How to Use Radiant Thinking to Maximize

T HE Your Brain’s Untapped Potential

Mind Map Book

TO N Y B U ZA N \ w i t h B a rry Buzan
author of Use Both Sides of Your Brain
Book
“If I am concerned about having too much to say or what to UNLEASH AND
cover in a speech, I organize it by Mind Mapping the material.”
—Dr. Ken Blanchard, co-author of The One-Minute Manager HARNESS YOUR

“Tony Buzan’s Mind Map Book will do for the brain what MIND’S UNTAPPED
Stephen Hawking’s A BriefHistory of Time did for the universe.”
RESOURCES WITH
—Raymond Keene, O.B.E., Chess Grandmaster,
Mind Sports Correspondent, Times (London) THIS REVOLUTIONARY

T use Mind Maps!’ —Anthony Robbins,

NEW PROGRAM FROM
author of Awaken the Giant Within
THE BRAIN-POWER
“More than a few serious minds out there are paying attention.”
—International Herald Tribune EXPERT AND AUTHOR

“The use of Mind Mapping is an integral part of my quality OF USE BOTH SIDES
improvement program here at Boeing. This program has
provided savings of over $10 million this year for my orga­ OF YOUR B R A IN
nization (ten times our goal).”
—Dr. Mike Stanley, Director of Special Projects, Boeing

With 84 illustrations in full color and

44 in black and white

ISBN 0 - 5 2 5 - 9 3 9 0 4 - 0
90 000>
$24.95

Y o u r brain is a super bio-computer that dwarfs any

machine on the market If you understand how it works
and how to work with it, you can employ and enjoy
astonishing powers of learning, memory, concentration,
and creativity in planning and structuring thought on
all levels. Now, in The Mind Map Book, Tony and Barry
Buzan have provided a comprehensive operating man­
ual for all who want to use their brains to their fullest
potential.

M a d Mapping and Radiant Thinking, the revolu­

tionary new method of accessing heretofore untapped
intelligences, was developed by world-famous brain­
power expert Tony Buzan by analyzing original break­
through scientific insights into the workings of the
brain. It is a process currently used with extraordinary
success by multinational corporations, leading univer­
sities, champion athletes, and outstanding artists. The
Mind Map Book is the only book that both explains the
fundamental operation of the brain in terms of its
thinking processes and explains how to unleash and
harness its power. This remarkable book clearly and
concisely describes how your brain actually stores and
processes all the information that pours into it Then,
with the aid of vivid diagrams and exciting, easy-to-follow
exercises, it shows you precisely how to:

# mirror and magnify your brain’s pattern of percep­

tion and association in the way you learn, think, and
create...and have it serve as the tool you need to suc­
ceed in business as well as in school, in the studio, in
sports, in your love life and other relationships
* quickly master the right way to take notes, organize
a speech, a writing assignment a report
♦ join with others to pool thinking productively,
memorize a mammoth amount of data, free your
ideas to grow and expand constantly in depth and
dimension
(continued on back flap)
(continued from, front flap)

O n another level, you will see how the great thinkers,

scientists, and artists of the past and present have uti­
lized the principles of Mind Mapping and Radiant
Hunking. Included, too, are fascinating case histories
of ordinary men and women, young and old, who have
vaulted to achievements previously beyond their reach.
Through this world-acclaimed program you will gain
the information, the instruction, and the inspiration to
make what has worked so well for so many work for
you. From the moment you open The Mind Map Book,
you will know it is not a book that merely asks to be
read: it demands to be used.

Tony Buzan, the leading author­

ity on the brain and learning tech­
niques, is Chairman of the Brain
Foundation. An international media
personality, founder of the Brain
Trust charity, and the originator of Mind Maps, he is
the author of fifteen books, including Use Both Sides
of Your Brain, Use Your Perfect Memory, and Speed
Reading (all available in Plume editions). He is also an
Olympic coach.
Barry Buzan is Professor of
International Studies at the Uni­
versity of Warwick and a Project
Director at the Centre for Peace and
Conflict Research in Copenhagen.

Jacket design and illustration by Robert DE Vicq DE Cumptich

Black and white jacket photograph by Taizo Tashiro/Photonica

■ ■ DUTTON
A division of Penguin USA
375 Hudson Street, New York, N.Y. 10014
lÉÊiÀ Printed in U.S.A.

Self-help
THE
MIND MAP BOOK
THE
MIND MAP BOOK
How to Use Radiant Thinking to Maximize
Your Brain’s Untapped Potential

by Tony Buzan
with Barry Buzan

A DUTTON BOOK

® Mind Map ù a registered trademark of the Buzan Organisation 1990

We dedicate this book to the expanding
freedom of human intelligence

DUTTON
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Books USA Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, U.S.A.
Penguin Books L td, 27 Wrights Lane, London W8 5TZ, England
Penguin Books Australia Ltd, Ringwood, Victoria, Australia
Penguin Books Canada Ltd, 10 Alcorn Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4V 3B2
Penguin Books (N.Z.) Ltd, 182-190 Wairau Road, Auckland 10, New Zealand
Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England
Published by Dutton, an imprint of Dutton Signet, a division of Penguin Books USA Inc.
Published by arrangement with BBC Books, a division of BBC Enterprises Limited.
First Dutton Printing, September, 1994
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Copyright © Tony Buzan and Barry Buzan, 1993
All rights reserved

REGISTERED TRADEMARK— MARCA REGISTRADA

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Buzan, Tony.
The mind map book : how to use radiant thinking to maximize your brain’s
untapped potential / Tony Buzan, with Barry Buzan.
p. cm.
Originally published: London : BBC Books, 1993.
ISBN 0-525-93904-0
1. Intellect. 2. Brain. 3. Thought and thinking. I. Buzan, Barry. II. Title.
BF431.B883 1994
153.4—dc20 94-15644
CIP
Printed in the United States of America
Set in Plantin
Designed by Sara Kidd
Artwork by Julian Bingley
Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any
means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written
permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
ph o t o g r a ph , pa g e 2: Natural Architecture Plate I
ACKNOW LEDGEM ENTS

[Dutton would like to thank the following for providing photographs and for
permission to reproduce copyright material. While every effort has been made
toitrace and acknowledge all copyright holders, we would like to apologise
phould there have been any errors or omissions.
Bell Telephone Laboratories, New Jersey page J. Lemker), 118 (T. Tilford), 142 (R. Jackman), 151
I 302 (top); Bettmann Archive pages 299 (top right) (P. Henry), 179 (T. Heathcote), 247 (S. Hauser)
I and 302 (bottom)', British Museum page 301 (top)-, and 254 (J. Watts); Royal Collection © 1993 Her
Edison National Historic Site page 296 (bottom); Majesty the Queen pages 41 (bottom) and 301
Hpemeentemusea van Amsterdam page 300 (bottom); Royal Observatory Edinburgh and
I (top); Max-Planck-Institut, Dortmund, Anglo-Australian Telescope Board (D. F. Malin)
Germany: Mario Markus and Benno Hess, pages pages 2-3; Science Museum, London page 297;
. 47 and 82, Mario Markus and Hans Schepers page Science Photo Library pages 30 (K. Kent), 42
■ 195; Museu Picasso, Barcelona, © DACS, 1993 (J. C. Revy), 55 (A. Smith), 135, 155 (S. Moulds),
I page 41 (top); NHPA pages 19 (A. Bannister), 58 203 (NASA), 218 (J. Burgess), 234 (K. Kent), 263
(jMmnaichael), 122,167 (both, B. Jones and M. (Aeroservice), 275 (J. Burgess) and 282 (M. Kage);
Shimlock), 187 and 222 (both, N. A. Callow); Dr Dr M. Stanley/Boeing page 171; Syndics of
D. E. |}icholson/Sigma Chemical Co. page 134; Cambridge University Library pages 295, 298
^Northwestern University Library, Evanston, and 304; Tate Gallery, London page 303 (top);
»Illinois, USA- Special Collections Dept, page 299 UPI/Bettmann pages 296 (top) and 303 (bottom);
■ioitom); Oxford Scientific Films pages 62 Witt Library, Courtauld Institute of
H|)kapia/K. G. Vock), 70 (Animals Animals/ Art/Moravcké Galerie, Brno page 299 (top left).
I tJRôcIOj 78 (H. Taylor), 95 (Animals Animals/
For technical reasons all but four of the Mind Maps in this book have been
[copied (these are named in the following list as ‘original’). All other artworks,
[except the sketches by Tony Buzan on page 73 have been drawn by Julian
feingley. The Mind Maps, however, remain the copyright of their owners as
listed below.
Sean Adam, page 143; Tony Bigonia, Richard Kastner, page 271; Raymond Keene OBE, page
Kohler, Matthew Puk, John Ragsdale, Chris 259; Donna Kim and family, page 202; Charles
Slabach, Thomas Spinola, Thomas Sullivan, La Fond, page 230; B. H. Lee, page 270; James
iLorita Williams, page 171 (top); Claudius Borer Lee, page 215 (bottom); Jim Messerschmitt and
Bçriginal), page 119; Douglas Brand, page 227; Tony Messina, pages 266 and 268; Jonathan
Mark Brown, page 106; Barry Buzan, page 226; Montagu, page 290; Katarina Naiman, page 214
Tony Buzan (sketches) page 73, Mind Maps pages (bottom); Vanda North, pages 126 and 239; Karen
r75,194i(original), 198 (original), 244, 258,259 Schmidt, page 214 (top); Jan Pieter Six, page 262;
tittop); Pan Collins, page 146; Lynn Collins and Lars Soderberg, page 231; Norma Sweeney,
Caro Ayre, page 207; Kathy De Stefano, page page 162; Sheikh Talib (original), page 291; Nigel
L'120(top); Ulf Ekberg, page 118 (top); Thomas Temple, page 263; Tessa Tok-Hart, page 186;
Enskog, page 215 (top); Dr John Geesink, page Lady Mary Tovey, page 246; Graham Wheeler,
1120 (bottom); Lorraine Gill, pages 158-159; page 227; Benjamin Zander, page 163.
DennyHarris, page 150; Brian Heller, page 243; The authors of the Mind Maps on pages 178 and
IBM, page 219; Lana Israel, page 242; Jean-Luc 251 prefer not to be named.

The authors would also like to offer their special thanks to Dr Stanley and
Boeing for allowing the reproduction of Dr Stanley in front of his Mind Map
Easterpiece! (See page 171.)
A p p r e c ia t io n
We would like to express once again our great appreciation and enormous thanks
to: our parents, Gordon and Jean Buzan, for launching us on this incredible
journey, and especially to Mum for the depth of caring and days of work she has
contributed to the preparation of this manuscript; Vanda North, our External
Editor, who put in as much work in helping us with The Mind Map Book as
most authors do in writing their own creations; Lorraine Gill, the artist, for her
profound insights into the importance and nature of seeing, the image, and the
relationship of art to the brain, memory and creativity; Deborah Buzan for sus­
tained encouragement and support over the many years of this project; Michael
J. Gelb for his persistent and impassioned support of us, this book, and a Mind
Mapping World; our friends who spent so much time both reading and helping
us with the various drafts - Paul Collins, who among many other things helped
us realise that a quantum leap was a small one!; Judy Caldwell, who was able to
>criticise in the true sense of the word, firing us with enthusiasm as she did so; John
Humble, whose support for the concept of Mind Mapping over the years has
provided a constant emotional strength; Sean Adam, for his enormous personal
support, his 10-year commitment to the project and his consistent friendly
cajoling of Tony to ‘get that book out’; George Hughes, the first to apply success­
fully the Mind Map Family Study Technique; Edward Hughes, who applied
Radiant Thinking and Mind Mapping to ‘ace’ Cambridge University; Peter
Russell, the Brain Book man, for his continuing support; Geraldine Schwartz,
who has done so much to help nurture the concept; Phyllida Wilson for regularly
finding her way through the most complex of mazes while wrestling with the
typing of this book; Tony’s office staff - Carol Coaker, Kate Morrell and Lesley
Bias - for keeping all systems going throughout the creation of The Mind Map
Book, and for their Mind Map contributions to the work; my entire BBC team:
Nick Chapman, Director of Consumer Products, Chris Weller, Head of Book
Publishing, Sheila Ableman, Joint Head of Editorial, Deborah Taylor, Project
Editor, Kelly Davis, Copy Editor, Kate Gee, Production Controller, Sara Kidd,
Designer, and Jennifer Fry, Picture Researcher, for putting their hearts and souls
into the project; Martin and Alison Cursham, who provided the summer respite
that helped initiate the work; Caro, Peter, Doris, Tanya and Julian Ayre for pro­
viding support, sustenance, and the beautiful home and grounds of Greenham
Hall, where much of this was written; the Folley Family, for providing a home
and work area of exquisite quality; Peter Barrett who was the first to develop a
valid Mind Map computer software; and to all Mind Mappers, radiant thinkers
and members of the Brain Club who have supported and inspired us.
Ab o u t t h e A u t h o r s
Tony Buzan
Tony Buzan is the originator of Mind Maps™, the President of The Brain
Foundation, Founder of The Brain Trust and the Brain Clubs3and the creator
of the concept of Mental Literacy.
Bom in London in 1942, Tony Buzan graduated from the University of
British Columbia in 1964, achieving double Honours in Psychology, English,
Mathematics and the General Sciences. In 1966 he worked for the Daily
Telegraph in Fleet Street, also editing the International Journal of M E N S A (the
high IQ Society).
As one of the world’s leading authors, he has published 14 books (13 on the
brain, creativity and learning and one volume of poetry). His books (which
include: Use Both Sides of Your Brain, Use Your Perfect Memory, Make the Most of
YourMind, Speed Reading, and Brain Training) have now been published in fifty
countries and translated into twenty languages. His classic book Use Both Sides
of YourBrain has surpassed worldwide sales of a million, and is a standard intro­
ductory text for staff training within IBM, General Motors, ED S, Fluor Daniel,
Digital Equipment Corporation and for students of the Open University.
Tony Buzan has become an international media star featuring in, presenting
and co-producing many satellite broadcasts, television, video and radio pro­
grammes, both national and international, including the record-breaking Use
YourHead series (BBC TV), the Open Mind series (ITV), The Enchanted Loom
(a one-hour feature documentary on the brain), and numerous talk shows. His
two latest videos are MindPower, distributed by BBC Video, which teaches the
concepts of Mind Mapping for business use, and which won a top award at the
1991 IVCA Festival, and Get Ahead, a one-hour video on developing ‘Brain
Power for Kids’, presented by Tony Buzan and Lana Israel.
He is advisor to government departments and multinational organisations
(including BP, Barclays International, Digital Equipment Corporation, Elec­
tronic Data Systems, Hewlett-Packard, and IBM ), and is a regular lecturer to
leading international businesses, universities and schools. Among members of
the Young Presidents’ Organisation he has become affectionately known as ‘Mr
Brain’. He is Founder of title Memoriad, the World Memory Championships,
and co-Founder of the Mind Sports Olympiad, the ‘Mental Olympic Games’.
Much of his work is devoted to helping those with learning disabilities. He is
also the holder of the world’s highest ‘creativity IQ ’.
[ Tony Buzan is an advisor to international Olympic coaches and athletes and
to the British Olympic Rowing Squad as well as the British Olympic Chess
THE MIND MAP BOOK

Squads. He is an elected member of the International Council of Psychologists

and a Fellow of the Institute of Training and Development. He is a Member
of the Institute of Directors, a Freeman of the City of London, and is also a
Patron of the Young Entrepreneurs’ Societies of both Cambridge and Bristol
Universities. Adding to his list of honours, including the YPO Leadership
Award, was his recent recognition by EDS with the Eagle Catcher Award -
given to those who attempt the impossible and achieve it!

