Articulating an idea sequentially for the digestion of other is difficult especially as ideas come about in a random manner. So how can we take those random ideas keeping up the energy levels and inspirations to then produce a sequential document?
Throughout my life and even today we are expected to produce information in documents which present the information in a sequential flow. It makes sense, if you were to try and locate the proverbial pin in the haystack you would find it easier if you had the table of contents or index so that you knew where you were looking.
This can become an arduous task at times computers have improved these abilities to catalogue and index our material. But the end result is not what I am talking about it is in the initial stages of generating the material and information and creating the work. It has been accepted that the material we end up with should be produced in the sequential manner of a beginning, middle and end, and it is that point we need to consider to find a better way to approach the topic.
The human brain is not created in a series of sequential steps; our whole process of thinking is based on a network of nerves and electrical impulses firing throughout our brains neural network randomly and in multiples of hundreds and thousands of incidents a time. It can happen in parallel, sequentially and randomly. So with this in mind try to out put our ideas, information and knowledge in our heads in a sequential manner does not seam to make much sense.
As a child I always struggled with the concept of writing a document in the manner that was taught at school. This could be the due to the many different schools and methods that I was exposed to. But consistently the result at the end was to produce these written works in a sequential manner to do that you had to put your thoughts on paper in the same manner. I have taken me close to 40 plus years to achieve the understanding that I wish I had as a child. I have since ever tried to impart my lessons learnt to my children.
As I worked throughout my life I have spent much of my adult life being in the forefront of technology. This is due to my own fascination and intrigue and my own pursuit to achieve a better understanding of the technology and be in a position to assist my children as they grow and endeavour to use this technology as a standard part of their lives. I have been fortunate to have been around at the beginning of the technology evolution in to the broader community. It had been around for a number of years before I started but not available to the average person on the street.
I started with a Sinclair ZX80 which at it time was one of the latest in it field of home computers. It was a small computer which was based on a ZX80 chip and had 1kilobyte of memory. Looking at it now my watch has more power that probably 10 of these computers. But it was the start of the home computer, I later obtained a memory upgrade to 32 Kilobytes which was an open circuit board with bare wires and I had to store it in a piece of aluminium foil. At not realising why, but later to understand to isolate it from static the enemy of these types of chips and circuit boards.
Bit by bit the computers improved and the capacity and capabilities of these computers improved to the extent that I am currently flying 37000 feet above the ground on my way to Chicago writing this article on a laptop which in the day of my ZX80 would have required building the size of at least half a dozen house if not more. In that time as I have work in this industry and with the many different computers and software application to carry out my work I have been required to produce many documents and to convey my thoughts and ideas.
For many years I have struggled with this not only due to my lack of ability in spelling but also in the ability to convey my thought to paper. I knew I was able to verbally communicate my ideas and I always was able to convey them when verbally communicating with people and associated but my downfall always happen at the point of trying to commit these ideas to paper. It has taken me a number of years to find the software that was able to assist myself, my children and anyone who is interested in communicating their thoughts to paper and struggle with the standard method of converting ideas and random thoughts to paper.
I was introduce to a piece of software which when I was first introduced to it turn on a light. It clicks so and I wondered why I had not been introduced to this many years ago. The concept was so simple but I suppose it required the ability of computers to reach such a stage to make so effective in today’s computer dependant world. The concept is called Mind Mapping and it was developed and is still being presented and I gather further developed by its creator Paul Buzan. I have read a little of his work and I support I should read some more, but at this time I have leant how to use the software tool which was based on his concept and have not needed to gain any further understanding of his concept as I have applied it as I see in the manner it was intended.
The software itself is so well designed that it took only a matter of minutes to understand how to use it. Not only use it but become both an avid user and evangelist of promoting its ability to assist people in not only taking what is in their heads out and committing it to paper but the power of the tool to brain storm and work in a collaborative manner to find the essence in a group and distilling it to a usable format.
The application is Mind Mapper Pro and there are a number of other products in the market place which will work as well and probably offer just as much if not more or lest that this product has. This software is the product I use but it is not the software but the idea and concept that it handles and the simplicity of the idea that it does. Taking a core idea and letting the user build a map a mind map of their or the groups ideas and in a simple and effective way putting it in to a computer which then give the ability to then convert it to a documented way which can then be produced for others to digest.
As the user builds their mind map it give the ability to add further branches, each adding to the depth and breath of to the original idea. This ability to interact with the software is simple and is able to be effected in a very quite manner. By clicking on each of the ideas which are added to the map the user has only to start typing to add further branches. The main advantage is that as we think and cross over between ideas and construct we can just click on each idea which need to be added to and start to type. The user has the ability to control the structure and place the map in order but it is the freedom that each user can work the way they feel in control of the process.
Myself I start of with a random map and then as I feel that I am getting to the point that I do not have any further idea to add to the map I then start to priorities and change the structure. But it is this ability to take the random ideas and as those ideas develop start to put in the structure and framework in preparation to then export the map to a document in a structured format. In the group environment I use it to manager the ideas to any given task. One of the biggest issues when working in a group is that people come up with allsorts of ideas. Some good some not so good, but the issue it to empower the members of any group and not to close them down if an idea does not look clear to myself. In this way we acknowledge the ideas and can developer them or not. But in putting the idea in to the map we then have taken the focus of not letting others put up their suggestions and focuses on the solution or results. These ideas can be expanded and developed and usually the people who suggest them will be the people who will come to the realisation that their idea may not be that good. Or the reverse may happen and the idea picks up momentum and others start to see the merits and focus further energies on them.
So if you are looking for a better way to extract either your ideas or the ideas of a group to find that solution and develop it further then may I suggest that you look no further than to the concept of mind mapping and the software tool that I have come to use frequently called Mind Mapper Pro. It can be found at http://www.mindmapper.com/ . These are the rants of someone who has found a tool that is very useful and easy to use and thought that others should be aware of it. If you are the sort that thinks in a sequential manner then this product may not be for you but if you are like me and as far as I know many others then take a look.
