Idea Mapping Webinar by Jamie Nast

Jamie Nast (Author of Idea Mapping: How to Access your Hidden Brain Power, Learn Faster, Remember More and Achieve Success in Business) has recently posted a link to a recorded, archived, Webinar (August 2009) which I highly recommend watching.  It was delivered to nearly 900 Project Managers which hopefully dispels any thoughts that visuals are for “creative types” and not for serious project managers / data analysts.

The webinar lasts an hour (well worth your time, believe me) and  contains a full run-through of what Idea Mapping is (and how it differs from Mind Mapping) and how people can apply the skills (be it hand-drawn or via software) to enable them to visualise information to cope with that feeling of “overwhelm” which I’m sure we’ve all had at some stage.

I have read the book (more than once) and I have watched Jamie’s webinars before but every time I read or watch/listen, I realise what a brilliant idea it is to “visual data”.  If you want to see the experience that I went through when I was “converted” from being entirely linear to releasing the “visual thinker within”, then please look at the following :

Think Like a Genius – In the Mind’s Eye: https://inspiredit.wordpress.com/2010/01/21/think-like-a-genius-the-minds-eye/

Alternatively, I strongly recommend that you click this link and listen to Jamie in action whilst watching a variety of Idea Maps which really bring it all to life.

Even if you don’t use Mind Maps, the concepts Jamie will explain to you are transferable skills so don’t under-estimate them and don’t think they’re only for people who “do mind-mapping”.  For example, I now use her ideas in Microsoft PowerPoint presentations (key words, colour and imagery) and in  Microsoft Visio Diagrams (symbols to help the brain understand the key elements) – with not a mind map or idea map in sight but I am still using Jamie’s concepts.  Many people comment on how easy it is to follow my work even though I’m dealing with vast amounts of information because I seem to “bring it to life and make the complex seem straight-forward”.  If I can do it, so can everyone and I owe it all to Jamie Nast.

Watch the video and release the visual thinker within…

The Gift of Dyslexia

The Gift of Dyslexia: Why some of the brightest people can’t read and how they can learn by Ronald D. Davis

“Why is this book important?  Because the methods described in it work.  Because the techniques can be used to ameliorate a wide variety of symptoms besides reading difficulties – from anxiety to writing difficulties to inability to concentrate.  Because it recognizes the unusual gifts and the extraordinary potential of dyslexics.  Because it turns the mysteries of orientation and disorientation into practical, life-changing techniques.  Because the ability to think in pictures is needed for success in the twenty-first century.”

“Visual-Spatial learners … It truly is a different learning style just requiring a paradigm shift in learning, learning a visual way.”

“… all the essential gifts of dyslexia, including greater development of intuition, the ability to perceive multi-dimensionally, vivid imagination, greater curiousity, insightfulness, the ability to experience thought as reality, heightened awareness of the environment, the ability to think in pictures, and, most important, the ability to alter and create perceptions.  These are vital gifts, becoming more and more sought after in the work world in the modern era.”

“While we are still obsessed in education with the importance of literacy, the future of today’s students is dependent on their ability to see the big picture, to predict trends, to read customers, to think outside the box, to see patterns, to inspire collaboration among peers, to empathize, to synthesize information from a variety of sources, and to perceive possibilities from different perspectives.  These are the natural talents of dyslexics.”

Some famous dyslexics:

• Hans Christian Anderson
• Harry Belafonte
• Alexander Graham Bell
• George Burns
• Winston Churchill
• Albert Einstein
• Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci

Please see my post “Think Like a Genius – The Mind’s Eye; ” https://inspiredit.wordpress.com/2010/01/21/think-like-a-genius-the-minds-eye/

The Intuitive Mind

Here’s an extract from an interesting Article in “People Management” magazine, by Eugene Sadler-Smith, Author of The Intuitive Mind

“By its very nature, intuition is something that’s difficult to put your finger on.  But, although it’s hard to describe, pinning it down as a particular, learnt expertise will allow you to reap tangible rewards.”

“Many leaders and managers believe that their intuition – often described as “gut instinct” – is indispensable when making business decisions.  But, while the anecdotes of the likes of Virgin’s Sir Richard Branson, Apple’s Steve Jobs or former GE boss Jack Welch can be compelling, harder evidence is needed.”

“What exactly is intuition, how does it work – and can it be developed?”

“The consensus among researchers is that intuition is:

• Uninvited and instant: it’s an automatic involuntary response to complex problems and decisions.
• Affective: it’s accompanied by gut feelings of varying levels of intensity.
• Holistic: It allows us to “parallel process” information quickly and efficiently, and to see the bigger picture.
• Non-conscious: we’re aware only of the outcomes of intuition.  The process occurs “backstage” and is therefore non-conscious.
• Potentially powerful and perilous: In the right hands, intuition can be a powerful way to handle complex problems under time pressure, in the wrong hands, it can be ineffective and even dangerous.”

