Recently I was coaching a programme manager to take the MSP (Managing Successful Programmes) Practitioner Exam. He was sufficiently experienced and a clear communicator, but was concerned about properly ordering his thoughts under time-constrained exam conditions. How could he give the best of himself?
As we talked I studied him using an NLP technique, observing his eye movements when he reflected. I commented, "You are a visual learner, aren't you? You prefer to think in pictures. But the idea of putting down your thoughts in words is troubling you." He looked somewhat surprised and agreed that he definitely preferred to see matters laid out pictorially. So I introduced him to an approach where he could Mind Map his outline, so that he adequately scoped his answer, and yet did not forget important detail.
Since I was trained in the mid-90's by the Buzan Organization in Mind Mapping™ we have used Mind Maps in Pearce Mayfield extensively in our consultancy, training design as well as in helping people to learn new management approaches. So much so, that when I was asked to write recently on how we use Mind Maps in our training, I realised how much we take Mind Maps for granted; we don't talk about Mind Mapping specifically very much at all. We just use them as part of normal training.
A few years ago I wrote for Project Manager Today on the application of Mind Maps in project management. Now we see more and more evidence of this moving into mainstream practice using such excellent tools such as MindManager X5. (Incidentally, this was the tool I used to draft this series of posts.)
More later.
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