Author Carmine Gallo has written a popular book entitled The Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs: Insanely Different Principles for Breakthrough Success, in which he outlines 7 ways in which this well-known executive thinks differently – and how you can profit from adopting a similar mindset.

I’ve taken the 7 key principles of this book and added my own thoughts and observations to them as subtopics. These are not meant to reflect the actual content of the book, but are included here as food for thought about how you can think differently about your work and your life.

Please click on the mind map above to view a larger version with all of the subtopics opened up.

You have an opportunity to do something great with your unique gifts, skills and talents. What are you going to do about it?

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• Is capable of creating their own roadmap,
• Can connect effectively with others, and
• Can deliver creative, inspired solutions that delight their employers and customers.

I recently took another look at Seth Godin’s latest book, Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?, to see what insights I could gain from it. A linchpin, as defined by this popular marketing guru, is someone who is committed to doing remarkable work, which makes them indispensable, and to produce interactions that organizations and people care deeply about.

As I read through the first few chapters of this excellent book, making notes in the margins to document my thoughts and reactions, I was struck by a strong feeling that mind mapping software is the perfect tool for linchpins. Here are a number of quotes from the book that back up my assertion:

“The system we grew up with is based on a simple formula: Do your job. Show up. Work hard. Listen to the boss. Stick it out. Be part of the system. You’ll be rewarded. That’s the scam… There are no longer any great jobs where someone is telling you precisely what to do.”

When there is no road map that shows you “precisely what to do,” mind mapping software can be essential in helping you to get clarity on your situation, and then to craft a successful path forward. It helps you with problem definition, project scoping, opportunity analysis and decision making. Where there is no map, mind mapping software helps you to create one.

“Imagine an organization with an employee who can accurately see the truth, understand the situation and understand the potential outcomes of various decisions. And now imagine that this person is also able to make something happen.”

Mind mapping software helps savvy executives to envision creative solutions to complex challenges. But not only that, it also helps you to create well-organized action plans to solve them, and to track your progress as you do so. In short, it helps you to make things happen!

“It’s the art and the insight and the bravery of value creation that are rewarded.”

Mind mapping software helps in the process of value creation. It is the engine that helps you to organize ideas, see “white space” opportunities that others aren’t even aware of, and provides you with a powerful set of tools to drive them forward to successful execution.

“Finding security in mediocrity is an exhausting process. You can work only so many hours, fret only so much. Being a slightly better typist or a slightly faster coder is insufficient. You’re always looking over your shoulder, always trying to be just a little bit less mediocre than the guy next to you. It wears you out. It’s impossible to do the work at the same time you’re in pain. The moment-to-moment insecurity of so many jobs robs you of the confidence you need to actually do great work.”

Mind mapping software helps you to become more confident by enabling you to deconstruct your current situation or challenge, to break it down into pieces and understand how they fit together. It helps you to reach clarity faster – the number one benefit of mind mapping software, according to the readers of this blog. Greater clarity means less stress, and that, in turn, frees you up to do great work. Following this line of reasoning, it can be said that mind mapping software enables great work.

“Working without a map involves both vision and the willingness to do something about what you see… Linchpins are able to embrace the lack of structure and find a new path, one that works.”

Mind mapping software can help you to envision new paths and solutions, organize your thoughts about them, identify the best one and build an action plan to bring it to reality. It’s that simple.

“Troubleshooting is never part of a job description… Troubleshooting is an art… The troubleshooter steps in when everyone else has given up, puts himself on the line and donates the energy and the risk to the cause.”

What tools can troubleshooters use to help them analyze challenges, help a small work team understand what the real underlying problems are, envision a new solution and mobilize people into action with practical action plans? Mind mapping software, of course.

“The linchpin brings the ability to lean. He can find a new solution to a problem that has caused others to quit. His art, his genius, is to re-imagine the opportunity and find a new way to lean into it.”

Mind mapping software, in the hands of a linchpin, can be a really powerful thing. It can help you to re-imagine problems and opportunities in new, creative ways. It’s a perspective-altering tool that enables you to see the forest and the trees – at the same time. You can use it to fashion plans with a bias for “leaning” into action. It also arms you with tools you can use to track progress against your goals and make mid-course corrections.

See what I mean?

I believe that there is such strong alignment between the principles and strategies Godin is talking about and the natural strengths of mind mapping software that it’s hard to ignore. Mind mapping software is the perfect tool for linchpins. That’s my conclusion.

What do you think? Please share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.

Want to know more about this remarkable book, and why I’m so keen on this apparent mind mapping connection? You can pick up a copy of Linchpin from Amazon.com here.