Barry Buzan
Barry Buzan is Professor of International Studies at the University of Warwick,
and a Research Director of the Centre for Peace and Conflict Research in the
University of Copenhagen. He was also Chairman of the British International
Studies Association 1988-90. He took his first degree at the University of
British Columbia (1968), and his doctorate at the London School of Economics
(1973). He has been extensively engaged in using and developing Mind Maps
since 1970, and has been working with Tony Buzan on The Mind Map Book
since 1981.
In his academic work, he specialises in the history and structure of the
international system as a whole. He is therefore necessarily a generalist, with a
broad knowledge of world history, politics, economics, science and sociology.
He has written and lectured widely on the conceptual aspects of international
security, on international relations theory, and on regional security in Europe,
Southern Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Northeast Asia, and the Middle
East. He has been described by Lawrence Freedman as ‘one of the most
interesting theorists of contemporary international relations’.
Throughout his academic career Barry Buzan has used the Mind Map as a
tool for grappling with massive and complex subjects, for preparing and giving
academic and public presentations, and for planning and writing articles,
papers and books. His previous publications include: Seabed Politics (1976);
Peopley States and Fear: The National Security Problem in International Relations
(1983, revised 2nd edition 1991); South Asian Insecurity and the Great Powers
(1986, with Gowher Rizvi and others); An Introduction to Strategic Studies:
Military Technology and International Relations (1987); The European Security
Order Recast: Scenarios for the Post-Cold-War Era (1990, with Morten Kelstrup,
Pierre Lemaitre, Elzbieta Tromer and Ole Waever); The Logic ofAnarchy (1993,
with Charles Jones and Richard Little; and Identity, Migration and the New
Security Agenda in Europe (1993, with Ole Waever, Morton Kelstrup and Pierre
Lemaitre).
Co ntents

foreword 11
Introduction - The M ind Map Book and How to Use It 16

Envision i n a tu ra l a rc h ite c tu re 24
■ Chapter 1 The Amazing Brain 26
B Chapter 2 The Great Brains 39
B Chapter 3 Brains in Quandary 43
m Chapter 4 Radiant Thinking 53
| Chapter 5 The Way Ahead 59

DIVISION 2 FOUNDATIONS 63
■ Chapter 6 Brainstorming Words 63
K Chapter 7 Brainstorming Images ft
■ Chapter 8 From Brainstorming to Mind Mapping 79
I Chapter 9 Mind Mapping 83

■»VISION 3 STRUCTURE 91
I Chapter 10 The Guiding Principles 91
B Chapter 11 Developing a Personal Style 115

DIVISION 4 SYNTHESIS 123

I Chapter 12 Making Choices 123
■ Chapter 13 Organising Your Own Ideas 132
■ Chapter 14 Organising Other People’s Ideas 139
■ Chapter 15 Memory 147
I Chapter 16 Creative Thinking 153
I Chapter 17 The Group Mind Map 165
THE M IN D MAP BOOK

DIVISIONS USES 175

Section A - Personal:
Chapter 18 Self-Analysis 176
Chapter 19 Problem-Solving 183
Chapter 20 The Mind Map Diary 191
Section B - Family:
Chapter 21 Family Study and Story-Telling 199
Section C - Educational:
Chapter 22 Thinking 211
Chapter 23 Teaching 221
Chapter 24 Creating the Master Mind Map 235
Section D - Business and Professional:
Chapter 25 Meetings 245
Chapter 26 Presentations 252
Chapter 27 Management 261
Chapter 28 Computer Mind Mapping 274
Section E - The Future:
Chapter 29 Towards a Radiant Thinking and
Mentally Literate World 283

DIVISION 6 ADDENDA
Notes by the Great Brains Quiz 295
Answers to Natural Architecture Plates Quiz 305
Answers to Great Brains Quiz 307
Also by Tony Buzan 308
Bibliography 312
Index 317
F orew ord
Tony: In my second year at university, I strode purposefully into the library,
and asked the librarian where I could find a book on my brain and how to use
it. She immediately directed me to the medical section of the library!
[ When I explained that I did not wish to operate on my brain, but to use it, I
was politely informed that there were no such books.
I left the library in astonishment,
f Like others around me, I was going through the typical student’s ‘pilgrim’s
progress’: the slow realisation that the volume of academic work is increasing
and that the brain is starting to buckle under the strain of all the thinking,
Creativity, memory, problem-solving, analysis and writing required. Again, like
others, I had begun to experience not only diminishing returns but accelerating
mn-returns. The more I took notes and studied, the worse, paradoxically, I
seemed to do!
I The logical progression of either situation led me to catastrophe. If I cut
down my studying, I would not absorb the appropriate information and would
ionsequently do progressively badly; if I were studying harder, making more
notes, putting in more time, I was similarly spiralling into failure.
f The answer, I assumed, must lie in the way I was using my intelligence and
thinking skills - thus my visit to the library.
1 As I walked away from the library that day, I realised that the ‘problem’ of
not being able to find the books I needed was actually a blessing in disguise.
For if such books were not available, then I had happened upon virgin territory
of the most staggering importance.
I began to study every area of knowledge I felt would help shed light on the
basic questions:
• How do I learn how to learn?
• What is the nature of my thinking?
• What are the best techniques for memorising?
ft What are the best techniques for creative thinking?
iWhat are the best current techniques for reading?
;• What are the best current techniques for thinking in general?
t Is there a possibility of developing new thinking techniques or one master
Kechnique?
I As a consequence of these questions, I began to study psychology, the
Kuro-physiology of the brain, semantics, neuro-linguistics, information theory,
memory and mnemonic techniques, perception, creative thinking and the
general sciences. Gradually I realised that the human brain functioned more

11
THE MIND MAP BOOK

effectively and efficiently if its various physical aspects and intellectual skills
were allowed to work harmoniously with each other, rather than being divided.
The tiniest things produced the most significant and satisfying results. For
example, simply combining the two cortical skills of words and colours trans­
formed my note-taking. The simple addition of two colours to my notes
improved my memory of those notes by more than 100 per cent, and perhaps
even more importantly, made me begin to enjoy what I was doing.
Little by little, an overall architecture began to emerge, and as it did, I began
to coach, as a hobby, pupils who had been described as ‘learning disabled’,
‘hopeless’, ‘dyslexic’, ‘backward’ and ‘delinquent’. All these so-called ‘failures’
very rapidly changed into good students, a number of them rising to the top of
their respective classes.
One young girl, Barbara, had been told that she had the lowest IQ her school
had ever registered. Within a month of learning how to learn, she raised her
IQ to 160, and eventually graduated as the top student from her college. Pat,
a young American of extraordinary talent, who had been falsely categorised as
learning disabled, subsequently said (after having shattered a number of cre­
ativity and memory tests), ‘I wasn’t learning disabled:; I was learning d e p r i v e d !’
By the early 1970s artificial intelligence had arrived and I could buy a
megabyte computer and with that computer I could receive a 1,000-page
operating manual. Yet, in our supposedly advanced stage of civilisation, we
were all coming into the world with the most astoundingly complex bio­
computer, quadrillions of times more powerful than any known computer, and
where were our operating manuals?!
It was then that I decided to write a series of books based on my research:
An Encyclopedia of the Brain and Its Use. I started in 1971, and as I did so the
image on the horizon became ever clearer - it was the growing concept of
Radiant Thinking and Mind Mapping.
In the early stages of its development, I envisaged Mind Mapping being used
primarily for memory. However, over months of debate, my brother Barry
convinced me that creative thinking was an equally important application of
this technique.
Barry had been working on the theory of Mind Mapping from a very different
perspective, and his contribution enormously accelerated my development of
the Mind Mapping process. His own story is an intriguing one, and is best told
by himself.

12
FOREWORD

Barry: I intersected with Tony’s idea of Mind Maps in 1970, shortly after I
had also setded in London. At that time, the idea was in its formative stages,
only just beginning to take on an identity of its own, as distinct from mere
keyword note-taking. It was just one part of Tony’s broader agenda of learning
methods and understanding of the human brain. As a sometime participant in
Tony’s work, I was on the fringes of this developmental process. My own serious
engagement with the technique began when I started to apply it to the business
of writing a doctoral thesis.
What attracted me about Mind Mapping was not the note-taking application
that had captivated Tony, but the note-making one. I needed not only to
organise a growing mass of research data, I needed also to clarify my thoughts
on the convoluted political question of why peace movements almost always
fail to achieve their stated objectives. My experience was that Mind Maps were
a more powerful tool for thinking because they enabled me to sketch out the
main ideas and to see quickly and clearly how they related to each other.
They provided me with an exceptionally useful intermediate stage between the
thinking process and actually committing words to paper.
I soon realised that the problem of bridging the gap between thinking and
writing was a major deciding factor in success or failure for my fellow post­
graduate students. Many failed to bridge this gap. They became more and
more knowledgeable about their research subject but less and less able to pull
all the details together in order to write about it.
Mind Mapping gave me a tremendous competitive advantage. It enabled me
to assemble and refine my ideas without going through the time-consuming
process of drafting and re-drafting. By separating thinking from writing, I was
able to think more clearly and extensively. When it was time to start writing, I
already had a clear structure and a firm sense of direction, and this made the
writing easier, faster and more enjoyable. I completed my doctorate in under
the prescribed three years, and also had time to write a chapter for another
book, help to found, and then edit, a new quarterly journal of international
relations, be associate editor of the student newspaper, take up motorcycling,
and get married (doing a Mind Map with my wife-to-be to compose our
wedding vows). Because of these experiences, my enthusiasm for the creative
thinking side of the technique grew.
Mind Mapping remains a central element in my whole approach to academic
work. It has made it possible for me to sustain an unusually high output of
books, articles and conference papers. It has helped me to remain a generalist
in a field where the weight of information forces most people to become
specialists. I also credit it with enabling me to write clearly about theoretical
matters whose complexity all too often inspires incomprehensible prose. Its

13
THE M IN D MAP BOOK

impact on my career is perhaps best reflected in the surprise with which I am

frequently greeted when first meeting people: ‘You are much younger than I
expected. How could you have written so much in such a short time?’
Having experienced the dramatic effect of Mind Mapping on my own life
and work, I became a propagandist for the particular importance of creative
thinking within the broader range of applications that Tony was
developing.
At the end of the 1970s Tony decided that there should be a book about
Mind Mapping, and we discussed how I might participate in this project. In
the intervening decades we had developed very different styles. From his
teaching and writing work, Tony had worked out a very wide range of appli­
cations, had begun to link the technique to brain theory, and had worked out
many of the rules of form. As an academic writer, I had ploughed a much
narrower furrow. My Mind Maps incorporated only a few elements of form,
almost no colour or image, and evolved a rather different basic architecture. I
used them almost exclusively for writing projects, though I increasingly, and
with great benefit, took them up for lecturing and management tasks. I learned
how to think deeply over long periods, using Mind Maps to structure and
sustain large research projects.
There were'several reasons why we wanted to collaborate on this book. One
was the thought that by synthesising our two understandings, we would produce
a better book. Another was that we shared a profound enthusiasm for Mind
Maps, and wanted to make them more widely available to the world. A third
reason was the frustration I had experienced when trying to teach some of my
students the technology of Mind Mapping. Several unsuccessful attempts
convinced me that Tony was right when he said that people needed to be taught
not just a technique but also how to think. I wanted a book that I could give to
people and say: ‘This will teach you how to think and work as I do.*
The working process that ensued has been very long. It has taken the form
of a sustained dialogue at regular but infrequent intervals in which each of us
has tried to bring the other to a full understanding of his own ideas. About 80
per cent of the book is Tony’s: all the brain theory, the linkage of creativity and
memory, the rules, much of the technique, nearly all the stories, and all the
linkage to other research. His also is the prose, for he did nearly all the drafting.
My main contributions were in the structuring of the book, and the argument
that the real power of Mind Maps is unleashed through the use of Basic
Ordering Ideas. Beyond that, I played the role of critic, foil, nag, support and
co-idea-generator.
It took a long time before we fully understood and appreciated each other’s
insights, but eventually we reached an almost complete consensus. Although

14
FOREWORD

Islow, joint writing can sometimes produce a book that has much more range
land depth than either author could have achieved alone. This is such a work.

