Customer Reviews

Idea Mapping: How to Access Your Hidden Brain Power, Learn Faster, Remember More, and Achieve Success in Business

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Frankly, I regret to point out that this book is just another 'how-to' mind-mapping book. Essentially, it's no different from what Tony Buzan or Vanda North or Joyce Wycoff had written earlier.

Except for one: The author has now fully incorporated the use of MindManager software to go with it. Undoubtedly, MindManager can expedite the mind-mapping process. [With all the available third-party add-ons, MindManager is really a godsend!]. In some way, you can say reading this book is like reading any of Tony Buzan's mind-mapping books, syntopically with the 'MindManager for Dummies' book! In reality, this book is not ground-breaking & does not offer any new insights into idea generation.

I must add, however, for a beginner into techno-savvy mind-mapping, this book is still great stuff. I also want to compliment the author for listing out a series of 28 mind-mapping applications & suggested practice activities in the Idea Mapping Menu at the end pages!. For beginners, this is obviously a very good place to start.

My only adverse comment about mind-mapping as envisioned by Tony Buzan & his staunch followers is that every topical idea must seemingly take a radial approach & commence from the centre. This book doggedly follows the same approach.

Nancy Margulies, in her debut book, Mapping Innerspace, during the early eighties, took a radical departure from the Buzan routine. She created 'mind-scaping' - your topical idea can start from anywhere you like - which I thought is really great!.

To some extent, 'Idea-mapping' as the book title is quite a misnomer. It is obvious to me that the author has a somewhat narrow perspective, arising from her only chosen exposure to Buzan's mindmapping routines & the MindManager software.

A truly 'idea-mapping' book should provide readers with a smorgasbord of options to go beyond traditional mind-mapping & just MindManager alone. To illustrate a quick point, 'mind-scaping' routines appear exceptionally wonderful with SmartDraw Pro (with its abundant templates & cliparts) or even Microsoft Visio.

'Concept mapping' routines, with the topical idea starting from the super-ordinate hierarchy as postulated by Joseph Novak, & 'causal loop diagramming' routines (from the field of systems thinking) are pieces of cake with 'Inspiration' software. 'Fish-bone diagramming' & 'flow-charting' (which are other forms of idea-mapping) with either 'Inspiration' or 'SmartDraw' softwares are some good examples, too. There are too numerous other software examples to cover in this review. [For readers who are visual thinkers with a high propensity towards conceptual modeling, I would even suggest the AXON Idea Processor. It has an impressive 3-D modeling capability, with a 500-level depth migration. Incidentally, it's also a Singaporean thoroughbred!]

In the course of my work, I have come across a lot of followers who are simply indoctrinated by the mindsets of mind-mapping as envisioned by Tony Buzan.

I would like to share with readers the true power & value of idea-mapping:

An idea-map is just a visual tool to jot down & organise ideas & then use it to generate insights, irrespective of whether they are from reading a book or just stretching your brain for a change. This is the initial response. Once, this map is drawn up - with or without software -, it's just an exploded-view (map) of what you have just captured. Period! Most kids at primary school level can do it very well.

After the idea- map is done, you step back, take an helicopter view & reflect on it, by seeing the bigger & broader picture as well as from the systemic relationships between what has been written or drawn on the map. You can then add to or may even subtract from the map. A lot of thinking (& reflection) on your part goes into this stage. Tactically, you also cross-pollinate from what you have read elsewhere as well as from your own &/or other peoples' experiences in connection with your reflections (or memory jogs!) from the idea map. This is what I call the reflective response.

Lastly, comes the final response, with which you readily integrate (or internalise) what you have done in the initial & reflective responses, into what you are thinking &/or planning to do. The resultant outcome is your assimilative response. Using another lingo, this is your strategic model. This is where the actual value of an idea map is primarily located! Not in the beautiful map - with or without software - you have drawn in the first place! (I also note that a lot of Buzan followers simply love to spend time & effort in beautifying their mind-maps! This is really crazy!)

I love to call this end-point process the 'water logic' of idea generation, to borrow a phrase from Edward de bono.

The true value or ROI of an idea-map is WHERE IT LEADS YOU TO.

Of course, having a beautifully drawn or crafted idea-map is good for the ego - looking good, but going nowhere!

Just as I have said earlier, this book has really great stuff for the beginner into techno-savvy mind-mapping. But, please don't just stop here because life as well as business issues are never centralised. So, keep exploring! The world is full of possibilities!

To summarise my review, the author, regrettably with all her good intentions, did not focus on the true power & value of idea-mapping in this book.

I am a mapper of more than 30 years and use it daily. I collect mapping books and I truly believe that this is an excellent introductory "how-to" as well as providing real life stories of mappers from various walks of life. In addition, the 28 ideas for moving into mapping instead of linear work is a good one. Most books just provide a one or two word list. Jamie's is the idea and then several sentences explaining the idea. My only quarrel with the book was COLOR; however, a quick trip to the website provides all the maps in color. Color printing increases the cost of a book so this is a great way to solve the problem. One reviewer mentions a book by Buzan. The particular book he mentions is not available any more and the one that replaced it is not of quality.

Jamie has written a nice book on the subject of mind mapping. Her book is replete with examples from a variety of situations, including a moving one with a person who had a terminal illness. There are excellent guidelines on how to mind map. In short, a person could learn to use this excellent tool without any additional books, or even software. Her book is much lower on the hype index than Buzan's books.

The problem I have with Jamie's book is that she calls her mind maps something different -- Idea Maps. Now that could very well be because "mind maps" is a trademarked term. But she should have been candid enough to admit that. There is some attempt at differentiating the two concepts, but the differences seem rather contrived.

