Welcome and a Brief Introduction

Welcome, at long last, to the Allan Management Group (AMG) Blog. If you have arrived at our blog without the benefit of first visiting our web site then let me briefly describe what AMG is all about. Basically what we do can be described as follows. We are business and organizational problem solvers and we cater to the needs of small and mid size businesses. You can visit our website and learn more about us by clicking here.

The purpose of this, the AMG Blog, will be to present for your consideration what we believe to be interesting business stories/trends and important business ideas. We invite your feedback and participation.

Mind Mapping

Mind mapping as a technique has been around for years. The problem that has kept mind mapping from taking off as a business tool is that more often than not it has been presented as a very over intellectualized, artsy way of organizing thoughts and ideas. Now, however, there are large number of very competent computer programs that allow the user to make instant use of this very powerful thinking and planning tool.

Whoa, I can hear you saying, I think I know what a mind map is but I’m not sure. Ok ,here is a definition from Wikipedia:

“A mind map is a diagram used to represent words, ideas, tasks, or other items linked to and arranged radially around a central key word or idea. Mind maps are used to generate, visualize, structure, and classify ideas, and as an aid in study, organization, problem solving, decision making, and writing.” For a more complete discussion click here to go to the Wikipedia site.

Be warned that even though the Wikipedia site provides a good background you may put off by what we consider to be the over intellectualizing of a simple idea.

Here is what a simple mind map looks like. This is a simple to do list from my everyday life. I can update the map whenever I need to and it only takes minutes.

At AMG we use mind mapping with our clients and we use it in a variety of ways. We use it for everything from note taking to brain-storming and strategic planning.

Today`s mind mapping software is easy to use and extremely flexible, You can acquire competent software very inexpensively and for a little more money you can buy extremely powerful mind mapping programs that link directly with project management software. Here is an abbreviated list of ten reasons to consider incorporating mind mapping software into your business and personal life. For the complete list visit Chuck Frey`s Mind Mapping Software Blog by clicking here.

1. It’s unbelievably flexible. The number one benefit of mind mapping software, hands down, is this: No other type of program lets you manipulate ideas, knowledge and information with as much freedom and flexibility as mind mapping software. That’s because it encapsulates ideas and knowledge in “containers” that can hold various types of content and data and can be rearranged at will.

2. It can make you more productive. Mind mapping software can increase your productivity by an average of 20%, according to two independent research studies conducted by me (Chuck Frey) and Mindjet. That’s the equivalent of saving one day a week. What you could accomplish in your job if you could save that kind of time?  What could that magnitude of productivity increase do to your reputation as a “can do” worker?

3. It can help you become a better creative problem solver.

4. It helps you to identify gaps in your information.

5. It gives you a powerful set of tools to think about your thinking..

6. You can reach clarity faster on key issues..

7. It helps you to make better decisions..

8. It helps you to become better organized..

9. You can see the forest and the trees.

10. It helps you to identify, prioritize and track key project tasks.

Again for a more complete look at why you should take a look at mind mapping be sure to visit the Mind Mapping Software Blog.

That`s it for this installment. Next time we`ll take a look at the various software packages that are available out there to get you and your organization started with mind mapping.