I Tony: As Barry has stated, we have practised what we preached, and preached
Iwhat we practised, in that we have used the Mind Map itself to write The
wMind Map Book. Over a period of 10 years, we have composed individual
Barnstorming Mind Maps, and then met and interlinked our two sets of ideas.
KAfter deep discussion, we have incubated and blended the next set of ideas,
«pent time observing natural phenomena, individually Mind Mapped our
Rmceptions of the next stage, and once again met in order to compare and
Imove on.
I The Mind Map of the complete book generated the individual Mind Maps
| for the chapters, each Mind Map forming the basis for the text of that chapter.
I The process has given new meaning to the word ‘brother’, and especially to
[ the word ‘brotherhood’. Even as we were writing about it, we realised that we
Burselves had created a group mind that contained all the elements of our
Kdividual minds as well as the explosively synergetic results of their meeting.
I We hope that The Mind Map Book gives you the same thrill of discovery,
Excitement in exploration, and sheer delight in the creative generation of ideas
lam communication with the universe of another human being that we have
Enirselves experienced.
In t r o d u c t io n

The Mind Map Book and How to Use It

P r e v ie w
• Purposes of The Mind Map Book
• Organisation of divisions
• Organisation of chapters
• Doing the exercises
• Levels of Mind Map knowledge
• Feedback
• The Mind Map Book and you

P U R P O S E S O F TH E M IN D M A P B O O K
This book is designed as an adventure to entice, delight, stimulate and challenge
you. You will discover some astonishing facts about your brain and its function,!
and will take your first major steps on the path to freedom of mind.
The Mind Map Book has five main purposes:

A To introduce you to a new concept in the development of thought -|

Radiant Thinking.

A To introduce you to the new tool that allows you to use Radiant Thinking
to best advantage in all aspects of your life - Mind Maps.

To give you a profound intellectual freedom by demonstrating that you

can control the nature and development of your thinking processes, and that
your ability to think creatively is theoretically infinite.

16
HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

■ To give you practical experience of Radiant Thinking, and in so doing

to raise significantly the standard of many of your intellectual skills and
intelligences.

5 To give you a sense of excitement and discovery as you explore this new
[universe.

ORGANISATION OF DIVISIONS
To accomplish these goals, the book has been arranged in six major divisions:

1 Natural Architecture
In this division you are introduced to the most up-to-date information about
the human brain, its design, architecture and function. You are shown that
many of the great thinkers of history (referred to in this book as the Great
Brains) used skills that are available to everyone. You are then shown why,
despite this, more than 95 per cent of people experience major problems in
such areas as thinking, memory, concentration, motivation, organisation of
ideas, decision-making and planning.
This division also introduces you to Radiant Thinking and Mind Mapping,
iemonstrating how each is a natural offshoot of the brain’s fundamental struc­
ture, and how each can improve dramatically your mental performance.

2 Foundations
The Foundations division guides you through the practical applications of the
skills of the left and right hemispheres of your brain, demonstrating how you
can use each separately, and how you can then combine them in specific ways
that multiply dramatically the advantages you get from using your brain. The
result is the complete Mind Mapping technique (explained in chapter 9).

J Structure
In this division you are given the complete set of laws and recommendations
for using Radiant Thinking and Mind Mapping to best advantage. These laws
and recommendations are designed to increase the precision and freedom of
your thinking.

17
THE M IN D MAP BOOK

In conjunction with this advice on how best to do a Mind Map, you are given
guidance and encouragement to develop your own personal style of Mind
Mapping.

4 Synthesis
The Synthesis division gives you an overview of all the different intellectual
tasks you can successfully tackle with Mind Maps. These include: making
choices (decision-making), organising your own ideas (note-making), organ­
ising other people’s ideas (note-taking), creative thinking and advanced brain­
storming, improving memory and imagination, and creating a group mind.

5 Uses
The Uses division is your menu of Mind Map applications. This is itself sub­
divided into:
• Personal
• Family
• Educational
• Business and Professional
• The Future
These headings represent the areas in which Mind Maps are most frequently
used. In each area you will learn a full range of specific and practical Mind
Mapping skills. These are designed to give you a comprehensive tool kit
for your intellectual life and work. Specific applications include self-analysis,
problem-solving, memory, essay-writing, management and meetings. The div­
ision ends with the first-ever introduction of computer-Mind Maps and a
glimpse of a mentally literate future.

6 Addenda
This division has been included as a back-up for all that has gone before,
and also for your amusement and entertainment. Consequently you will find
information, which is given on the Natural Architecture Plates and Notes by
the Great Brains, presented as straight data or, alternatively, as quizzes.

6.1 Notes by the Great Brains Quiz

This is a collection of 17 notes from 14 of the world’s great thinkers selected
from the fields of art, science, politics and literature. To make this a quiz,
o p p o s ite : Natural Architecture Plate 2

18
THE M IN D MAP BOOK

examine each note and attempt to identify its creator. The highest score on]
this quiz at the time of going to press was seven out of 17 - see if you can beat]
it! (For the answers to this quiz, see page 307.)

6.2 Natural Architecture Plates

Throughout the book you will find images taken from the animal, vegetable,!
mineral and conceptual worlds which demonstrate nature’s architecture. These
have also been arranged as an optional quiz. The object is to see if you can recog­
nise nature’s maps, each of which mirrors in its own special way the structure and
thinking patterns of your brain. At the time of going to press, the highest score inJ
this quiz was 15 out of a possible 31. (See page 305 for the answers.)

6.3 Brain Foundation information

For those who wish to continue their study of the brain, this section includes
details of books, training courses, video tapes and audio tapes, as well as the
Mind Map Kit, the Universal Personal Organiser, and other Buzan products.
You can also find out how to join the Brain Club, an international organisation
designed to promote Mental Literacy and help you increase your mental,
physical and spiritual awareness.

6.4 Bibliography
The Bibliography includes novels, popular science and more traditional scien­
tific volumes on the brain. It also mentions a number of research papers, should
you wish to go further into this endlessly fascinating subject.

ORGANISATION OF CHAPTERS

X Chapter design
Each chapter in The Mind Map Book contains the following main elements:
• a natural architecture plate shows an image from the natural world reflecting |
Mind Map and Radiant Thinking forms
• a preview of title chapter content
• a foreword introducing the main thrust of the chapter
• the chapter itself
• an onword, linking each chapter with the next.

20
HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

Boxed text
Bharoughout The Mind Map Book you will find boxed areas in the text. These
are the passages our students have repeatedly asked us to emphasise, as they
have proved especially helpful in their learning.

I Research
[Throughout the book a f at the start of a paragraph indicates the beginning of
an area of text in which research stories are provided to show why it is so
important to follow the recommendations made throughout The Mind Map
Book.

D O IN G T H E EX ERCISES
You will gain a new dimension of understanding and expertise if you do the
exercises offered in The Mind Map Book. These take the form of quizzes,
challenges and explorations. It is best to use a Mind Map pad (a blank white
A3 pad), a set of 12 or more good-for-writing felt-tip pens, four or more bright
and different-coloured highlighters, and a standard writing pen.
Mind Map kits are available by post (see pages 308-11).
With these materials, you will be able to make full use of your Radiant
Thinking and Mind Mapping abilities, and will learn these new techniques
easily, enjoyably and rapidly. Another advantage of following the recommended
exercises is that your Mind Map pad becomes a visual record of your progress.

Levels o f m in d m a p k n o w l e d g e
Regardless of your level of knowledge concerning Mind Maps, your initial
approach should be to browse through the book fairly rapidly, scanning its
structure, observing those areas that will be of particular interest to you, and
formulating your initial goals.
After this, your approach will differ according to your level of knowledge and
experience:

Q. Beginners
If you are a beginner, meaning that you have had either no experience with
Mind Maps or only the slightest acquaintance, continue by reading The Mind
Map Book as a study text. For a succinct summary of how to approach this, see
THE M IN D MAP BOOK

Chapter 14, pages 139-144. (For a fuller explanation of the study techniqueJ
see Use Your Head, 1989 edition, Chapter 9.)

2 Interm ediate students

If you are an intermediate, meaning that you have some knowledge of Mind
Maps and have started some form of basic application, once again use the]
study technique. Try to perfect your technique in the light of this book, as well
as pursuing your specific goals from the Mind Map Menu in Division 5 (Uses).

3 Advanced students
If you are advanced, meaning that you have considerable experience with Mind
Maps, you are advised to concentrate more on the first three divisions, focusing
on those areas where either you need more in-depth knowledge, or where die
information is new to you. Then scan Division 5 (Uses) in order to reinforce,
refine and supplement your existing skills.
Whatever your level, we encourage you to construct - either during or after
reading The Mind Map Book - a Master Mind Map of the entire book.

FEEDBACK
The Mind Map Book will always be a work-in-progress. As such, we would
enormously appreciate your feedback in many ways:

X Stories
Any stories you have, or indeed stories of friends or acquaintances who have
been able to use Mind Mapping in some notable or extraordinary way.

^ Research
If you are aware of any research, experiments or studies that support any of the
points we make in this book, please do let us know, care of the Buzan Centres
(see pages 308-11), with references that are as detailed as possible.

3 Additions
If there are any general additions, new chapters, or even new divisions that you
would like to see incorporated in future editions, please let us know.

22
HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

Great Brains*Notes
We need as many examples as we can get!

P\ Exercises IGames
If you yourself have developed, or know of other people who have developed,
exercises or games that can enhance the development of Mind Mapping tech­
niques, please send us an outline.

U Mind Maps
Similarly, if you have superb examples of Mind Maps that could go into future
editions, please send originals or coloured photocopies for our consideration.

7 Bibliography
If there are other books or research papers you think are useful, please send us
publication details.

THE M IND M A P B O O K A N D YOU

You who now read these words are doing so with your own unique personality
and uniquely developed set of learning skills. You will therefore progress at a
pace and rhythm particularly suited to you. In the light of this, it is important
that you measure yourself primarily against yourself. The examples contained
within The Mind Map Book should be used not as standards that must be
attained but as beacons to guide you towards your goal.
When you have completed The Mind Map Book we recommend that you
read it again rapidly. This ‘after completion reading* will be like meeting an old
friend again, and will give you a knowledgeable reader’s enhanced perspective
on each of the developing segments.

23
DIVISION 1
NATURAL
ARCHITECTURE
Whoever\ wherever, you arey you are using - to read these words - the
most beautiful, intricates complex, mysterious
and powerful object in the known universe: your brain.

We are, as an evolutionary model, a mere 45,000 years old, and we now

stand on the brink of a revolution that will change the course of human
development. For the first time in the three and a half million year
history of human intelligence, that very intelligence has realised that it
can understand, analyse and nurture itself. By applying itself to itself it
can develop new ways of thinking that are far more flexible and powerful
than the traditional modes of thought currently in use throughout the
world.

Only during the last few centuries have we begun gathering information about
die structure and workings of our brains. As excitement about what we find
gains momentum, so does the number of papers and articles published on the
subject. Indeed it has been calculated that in the last 10 years we have accumu­
lated as much as 95 per cent of all information ever gathered about the human
brain. Although still a very long way from a complete understanding (we are
increasingly aware that what we do know is only a tiny fraction of what there is
to be known), we now know enough to change, for ever, our view of others and
ourselves.
What then are these discoveries and what are the answers to the following
questions?

24
NATURAL ARC H ITEC TUR E

1 What are the component parts of our brains?

2 How do we process information?

3 What are the brain’s main functions?

4 How are the skill centres distributed through the brain?

5 How do we learn and what do we recall most easily?

\ J Is the human brain fundamentally a pattern-making and pattern-seeking

device?

/ What are the techniques used by those extraordinary yet normal people
who have been able to remember so much more than their peers?

8 Why are so many people in despair over the capacity and function of
their brains?

y What is the natural and appropriate way to think?

10 What is the natural and appropriate expression of hum an thought?

Division 1 answers all these questions, introducing you to the amazing natural
architecture of your brain on both the cellular and macro levels, and to the
major principles of brain function. You are shown how the Great Brains used
skills that are available to everyone, and why it is that 95 per cent of people are
dissatisfied with their mental functioning. In the final chapters of this division
you are introduced to the new, brain-based mode of advanced thought: Radiant
Thinking, and its natural expression, the M ind Map.

25
CHAPTER 1

T he A m a z i n g B rain

P r e v ie w
• Foreword
• Modern brain research
• The psychology of learning - remembering
• Gestalt - wholeness
• The brain as a Radiant Thinking Association Machine
• The development of the history of human intelligence
• Onword

FOREW ORD
This chapter takes you on a Concorde-flight overview of the latest bio-
physiological and neurophysiological research into that amazing bio-computer-
the human brain.
You will discover how many brain cells you have, and how they interact in
astoundingly complex and sophisticated ways. You will also discover the true
nature of your brain’s information-processing systems, and will learn about
state-of-the-art research into the left and right hemispheres.
As you read about the nature and workings of your memory, and about your
brain’s other major functions, you will realise the extraordinary extent of its
capacity and potential.

M O D E R N BRAIN RESEARCH

The brain cell

It was after studying the brain cell that Sir Charles Sherrington, considered by
many to be the grandfather of neurophysiology, was moved to make the fol­
lowing poetic statement:
TH E AM A ZIN G B R A IN

‘The human brain is an enchanted loom where millions o f flashing shuttles weave
a dissolving pattern, always a meaningful pattern, though never an abiding one,
a shifting harmony of sub-patterns. It is as if the M ilky Way entered upon some
cosmic dance.’

In each human brain there are an estimated one million, million

(1000 000 000 000) brain cells.

Each brain cell (neuron) contains a vast electrochemical complex and a power­
ful micro-data-processing and transmitting system that, despite its complexity,
would fit on the head of a pin. Each of these brain cells looks like a super­
octopus, with a central body and tens, hundreds, or thousands, of tentacles.
As we increase the level of magnification, we see that each tentacle is like the
branch of a tree, radiating from the cell centre or nucleus. The branches of
the brain cell are called dendrites (defined as ‘natural tree-like markings or
structures’). One particularly large and long branch, called the axon, is the
main exit for information transmitted by that cell.
Each dendrite and axon may range from a millimetre to 1.5 metres in length,
and all along and around its length are little mushroom-like protuberances
called dendritic spines and synaptic buttons (see overleaf).
Moving further into this super-microscopic world, we find that each dendritic
spine/synaptic button contains bundles of chemicals which are the major mes-
sage-carriers in our human thinking process.
A dendritic spine/synaptic button from one brain cell will link with a synaptic
button from another brain cell, and when an electrical impulse travels through
the brain cell, chemicals will be transferred across the minute, liquid-filled
space between the two. This space is called the synaptic gap.
The chemicals ‘slot into’ the receiving surface, creating an impulse that
travels through the receiving brain cell from whence it is directed to an adjoining
brain cell (see illustration detail, page 31).
Although simply illustrated, the cascade of biochemical information that
surges across the synapse is awe-inspiring in its volume and complexity. It is,
in jnicrocosmic terms, a Niagara Falls.
A brain cell may receive incoming pulses from hundreds of thousands of
connecting points every second. Acting like a vast telephone exchange, the cell

overleaf : A single one of the brainys million million (1000000000000) brain cells, dem­
onstrating a radiant natural architecture.