For a subject as visual and colorful as mind mapping, there are exactly zero color pages depicting mind maps. For a business book with a twenty five dollar list price, the author and publisher could have bound in a few pages containing the maps in full color. The impact of her message would have been much greater that way.

Another quibble is that there are a number of mind maps that are purportedly too large to be printed. The reader is directed to a web site to download the mind maps. These could easily have been included in the CD at the back of the book, which contains trial software from a commercial vendor. Another great idea would have been to include a mind map of her book with the CD.

These quibbles aside, I consider "Idea Mapping" to be a great introduction to mind mapping. No new ground is broken, but nevertheless, it is a worthy introductory text.

Beginning readers might also wish to consider Tony Buzan's "The Mind Map Book" which is in full color, and covers the same ground.

I love this book. It has helped me with my to do lists, teaching classes, taking notes on lectures and with helping my children to study. In my teaching; it has allowed me to keep my notes on one page and then to see the transitions more clearly. When questions are asked I can quickly find my place and give precise answers without flipping through pages of notes. My oldest daughter was struggling with science, but with idea mapping techniques she is able to use her creativeness to map out her study notes and has had more success with her testing. When taking notes on a lecture, I find that I can remember the speaker's points much better than the traditional outline method because it's mapped out in pictures and words.
I really enjoyed the book because the author has the reader participate in each chapter, so by the end of the book you are able to make good idea maps and rarely have to review the book.
What I have learned is a life enhancing skill that I use at work (fleshing out new projects or by doing my performance reviews)and my personal life (helping my children study, teaching, studying my Bible or by mapping "to do" lists).
The book is great; if you participate you will learn. I use idea mapping every day and I believe I am even more creative because of it.
Although I do not use the software suggested in the book, one day I may give it a try when drawing my own idea maps becomes a little tiring or less useful. But that may be well into the future because for now I'm having the best time drawing them out myself.

The author has done an excellent job of laying out the Idea (Mind) Mapping logic and concepts. It is obvious that the book was written by someone who actually uses this process on a day to day basis. The book also includes a ton of examples from others that use that use it in a variety of situations.

I have used this process regularly for about 15 years. It is really a fantastic tool and has helped me through some tough projects. It is now my "default" starting point. Jamie makes it simple to understand and do.

The material contained within this book is simply magnificent for anyone who wants to learn, study, or remember just about anything; it teaches ways to use those parts of your brain that are not normally used in traditional note-taking methods, and to great success.

The book itself reads almost like a self-help how-to (which it is, essentially); it tells you that you can do everything it asks, almost feeling a little childish at times. The writing can be a little choppy and noticeably short at times, but it makes for an easy read.

I have tested the knowledge covered in the book, and to incredibly great success. I recently had a midterm in my Cultural Anthropology class which covered 15 chapters of material scattered throughout 2 books: we were only allowed to use one page (front and back) of notes. I used the knowledge gained from this book to make my notes: the notes from the first book (11 chapters) took about half of one side of a page, leaving plenty of room for lists, definitions, etc., and the four chapters of the other book took even less room--the people next to me, however, used traditional note-taking methods, tiny, scrawling script, and ineffective color-coding. I passed my examination with flying colors, and still had almost an entire page blank for more notes!

This book gets down to the nitty gritty of how to actually put together an effective mind map. It is full of examples that allow you to see them in effect for a wide range of applications. One point the author makes early on is that she is going to show you a methodology of how to approach building the idea maps. She says that once you understand the basic rules, you are then free to break them however you want.

After reading some of Tony Buzan's books, I was sold on the idea of mind mapping, but didn't really have a good methodology to follow. This book really provided the details I was looking for.

I have been using the techniques to put together talks, write magazine articles, and even to take notes in classes. I bought the book for my daughter who had just graduated from law school and was studying for the bar exam. She said that using the techniques in the book helped her to better organize and recall the material compared to others who were using traditional methods.

Finally, a comprehensive book on the art (and proven science) of idea mapping. Nast captures the core of how to best motivate, stimulate and organize your brain to bring out your hidden power.

I have followed Jamie's teachings and encountered a mind altering event. Great productivity improvement for both left and right brained people.

This technique and learning is not just for adults. I have shared the instructions with my children, and know of schools that have done the same. Test scores have increased and all attributed to Idea Mapping.

Nast has shown that you can improve your productivity, start to master your brain power, and grow in your life learnings to be creative as well!

I have been using mapping for a number of years, and have found it to be an incredibly powerful tool for business and personal use. Jamie Nast writes her book in a down-to-earth and businesslike manner, capitalizing on her long experience teaching the process. She gives a very thorough explanation of "how-to" while explaining the multitude of benefits for using this approach in business and personal settings, either as an individual or in a team. She presents realistic recommendations of when and how to break the rules to maximize creative ingenuity. The numerous examples of idea maps that Nast provides, accompanied by the background of each, are very useful to further understand the process and give the reader a "springboard" for their own maps. There is a chapter on how to effectively use software to create maps, if hand-drawing is not possible, and examples of maps created that way. Bottom line: I highly recommend this book to those who are beginners, intermediates or advanced in the technique. No doubt the book would be most valuable to those who also attend an idea mapping seminar, but it can be used in the meantime to get a "leg up" on this powerful process. Well worth the investment!

I've been impressed by Jamie Nast and her philosophy of Idea Mapping. I especially like the concept that you can put a complex idea on one page, and Jamie is running with it. I don't know about you, but I'd rather see a business plan on one gorgeous map than 50 droning pages. I'm also happy that Jamie considers software a legitimate venue for mapping (I especially like MindManager, which Jamie endorses at her website). A resource idea mappers at all levels need to checkout.