I’m obsessed with how the brain does its thinking and problem solving, so using MindManager engages my curiousity in all sorts of ways and allows me to actually think differently.  Leonardo da Vinci was known to sketch the same object from several different angles to fully understand what he was studying.  MindManager maps have the potential to do this for the problems encapsulated in its topics and subtopics.  Maps are not anything like virtual reality, but the reality of the content does change somehow when viewed in a map.  There’s nothing more exciting than getting to see your content pop out at you from the screen in a whole new way as a result of its display.  The medium is indeed the message…

When I told my mother I worked for a company that makes mind mapping software, she sounded proud, as any mother would be, but quickly observed that her own brain is still leaps and bound more dynamic than any software tool. 

Maybe she’s right…

I think there’s much more that software and hardware products can do  to enhance and support the brain’s way of thinking and problem solving.  Digitized mind mapping is a big step in the right direction.  Developing this concept further and combining it with other enhancements (search and image technology, new input, storage and display devices, etc.) can hopefully bring the best of our brains’ talents to the fore. 

Gerelee Goltsev – User Interface Designer, Mindjet

…And for those of you who have taken to the idea of using a master map as a way to organize your maps (see Mapping Your Maps…I just wanted to point out that you can "bud off" not just maps — but any kind of document you want to create. I have been trying to do this every time I want to create a new document, but I have to say it is a real mental challenge. I am so used to launching Microsoft work to create a new word doc (especially since I use ActiveWorks and can just type in "write" to launch Microsoft Word).

But what I am trying to remember to do now when I want to create a new Word doc (or Powerpoint presentation or anything else) is to go to my Main Map and figure out where I want that new document to reside. I insert a new topic at the appropriate place, name it, then right click to insert a new hyperlink. When the hyperlink window opens, I choose to create a link to a new document, name it the same as I did the topic, add the extension (.doc, .ppt, etc) and click OK. MindManager creates the new document and links it to my Main Map. I click on the link, and start writing.

It does take some getting used to, but the result is a much more (for me) coherent file system.