“Intuition can be understood in terms of a “two minds” model: we have two minds – one analytical, the other intuitive – in one brain.  This isn’t the same as the  old idea of the split brain, which has intuition and creativity housed in the right hemisphere and analysis and rationality in the left one.  Modern neuroscience paints a far more complex picture of the neural geography of human thinking.  The dual-processing capacity that comes with having two minds gives us the potential to be cognitively ambidextrous i.e. to solve problems and make decisions using analysis or intuition depending on the situation.  Neither mind is intrinsically better than the other: they’re both good at different sorts of things.”

…”Intuitive experts aren’t born, they’re made …

… “recognising gut feelings as a valid source of data means not mixing them up with basic emotions and also learning how to put a brake on the personal prejudices, biases and wishful thinking that can hijack good intuitive judgement”.

…”It’s important to remember that the intuitive mind is at its most powerful when used in combination with its analytical counterpart.  Microsoft’s Bill Gates said in a recent interview with CNN: “If I think something is going to catch on, I trust my own intuition”.  Crucially, he also acknowledged that intuition can be “often wrong, but my batting record is good enough that I keep swinging every time the ball is thrown”…

…”The basis of the “two minds” model is that the intuitive mind and the analytical mind both have vital roles to play in thinking, judging, deciding and problem-solving.”

 

I have recently re-read “The Intuitive Mind” and was fascinated by some research about “cognitive ambidexterity” which indicates that the entrepreneurs (who were part of the US-based study) had “seemingly balanced the intuitive and the analytical modes” preferring to “rely on their intuitive and analytical minds in roughly equal measure”.

 

Eugene Sadler-Smith is professor of management development and organisational behaviour at the University of Surrey’s School of Management and author of Inside Intuition (Routledge 2008) and The Intuitive Mind (Wiley, 2010)

Intuition: using both Minds

Here’s an extract from an interesting Article in “People Management” magazine, by Eugene Sadler-Smith, Author of The Intuitive Mind

“By its very nature, intuition is something that’s difficult to put your finger on.  But, although it’s hard to describe, pinning it down as a particular, learnt expertise will allow you to reap tangible rewards.”

“Many leaders and managers believe that their intuition – often described as “gut instinct” – is indispensable when making business decisions.  But, while the anecdotes of the likes of Virgin’s Sir Richard Branson, Apple’s Steve Jobs or former GE boss Jack Welch can be compelling, harder evidence is needed.”

“What exactly is intuition, how does it work – and can it be developed?”

“The consensus among researchers is that intuition is:

• Uninvited and instant: it’s an automatic involuntary response to complex problems and decisions.
• Affective: it’s accompanied by gut feelings of varying levels of intensity.
• Holistic: It allows us to “parallel process” information quickly and efficiently, and to see the bigger picture.
• Non-conscious: we’re aware only of the outcomes of intuition.  The process occurs “backstage” and is therefore non-conscious.
• Potentially powerful and perilous: In the right hands, intuition can be a powerful way to handle complex problems under time pressure, in the wrong hands, it can be ineffective and even dangerous.”

“Intuition can be understood in terms of a “two minds” model: we have two minds – one analytical, the other intuitive – in one brain.  This isn’t the same as the  old idea of the split brain, which has intuition and creativity housed in the right hemisphere and analysis and rationality in the left one.  Modern neuroscience paints a far more complex picture of the neural geography of human thinking.  The dual-processing capacity that comes with having two minds gives us the potential to be cognitively ambidextrous i.e. to solve problems and make decisions using analysis or intuition depending on the situation.  Neither mind is intrinsically better than the other: they’re both good at different sorts of things.”

…”Intuitive experts aren’t born, they’re made …

… “recognising gut feelings as a valid source of data means not mixing them up with basic emotions and also learning how to put a brake on the personal prejudices, biases and wishful thinking that can hijack good intuitive judgement”.

…”It’s important to remember that the intuitive mind is at its most powerful when used in combination with its analytical counterpart.  Microsoft’s Bill Gates said in a recent interview with CNN: “If I think something is going to catch on, I trust my own intuition”.  Crucially, he also acknowledged that intuition can be “often wrong, but my batting record is good enough that I keep swinging every time the ball is thrown”…

…”The basis of the “two minds” model is that the intuitive mind and the analytical mind both have vital roles to play in thinking, judging, deciding and problem-solving.”

Eugene Sadler-Smith is professor of management development and organisational behaviour at the University of Surrey’s School of Management and author of Inside Intuition (Routledge 2008) and The Intuitive Mind (Wiley, 2010) and will be speaking at the CIPD’s HRD conference, London, 21-22 April 2010.

I’ve ordered my copy of The Intuitive Mind and will review it next month and welcome comments from anyone who has already read it.