Sometimes the most profound connections exist right below our nose, but we can’t see them until we are acted upon by an outside stimulus. Such is the relationship between clarity, confidence and mind mapping software.
When I conducted my last survey of the readers of the mind mapping software blog, I asked two questions related to these topics:
- What is the biggest business benefit of my mapping software? Improved understanding of complex issues was number one, followed closely by the ability to reach clarity of thinking faster. Why is this a big deal? Because nearly half of the survey respondents (49.2%) said that their work has gotten significantly more complex and faster paced (43.9%) in the last few years.
- Does mind mapping software enable you to handle more complex tasks and projects that you otherwise would have avoided? The response was overwhelmingly (almost 70%) yes. As I pointed out in my survey report at the time, this data “is conclusive evidence of the power of mind mapping software to empower and embolden its users to meet today’s challenges head-on.” Simply put, it enables you to consider more pieces of information at one time and to take a systems-level view of challenges and situations and reach clarity on how to handle them faster.
It never occurred to me that these two concepts – clarity and confidence – are directly related until I saw Steve Woodruff’s blog post, Clarity Leads to Confidence. He covers it in a different context, namely developing a strong sense of personal mission, which gives you a clear focus on what’s important and therefore the confidence to pursue your big, audacious goals.
But the concept works in a similar way at a team or project level: If you can use mind mapping software to clearly define the elements, people, resources and challenges posed by a large, complex project, then you can tackle it with greater confidence.
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