In Unstuck, Focused and Organized Using Mind Mapping, Mark offers a concise, no-nonsense guide to getting started with mind maps, and provides a simple and easy-to-follow roadmap that anyone can use to transform their “someday” projects into reality.

Topics covered in Unstuck, Focused & Organized Using Mind Mapping (UFO for short)  include:

• How to make a mind map
• Sticky note mind mapping
• Advantages of mind mapping for capturing ideas vs. writing yourself a note
• Two-minute mapping to clear your mind
• How mind maps adapt to your preferred learning style
• How whole brain thinking can lead to superior results

The book also lays out a list of next steps you can take to implement what you learned, and suggested resources where you can learn more (including this blog and my Power Tips e-book).

One of the core concepts of UFO that really resonated with me was the idea of “frictionless thought organization.” Mark defines friction as “anything that slows down your ability to work,” especially when you’re capturing ideas. Unlike manual note taking, which is limited by how fast you can write, mind mapping is nearly frictionless because it enables you to quickly capture key words, concepts and ideas almost as quickly as you think of them.

Another high point of this mind mapping primer is the fact that it contains several common scenarios that today’s knowledge workers face. He even builds personas around them, making them seem real and adding a highly personal dimension to his explanations of mind mapping uses. Mark explains why they’re stuck, work challenges they faced and how mind mapping helped each person to overcome them.

Another element that adds depth to UFO is a series of four audio interviews that Mark conducted with key people who use mind mapping to stay organized, focused and prodigiously productive, including:

• Social media and human business expert Chris Brogan
• Michael Martine, the Remarkablogger, who teaches ordinary people how to develop extraordinary blogs
• Dave Navarro, a well-known and respected product launch coach and
• Chuck Frey (me!)

The interviews are very informative, and by themselves are worth the cost of this e-book package. Here are just a few nuggets to whet your appetite:

Chris Brogan talks about thinking in “dimensions” – the ability to explore all of the potential elements and relationships of whatever he is working on, and increasing his odds of success when developing a project by identifying potential “blind spots” in his thinking.

Michael Martine offers some fascinating insights into how he uses mind mapping to drive his development process for creating information products (e-books, online courses, etc.). I especially liked his explanation of how he utilizes mind maps to view the lifetime value of a customer – something I have never considered doing in visual form (but now I will!).

Dave Navarro has an interesting technique for capturing ideas and then moving them into project mind maps that I found to be particularly valuable. It’s a perfect, simple synergy of capturing notes in writing, and then moving them in bite-sized chunks into a software mind map.

Great job on the interviews, Mark!

The price of Unstuck, Focused & Organized Using Mind Mapping is $37; I’m confident that you’ll get many times that investment back in improved organization, productivity and creativity. If you’re chronically disorganized, aren’t sure what to do with your life or are simply overwhelmed by all you must do, why not invest in this book today?

According to Greek mythology,  the huge, ball-like Turkish knot with no ends exposed was impossible to untie. An oracle had predicted that the first person to do so would become the ruler of all Asia. Thousands of people had tried, without success, to unlock its complex riddles. Alexander of Macedonia, son of King Philip II of Macedon, solved this puzzle simply and very creatively – by cutting it in half with his sword, exposing its ends and making it possible to untie. Alexander the Great went on to conquer all of Asia, just as the oracle predicted.

According to David Sibbett, author of Visual Meetings: How Graphics, Sticky Notes & Idea Mapping Can Transform Group Productivity, many businesses today face challenges of Gordian proportions:

“Responding to the complexity and scale of changes in the economy and the environment is starting to outstrip our capabilities. Running our organizations lean, with slim or no travel budgets, and less and less time for real dialogue and engagement is challenging the quality of communications.”

I have believed for some time, based upon my extensive reading and business experience, that many businesses have solved most of the simple problems – in effect, the low-hanging fruit. What’s left are the complex, systemic challenges, which are even harder to solve because of the downsized, time- and resource-starved environments in which we work today.

Confusion in groups is caused by inadequate and conflicting mental models, Sibbett explains. In other words, people can’t even agree on what the problem is. This is a major problem, because these models govern how work gets done, how teams collaborate, how to make decisions, how to organize and how to learn.

In addition, we tend to fall into the habit of rutted thinking, which limits what we’re able to see and interpret. We tend to look at information the same way all the time. To make matters worse, we bring deeply embedded points of view to our work that we may not  even be aware of, which act like blinders on a horse – limiting our view to what’s right in front of us.

“The way you view something directly impacts how much insight and information you obtain and how smart you can be,” Sibbett explains.

Making the case for visual thinking in groups

Visual thinking in groups exposes these differing mental models, helps them to reach consensus, to see the underlying patterns in the information they’re working with and to generate new insights and solutions faster. Examples of visual thinking tools include process diagrams, roadmaps, journey charts, graphic recording, mind mapping 4-quadrant grids, visual collages, affinity charts, fishbone diagrams and much more.