27
THE AMAZING BRAIN

will instantaneously compute, microsecond by microsecond, the sum data of

all incoming information and will redirect it along the appropriate path.
As a given message, or thought, or re-lived memory is passed from brain cell
to brain cell, a biochemical electromagnetic pathway is established. Each of
these neuronal pathways is known as a ‘memory trace* .These memory traces
or mental maps are one of the most exciting areas of modern brain research
and have brought us to some startling conclusions.

Every time you have a thought, the biochemical/electromagnetic resist­

ance along the pathway carrying that thought is reduced. It is like trying
to clear a path through a forest. The first time is a struggle because you
have to fight your way through the undergrowth. The second time you
travel that way will be easier because of the clearing you did on your
first journey. The more times you travel that path, the less resistance
there will be, until, after many repetitions, you have a wide, smooth
track which requires litde or no clearing. A similar function occurs in
your brain: the more you repeat patterns or maps of thought, the less
resistance there is to them. Therefore, and of greater significance, repe­
tition in itselfincreases the probability o f repetition. In other words, the more
times a ‘mental event’ happens, the more likely it is to happen again.

To return to the forest analogy, repeated use keeps the track clear, thus
encouraging further ‘traffic’. The more tracks and pathways you can create and
use, die ‘clearer’, faster and more efficient your thinking will become. The
boundaries of human intelligence can, in many ways, be related to the brain’s
ability to create and use such patterns.
In the winter of 1973, Professor Petr Kouzmich Anokhin of Moscow Uni­
versity made his last public statement on the results of his 60-year investigation
into the nature of our brain cells. His conclusion, in his paper ‘The Forming
of Natural and Artificial Intelligence’, was as follows:

‘We can show that each o f the ten billion neurons in the human brain has a
possibility of connections o f one with twenty-eight noughts after it! I f a single
neuron has this quality o f potential we can hardly imagine what the whole
brain can do. What it means is that the total number o f possible

o v e rle a f: Natural Architecture Plate 3

29
TH E A M AZING BR A IN

Five brain cells demonstrating part of the *neuronal embraces*throughout the brain.
This image is simplified a thousand times and represents a microscopic area of the brain.

mmbinations/permutations in the brain, if written out, would be 1 followed

by 10.5 million kilometres of noughts!’

(No human yet exists who can use all the potential of his brain. This is why
we don’t accept any pessimistic estimates of the limits of the human brain. It
is unlimited!’

How is all this accomplished? By the biggest ‘embrace’ in the known uni­
verse - your brain cells embracing your brain cells. Each individual brain cell
is capable of contacting and embracing as many as 10 000 or more proximate
brain cells in the same instant.

It is in these shimmering and incessant embraces that the infinite

patterns, the infinite Maps of your Mind, are created, nurtured and
grown. Radiant Thinking reflects your internal structure and processes.
The Mind Map is your external mirror of your own Radiant Thinking
and allows you access into this vast thinking powerhouse.
THE MIND MAP BOOK

rhythm words
spatial awareness logic
Gestalt (whole picture) numbers
imagination sequence
daydreaming linearity
colour analysis
dimension lists

The brain’s cerebral cortex shown face-on. The cortical faculties shown make up the power­
house of intellectual skills that can be used in noting and thinking.

Your brain’s cerebral hem ispheres

In the late 1960s, Professor Roger Sperry of California, who was subsequently
awarded the Nobel Prize for his research, announced the results of his inves­
tigation into the brain’s most highly evolved area, the cerebral cortex (‘cortex’
meaning ‘outer shell’ or bark).
Sperry’s initial findings indicated that the two sides, or hemispheres, of the
cortex tend to divide the major intellectual functions between them (illustration
above). The right hemisphere appeared to be dominant in the following intel­
lectual areas: rhythm, spatial awareness, gestalt (wholeness), imagination, day­
dreaming, colour and dimension. The left hemisphere appeared dominant in
a different but equally powerful range of mental skills: words, logic, numbers,
sequence, linearity, analysis and lists.
Subsequent investigations by Ornstein, Zaidel, Bloch et al, have confirmed
these findings. In addition the following has been discovered:

— 32 —
THE AMAZING BRAIN

Although each hemisphere is dominant in certain activities, they are

both basically skilled in all areas, and the mental skills identified by
Roger Sperry are actually distributed throughout the cortex.

The current fashion for labelling people either left- or right-side dominant is
therefore counter-productive. As Michael Bloch stated in his Tel/Syn paper: ‘If
we call ourselves “right brain” or “left brain” people, we are limiting our ability
to develop new strategies.’
Saying ‘I am bad at or do not possess mental skill X’ is both an untruth and
^misunderstanding. If one is weak in any skill area, the correct statement must
be ‘I have yet to develop mental skill X.’ The only barrier to the expression and
application of all our mental skills is our knowledge of how to access them.
The range of skills available to all of us include those previously attributed
to either the left or right hemisphere:

1 Language
• Words
• Symbols

Number

J Logic
• Sequence
• Listing
• Linearity
• Analysis
• Time
• Association

Rhythm

5 Colour

33
THE MIND MAP BOOK

U Imagery
• Daydreaming
• Visualisation

/ Spatial awareness
• Dimension
• Gestalt (whole picture)

Radiant Thinking and Mind Mapping take all these elements into account.

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF LEARNING -

REMEMBERING
Research has shown that, during the learning process, the human brain pri­
marily remembers the following:
• Items from the beginning of the learning period (‘the primacy effect’)
• Items from the end of the learning period (‘the recency effect’)
• Any items associated with things or patterns already stored, or linked to other
aspects of what is being learned
• Any items which are emphasised as being in some way outstanding or unique
• Any items which appeal particularly strongly to any of the five senses
• Those items which are of particular interest to the person
This list of findings, taken together with the graph opposite, gives you infor­
mation that is of critical importance in understanding the way your brain works.
Indeed it was this information (and not the ‘left/right brain theory’, as many
have assumed) which gave rise to my development of Mind Mapping. In the
1960s, while lecturing at various universities on the psychology of learning and
memory, I began to notice the enormous discrepancy between the theory I was
teaching and what I was actually doing.
My lecture notes were traditional linear notes, providing the traditional
amount of forgetting and the traditional amount of non-communication. I was
using such notes as the basis of lectures on memory in which I was pointing
out that two of the main factors in recall were association and emphasis. Yet
these elements were singularly lacking in my own notes!
By constantly asking myself the question ‘What, in my notes, will help me to
associate and emphasise?’ I arrived, in the late 1960s/early 1970s, at an embry­
onic concept of Mind Mapping. (For a fuller discussion of recall during
learning, see Use Your Head, or for readers in the USA, Use Both Sides of Your

34
THE AMAZING BRAIN

100% - f 0

PolNflNTwe i hour 2 Hours

WHtpe lEAMtJG P o i n t iH T W £ w t\tP t
STARTS LZARtoHGZtiVS
Graphpredicting the high and low points of recall during a learningperiod. The reasonsfor
thehighpoints can be used to construct the basisfor a new theory of learning (see page 34).

Brain.) My subsequent investigations into the nature of information processing,

the structure and functioning of the brain cell, and research into the cerebral
cortex, confirmed and buttressed the original theory, and Mind Maps were
bom.

GESTALT - W H O L E N E SS
Our brains tend to look for pattern and completion. For instance, most people,
reading the words ‘One, two, three...’ will have to fight the impulse to add
‘four’. Similarly, if someone says, ‘I have the most fascinating story to tell you
... Oops! Sorry, I’ve just realised I’m not supposed to tell anyone*, your mind
will scream for completion! This in-built tendency of the brain to search for
completion is satisfied by the structure of the Mind Map. The Mind Map
allows an infinite sequence of associative ‘probes’ which comprehensively inves­
tigate any idea or question with which you are concerned.

THE BRAIN AS A R A D IA N T T H IN K IN G
ASSOCIATION M A C H IN E
This amazing machine, your brain, has five major functions - receiving, holding,
analysing, outputting and controlling - explained as follows:
THE M IND MAP BOOK

Jl Receiving
Anything taken in by any of your senses.

JL Holding
Your memory, including retention (the ability to store information) and recall
(the ability to access that stored information).

J Analysing
Pattern-recognition and information-processing.

T O utputting
Any form of communication or creative act, including thinking.

J Controlling
Referring to all mental and physical functions.

These five categories all reinforce each other. For example, it’s easier to receive
data if you are interested and motivated, and if the receiving process is com­
patible with brain functions. Having received the information efficiently, you
will find it easier to hold and analyse it. Conversely, efficient holding and analysis
will increase your ability to receive information.
Similarly, analysis, which involves a complex array of information-processing
tasks, requires an ability to hold (retain and associate) that which has been
received. The quality of the analysis will obviously be affected by your ability to
receive and hold the information.
These three functions converge into the fourth - the outputting or expression
by Mind Map, speech, gesture, etc. of that which has been received, held and
analysed.
The fifth category, controlling, refers to the brain’s general monitoring of all
your mental and physical functions, including general health, attitude and
environmental conditions. This category is particularly important because a
healthy mind and a healthy body are essential if the other four functions of
receiving, holding, analysing and outputting are to operate at their full potential.

36
THE AMAZING BRAIN

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE HISTORY OF HUM AN

INTELLIGENCE
The history of human intelligence can be seen as the brain’s search for ways of
JDommunicating effectively with itself.
When the first human made the first line, a revolution in human con­
sciousness was precipitated, of which the Mind Map is the latest developmental
stage. (For an in-depth discussion, see Lorraine Gill’s paper, ‘Line is man-
made’.)
Once human beings realised that they could externalise their internal ‘mental
pictures’, development was rapid. The first marks evolved into pictures, begin­
ning with the early Australian Aboriginal cave paintings. As civilisations
developed, pictures were condensed into symbols and thence into alphabets
and scripts, such as Chinese characters or Egyptian hieroglyphics. With the
development of Western thought and the spreading influence of the Roman
Empire, the transition from picture to letter was complete. Subsequently, for
2000 years the not inconsiderable power of the letter held evolutionary sway
over the momentarily derided image.

The first humans to make marks were thus literally marking a gigantic
leap in the evolution of intelligence, for they were externalising the first
traces of the mental world. In so doing, they were fixing their thoughts
in time and space, and also enabling their thoughts to span those same
dimensions. Human intelligence could now communicate with itself
across the infinite reaches of time and space.

Symbols, images and codes eventually developed into writing, and this
major advance was the key to the emergence and development of large-scale
civilisations such as those in Mesopotamia and China. These peoples enjoyed
obvious advantages over those who had yet to develop writing, and therefore
had no access to the wisdom and knowledge derived from great minds of the
past.
Like a broad river being forced into a narrow sluice, the trend towards
gathering information gradually accelerated over the centuries, giving rise to
today’s ‘information explosiorj’. In recent times this ‘explosion’ has been partly
caused by the assumption that writing is the only correct vehicle for the learning,
analysis and dissemination of information.
TH E M IN D M AP BOO K

If writing is indeed the best way of taking in, analysing and passing on
information, why are so many people having problems in the fields of
learning, thinking, creativity and memory? Why do they complain of
basic inability, loss of self-confidence, diminishing interest, and reduced
powers of concentration, memory and thinking?
Common responses to these problems include self-denigration,
under-achievement, apathy and the acceptance of rigid and dogmatic
rules, all of which further impede the natural functioning of the brain.
We have taken the word, the sentence, logic and num ber as the
foundation stones of our civilisation, forcing our brains to use limiting
modes of expression which we assume are the only correct ones.
Why have we done this? Because, in universal evolutionary terms, we
are still only newborn babies. It is therefore understandable that we
should have ‘experimented ourselves* into the momentarily uncomfort­
able position which the next chapter describes, and which subsequent
chapters resolve.

ONWORD
From the physiological and psychological evidence, we know that the brain
contains vast power waiting to be unleashed. To find out more about the brain’s
true potential and how to utilise it, we need to look at those brains historically
considered to be ‘great’. In the next chapter we meet some great thinkers of
the past and ask whether they did indeed use a fuller range of associative,
outputting and Radiant Thinking capabilities.
C h a p ter 2

T he G reat B rains

Preview
• Foreword
t The Great Brains
• Using the fall range of mental skills
• Onword

FOREWORD
Those considered to be ‘Great Brains’ in the fields of art, science, politics,
literature, the military, business and education have all used notes to help them
think. In the light of information revealed in Chapter 1 about the workings of
the brain, Chapter 2 examines the degree to which some great figures in history
have utilised their vast thinking power. This is your chance to analyse and copy!

THE GREAT BRAINS

For those of you who have been criticised for making ‘messy notes’ or ‘dood-
ling’j what follows will provide consolation and vindication!
During my lectures over the past 25 years I have frequently displayed the
notes of an unidentified thinker generally recognised as ‘great’. I have then
invited course participants to identify the originator of the notes. In every
group, the participants have mentioned - usually guessing wrongly - the names
of da Vinci, Einstein, Picasso, Darwin, and at least one other major musician,
scientist or politician.
This experiment shows that we assume that people like da Vinci and Einstein
must have achieved their greatness by using a wider range of mental skills than
their peers. The examples that follow support this assumption, providing
evidence that the Great Brains did indeed use more of their natural ability, and
that - unlike their more linear-thinking contemporaries - they were intuitively
THE M IN D MAP BOOK

beginning to use the principles of Radiant Thinking and Mind Mapping.

