ThinkBuzan is the company that arose from Tony Buzan's invention: MindMaps. I am pleased and proud to be an endorsed instructor and will bring the learning and materials to my work with customers and clients.
I first used MindMaps just before my 20th birthday. Like many for whom MindMaps "click", I wish I had learned about them sooner. Since then I have been a regular user. Here are a number of observations I have made over the intervening years:
1. MindMaps are a thinking interface between your mind and the world. They work, because they record and present information and ideas in a way that delights your mind. Delight sparks creativity and memory.
2. MindMaps are "taught" in schools these days. My impression is there is a wide variation in the degree to which it is taught. Some schools do a thorough job and demonstrate the technique, encourage learning and guide students in the correct application of the MindMap principles. Others outline the technique, familiarise students, but don't persist in guiding or encouraging students in applying maps to their work. The result: poor teaching leads to poor technique. Poor technique leads to frustration in creating maps that don't work, frequently because the maps are not MindMaps. The result is the opinion: "I tried it and they didn't work for me".
Sad really. Many people hate cricket and when you find out why, it wasn't the game itself, but the way it was taught. A long afternoon spent at Fine Leg in the burning sun (no batting nor bowling) is not conduisive to a happy childhood sporting memory.
The real pity is that poor teaching is like an inoculation. You introduce a feeble strain of the disease so the body recognises it and is taught to reject it. Feeble strains of mapping lead to the recognition and rejection of proper MindMap techniques.
3. "Use Your Head" was first published in 1974. This was the book in which Tony Buzan outlined the MindMap idea and explained its uses. Since then there have been many advances in knowledge about the brain and the mind. The MindMap as a technique has been validated by these changes in our knowledge.
4. In the workplace, some organisations use maps, others don't. Many people in the workplace are familiar with mapping, endorse the benefits, but don't act. The persistence of linear interfaces and materials and their widespread use demand compliance. The use of MindMapping is silently ostracised by culture.
4. In the workplace, some organisations use maps, others don't. Many people in the workplace are familiar with mapping, endorse the benefits, but don't act. The persistence of linear interfaces and materials and their widespread use demand compliance. The use of MindMapping is silently ostracised by culture.
5. There are many mapping softwares available. Some are good in what they achieve, but many do not produce MindMaps. The only software that applies the MindMap principles is ThinkBuzan's iMindMap.
6. As technology increases, many look to "bells and whistles" to improve their lot. The technology depicted in the movie "Minority Report" is often cited as the next step and some mention systems that can do this. I believe that a person can gain more traction by understanding how they interact with information, learn how they process it and then apply what they learned to design and shape their world. They can become more efficient and productive. MindMaps are a cheap, easy and simple step to take a major step on this road.
To go to the ThinkBuzan website, click here.
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