“Without these tools, groups are very handicapped in thinking about anything that is very complex… I am convinced from my own experience that it is impossible to do what is called ‘systems thinking’ without visualization… If you want to think about how things connect and are related you will have to make some sort of display.”

Like Alexander the Great, we have the opportunity to use these tools to think about problems more creatively, build consensus and understanding, restore vision at a time when it is sorely lacking and leverage new opportunities for innovation and future growth. Visual Meetings is a practical field guide to this Brave New World of knot-busting tools. David Sibbett’s book is highly recommended!

In writing this 3rd edition, I looked at the existing content with a critical eye, updating those tips that needed it, eliminating topics that aren’t as relevant today and – most importantly – populated it with a wealth of new, practical and actionable information that is designed with today’s programs, applications and resources in mind.

To learn more, please visit the Power Tips website.

For those of you who have already invested in the first or second edition, you will receive a link to download version 3 in the next week or so – free of charge. My goal is to provide you with an up-to-date collection of best practices for mind mapping software, not to extract more money from you. I prefer to be generous, because I’m firmly committed to helping expand the awareness and use of mind mapping software as today’s most valuable business tool.

A number of readers also participated in a pre-launch sale of Power Tips & Strategies for Mind Mapping Software 3rd Edition. During the next week, I will send out an e-mail with the download links to this new edition and its bonus reports. In appreciation for investing in this new e-book ahead of time, I’m even giving this group access to an addition special report. If you’re one of those early birds, please watch your e-mail in the next week for more details.

Thanks for your patience! I had hoped to publish this e-book several months ago, but real life intervened (trying to live a balanced life between my full-time work, my avocation – this blog and InnovationTools.com – and my family).

Sibbett makes a convincing case for why teams ought to use visual techniques for group facilitation. For starters, there is a lot more information today and it’s harder for us to make sense of it (and since the recession caused major layoffs and early retirements, there are fewer of us survivors left to make sense of it!). Also, many of the problems we’re trying to tackle are system-level challenges, which require groups to think bigger picture, or over longer time frames than they are accustomed to doing. In addition, today’s rapid rate of change requires that we update our mental models of how things work on a frequent basis.

Depicting challenges visually can help us in all of these areas. Simply put, visualizing challenges creates a shared frame of reference, builds a higher level of engagement of all group members, and tends to draw forth their best ideas.

Sibbett does a great job of explaining how to get started. While Dan Roam’s book, The Back of the Napkin, presented a framework or visual dictionary of shapes and symbols that we can use to communicate ideas visually, Sibbett goes another level deeper by demonstrating to the reader how to draw a collection of simple shapes – such as points, lines, triangles and squares – and then explains how to draw more complex shapes based on these building blocks.

I’m also impressed that Sibbett outlines some recommended exercises that help to build engagement among group members. Often, people walk into meetings with their own mental models about their roles, their perceptions about the other people in the meeting and their motivations, and what they have been called upon to accomplish. These perceptions often create conflict and get in the way of the group accomplishing its objectives. Some simple visual exercises help everyone to build a sense of shared purpose and trust, and improve their level of engagement in the meeting.

I still have much more to read, but so far I’m really really loving Visual Meetings!

But that would be selling it short, according to Tony Buzan and Chris Griffiths, in their new book, Mind Maps for Business: Revolutionise Your Business Thinking and Practice.

The real reason that mind mapping is so powerful is because it is a whole-brained thinking technique that makes optimal use of both sides of your brain, according to the authors:

“When used together, each side of your brain simultaneously reinforces the other in a manner that provides limitless creative potential and strengthens your ability for greater associations. This in turn leads to greater intellectual firepower. The process of creating a mind map employs the entire range of cortical skills.”

So what does this mean to your business?

“Mind maps can revolutionize the way you run your business on a day-to-day basis, allowing you to really think about a situation from every angle in a way that is concise and, important, does not waste precious time… In general, mind maps facilitate the core business skills – such as making choices; organizing your own and other people’s ideas; individual and group creativity; analysis; defining and solving problems; setting time and amount targets; and especially memory and communication – all the elements that are essential for successful business management.”

The bottom line is that mind mapping is an essential skill for tackling the complex, multi-faceted business challenges we face today.

Am I “preaching to the choir” by sharing these thoughts with you? Perhaps. But I know that this blog is read by many people who are just starting to become familiar with this visual thinking technique and the software that empowers it. They’re asking, “How can I use mind mapping to make a difference in my business?” Dr. Buzan and Chris Griffiths have painted a concise, compelling picture of its business benefits.