U S IN G THE FULL RANGE OF MENTAL SKILLS

A quick way of judging the excellence of your own or any set of notes is to look
at the list of mental skills on pages 33-4 and check how many of these skills
are incorporated in the notes - the more the better.
The notes opposite, by Leonardo da Vinci, demonstrate the point. He used
words, symbols, sequence, listing, linearity, analysis, association, visual rhythm,
numbers, imagery, dimension and gestalt - an example of a complete mind
expressing itself completely. The notes, also opposite, by Picasso are similarly
comprehensive. You can try to guess which notes have been written by da Vinci
and which by Picasso as a limbering up exercise before trying the Notes by the
Great Brains Quiz on pages 295-304. (See also page 18.)
In Notes by the Great Brains Quiz (page 295), you will find more examples
of great thinkers expressing themselves in ways that reflect the full range of
their mental skills.

ONWORD
These notes, the external expressions of the thought processes of Great Brains
of the past, reveal that they did indeed use a greater proportion of their inherent
mental power than those around them. We know that we could all utilise the
same inherent mental power. So why are so many people now experiencing
such massive problems with thinking, creativity, problem-solving, planning,
memory, and dealing with change? The reasons are explored in the next
chapter, ‘Brains in Quandary*.

40
THE GREAT BRAIN S

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THE M IN D MAP BOOK

42
CHAPTER 3

B r a in s i n Q u a n d a r y

Preview
• Foreword
• Standard linear notes
• The major styles of standard note-making/taking
• The tools used for standard note-making/taking
• The disadvantages of standard notes
• The consequences for our brains
• The results of research on note-making/taking
• Onword

FOREWORD
This chapter reveals the inherent weaknesses of note-making/taking systems
currently used all over the world. By analysing the effectiveness of various styles
of bote-making/taking, we can begin to evolve a system that works with our
brains rather than against them.

STANDARD LINEAR NOTES

It is important, at the outset, to make a clear distinction between note-making
and note-taking. Note-making means organising your own thoughts, often in
&creative, innovative way. Note-taking means summarising someone else’s
thoughts, as expressed in a book, article or lecture.
For the past two decades, my colleagues and I have researched the note-
making/taking styles of individuals at all levels in schools, universities and
various professions. This research has been carried out in many different
countries and has included observation, questioning and practical experiments.
One of the experiments consisted of asking each member of the group to
prepare, within five minutes, an innovative, creative speech on the topic ‘The
THE MIND MAP BOOK

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77ie r/iree mayor note-taking styles used by 95 per cent of note-takers and note-makers in all
schools and professions around the world, regardless of language or nationality. Can you see
why they leave cbrains in quandary*(seepages 44-51)?

Brain, Innovation, Creativity and the Future*. They were allowed to use a wide
variety of papers, coloured pens and other writing materials, and were asked
to include the following purposes in their notes:
• Memory
• Communication and presentation
• Innovation and creativity
• Planning
• Analysis
• Decision-making
Despite being offered a wide range of materials, the majority chose standard
lined paper and a single (usually black, blue or grey) pen. The results are
intriguing.

THE MAJOR STYLES OF STANDARD NOTE-

MAKING/TAKING
The three major styles used in the experiment are illustrated above.

44
BRAINS IN QUANDARY

1 p ie sentence/narrative style consists of simply writing out whatever is to

be communicated in narrative form.

The list style involves noting down the ideas as they occur.

J The outline numerical/alphabetical style consists of making notes in a

hierarchical sequence consisting of major categories and sub-categories.

Many people combine various elements of these three major styles. However,
there is also a fourth, and more rare style, which is often described as ‘dis­
organised’ or ‘messy’. This fourth style, as we shall see, is very much akin to
Mind Mapping.
All over the world, the current standard systems of note-making/taking are
identical. While Middle Eastern and Asian notes may look different from
Western notes, they actually use exactly the same elements. Although languages
like Chinese, Japanese and Arabic are written vertically or right-to-left, rather
than horizontally (see page 48), the presentation is still linear.
In every school, university and business we visited, the three major styles
outlined above were used by more than 95 per cent of those tested.

THE TOOLS U SE D FO R STA N D A R D N O T E -

MAKING/TAKING
In each of the three major styles described, the main tools used were:

1 Linear patterning
The notes were usually written in straight lines. Grammar, chronological
sequence and hierarchical sequence were also used.

M Symbols
These included letters, words and numbers.

3 Analysis
Analysis was used but its quality was adversely affected by the linear patterning,

45
THE M IN D MAP BOOK

reflecting too great an emphasis on the linear nature of presentation rather than
content.
A quick look back at Chapter 1 (page 33) reminds us that symbols, linear]
patterning and analysis, the major elements of current standard note-]
making/taking, are only three of the many tools available to the cerebral cortex j
of the human brain. These standard notes show an almost complete absence]
of:
• Visual rhythm
• Visual pattern or just pattern
• Colour
• Image (Imagination)
• Visualisation
• Dimension
• Spatial awareness
• Gestalt (Wholeness)
• Association
As these missing elements are essential in overall brain function, and specifi-]
cally in recall during learning, it is not surprising that most of those participating]
in our research found the whole business of taking notes frustrating. The words
most commonly associated with note-making/taking were: ‘boring’, ‘pun-|
ishment’, ‘headaches*, ‘finger cramps’, ‘homework’, ‘exams’, ‘wasted time’,
‘failure’, ‘rigidity’, ‘depression’, ‘fear’, ‘study’, ‘learning’.
Furthermore, over 95 per cent of the notes were written in a single colour, a
monotone (usually blue, black or grey). The word ‘monotone’ is the root of
the word ‘monotonous*. And what does a brain do when it is bored? It tunes
out, turns off, and goes to sleep. So 95 per cent of the literate human population !
is making notes in a manner designed to bore themselves and others to dis­
traction, and to send many of them into a state of unconsciousness.
And the method is working. We need only look at libraries in schools,
universities, towns and cities around the world. What are half the people doing
in those libraries? Sleeping! Our places of learning are becoming giant public
bedrooms!

o p p o s ite : Natural Architecture Plate 5

— 46
TH E M IN D M AP BOO K

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Arabic notes exemplifying the similarity of global note-taking styles, regardless of whether the
direction is left-to-righty right-to-left, or even, as in Asian languagesy vertical (see page 45).

- 48 —
BRAINS IN QUANDARY

This global ‘sleeping sickness’ in response to learning is due to the fact

that for the last few centuries the vast majority of us have been making
notes that use considerably less than half of the capacity of our cerebral
cortex. This is due to the fact that the skills associated with our left and
right hemispheres are not able to interact with each other in a way that
produces an upward spiral of movement and growth. Instead we have
saddled our brains with a note-making/taking system that encourages
them to reject and forget! The combined disadvantages of these two
factors take a heavy toll.

THE DISADVANTAGES OF STANDARD NOTES

There are four disadvantages o f current standard note-making/taking systems:

tL They obscure the key words

Important ideas are conveyed by key words. In standard notes these key words
often appear on different pages, obscured by the mass o f less important words.
These factors prevent the brain from making appropriate associations between
the key concepts.

1
m They make it difficult to rem em ber
[ Monotonous (single colour) notes are visually boring. As such, they will be
rejected and forgotten. In addition, standard notes often take the form o f
endless similar-looking lists. The sheer monotony o f making such lists puts the
brain in a semi-hypnotic trance, making it almost impossible to remember their
content.

They waste time

Standard note-making/taking systems waste tim e at all stages:
• By encouraging unnecessary noting
• By requiring the reading of unnecessary notes
• By requiring the re-reading o f unnecessary notes
• By requiring the searching for key words
THE M IND MAP BOOK

They fail to stimulate the brain creatively

By its very nature, the linear presentation of standard notes prevents the
brain from making associations, thus counteracting creativity and memory. In
addition, especially when faced with list-style notes, the brain constantly has
the sense that it has ‘come to the end* or ‘finished’. This false sense of complex
tion acts almost like a mental narcotic, slowing and stifling our thought process]

THE CONSEQUENCES FOR OUR BRAINS

Repeated use of inefficient note-making/taking systems has a number of conse-|
quences for our brains:
• We lose our powers of concentration, as a result of the brain’s understandable]
rebellion against mistreatment. v
• We acquire the time-consuming habit of making notes on notes in an attempt
to discover the ever more elusive essence of whatever we are studying.
• We experience loss of confidence in our mental abilities and in ourselves. I
• We lose the love of learning so evident in young children and those who have
been fortunate enough to learn how to learn.
• We suffer from boredom and frustration.
• The harder we work, the less we progress, because we are unwittingly working]
against ourselves.

Our current note-making/taking systems produce ever diminishing

returns. What we need is a system that produces increasing returns.

fTwo stories are relevant at this point. The first concerns the case history of
an autistic girl recorded in Springer and Deutch’s ‘Left Brain Right Brain’
(1985). The authors report that superior artistic ability is often to be found in
autistics who also have a severe language disability. They comment that ‘At the
age of three and a half, Nadia was producing lifelike drawings with considerable!
detail...’ They suggest that these special abilities reflect the contribution of the
right hemisphere, and later note that Nadia’s drawing skills ‘diminished as
therapy continued*.
Had Nadia been taught in a manner compatible with her brain’s function,
she would probably have continued to develop her already strong artistic
skills in addition to developing verbal skills. Mind Maps would have been the
appropriate tool.
BRAINS IN QUANDARY

The second story concerns a young girl in New York, who at the age of nine
was an A student. By the time she was 10, she had become a B student; by the
age of 11 a C student; and by the age of 12 a D student, verging on total failure.
She, her teachers and her parents were all mystified, as she had been studying
as hard, if not harder, every year, and was obviously intelligent.
Her parents arranged for me to meet her. After a long and sad conversation,
she suddenly brightened up and said, ‘There is one area in which I am doing
better and better every year.’
‘Which one?’ I asked.
‘My notes,’ she replied.
Her answer hit me like a thunderbolt, for it solved the mystery. In order to
do better at school, she had assumed that she m ust make more and better
notes. *Better’, to her, meant ‘more sentency’, as close as possible to verbatim,
and more traditionally ‘neat’. As a result, she was innocently pouring more and
more effort into the very activity that was making her misunderstand and forget
what she was studying. This method was used deliberately by a Russian called
Shereshevsky, who had a perfect memory, to help him to forgetl As soon as she
realised what she was doing, she was able to apply M ind Mapping and reverse
the trend.

THE RESULTS OF RESEARCH O N N O T E -

MAKING/TAKING
These findings are supported by many academic studies on note-making/taking,
especially those by D r Howe of Exeter University.
fD r Howe’s studies aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of different types of
noting. Effectiveness was judged by how well students were able to talk from
their notes, indicating a full and integrated understanding. They also had to be
able to use the notes for review purposes, to provide accurate recall and
considered responses in examination conditions where the notes were no longer
available. These were the results, from worst to best:

1 Complete transcript notes given.

Eg Complete transcript notes personally made.

Sentence summary notes given.

51
TH E M IN D M AP BOOK

Sentence summary notes personally made.

Key word notes given. (These sometimes proved to be particularly poor

because the person who received them was unable to make appropriate mental]
associations.)

Key word notes personally made.

Howe’s studies show that brevity, efficiency and active personal involve­
ment are of crucial importance in successful noting.

ONWORD
As we have seen, current systems of note-making/taking utilise only a fraction]
of the brain’s enormous learning potential. We also know that the Great Brains]
used a m uch greater proportion of the mental capacity that is available to all of
us. Armed with this knowledge, we can move forward into the next chapter]
which introduces Radiant Thinking - a clearer, more natural and more efficient
way of using our brains.
CHAPTER 4

Ra d i a n t T h i n k i n g

Preview
§ Foreword
• Radiant Thinking
t Onword

FOREWORD
This chapter integrates the information from Chapters 1 to 3 and introduces
you to Radiant Thinking, a major evolutionary step in the understanding,
accessing and nurturing of the human brain.

RADIANT THINKING

information - your brain’s processing system

What happens in your brain when you taste a ripe pear, smell flowers, listen to
music, watch a stream, touch a loved one, or simply reminisce?
The answer is both simple and amazingly complex.
Each bit of information entering your brain - every sensation, memory or
thought (incorporating every word, number, code, food, fragrance, line, colour,
image, beat, note and texture) can be represented as a central sphere from
which radiate tens, hundreds, thousands, millions of hooks (see opposite).
Each hook represents an association, and each association has its own infinite
array of links and connections. The number of associations you have already
‘used’ may be thought of as your memory, your database, or your library. As
you read these words you may rest assured that contained within the mind that
reads them is a data-processing system that dwarfs the combined analytical
capacities and storage facilities of the world’s most advanced computers (see
page 56).
THE M IN D M A P BOOK

Graphic representation o f a single ‘unit’ o f information in the brain (see pages 53-4),

- 5 4 -
R A D IA N T T H IN K IN G

Natural Architecture Plate 6

- 55-
THE M IND MAP BOOK

As a result of using this many-hooked —multi-ordinate - information-prw

cessing and storage system, your brain already contains maps of information
that would have the world’s great cartographers gasping in disbelief, could they
but see them.

Your brain’s thinking pattern may thus be seen as a gigantic, Branching

Association Machine (BAM!) —a super bio-computer with lines of
thought radiating from a virtually infinite number of data nodes. This
structure reflects the neuronal networks that make up the physical
architecture of your brain.

A quick calculation will reveal that your already existing database of items of
information, and the associations radiating from them, consists of multipleI
quadrillions of data associations.
f Some people use this vast database as an excuse to stop learning, explaining]
that their brains are nearly ‘full up’, and that for this reason they are not going
to learn anything new because they need to save the precious, remaining spaed
for the ‘really important stuff’. But there is no cause for concern because we
now know, through the work of Dr Mark Rosenweig in Paris, that even if your
brain were fed 10 items of data (each item being a simple word or image) every|
second for 100 years, it would still have used less than one-tenth of its storage
capacity.
This astounding storage capacity is made possible by the almost unbelievably
sophistication of the intricate pathways that constitute our metabolic processe«!
Even a single sub-section of one metabolic pathway is amazingly complex (see
page 29). And as Professor Anokhin has emphasised, even this phenomena
storage capacity is dwarfed by the brain’s ability to make patterns using the
data it already possesses (also see page 134).
However many items of data you have already stored, and however many
associations you have already made, your potential to radiate new patterns and
combinations of ideas exceeds it by multiple quadrillions!

