If you’re just trying to get a job done, then you don’t need mind mapping software. If you’re a rebel, an entrepreneur trying to make a dent in the universe, then it’s a must!
I recently read a Rolling Stone article that traced the evolution of Steve Jobs’ personality – specifically, his ongoing focus on enlightenment. He was always driven by a passion to see more clearly, to gain new insights, to make new connections, to understand more deeply.
As I thought about this unique perspective on one of the world’s greatest business visionaries, I realized this mindset also defines the users of mind mapping software.
Wait a minute.
Steve Jobs. Rebels. Mind mapping software.
How can they possibly be connected?
But they actually ARE.
I’ve come to the conclusion that mind mapping software appeals to the same type of people Apple described in its famous paean to rebels – you know:
“The crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes.”
The people who are always trying to make a difference, who dream of a new way of solving a problem, who are passionate about making a dent in the universe.
Steve Jobs once made this observation about the role of his revolutionary computers:
“Apple is about people who think ‘outside the box,’ people who want to use computers to help them change the world, to help them create things that make a difference, and not just to get a job done.”
The same is true of mind mapping software.
If you’re just trying to get a job done, then you don’t need it. Period.
However, if you want to create ideas and things that make a difference, then it’s indispensable. It’s a uniquely powerful tool that can help you to uncover new perspectives, new possibilities and new ideas.
You see, it helps us sidestep the mental effects of doing routine work, which tend to drive out creativity and dulls our senses.
How constrained is your thinking?
Jobs keenly observed that routine work tends to build the mental equivalent of a “rigid scaffolding” around our thinking – structuring it so we can manage it with great efficiency, but also limiting our thinking to a surprising degree.
That’s because the lockstep way we’re expected to think and the all-consuming emphasis on hyper-efficient processes tends to force our thinking into narrow ruts. To make matters worse, we don’t even realize that our minds are becoming victims of this mental rigor mortis . It just becomes part of the background noise of our work environment. We accept it without giving it a second thought.
For some of us, however, doing routine work just isn’t enough.
We demand greater meaning from work. Mind mapping helps us realize there are more and better ways to solve a problem – ways that we wouldn’t have otherwise considered.
With Apple computers, Jobs wanted to empower workers to think and create in powerful new ways. He believed they could “dramatically amplify our innate human abilities.”
Jobs wanted to inspire and empower us – to help us to “steal fire from the mountain,” rather than just waiting to be told what to do. He wanted to help us to change the world.
It’s time for you to “think different!”
By helping its users to think better – to “think different” – I believe mind mapping software has a similar mission. It helps us to think laterally and divergently, to sidestep barriers, make astounding connections and amplify our creativity.
It can help us uncover opportunities and increase our confidence to tackle bigger challenges.
In times of rapid, discontinuous change, like we’re experiencing right now, it’s an indispensable tool for helping you to chart a course toward the future.
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