Besides, even if you are a seasoned mind mapper, it’s good to be reminded from time to time of the fundamental principles that underlie the ways in which you think.

Since I first told you about Mind Maps for Business, I have have had an opportunity to read quite a bit of it. I can now strongly recommend it to anyone who is seeking a way to bring greater efficiency, organization and creativity to their work.

As you might expect, Buzan Online’s mind mapping program, iMindMap, is featured in the book’s many illustrations and examples, but thankfully the book is NOT a blatant sales pitch for its software. The principles and applications of hand-drawn mind maps and computer-based mind mapping are its focus, and iMindMap is simply a supporting character.

Where The Back of the Napkin was an introduction to visual problem solving, Unfolding the Napkin is a hands-on guidebook that shows the reader how to apply these methods and gives you opportunities to try them out on your own business challenges. Think of it as a cookbook for the mind!

Unfolding the Napkin is filled with detailed case studies, guided do-it-yourself exercises, and plenty of blank space for drawing. Roam encourages the reader to view this practical workbook as a four-day visual thinking workshop, with one day devoted to each of the steps of his visual thinking framework: look, see, imagine and show. The book contains only four chapters, one devoted to each of these steps.

Unfolding the Napkin is eminently practical: At one point, in the chapter called “imagination,” Roam walks the reader through a business scenario, in which he asks you to imagine that you’re a project manager. The CEO has just asked you to implement a new idea. But first, you need to convince a number of key stakeholders – managers in finance, manufacturing and the board of directors – to back this new project. Roam shows how his flexible and powerful SQVID framework (simple/elaborate, quantitative/qualitative, vision/execution, individual/comparison and change/status quo) can be used to visually and persuasively communicate the importance of this project to each of these key people.

Why should you be concerned about being a better visual thinker? Roam explains:

“Our world is becoming more information saturated and globalized, and communication is becoming more channelized, every day. Words simply are not enough any more. To discover truly breakthrough ideas, intuitively develop those ideas, and share those ideas effectively with others, we need pictures.”

What does all this have to do with mind mapping? Simply this: You need to be aware of the larger context within which it fits – namely, it’s a method of thinking visually. Roam gives you a flexible set of tools for thinking about problems and challenges that I believe will indirectly help you to grow your skills as a mind mapper. I believe it will help you to think visually in your mind, and then do a better job of transferring your ideas and their relationships from the screen of your mind to paper (or your computer screen).

So if you haven’t picked up The Back of the Napkin or Unfolding the Napkin yet, I strongly encourage you to do so. You’ll be a better thinker and problem solver for it!

This new book, which I expect to receive shortly from the Buzan organization, is divided into four parts:

1. Mind maps: The ultimate business tool
2. Mind mapping for core business skills
3. Mind mapping for better business thinking
4. Mind mapping for better business outcomes

Just from the section titles alone, you can tell that this isn’t going to be one of those highly theoretical, “pie in the sky” types of business books, but one that is focused on helping you to be more productive and to contribute to your organization at a much higher level. I can’t wait to dig into this book!

Buzan Online has also launched a website as a companion to the book, which contains a vast selection of resources to help you develop superior capabilities in all core business areas. As well as Mind Map templates, guides and articles, you also get exclusive access to an array of free videos featuring the book’s authors, Tony and Chris.

I recently took a look at this collection of resources, and I must say, they are very comprehensive and professionally produced. They’re ideal for executives who have heard about mind mapping software, but aren’t quite sure what all the excitement is about. Or if you have started to utilize one of these productivity tools, but aren’t quite sure how to apply it to more aspects of your work.

As part of my plans for an expanded and updated third edition of my e-book, I have decided to add some fresh case histories to it.

If you have used mind mapping software to create a visual map that meets your needs exceptionally well (it has saved you time, helped you solve problems or handle “information overload” very effectively, for example), I’d like to hear from you. I’d like you to submit a case history and send me a screen shot of your favorite productivity-increasing map.

To make this easy, I have created a Word document where you can submit your information to me in a structured format. To download this form, please right click on this link, and save it to your computer. The document contains instructions and guidelines to help you gather your thoughts and write your case history.

Here are two examples from the second edition of my e-book, which will give you a general idea what I’m looking for (and, hopefully, inspire you to share your story!): an organizational blueprint and a product map.

What’s in it for you?

If I use your case history in the new edition of my e-book, you will receive a free copy of it when it is published (hopefully a few months from now!). In addition, you will have the satisfaction of knowing that you’re contributing to a growing body of knowledge of the best practices of software-produced visual maps.

I look forward to hearing from you!

P.S. If you buy the second edition of my e-book now, you’ll automatically get the third edition when it becomes available – free of charge! It’s my way of giving back to those visual mappers who have invested in the Power Tips series!