The more you leam/gather new data in an integrated, radiating, organ­

ised manner, the easier it is to learn more.

56
R ADIANT T H IN K IN G

From this gigantic information processing ability and learning capacity

derives the concept of Radiant Thinking of which the M ind Map is a
manifestation.

Radiant Thinking (from ‘to radiate’, meaning ‘to spread or move in

directions, or from a given centre’) refers to associative thought pro­
cesses that proceed from or connect to a central point. The other
meanings of ‘radiant’ are also relevant: ‘shining brightly’, ‘the look of
bright eyes beaming with joy and hope’ and ‘the focal point of a meteoric
shower’ - similar to the ‘burst of thought’.

How do we gain access to this exciting new way of thinking? With the
Mind Map, which is the external expression of Radiant Thinking. A
Mind Map always radiates from a central image. Every word and image
becomes in itself a subcentre of association, the whole proceeding in a
potentially infinite chain of branching patterns away from or towards
the common centre. Although the M ind M ap is drawn on a two-
dimensional page it represents a multi-dimensional reality, encompass­
ing space, time and colour.

Before learning how to apply this powerful tool, it is essential to understand

the operational principles of the brain that generates it. It is also essential to
understand that Radiant Thinking is the natural and virtually automatic way in
which all human brains have always functioned. In the evolutionary develop­
ment of our thinking processes, we have used single beams of the radiation,
rather than the full multi-dimensional powerhouse.

0NWORD
A Radiant Thinking brain should express itself in a radiant form which reflects
the pattern of its own thought processes. As we shall see in the next chapter,
The Way Ahead’, the M ind Map is that form.
CHAPTER 5

T h e Way A h e a d

Preview
t Foreword
t The Mind Map - a definition
t What Mind Map users have said
• Onword

FOREWORD
This chapter defines the natural expression of Radiant Thinking: the M ind
Map, the next evolution in human thought.

THE MIND MAP - A D E F IN IT IO N

The Mind Map is an expression of Radiant Thinking and is therefore

a natural function of the hum an mind. It is a powerful graphic technique
which provides a universal key to unlocking the potential of the brain.
The Mind Map can be applied to every aspect of life where improved
learning and clearer thinking will enhance hum an performance. The
Mind Map has four essential characteristics:
a) The subject of attention is crystallised in a central image.
b) The main themes of the subject radiate from the central image as
\ branches.
c) Branches comprise a key image or key word printed on an associated
line. Topics of lesser importance are also represented as branches
attached to higher level branches.
d) The branches form a connected nodal structure.

OPPOSITE: Natural Architecture Plate 7

THE MIND MAP BOOK

Mind Maps may be enhanced and enriched with colour, pictures, codes andj
dimension to add interest, beauty and individuality. These in turn aid creativity
memory and specifically the recall of information.
Mind Maps help you to make a distinction between your mental storagj
capacity, which your Mind Map will help you demonstrate, and your mental
storage efficiency, which your Mind Map will help you achieve. Storing data]
efficiently multiplies your capacity. It is like the difference between a wettl
packed or badly packed warehouse, or a library with or without an ordering
system.

WHAT MIND MAP USERS HAVE SAID

Mind Maps have been described by those who have used them, from five-yeaj
olds to those at all levels of business and education, in the following ways:

‘a Neme Machine!’ (‘neme’ meaning ‘a thought as a gene’)

‘the device that helps you look after yourself’
(the mental training tool’
‘a Mind-Mirror’
‘a brain-caring device’
‘my mental volcano’
‘a device for accessing intelligence’
‘a goal-centred thought network*
‘a device for manifesting intelligence’
‘the epitome of summarising devices - use a Mind Map, save a tree! Savea I
tree? Save a forest!’
‘the embryonic manifestation of Super-Logical Thought’
‘the most comprehensive creative thinking technique’
‘a multi-dimensional mnemonic [memory-enhancing] technique’
‘a consciously self-controlled electroencephalogram!’
‘an extemalisation of the brain’s internal thought patterns/maps’
‘the way, at last, in which I can enjoy using my brain!’
‘the pathway(s!) to mental Freedom’
‘a Mind Map is an extemalisation of all aspects of cortical skills and intel-j
ligences, allowing the brain to gain access more fluidly, gracefully and rapidly!
to its vast store of abilities’
‘to the Information and Space Age, what linear note-taking was to the Industrial
Age’

Or, as one user put it when first using Mind Maps: ‘It is as if I’d been driving!

60
THE WAY AHEAD

allmylife with a dirty windscreen and suddenly the Mind Map cleared it for me.’
All these descriptions are appropriate and relevant. Taken together, they
reveal the Mind Map as the next step in the progression from linear (‘one-
dimensional’), through lateral (‘two-dimensional’), to Radiant or multi-dimen-
sional thinking.

0NWORD
Armed with the knowledge you have gained about the workings and potential
of your brain, you are now ready to travel through the intricate world of
your cerebral cortex. This journey will lay the foundations for expressing
and releasing your mental potential, and will lead you, through a series of
jbrainstorming exercises, to the full art of Mind Mapping.

61
DIVISION 2
FOUNDATIONS
This division (Chapters 6 to 9) investigates the twin worlds of words
andimages, showing how you can unleash extraordinary mental energy
T through the use ofpowerful brainstorming and association techniques.
These chapters take you from basic Radiant Thinking brainstorming,
through mini-Mind Map brainstorming, to the M ind Map itself

CHAPTER 6

Br a in s t o r m in g Wo r d s

IPreview
• Foreword
• Mini-Mind Map word exercise
•{implications
• Applications
• Onword

o p p o s ite : Natural Architecture Plate 8

THE M IN D MAP BOOK

The *Happiness*exercise (see pages 64-6).

FOREWORD
This chapter, ‘Brainstorming Words’, explores in depth your brain’s Radian!
Thinking information-processing system. Through the brainstorming ester-]
cises, you will discover the vast potential of your associative machinery as well J
as gaining an insight into your own and other people’s uniqueness as individuals
You will be introduced to a new brainstorming technique and some inter!
esting research findings. In particular, you will gain a deeper understanding«
communication and how we can avoid misunderstanding each other.

M IN I-M IN D MAP WORD EXERCISE

The Mini-Mind Map is the embryonic form of a Mind Map. ‘Mini’ thougSj
this Mind Map is, its implications are gigantic.
To do the following exercises, you will need pens and a Mind Map notepaJ
(see page 310) or several large sheets of blank paper.

Doing the exercises

Fill in quickly, with printed single key words on the lines, and without pausing
to choose, the first ten associations that radiate from the centre when you think]
of the concept ‘happiness’. It is important to put down the first words that
come into your mind, no matter how ridiculous they may seem. This exerd»
is not a test and should take you no more than 1 minute.
If possible, ask two or three other people to do the exercise at the same time.]
Do not discuss your associations while doing the exercise.

64
BR A IN ST O R M IN G W O R D S

Analysing the results

Your aim is to find those words which are common to all members of the group.
(In this instance ‘common’ means exactly the same word - ‘sun*, for example,
is not the same as ‘sunshine’.)
Before counting up the results, you should each predict, individually and
privately, how many words will be common to all members of the group; how
many words common to all but one member; and how many words will have
been chosen by only one person.
When you have finished the exercise and made your estimates, compare the
words you have noted with those of your friends or associates. T hen check and
discuss the number of common words. (If you are doing the exercise on your
own, simply compare your set of associations with the author’s, below.)
Each person in turn can read out his/her list of words while the others write
them down, underlining any words that are identical and identifying by colour
or code who chose which words.
Most people predict that there will be many words common to the whole
group, with only a few words unique to any individual. Yet, after thousands of
trials, we have found that for there to be even one word common to all members
of a group of four is a rarity.
When this ‘common’ word is itself made the centre of the next mini-Mind
Map, and the same four people are asked to repeat the exercise on the ‘common’
word, the same result is observed, showing that even the commonality is rooted
in fundamental difference!
The more people there are in the group, the less chance there is of any one
word being common to all members of the group (see graph, overleaf).

Sample from ‘Happiness’ exercise.

— 65 —
TH E M IN D M A P BOO K

300

/ 2 -3 4 f 6 7 s i io n i2 n it* is a n m i u\
N U M 5 £ R OF
4S THE M//*10££ OF PEOPLE /Ncfl-£A5ES
Ttf E htUM&ifZ Of WofiPS /H COMMON/ r>I£teASES
Graph illustrating the incredible uniqueness of each human being's thinking networks.

Results o f sim ilar exercises

The exercise you have just completed with the word ‘happiness’ produce»
similar results with any word.
For instance, a group of senior bank managers, all 40 to 55 years old and all |
from similar backgrounds, did the same exercise with the word ‘run’. As we
predicted, there were on average no words common to all four members of the
group; occasionally one word common to three people; a few pairs of words ]
common to two people; and most words unique to one individual.
The group complained that this was not fair because the word was not one
of major interest to them. Had it been so, they predicted that their results
would have been far more ‘common’.
Accordingly they were given a second exercise, using ‘money’ instead of
‘run’. To their amazement, their results were even more uncommon.

This finding contradicts a popular misconception: that the more you

educate people, the more clone-like they will become. Radiant Thinking
demonstrates that the opposite is true: the more you educate peopley the
more unique their vast, and growing, networks o f associations become.

Opposite you will find the results from three groups of four people who recorded!
their associations with the word ‘ru n ’. Colour coding is used to indicate words ■
common to more than one individual.

66
B R A IN ST O R M IN G W O R D S

The ' Multi-ordinate’ run exercise by a group o f three people searching for commonality (see
page 66).

- 67 -
THE M IN D MAP BOOK

IM PLICATIONS

The vast potential of your associative machinery

Consider the fact that every sight, sound, smell, taste or sensation you havd
ever received —either consciously or paraconsciously - is like a tiny radiann
centre with millions of associations emanating from it.
Now think about trying to note down all these associations.
It would be impossible, because every time you noted something you would]
have a thought about what you had noted. That would be another association
which you would be obliged to note down, and so on, ad infinitum. The humaol
brain can make an infinite number of associations; and our creative thinking]
potential is similarly infinite.
In the average human brain there are multiple quadrillions of ‘used’ assodd
ations. This vast network may be considered not only as your memory or
personal reference library, but also as your entire conscious and paraconsciom
self (see Tony Buzan, Harnessing the ParaBrairi).

The uniqueness of each individual

The fact that individuals share so few common associations for a given
word, image or idea means that we are all magically and eerily different
from each other. In other words, every human being is far more indi­
vidual and unique than has hitherto been surmised. You who are now
reading this sentence contain, in your brain, trillions of associations
shared by no one else, past, present or future.

If we find a unique mineral we call it: ‘a gem’, ‘priceless’, ‘a jewel’,

‘invaluable*, ‘precious’, ‘a treasure’, ‘rare’, ‘beautiful’, ‘irreplaceable*.
In view of what research has revealed about us, we should start
applying these terms to ourselves and our fellow human beings.

APPLICATIONS
Our extraordinary uniqueness has many benefits. For example, in any brain*]
storming or problem-solving situation, the greater the diversity of ideas the
better. Each individual thus becomes an extremely valuable part of the process

68
BRAINSTORM ING WORDS

In the wider social context, so-called ‘delinquent’, ‘abnormal’ or ‘eccentric’

behaviour may often now be perceived in a new light as ‘appropriate divergence
from the norm, leading to increased creativity*. In this way many apparent
social problems may actually turn out to be solutions.
The results of these exercises also highlight the dangers involved in viewing
people as groups rather than individuals. Appreciating our uniqueness can help
in resolving misunderstandings and conflicts, both personal and social.
I Association exercises reveal the unlimited power of every human brain, both
those of‘gifted* people and those previously considered to be ‘average’. These
exercises can therefore liberate billions of people from their self-imposed mental
limitations. By simply performing the ‘happiness’ exercise described in this
chapter, anyone can experience an instant explosion in mental power.
fTake the example of an eight-year-old boy in a deprived area of London who
was considered to be virtually a moron, both by his teacher and by himself.
After he had completed the ‘happiness* exercise I asked him whether he could
find further associations for any of the ten words he had written down. He
paused for a moment, wrote down two, then looked up with the beginnings of
agleam in his eyes and asked, ‘Can I keep going?’
When I said, ‘Yes,’ he started tentatively, like someone going into the sea for
the first time. Then, with an increasing beat, almost like a drum roll, words
and associations started to pour from him. His entire physical posture was
transformed into one of eagerness, energy and happiness, as he filled the page,
literallyshouting, ‘I’m smart! I’m smart! ’ He was right. His education was lacking.

Understanding the radiant nature of reality gives us an insight, not only

into the nature of understanding but also the nature of mis­
understanding, and consequently helps us to avoid many of the
emotional and logical traps that bedevil our attempts to communicate.

In the context of this book, brainstorming is the first step towards the Mind
Map. These exercises can strengthen and tone your associative abilities in
readiness for the full development of Radiant Thinking.

0NWORD
If the Radiant Thinking ability of the brain can be applied to the ‘left cortical
skill’ of words, can the same power be applied to the ‘right cortical skill’ of
imagination and images? The next chapter explores this question.
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CHAPTER 7

Br a i n s t o r m i n g I m a g e s

Preview
• Foreword
• The power of images
• Mini-Mind Map image exercise
t Onword

FOREWORD
This chapter discusses recent brain research which has astounded experts
around the world. Together with the practical exercises described here, this
knowledge will enable you to access the vast store of imaginative skills that lie
dormant in 95 per cent of the population.

