Resourceful Intelligence Transforming Lives
In my garden the other evening we noticed and loved this amazing effect so, inspired, I captured the scene; it was a beautiful dry evening, no rain or moisture on the tree, purely the effects of the sunset rays transforming the tree so it looks as if it is full of golden lights against the evening sky – the ultimate natural resource.
Magical, entrancing, couldn’t stop gazing at its splendour of light.
magical light at sunset
Tony Buzan, Inventor of Mind Maps and author of 100 best-selling books
Chris Griffiths CEO of Think Buzan
We’ve used Mind Maps at ReSource since the very beginning – our first edition contained a hand drawn map of the contents, and Tony Buzan has been a regular contributor covering areas from business to creativity and poetry. In a brief preliminary interview for an upcoming ReSource feature, I asked Mind Maps® inventor Tony Buzan about his latest book, ‘Mind Maps for Business’, written with Chris Griffiths, CEO of Think Buzan.
“There is a comprehensive difference – ‘Mind Maps at Work’ was a play on the word ‘work’ – it was a way of showing Mind Maps working, and how they are effective in people’s lives in a broad range of contexts, not just at work. It also served as an introductory text for people in any working situation, not only in business, which is completely different. In a way, it was a gentle preamble to Mind Maps for Business, and it certainly generated demand for the business book. People had read Mind Maps at Work, and other books, and this led to many requests for a book totally dedicated to the business world.
“The Mind Maps for Business Book has copious illustrations, there is full colour throughout, and there are inspiring stories and case studies gathered from around the world from major players using Mind Maps. Some examples are Nicky Oppenheimer, Chairman of de Beers diamond mines in South Africa, who describes Mind Maps as an ‘indispensable tool’, which he used to steer his senior management team during a time of refocusing to capture the essence of the organisation – where it had been and where it was heading.”
Mind Maps for Business
It’s true the book is packed with accounts of success in using Mind Maps for business from many different people. Stephen Lundin, author of the 5 million copy best selling FISH! says:
‘Mind Mapping uses the brain in the way it was designed, saves time, improves results and is fun. How can any business person be without this powerful tool?’
Masanori Kanda is known as one of the most influential entrepreneurs in Japan today. He was named the top marketer in the November issue of GQ Japan (2006) and speaking of the radical reorganisation of his company to respond to change, says: ‘Mind mapping can play a pivotal role in the process of developing a sustainable organisation that is adaptable to rapid changes today. With open and transparent cross-functional communications in all directions, the organisation grows to become more fair, resilient and effective.’
The introduction in 2006 of iMindMap, the Buzan technology for computer generated Mind Maps, developed in conjunction with Chris Griffiths, has also given rise to many more business applications. Major corporations, including Boeing, have used the methodology to envision and manage the multiple stages of complex projects from conception to delivery.
Says Mike Stanley, of the Boeing Corporation, USA:
“The use of Mind Mapping is an integral part of my Quality Improvement Project at Boeing. This has provided savings of over $10 million for my organisation.”
iMindMap Running a Meeting example
Now is the time when this book from Tony and Chris is most needed – we live in a fiercely competitive world, where global choice is greater than ever before, and customers and clients have broader options and market intelligence readily (and instantly!) available through the Internet. Agility in spotting trends, organising and managing multiple ideas and strategies, and smart implementation are key to success, something to which the use of Mind Maps is eminently well-suited. They can help you sell, negotiate, plan, brainstorm, manage – and do so more effectively, saving you time and money.
Several people I’ve interviewed recently for ReSource (including top US business coach Marshall Goldsmith and New York Times bestselling author and consultant Marcus Buckingham) have suggested that ‘we’re all entrepreneurs now’. One unexpected current example in the UK is within the public sector, in tertiary education, where funding cuts are changing the landscape dramatically. Situations are arising where employees, some of whom have been in their jobs for ten or fifteen years, are now obliged to re-apply for their existing posts – and are consequently required to ‘sell’ themselves again as the best possible candidate for the job. This requires the skill of knowing how to best position yourself, not something most public sector employees have previously had to consider. The ability to identify and promote your key assets, talents and expertise as benefits to your organisation thus become critical to successful job retention, and Mind Mapping can also assist with this.
