Top Ten Mind Maps on Biggerplate.com

I've just uploaded a mind map to Biggerplate.com which displays links and key info for the top ten most downloaded maps that are featured on Biggerplate.com. It is called "Top Ten Mind Maps on Biggerplate.com"

Particular praise must go out to Luciano Passuello who occupies 3 positions in the top ten, with "Getting to Yes", "The Now Habit" and "One Small Step Can Change Your Life". Luciano has been a regular conributor to Biggerplate from very early on, and we greatly appreciate him sharing his work with the Biggerplate community. You should check out his own site which is full of great information and can be found at http://www.litemind.com/

The always excellent and always appreciated work of Mindjet's Michael Deutch zooms in at number 3 with "SWOT Analysis" and Chance Brown contributes the 5th most downloaded map in the shape of "Steven Covey's Time Management Matrix as a Mind Map".

My good friend Greg Myhill (currently sunning himself in Australia pretending to study) gets in at number four with "Managing Projects", and Henry Bartlam (co-founder of Biggerplate.com) skips in at number 7 with "GTD (Getting Things Done) Mind Map".

The remaining maps come from Justin Radcliffe ("7 Ways to Organise Outlook Email") and Maclek Iwaniuk ("PMBOK 3rd edition - process map") with the number one map coming from Mindjet ("MindManager Personal Organiser Template Mind Map").

I'd like to thank all these people for submitting such great mind maps to Biggerplate, and I hope some others will now take on the challenge of squeezing themselves into the top ten!

Take a look at the Mindjet Blog

No doubt you have already had a look, but thought I'd flag to anyone who may not have done that Michael Deutch has posted a great article on the Mindjet blog where he highlights the use of MindManager as a tool for planning your strategy, business cases, and your home life.

The article contains analysis of three different maps that utilise the mapping approach fantastically in order to handle different situations. All of the maps discussed are hosted on the Biggerplate library and there is little point in repeating what Michael has said, so I simply advise you to take a look here.

What he has spotted however, which had been missed on my part, was that this is a series of three great maps uploaded to Biggerplate by one member who goes by the name of msdizzy.
Michael has spotted a great contribution to the mapping world, and I must apologise to msdizzy for failing to spot this great series of uploads!

I thoroughly recommend these three maps to anyone who wants to see great examples of how to use mapping in a range of contexts in a highly effective manner. Well done and thank you msdizzy, the Biggerplate community salutes you!

Should Biggerplate go Bigger?

After several discussions over the last few months, an interesting question has been raised for Biggerplate, and that is whether we make our offering to the world, well, bigger...
We have had a lot of people contacting us since the new year asking if we might open the site up to accept other mapping programs, so that other people (who do not use MindManager) might be able to use Biggerplate to share and exchange mindmaps that they have created using software other than MindManager. While this is previously something that we have considered but resisted, the increase in enquiries and requests of this nature suggests that now might be a good time to do some early research into this matter.
MindManager is certainly the tool of choice at Biggerplate, but this is not to say that other mapping software is of no use or value. We are interested to know whether our members, and the wider world would like us to open the site to accept certain other programs in addition to Mindmanager, and if so; which programs they might want to see added to the site. We have therefore created an amazingly short survey with just 10 questions, which we would love you to visit and fill in to give us your thoughts. The tiny survey can be viewed here: Should Biggerplate go Bigger?
Making any changes like this is a long way away for Biggerplate, but we are nonetheless keen to learn your thoughts about this to provide us with some very early research. So visit our survey and tell us what you think!

Biggerplate Development Options

We have been spending some time recently considering what the options might be for the next stage of development for Biggerplate.com. With the current financial meltdown restricting budgets, we are looking carefully at what changes and additions might be of most value to Biggerplate and its members!

We decided an interesting way of deciding what might be the most valuable changes would be to throw the map onto Biggerplate and see if any of our members offered opinions and feedback regarding the ideas being discussed.

We have therefore uploaded our map, which is a very simple map that we have been using in our meetings to consider the added value of certain additions for Biggerplate, and for our members. This map originally started as a huge brainstorming session where we gathered ideas about what might be done next, and over time, we have condensed it down to what you see now on the map.
We hope you might consider downloading the map, having a read, then posting your thoughts in the comments box on the site below the map. We would really appreciate any thoughts, ideas, and feedback, as we are keen to ensure that the changes we make really enhance the site experience for you the user. Let us know what you think, and you can help shape the future of Biggerplate.com!

How to Twitter for Business

Once again Michael Deutch is putting his mapping to use for the greater good by providing an excellent map on "How to Twitter for Business" for anyone (like me) who is trying to get to grips with Twitter and its potential uses for individuals and businesses.

The map is packed full of useful advice and tips as to how to get the most out of twitter, including a "10 Best Practices" and "7 Things to Avoid" which should help newcomers to the site avoid making a Twitter faux pas!

Perhaps most useful (and potentially daunting) is the "Terrific Twitter Tools" section of the map, which shows just how much additional functionality can be harnessed through Twitter to create a marketing medium unlike any other.

This map is well worth a look, and if you have a moment, why not leave Michael a comment on Biggerplate!

The Hammer and the Screwdriver

The Hammer and the Screwdriver are respectively two of the most useful tools that have ever been at the disposal of man. Both are noble tools of great heritage, enabling man to attach stuff to other stuff for years, through the age old combinations of hammer and nail, screwdriver and screw.

While these two implements serve equally useful and profound purposes, it is important to recognise that each tool has its own limitations and in certain circumstances, one cannot do the work of the other. Sometimes the aggression of the hammer must be replaced with the slow methodical operation of the screwdriver, and sometimes the slower methodical approach of the screwdriver must be replaced by the ability to knock the crap out of something.

So why the tool-time chat? Essentially I think computer tools are no different, and a couple of situations over the last couple of weeks have made me realise that sometimes people can be far too attached to mapping or mindmanager to realise that it is not actually the correct tool for the job! No matter how good it is, it cannot (for example) do the calculating and formulating that an excel spreadsheet can do; so dont try and use it for predicting complex cash flow (you know who you are!) Recognise that other tools (word, powerpoint, excel etc) have their uses, and then learn to recognise if and when your preferred tool(s) can be used instead, or in addition.

Fully understanding which tools are most appropriate for which tasks mean you will very quickly be able to decide whether you want to map or chart, to word process or slide create, and in the case of the hammer and screwdriver; to bang... or screw.

Moral of the story: Dont get MindMap Blindness!!!

Ning the Merciless

Today saw the launch of a Biggerplate Members community on the popular social network site "Ning".

There is a need to build a greater sense of community and communication amongst the many members of Biggerplate, and I am hoping the Ning Cmmunity might enable this to develop a little further. The community will be linked to the main site very soon, and I encourage anyone who is not already part of Ning to check it out, and of course join the Biggerplate Goup and start talking to some of the other members!

Importantly, the new area hosts a discussion forum which will hopefully enable users to request maps or map templates that they cannot (yet) find in the library. Hopefully, other members will then be able to help with these requests by uploading a map to the library if they have something relevant!

Come get involved here

Liam