CS Odessa will exhibit their popular ConceptDraw Office suite of productivity software at this year’s WESTEC, the largest manufacturing trade show on the West Coast. The software company’s focus will be on how their product, ConceptDraw MINDMAP, helps revitalize stagnant quality processes through innovative thinking. Also on exhibit will be ConceptDraw PROJECT, an essential tool for tracking project timelines and resource costs, and ConceptDraw PRO, and powerful diagramming program for creating everything from process flows to engineering schematics.
The three programs are bundled as ConceptDraw Office, which CS Odessa will be selling directly on the WESTEC show floor all three days of the event (March 27–29). Quality engineers, project managers, and knowledge workers of all kinds will not want to miss the opportunity to pick up the world’s premiere cross-platform business visualization products at an incredible price that will have to be seen to be believed. Make sure to visit CS Odessa and ConceptDraw in booth # 1514 at WESTEC 2012, March 27-29, in the Los Angeles Convention Center.
The program offers a three-headed approach to planning projects and presentations.
ConceptDraw PROJECT is the ideal beginner part of the suite. You’ll be given the proper tools needed to begin a presentation. The window looks similar to Microsoft Word and is very user-friendly overall.
PROJECT’s ability to put all of your data onto a single screen makes the planning process much easier. The data is always updating to reflect current actions and puts emphasis on areas that should be high on the adjustment priority list.
ConceptDraw MINDMAP uses brainstorming and document information you provide to turn data into a visually appealing presentation. MINDMAP can export into slideshows and checklists.
ConceptDraw PRO is the most impressive part of the software. It allows for custom drawing of schematics, flow charts and diagrams that can be tailored to fit a specific paper size when printed. Photoshop fans will feel right at home with the quality of the supplied tools. You can manipulate every aspect of your design.
One of the best features of the software is the ability to export your work to Microsoft Word and Excel. Thus people can open and view your work through the Microsoft Office tools even if they don’t have ConceptDraw on their computer.
ConceptDraw is phenomenal software for a business atmosphere. The quality of all three portions is stellar. PRO is one of the best ways to put visual data in the hands of coworkers and clients alike. The software is highly recommended for those wishing to take the clutter out of planning.
That great idea you are looking for is already somewhere in your mind or in the collective mind of your team. The real effort in coming up with a great idea, is all about getting out of your own way so that your great idea can reveal itself. I want to refer to this as the “idea release” process, rather than the idea generation process.
A very useful tool in the idea release process is mind mapping. In this post, I will discuss how we inadvertently trap our great ideas in our mind; strategies for getting out of our own way; and finally how mind maps can help.
WHY OUR BRAINS NEED TO BE “UNCORKED”
We are all familiar with those situations where we can’t seem to get our thoughts together in a clear, organized, and useful way. The solution to that vexing problem just keeps eluding us. Or we are cursed with a frustrating case of writer’s block. We try to get our thoughts down on paper, but many times it just produces unsatisfactory results.
There are two general reasons why we run into this and similar problems:
We try to do too many things simultaneously: generate new ideas, evaluate their merit, and organize them. This is something most of us do, and we don’t even realize it.
We aren’t in a relaxed enough state to let our thoughts freely flow. Essentially, we stress ourselves out. And when you are stressed, it is hard to think of anything other than what is stressing you out. This will happen when we are rushed to deliver the solution NOW. Panic is an extreme reaction to this kind of stress.
MagicalPad released this week a break-through version that creates a new kind of productivity app bridging the gap between mind-mapping and outlining iPad app. The new version of MagicalPad provides new tools for mind-mapping enabling users to create deep mind maps with connected outlines and nodes in a free-form mind mapping environment.
Users now have one app for brainstorming, outlining, projects, meetings and creative writing. "It is amazing that I can connect one outline to another creating hierarchies and relationships at the same time” said Todd, M. project manager and user of MagicalPad.
Built exclusively for the business user, MagicalPad is truly a business tool helping users structure their thoughts, organize ideas, and visually present information and options to support decision making and prioritize actions.
Watch this video to find out how to use brainstorming in conjunction with Mind Maps, and how to move your thinking in new directions to get past places where you get stuck in your thinking.
Dozens of pieces of papers scattered around…torn pictures out of magazines…cocktail napkins with doodles and notes…put them all together and they represent your greatest idea EVER. This one is going to turn the world on its ear. If only you could explain it so it made sense to someone else, and even better, would attract investors who wanted to help you with money to make it happen.
