In an operational day-to-day-business, tasks have to be transformed into a workflow structure. But how can mind maps be changed into a productive workflow tool? To rescue the mind map, it would need to be useful throughout the project lifecycle. I need a tool where not only the representation can change, but the structure too. Wouldn’t it be cool to combine the benefits of all the best tools and rescue the mind map from its limited purpose as an initial stage tool? My projects consist of many tasks and I use a mind map primarily to get an overview of involved departments or areas of expertise (see image). I began to think about how projects progress. You were clearly wrestling with this exact issue… so what next? I didn’t want to leave my initial ideas behind.īiggerplate: We’ve often talked about trying to figure out ‘where mind mapping fits’ and the importance of knowing when to switch into a mind map, and (equally important) when to switch out of a mind map. This time, I didn’t want to accept this way of doing things.
As I’ve said, this has happened 4 or 5 times over the last few years. Whenever I went back to get a project overview with the map, I found that it was outdated and I left it for good. I had to use a production tool to get the project moving. I remembered that each time I switched, to a “production tool” I still missed the overview the mind map gave me. The problem was that I had to switch to another tool and, in that moment, I lost the ability to keep my mind map in sync. I couldn’t bring mind maps along with me as my project matured. I couldn’t “do” anything productive with a mind map after the project was mapped out. So mind maps themselves were not failing, my use of them simply came to a natural ending with the transition from the initial to the productive stage of each project. In contrast, I’ve always used mind maps in the “initial” or idea-generating stage of my projects. So, how are these tools different from a mind map? Do they have something in common which makes them in some way superior to mind maps?Īt first glance they seem very different from each other, but then I realized that all of these tools can be used for the “productive” stage of my projects. I regularly use spreadsheets, lists, calendars, Gantt charts, and (my favorite), Kanban boards. These tools seem to have won over mind maps in the “battle for habit”. So, in order to find out more about this phenomena, I looked at all the tools that I’ve regularly used.
I couldn’t point to a concrete situation which caused me to leave the mind mapping process. I just leave my mind maps without even noticing it” A gap that is so small that I can’t even describe what’s going on. “Somewhere in the process of creating and working on projects there must be a gap. So, for me, it’s worth asking the question: What’s going wrong? Mind maps are a big question mark in my life, because of this constant cycling. I just leave my mind maps without even noticing it.
Somewhere in the process of creating and working on projects there must be a gap. I was just about to start searching for a good one when it suddenly hits me: “Why did I ever stop using such a wonderful thing as mind mapping? Shouldn’t I be using it all the time? Why did I ever break up with it?”
Mindnode merge 2 maps software#
Martin: It was late on a Friday night and out of nowhere, I had this strong desire to use a tool to get a clear vision of my latest software project. Biggerplate: Zenkit focuses on linking a mind map view with a task/kanban view.