what is important to be solved, to be decided. Always I have a complex problem, I detailed the whole problem in a Mindmapping reaching lower details, thinking over that details and the relationships among them, it turns out much easier to link them in order to get the best solution, considering the priorities you have defined to take your decission.
These ones among others (many people is using mindmapping in a better way than me) makes you getting into productivity and also be a valuable worker facing crisis times.

5/29/2008

Mindmapping vs Unemployment


A friend of mine has been fired (following a cost reduction policy in his company), some people also call it in a polite way "the company makes your position redudant" ephemistically.
He is an enthusiastic about mindmapping but he has never got time to learn about.
Last weekedn we were talking about different ways to face the situation and looking for a new job. Talk derives and bonds into mindmapping world.
Mindmapping techniques are an extraordinary way to make your productivity reach further, because by using it you require less time to make more things, otherwise you can make more things with the same time.
Also all we know that the different companies (large multinational and the litlle chinese restaurant) are based on employee´s productivity, so by using it you are on the way to make your job position profitable for the company.
The next thing to do it is the marketing one, to publish it out, so the companies will know.
Even if you are not in that situation and you´re extremely safe in your job, using techniques to reach further in productivity will make you one of these two things: not be an overworked person or be a restructurationproof guy.

5/28/2008

Fresh ideas coming from XMind


I have had the opportunity to interview Stephen Zhu from XMind Ltd.
From his answers important questions arise.

A.M.: What are the fresh concepts/ideas/features that XMind brings into the Mindmapping software world?
S.Z.: In fact, XMIND has boruhgt many new ideas. First important is that XMIND is a real cross-platform software, which means you will have the same user experience among Window, Mac and Linux. Second, xmind design the brand-new 'drilldown&drillup', filter, presentation, 2D-chart and so on. In fact, XMIND has considered more to let users feel comfortable.

A.M.: In your opinion, comparing XMind with the different software tools nowadays on the market, which are the strongest features and the weakest ones?
S.Z.: The strongest feature is that XMIND is easy to use. This is also the most important rule for us. Then, our presentation and drilldown has great competitive strength. The weakest point may be the note. XMIND's note is not more powerful than others'.

A.M.: In your opinion, where the MindMapping software tools are evolving to.
S.Z.: Mind Mapping will be one tool for users to plan work, clarify the information. In fact, fishbone chart and 2D-chart are using frequently too.

A.M.: In your personal use, which are the main usages you made with mindmapping software applications?
S.Z.: Clarify our thinking. Then I will use XMIND to analyze the questions.(2D-chart), and do the meet note by using Audio Notes.

A.M.: How do you envision mindmapping software tools can help increasing productivity?
S.Z.: Increasing productivity means that we can use less time to do one thing or more things. XMIND, I can use it to achieve this target. It can let me think one thing more quickly and clearly.

A.M.: Would you mind providing me with some additional information about the company and what made the initiators getting into this mindmapping software world?
S.Z.: XMIND LTD is a company registered at HongKong, which has put all its energy and everything to create the tools to help human increase the productivity. You know, we, human, have the limited time in the world. So we need the tools like this to assist we do more good things for this world.

I do recommend testing it and determine if it fits your expectatives, I do really think so.