THE POWER OF IMAGES

fin 1970 Scientific American magazine published the results of a fascinating
experiment carried out by Ralph Haber. Haber had shown his subjects a series
of 2560 photographic slides, presenting one image every 10 seconds. It took
approximately 7 hours for the subjects to view all the slides, but this viewing
time was divided into separate sessions over a period of several days. An hour
after the last slide had been shown, the subjects were tested for recognition.
Each person was shown 2560 pairs of slides, in which one slide came from
die series they had seen, while the other came from a similar set which they
had not seen. On average, the accuracy of their recognition was between 85
and 95 per cent.
I Having confirmed the unrivalled accuracy of the brain as a receiving, holding

o p p o s it e : Natural Architecture Plate 9

71
TH E M IN D M AP BOO K

and recalling mechanism, Haber carried out a second experiment to check da

brain’s ability to recognise at speed. In this experiment one slide was shown]
every second.
T he results were identical, indicating that not only does the brain have an
extraordinary capacity to imprint and recall, but that it can do so, with no loss
of accuracy, at incredibly high speeds.
To test the brain even further, Haber conducted a third experiment in which!
slides were still presented at the rate of one per second but were all shown as
mirror images. Again, the results were identical, indicating that even at high
speeds the brain can juggle images in three-dimensional space with no loss of
efficiency.

Haber commented: ‘These experiments with visual stimuli suggest that

The result«
R E C O G N IT IO N O F P IC T U R E S IS E S S E N T IA L L Y P E R F E C T .
would probably have been the same if we had used 25 000 pictures
instead of 2500.*

f Another researcher, R. S. Nickerson, reported in the Canadian Journal cf

Psychology the results of experiments in which each subject was present«!
with 600 pictures at the rate of one per second. W hen tested for récognitif
immediately after the presentation, average accuracy was 98 per cent!
Like Haber, Nickerson expanded on his research, increasing the number of
pictures from 600 to 10 000. Significantly, Nickerson emphasised that each of
his 10000 pictures were ‘vivid’ (i.e. striking, memorable images like the ones I
used in M ind Maps).
With the vivid pictures, subjects achieved a recognition accuracy rate of 99.9
per cent. Allowing for some degree of boredom and exhaustion, Nickerson and
his colleagues estimated that had their subjects been shown a million pictured
rather than 10 000, they would have recognised 986 300 - an accuracy rate of
98.6 per cent.

In his article ‘Learning 10000 Pictures’ in the Quarterly Journal of

Experimental Psychology, Lionel Standing commented that ‘the capacity
of recognition memory for pictures is almost limitless!’

T he reason why, to quote the old adage, pictures are ‘worth a thousand words’]

72
BRAINSTORM ING IMAGES

is that they make use of a massive range of cortical skills: colour, form, line,
dimension, texture, visual rhythm, and especially imagination - a word taken
from the Latin imaginari, literally meaning ‘to picture mentally’.
Images are therefore often more evocative than words, more precise and
potent in triggering a wide range of associations, thereby enhancing creative
dunking and memory. This shows how ludicrous it is that over 95 per cent of
jBle-taking/making is done without the benefit of images.
The reason for this rejection of the image is pardy our modern over-emphasis
on the word as the primary vehicle of information. However it may also be due
to many people’s (mistaken) belief that they are in6apable of creating images.
Over the last 30 years we and others, including the artists D r Betty Edwards
and Lorraine Gill, have surveyed opinion in this area. In these experiments as
many as 25 per cent of subjects said they had no visualisation capability, and
more than 90 per cent believed they had a genetic inability to draw or paint in
any way. Further research has shown that anyone with a ‘normal’ brain (i.e.
not genetically or physically damaged) can learn to draw to good art school
level (see below).

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73
THE M IN D M AP BOOK

The reason why so many people assume that they are incapable of creating!
images is that, instead of understanding that the brain always succeeds through
continued experimentation, they mistake initial failure for fundamental inca­
pacity and as its true measure of their talent. They therefore leave to withefl
and die a mental skill which could have flourished naturally.
f In his book Ghosts in the Mind’s Machine, S. M. Kosslyn states that ‘in most
of our imagery experiments people definitely improve with practice’.
Mind Mapping reawakens this exceptional visualising capacity. Where tfaie
brain develops its ability to image, so it develops its thinking capacity, its
perceptual abilities, its memory, its creativity, and its confidence.
Two widespread and damaging beliefs have led to the modern rejection of
our visualising skills:

1 That images and colours are somehow primitive, childish, immature and
irrelevant.

^ That the power to create and reproduce images is a god-given talent]

dispensed to a tiny minority. (It is in fact a god-given talent bestowed on
everyone!)

With a more complete understanding of the human brain, we are beginning to I

realise that a new balance must be established between the skills of the imagel
and those of the word. In the computer industry this is reflected in the increasing!
development of machines that allow us to link and manipulate words and
images together. On the personal level it has given rise to the Mind Map.

M I N I - M I N D M A P IM A G E E X E R C IS E
The exercise recommended for people wishing to build up their visual ‘mental]
musculature’ is identical to the ‘happiness* exercise described in the previous!
chapter, except that an image is placed in the centre, and on each of the
ten branches surrounding the image, the first ten ‘image associations’ are
drawn.
In an exercise like this, it is essential for people to overcome their inhibitions
about drawing ‘bad’ images. No matter how ‘bad’ the initial images may seem,
because of the trial and success (not error) nature of the human brain they will
simply form the first experimental stage from which there will be continued
and inevitable improvement.

74
Example o f M ini-M ind M ap image exercise (see pages 74—77).

- 75
TH E M IN D M AP BOO K

A good, and recommended, central image to begin with is ‘home’ because it]
provides plenty of opportunities for easy associative image development.

A im s o f the exercise
The aims of this visual association exercise are:

To unleash the enormous power of the visual cortex.

m To enhance the memory’s storing and recalling capabilities through the

use of images for emphasis and association.

To increase aesthetic pleasure - simple enjoyment of the images them­

selves.

4 To break down resistance to the use of images in learning.

5 To aid mental relaxation.

To begin to develop the extraordinary powers of visualisation and per-1

ception utilised by great artists/thinkers such as Leonardo da Vinci.

Image association in practice

Here is an entertaining and exhilarating example of how image association
works in practice.
A num ber of adults were joined in a seminar by the five-year-old son of one
of the participants. The little boy, Alexander, who was only able to write a few
disjointed letters of the alphabet, valiantly and persistently insisted that he join
in the exercise. Over the adult protestations, he was finally allowed to join in.
Alexander chose the hum an brain as his central image because he had heard
it mentioned so many times during the preceding days. H e then began to
‘image aloud* in the following manner.
‘Now, let’s see, what does my brain d o ?. . . Ah yes, it asks questions!’ So
saying, he drew a rough image of a question mark and immediately continued:]
‘Now, what else does my brain do?. . . Ah yes, it has friends!’ And so saying,
BRAINSTORM ING IMAGES

he quickly drew a little image of two hands holding each other, and proceeded:
*What else does my brain do?..
‘Ah yes, it says “thank you”!* And so saying, he drew a tiny envelope and
proceeded, with increasing joy and bouncing up and down in his seat with
every realisation: ‘What else does my brain do?.. *
‘Ah yes, it loves Mummy and Daddy!’ And so saying, he drew a little heart,
making his ten visual associations without a moment’s hesitation, and with a
whoop ofexcitement on completion. This was a brain working totally naturally -
radiantly flowing, open and elegantly associative.

Doing the exercise

Armed with all this information about your inbuilt capacity for image associ­
ation, proceed exactly as you did with the word association exercise, creating
your own central image for the concept of ‘home’ (or using the one on page
75) and adding the images that spring to mind.

ONWORD
Having completed these two brainstorming exercises using different cortical
skills, you now need to integrate the two worlds of words and images. The next
chapter continues the journey from basic brainstorming to Mind Mapping.
C h a p t e r 8

F rom B r a i n s t o r m i n g to
M in d M a p p in g

Preview
1 Foreword
I Expanding your powers of association
§ Exercise
1 Onword

Foreword
This chapter continues the process begun in Chapter 6 with the ‘happiness’
kicise. Moving on from the Mini-Mind Map stage, this chapter takes you to
■£ threshold of full Mind Mapping by showing you how to expand any Mini-
MindMap to any sizQyou want.

■Expanding y o u r po w ers o f a s s o c ia t io n
Tie next step is to extend the original ‘happiness’ exercise, following the
guidelines already laid down.
In exactly the same way that your ten original words radiated from the
[central concept of‘happiness’, each of these ten words can also radiate its own
jpodadons.
Byfeee-associating’ on each of the ten words, connecting the concepts that
Springfromthemwith lines and clearly printing single key words on lines which
arethe same length as the words, you can begin to build a verbal Mind Map
*tree’of associations like the one on page 80.

o p p o s ite : Natural Architecture Plate 10

TH E M IN D M AP BOO K

W hen you look at the illustration you will notice that the original ten word*]
have been written in larger letters, and that the lines on which they rest are]
thicker than the secondary ones. This serves to emphasise their significance®
the ten key concepts which originally sprang to mind.
As you make connections between words in your Mini-Mind Map you will
be increasing the sophistication and power of your memory,
f i n 1985 Anderson and Parlmutter carried out an interesting experiment on
memory. They presented the subjects with key central words and asked them!
to generate associations beginning with a given letter.
For example, one group was given the key word and letter sequence ‘dog *3
c, bone - m \ A second group was given the sequence ‘gambler - c, bone - m ’J
The subjects were then tested on the speed with which they generated the word!
‘meat*. The people in the first group were faster because the preceding word]
‘dog* activated the memory link of ‘dog - bone - meat’. As a result of their!
observations, Anderson and Parlmutter suggest that:

‘M emory works by an activation process, which spreads from word to

associated word via these links *

The extended original ‘Happiness’ exercise, leading to basic verbal Mind Mapping.

80
FROM B R A IN STO R M IN G TO M IN D M A P P IN G

Ex er c ise
Take a quick look at the illustration opposite. T hen expand each of your ten
original key words with further associations. Spend 1 minute on each key word
(10 minutes in all).
When you have completed this exercise, you will be at the second, third and
fourth branch levels on your Mini-Mind Map. At this point you will realise that
you can go on for ever!
This exercise demonstrates that, using appropriate techniques, your brain is
capable of exploring and manifesting its infinite creative ability.

On w o r d
Having exercised, integrated and expanded your powers of image and word
(association, you are now ready to express your full range of cortical and mental
skills in the Mind Map itself.
CHAPTER 9

M in d M a p p in g

Preview
• Foreword
• Harnessing the full range of your cortical skills
• Introduction to hierarchies and categories
t Journey through the mind of a M ind Mapper, Part 1
• Implications
• Journey through the mind of a Mind Mapper, Part 2
• More about hierarchies and categories
• Advantages of hierarchy categorisation and BOIs
• Advantages of Mind Mapping over linear
note-making/taking
• Onword

FOREWORD
This chapter introduces you to techniques for ordering and structuring your
thinking; and the ‘Journey through the mind of a Mind Mapper’ enables you
to see the process of Mind Mapping ‘from the inside*. In addition, you will be
presented with further evidence of your brain’s infinite linking and creative
'capacity.

HARNESSING T H E F U L L R A N G E O F Y O U R
CORTICAL SKILLS
The full power of the Mind Map is realised by having a central image instead
of a central word, and by using images wherever appropriate rather than

o p p o s ite : Natural Architecture Plate 11

83
THE M IN D MAP BOOK

words. Combining the two cortical skills of words and images multiplies youf
intellectual power, especially when you create your own images.
f i n 1989 W. M. Matlin described an experiment showing this. It was carried]
out by Bull and Whittrock 16 years earlier to discover effects of images on]
learning.
Bull and Whittrock asked 9 and 10-year-old children to learn words such as
‘brain*, ‘magazine’, ‘trouble’ and ‘truth*. The children were divided into three!
groups. Group 1 read the word and its definition, wrote them down and then!
created their own images of both the word and its definition. The children in
Group 2 did the same as those in Group 1, except that instead of creating their
own images they traced a picture. The children in Group 3 simply wrote down
the word and its definition over and over again.
A week later the children were tested for their recall of the words and theirj
definitions. The children in Group 1, who had created their own images, did by
far the best, while the children in Group 3, who had done no drawing, did worst]
This finding supports the argument that the Mind Map is a uniquely appro!
priate learning tool. It not only uses images, it is an image.

The Mind Map harnesses the full range of cortical skills - word, image,
number, logic, rhythm, colour and spatial awareness - in a single,
uniquely powerful technique. In so doing, it gives you the freedom to
roam the infinite expanse of your brain.

IN TR O D U C T IO N TO HIERARCHIES A ND
CATEGORIES
In order to control and apply this vast mental power, you need to structure
your thoughts and your Mind Map using hierarchy and categorisation. The
first step is to identify your Basic Ordering Ideas (BOIs).
Basic Ordering Ideas are key concepts within which a host of other concepts
can be organised. The term ‘machines’, for example, contains a vast array of
categories, one of which is ‘motor vehicles*. This in turn generates a large
range, one of which is ‘cars*. ‘Cars* in turn contains a host of types, including]
Fords, which can themselves be subdivided into various models.
Seen from this perspective, ‘machines* is a more powerful word than Fords
because it encompasses and potentially structures a huge range of informationl
‘Machines* both suggests a set of categories and puts them in a hierarchical
order subordinate to itself.

84
M IN D M A P P IN G

I Likewise this hierarchy can be extended upwards to even higher levels of

generalisation: ‘artefacts’, for example, has ‘m achines’ as one of its subjects.
These power words or Basic Ordering Ideas are the key to shaping and steering
the creative process of association. To put it another way, they are the chapter
headings you would use if you were writing a book on the subject,
f A classic study carried out by Bower, Clark, Lesgold and Wimzenz in 1969
^demonstrated the importance of hierarchies as an aid to memory. In this
experiment the subjects were divided into two groups. Each group was shown
four cards, with 28 words written on each card.
The people in Group 1 were shown words organised hierarchically. For
example, the word ‘instrument’ was placed at the top, and there were branches
down to ‘strings’ and ‘percussion\ On the next level there were branches
from the word ‘strings* down to ‘violin’, ‘viola’ and ‘cello*, while ‘percussion’
branched down to ‘timpani’, ‘kettledrum ’, ‘bongo’ and so on.
The people in Group 2 were shown exactly the same words but arranged
randomly. Both groups were then tested on their ability to recall the words. As
you would now expect, those in Group 1, who had been shown words in
hierarchies, did far better than those in G roup 2, who had been shown random
lists of the same words.

