I am really excited by the potential of this new tool that I have come across recently and so I wanted to share it with my friends!
It's called Coggle.
It is a Mind Mapping tool that allows you to express, share and collaborate complex ideas with colleagues and clients.
As a designer and project educator I had been using the power of Mind Maps for quite a while to explore new ideas for myself and my students, but a few years back my wife bought me "The Ultimate Book of Mind Maps" by Tony Buzan and I realised I'd only been scratching the surface!
Mind Maps are awesome because they visually match the way our brain is structured and because of this they unlock our minds full potential.
Let me explain...
Ever studied for a test and felt like you were literally 'cramming' the information into a bucket that was already too full?
If you ever get this feeling it is NOT because your brain doesn't have the capacity to handle what you are asking it to do! Ohh No! - YOUR brain has a million million cells - that is 143 times the number of people on this planet! Most of these cells each have their own 'branches'; each branch has about 100,000 connection points and each connection point is capable of forming multiple billions of different patterns...
A top brain scientist in Russia, Professor Anokhin calculated that the number of unique ideas/thoughts we could have (if we had the time) would be a 1 - followed by ten and a half million kilometres of standard type-written zeros!*
This would cover a piece of paper long enough to go to the moon and back 14 times!* #brainexplosion
No, it isn't the capacity of your or my brain that stops us from doing things - it's the WAY we try and go about it that leaves us feeling stretched and overwhelmed.
Our brain is set up to learn by association - that is, one thing relates to another which relates to another, and so on - in this way it 'spreads the load' across your whole brain and actually makes it easier to remember things when you have MORE things in your head than less! Pretty cool - huh!
We often learned through the traditional education system that the best - no, actually the ONLY way to do things is in a linear, step by step sequence. This is a left-brained approach and it works for solving simple, uncomplicated problems. It suits the traditional model of education because that model was set up to teach people to COMPLY - not to THINK!
Works well if you are producing good factory workers or soldiers (or clones!) but no so much if you want to produce a sharp-witted entrepreneur, a good future parent or anyone who has to deal with complex day-to-day problems.
(OK, I'll get off my soap-box now)
Our right brain is the creative side and it is associated with daydreaming, big picture thinking, colour, rhythm and movement. We all start off life with these skills but we 'unlearn' them by neglect as other skills such as words and logic are deemed more important in traditional school.
We need BOTH sides of our brain. And the more connections and associations we make, the better.
ENTER MIND-MAPPING & COGGLE!
Coggle not only allows you to quickly and easily produce mind maps with all the essential elements that a good mind map should have - like colour, curved lines, imagery, and endless multi-level associations - it also makes it ultra-simple to make your mind map public and collaborate with friends and colleagues!
It is a shared, cloud-based document much like a Google Doc and if you have a Google account already - it's ridiculously easy to set up your account!
(Can I point out I get zero kick-backs for this post - I just really like this tool!)
CHECK OUT THIS TOOL IN THE BLUEPRINT VAULT
(IT'S FREE TO SIGN UP)
If you would like some help with Coggle or want to find out more about how this tool (and others) can help you get the most out of your business and your family life,
- let's connect. (I'd love to hear from you!)
^ This applies in teams and communities as well - respecting and collaboration by all members is the key to success
* The brain facts in this post have been paraphrased from the Ultimate Book of Mind Maps by Tony Buzan. I highly recommend it and he has since put out Mind Maps for Business which I haven't read yet but I think would be awesome.