In this age of the changing world of work, when everyone, whether employed or running their own business, needs to adopt a more intelligently entrepreneurial mindset, ‘Mind Maps for Business’ helps fill a need for ways to develop clarity of thinking and effective methods to manage complexity and diversity. Mind Maps have been proven to achieve this – over many years, across innumerable disciplines, and ‘Mind Maps for Business’ is an essential addition to the library of books we return to time and again for practical applications and guidance on being better in the business world – especially in the business of living productively and well.
You can get the book easily now at Amazon & WHSmith
Christopher Reid’s Costa Book Awards winning collection of poems arrived today –
Costa Book Award Winning Poetry “A Scattering”
The surprise winner of the important £30,000 literary prize, and only the fourth poet to achieve the accolade, Reid joins the ranks of Ted Hughes, Douglas Dunn and Seamus Heaney. The choice was supported by ‘a substantial majority’ of the judges, according to novelist Josephine Hart, chair of the judging panel. It seems a fitting further tribute to Christopher Reid’s stunningly beautiful tribute to his wife Lucinda Gane, who died in October 2005.
Christopher Reid has described this poetry as his way of surviving Lucinda’s final illness and his widower-hood. When I read a couple of extracts their intensity and emotion, delivered in a sparely evocative fashion, brought me to tears. You can see them here: Scribd. I found ‘Late’ especially powerful.
It’s a real joy that poetry triumphed – hopefully indicative of the more general recognition which is starting to build of the power of poems to eloquently express our inner and outer worlds.
I notice there is also a poetry event taking place in London this weekend at Central Hall Westminster, in support of Haiti, organised by Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy and Poetry Live – details here.
http://www.poetryliveforhaiti.org/
A a rare treat for the soul for £10 and all for a good cause. See you there?
I met up last night with New York Times best selling author Dan Pink, whose latest book, Drive
launched this week in London, published by Canongate.
Dan is always a real treat to watch and listen to, and his talk at the RSA (www.thersa.org) on January 27th was no exception. Author of Free Agent Nation and Whole New Mind, and dedicated to exploring new business paradigms, Dan now turns his attention to what motivates us, and exposes 40 years of research from top academic institutions that reveals some surprising results.
In essence, the ‘carrot and stick’ approach only works in certain circumstances and contexts – money as a motivator doesn’t necessarily produce better results. In fact, it can make them worse….
The book explores how, for higher level rather than mechanical tasks, we humans need a different set of motivators, summed up as Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose. Various companies (e.g. Google) who have used such ways of encouraging their staff have found great upsurges in creativity, the best ideas often emerging from unstructured or free time – with projects like Googlemail as exemplars.
Highly recommended read – and you can find Dan here to find out more about his ideas. More to come about our conversation soon…
Following on from yesterday’s post about my judging the Twitter Valentine’s poetry competition hosted by Hallmark, I’m delighted to announce that my special 6 page guide to writing short poems is now ready – it’s packed with great tips and will tell you how some famous poets (including the Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy) compose their works! This guide is valued at £7.50, but it’s yours for free as a Valentine’s Special.
Leave a message here requesting a copy or send an email to poetryguide@googlemail.com giving me your full name and the email to which you want the guide sent.
When you’ve written your Tweet poem, post it at Hallmark and be sure to let us know and come back to post it here too!
A poem taken from Secret Garden of the Soul
Getting the #Brexit ducks in a row – or not? A Facebook friend asked how we want our #Brexit today – boiled, fried, roasted … my immediate thoughts were that it is to me, half-baked, par-boiled, and conversely, paradoxically, burnt and battered, leaving many of us bewildered, and anxious, whichever side of the divide we stand. […]
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