I think all of us have had one or two of these ideas per month. More often than not they fall to the wayside because we simply can’t get it organized quickly and life’s priorities take over. Trying to start and manage projects can be daunting because the task seems bigger than us. You have the ability to succeed; you just need the tools and technique of Mind Mapping that is going to change everything for you.
The beauty of Mind Mapping is that it translates from your brain to paper in the exact way you think and requires a very small learning curve. It will help you organize your thoughts into cohesive patterns and aid you in discussion, time management, long-range planning and productivity.
The five essential characteristics of a Mind Map:
The main idea, subject or focus is crystallized in a central image.
The main themes radiate from the central image as 'branches'.
The branches comprise a key image or key word drawn or printed on its associated line.
Topics of lesser importance are represented as 'twigs' of the relevant branch.
“Through clustering, the right brain has the opportunity to generate fresh perceptions and meaningful patterns” ~ Dr. Gabrielle Lusser Rico, Author of Writing the Natural Way
What if you could break up traffic with a simple gesture? Your super-power, “able to dissipate afternoon gridlock in a single bound.” How much time would that save you, knowing that you had a technique to keep the highways clear so that you never waste another moment sitting in afternoon or morning traffic?
In terms of brainstorming, idea generation, and breaking mental roadblocks, clustering – or the more common term mind mapping—is that tool (if you trust it and do it right).
In “11 Tips for a More Innovative 2012” Anita Campbell says:
“The key to mind-mapping is that because it’s visual, it engages a different part of our brain than verbal communication does, which encourages us to think in new ways.”
It’s all about awakening both sides of the brain so that you can look at your problem, business or idea in a new context. Learning to see your business from a fresh perspective may carry fresh and creative solutions. In “Innovation Starts With Defining the Problem” Anita says:
“The way you define the problem affects the solution.”
And she suggests context-mapping which is a form of mind-mapping to help you get clear.
But why does it really matter?
To answer that question, we have to have a little brain talk (I’ll make it quick).
The Right Hemisphere is The Artist: Pictures, Designs
According to Dr. Gabrielle Lusser Rico, Author of Writing the Natural Way, the right hemisphere “looks at the whole,” operates in metaphors, and “is mute.” The right brain uses pictures instead of words. Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, Author of Stroke of Insight, adds that the right brain sees the big picture and the more subtle kinds of understanding:
“The brain is dual and each hemisphere is capable of operating independently of the other.”
So if you want to benefit from both, you have to activate both.
What about the other side?
The Left Hemisphere is The Critic: Words, Analytical
This part of the brain uses sequential and linear thinking. According to Dr. Rico, the left hemisphere is literal, precise and driven by information and processes (sounds like business doesn’t it?). In fact, Dr. Jill says, the left brain carries our ability to relate to the world. It’s the part of the brain that interprets language, performs it function and “talks and talks and talks.”
All This Talk About Mind-Mapping
. . . is about getting to the best of both worlds. And more specifically, activating the right hemisphere in addition to the very active left, so that you can benefit from the creative ideas that lead to unique and effective design and innovation in your company.
Clustering can shake up the mind. You can use it when you don’t know where to begin. You can also cluster your way out of overwhelm and into an angle and a focus that makes sense. And when clarity comes, action can follow.
It seems so simple, but clustering, mind-mapping, can break the creative gridlock.
MindGenius, the leading business-mapping software developer has partnered exclusively with Tech Africa, a specialized software distributer, to supply MindGenius products and services to the African marketplace.
MindGenius, the leading business-mapping software developer has partnered exclusively with Tech Africa, a specialized software distributer, to supply MindGenius products and services to the African marketplace.
MindGenius mind mapping software allows organisations to effectively capture, manage and work with information within their organisation and specifically delivers business value in activities such as project planning, brainstorming, strategic planning, task management and information mapping.
Tech Africa specialises in working with local resellers in creating market awareness for new technologies and equipping those resellers with the necessary skills, support and infrastructure to introduce and promote such technologies into their customers. Tech Africa has a broad range of specialties from transacting in local currency, through providing training and sales expertise on its focused product lines.
Tech Africa supplies resellers across the whole of the African continent.
Dustin Newport, Commercial Director explains how important he thinks the relationship with Tech Africa is; “MindGenius and the business mind mapping technique can bring great advantages to organisations and we are pleased to be partnering with Tech Africa to offer local support to our customer base in the region. Our customers expect to be able to conduct business in local currency and with their local chosen reseller to provide anything from initial product demonstration right through to ongoing training and support. Tech Africa have a proven track record of introducing exciting new products into the region. We are excited about the benefits that this new partnership will deliver to our customers in the region.”