JO U R N EY THROUGH T H E M IN D OF A M IN D
M A P P E R , PART 1
This is your chance to ‘get inside’ the m ind of an individual and explore his or
her ideas on the nature of happiness. In the process, you will have an opportunity
to apply all the Mind Mapping techniques you have learnt so far, as well as a
fewnew ones.
The Mind Mapper starts with a central image that expresses the concept of
happiness. This image needs to incorporate dimension and at least three
Colours.
The first Basic Ordering Idea that comes to the m ind of our m apper is
‘a c t i v i t i e s ’. This is printed in large capital letters on a thick, curving line

connecting to the centre, the line being the same length as the word.
A quick spray of associations - a sailing boat, a heart, a person running and
the word ‘sharing’ - radiates from the idea of ‘activities’.
Our Mind Mapper’s brain now flashes to another B O I - ‘p e o p l e ’. This is
placed on the left side of the M ind M ap, again enlarged, again attached to the
central image by a thick line. T he multiple colours used to write the word
reflect the multiple colours of the various races, including M artian!
Another spray of ideas - ‘family*, ‘friends’, ‘performers*, ‘supporters’, ‘ani-

85
T H E M IN D M A P BO O K

m ais’ radiates from this key word.

Some of these thoughts themselves generate ideas. To ‘family* is adde$|
‘brother’, ‘m um ’, ‘dad’. To ‘perform ers’ is added ‘magicians’, ‘actors’, ‘clownsjj
And ‘supporters’ generates ‘doctors’, ‘nurses’, ‘teachers’ and ‘coaches’. I
T he next three thoughts are all B O Is - ‘f o o d s ’, ‘ e n v i r o n m e n t s *
‘ s e n s a t i o n s * ^ and as such are given appropriate status on the Mind Map.1
T he next two thoughts are triggered by the word ‘environments*. Our host!
immediately adds a picture of mountains and the word ‘rural*. At this point,|
let’s pause to consider the implications of what has been done so far.

IM P L IC A T IO N S |
O n considering the M ind M ap our host has created, it is clear that any of the I
key words or images could be placed at the centre of a new M ind Map which]
would again radiate outwards.

Bearing this in mind, any M ind M ap is potentially infinite. In view of

its radiant nature, every key word or image added to a M ind Map itself 1
adds the possibility of a new and greater range of associations, which f
themselves add the possibilities of new and greater ranges, and so on
ad infinitum . This demonstrates yet again the infinite associative and
creative nature o f every norm al hum an brain.

It also completely contradicts the widely held belief that the generation of ideas ]
is m uch more difficult than the editing and organising of those ideas. If our Mind I
M apping ability is infinite, the only difficulty is deciding when to stop; though1
the M ind M ap can help with this decision as well.
By contrast, linear notes in the form of lists directly oppose the workings of
the m ind, in that they generate an idea and then deliberately cut it off from the;
ideas preceding and following it. By continually disassociating each idea from,
its context, they stunt and cauterise the natural thinking process.
Lists rein in the free-ranging movement of the brain, eventually reducing it
to stasis and establishing narrow neural pathways of thought that increasing!!
reduce the probability of creativity and recall.
f T he reason why lists do this is that they act in direct opposition to the
associative nature o f the brain. As an idea is set down it is ‘finished with’,
divorced from the ideas which precede or follow it. This constant guillotining
of new thoughts is one of the major factors behind the appalling international

86
M IN D M A P P IN G

statistics on the generation of creative ideas. In the Torrance tests, for example,
where subjects are asked to think of as many uses (associations) for a given
idea as possible, the average num ber - given as much time as the student
wishes - is a paltry 26. This, in the face of evidence that had the student known
about Radiant Thinking, he or she would have scored in the multiple millions
before giving up through sheer exhaustion.

JOURNEY THROUGH T H E M IN D OF A M IN D
MAPPER, PART 2
Returning to our Mind Mapper, we find our host - momentarily affected by
previous education - experiencing a mental block.
Due to lack of knowledge about our own minds, such mental blocks strike
some people dumb for seconds, minutes, hours, years, sometimes even for life.
However, once you have understood the infinite associative nature of your
brain, you are in a position to help it help itself.
I'Harnessing the brain’s tendency to function in gestalts or wholes, our host
simply adds blank lines to the key words on the M ind Map, enticing the brain
to ‘fill in’ the beckoning areas.

Once the human brain realises that it can associate anything with
anything else, it will almost instantaneously find associations, especially
when given the trigger of an additional stimulus.

From this point on, we watch with delight as our host completes the associative
network: adding more images; second, third and fourth level ideas; linking
areas; appropriate codes; and embracing outlines when a major branch is
considered to be complete.
At this stage another major aspect of Radiant Thinking/M ind Mapping
becomes apparent: that the M ind Map is based on the logic of association^ and
not the logic of time. The M ind Map reaches out in any direction and catches
any thought from any angle.
I Having generated enough ideas to satisfy the requirements for his or her
speech, presentation, essay or exploration, our host decides to order the ideas
further by giving them each a number, thus putting the M ind Map into a
pronological sequence should that be necessary. (For more on chronological
sequencing, see Chapters 22, 23, 25, 27 and 28.)

87
THE MIND MAP BOOK

M O R E A B O U T H IE R A R C H IE S A N D C A T E G O R IE S
The Basic Ordering Ideas in any Mind Map are those words or images
are the simplest and most obvious ordering devices. They are the key coli
gathering the greatest number of associations to themselves.
It is the use of hierarchy and categorisation which distinguishes the full A
Map from the Mini-Mind Maps described earlier. In these, the first ten wf
or images gained their importance simply by occurring first. In the full
Map, they are placed according to their inherent importance.
A simple way of discovering primary Basic Ordering Ideas is to ask sudd
questions as:
• What knowledge is required?
• If this were a book, what would its chapter headings be?
• What are my specific objectives?
• What are the most important seven categories in the area under consider»
• What are my basic questions? ‘Why?’, ‘What?’, ‘Where?’, ‘Who?’, ‘I l k
‘Which?’, ‘When?’ often serve remarkably well as major branches in a Mindj
Map.

Very often, the simple act of asking yourself these questions will unearth the1
desired Basic Ordering Ideas. If not, start with the central image or subject and
draw between four and seven lines branching out from it. Then ask the at£
questions.
Alternatively, you can go back to the Mini-Mind Map technique, write dowl
the first ten words or images that spring to mind, then ask yourself which a |
them can be combined under more general headings.

A d v a n t a g e s o f h ie r a r c h y , c a t e g o r is a t io n !
A N D B O Is

X The primary ideas are in place so that secondary and tertiary ideas cad
follow quickly and easily to facilitate a harmonious thought structure.

2 BOIs help to shape, sculpt and construct Mind Maps enabling the mind]
to think in a naturally structured way.

Exercise
Using all the Mind Mapping techniques you have learnt so far, make your own
88
M IN D M A P P IN G

complete Mind Map on the concept of happiness, and compare it with the one
on page 80. uo

ADVANTAGES OF M IN D M A PPIN G OVER LINEAR

NOTE-MAKING/TAKING
By reversing the disadvantages of modern note-taking (described on pages 49-
50), it is possible to Summarise the advantages of M ind Mapping:

1 Time saved by noting only relevant words: between 50 and 95 per cent.

2 Time saved by reading only relevant words: more than 90 per cent of
total.

3 Time saved reviewing Mind Map notes: more than 90 per cent of total.

nr Time saved by not having to search for key words amongst unnecessary
verbiage: more than 90 per cent of total.

5 Concentration on real issues enhanced.

6 Essential key words made more easily discernible.

7 Essential key words juxtaposed in time and space, thus improving

creativity and recall.

8 Clear and appropriate associations made between key words.

J The brain finds it easier to accept and remember visually stimulating,

multi-coloured, multi-dimensional Mind Maps, rather than monotonous,
boring linear notes.

89
THE M IN D M A P BOOK

10 While M ind Mapping, one is constantly on the verge of new dis»,

coveries and new realisations. This encourages a continuous and potential!
endless flow of thought.

11 T he M ind Map works in harmony with the brain’s natural desire for
completion or wholeness.

12 By constantly utilising all its cortical skills, the brain becomes increaM
ingly alert and receptive.

ONWORD
Having completed Divisions 1 and 2, you have familiarised yourself with the'
architecture and foundations of Radiant Thinking. You have also progress«
from basic brainstorming to Mini-M ind M apping, and from there to full Mind
Mapping.
You now need a structure within which to express your Radiant Thinkina
Division 3 provides the fundamental guidelines that will release rather than]
inhibit your natural creativity.
B DIVISION 3
■ STRUCTURE
Division 3 introduces all the M ind M ap laws and recommendations.
I I Jheseguidelines will guide you towards being able to increase massively
your mentalprecision, creativitypower and freedom. Once you have
^Kmderstood and absorbed the basic M ind Map laws, you will be able to
develop more rapidly your personal M ind Mapping style.

CHAPTER 10

The G u i d i n g P r i n c i p l e s

Preview
• Foreword
• A Martian view of human intelligence
• The three ‘A’s of Mind Mapping
• The Mind Map laws and recommendations
• Summary of the Mind Map laws
• Rationale of the Mind Map laws
• Summary of the Mind Map recommendations
• Rationale of the Mind Map recommendations
• Four danger areas
• Onword
TH E M IN D M AP BO OK

FOREWORD
Chapter 10 begins by looking at the development of human intelligence :®
the viewpoint of an imaginary Martian. This extra-terrestrial persf^™^
enables you to explore the guiding principles of Radiant Thinking with gtj9
objectivity than would otherwise be possible.
The Mind Map laws and recommendations are set out - supplemented
practical exercises - to help you break mental blocks, remember what you f l
Mind Mapped, and to prepare appropriate working conditions. Finally you*
shown how to avoid the most common pitfalls awaiting fledgling Mind MagjJ

A MARTIAN VIEW OF HUMAN INTELLIGENCE 1

Imagine you are a Martian from a billion-year-old civilisation who has been]
asked to study, help and eventually befriend the racially young but very tal^B
inhabitants of Earth.
You study the Earth-dwellers intensively and find that they have a stagged[
complex cortex, with a wide range of advanced mental skills, an infinite assodS
ative capacity, a virtually limitless storage capacity, and a similarly limitless
ability to generate new ideas and associations. In addition, they have a mag­
nificently complex and flexible physical body to support and transport this]
intelligence, the psychological ability to enhance their own skills, and an inbuilt}
curiosity that drives them to explore all aspects of the universe.
You next observe that* in attempting to gain access to their vast mental
capabilities, the members of this race are squeezing their intelligences out onM
through the incredibly narrow and restrictive channel of language. As a result,]
many of them experience actual nausea at the mere prospect of learning, and
in the millions of learning institutions dotted around the planet most of the
students are either sleeping or trying to get out!
Moved by this tragicomic situation, you decide to give the humans a set of
Mind Mapping laws to help them release their incredible capabilities. Thescl
laws must be valid from any academic perspective to which the humans mayj
choose to apply them - semantics, neurophysiology, information processing
theory, cortical hemisphere theory, physics, psychology, philosophy, memorg
research or learning theory. What follows are the laws, theories and rec-l
ommendations you propose.

THE THREE ‘A’S OF MIND MAPPING

In many ancient Eastern cultures, master teachers traditionally gave new stu-J
dents only three basic instructions: ‘obey’, ‘cooperate’ and ‘diverge’. Each of
THE G U ID IN G P R IN C IP L E S

l&ese instructions characterised a specific learning stage.

■Obey’ indicated that the student was to imitate the master, only asking for
Rpficadon when necessary. Any other questions were to be noted and raised
mthe next stage.
■Cooperate’ referred to the second stage in which the student, having learnt
■fc.toic techniques, began to consolidate and integrate the information by
I liking appropriate questions. At this stage the student would assist the master
toanalysis and creation.
‘Diverge’ meant that, having thoroughly learnt all that the master could
Inch, thestudent would honour the master by continuing the process of mental
«voludon. In this way the student could use the master’s knowledge as a
platformfrom which to create new insights and paradigms, thus becoming a
masterof the next generation.
The MindMapping equivalents o f these three instructions are the three ‘A ’s:
•Accept’, ‘Apply* and ‘A d a p t’.
• ‘Accept’ means that, in the first stage, you should set aside any pre-
conceptions you may have about your mental limitations, and follow the Mind
Mappinglaws exactly, imitating the models given as precisely as you can.
• ‘Apply’ is the second stage, when you have completed the basic training
givenin this book. At this point, we suggest that you create a minimum of 100
MindMaps, applying the laws and recommendations contained in this chapter,
developing your personal Mind Mapping style, and experimenting with the
different types of Mind Maps outlined in the following chapters. Mind Maps
ihould be used for all aspects of your note-taking and note-making until you
feel themto be an entirely natural way of organising your thoughts.
• ‘A d a p t ’ refers to the ongoing development of your M ind Mapping skills.
Havingpractised several hundred ‘pure’ M ind Maps, this is the time to exper­
iment with ways of adapting the Mind Map form. Let us know the results. . .

THE MIND MAP LAWS A N D R EC O M M E N D A TIO N S

The laws
[TheMind Map laws are intended to increase, rather than restrict, your mental
freedom. In this context, it is important not to confuse order with rigidity or
freedomwith chaos. All too often, order is perceived in negative terms as rigid
andrestrictive. Similarly, freedom is mistaken for chaos and lack of structure.
Infact true mental freedom is the ability to create order from chaos. The M ind
Map laws will help you do exactly this. They are divided into the laws of
technique and the laws of layout:
THE M IN D MAP BOOK

Technique

1 Use emphasis

2 Use association

3 Be clear

4 Develop a personal style

Layout

1 Use hierarchy

2 Use numerical order

The recommendations
T he recommendations supplement the laws and are sub-divided as follows!

1 Break mental blocks

2 Reinforce

3 Prepare

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THE M IND MAP BOOK

SU M M A R Y OF T H E M IN D M AP LAWS

Techniques

1 . Use emphasis
• Always use a central image.
• Use images throughout your Mind Map.
• Use three or more colours per central image.
• Use dimension in images.
• Use synaesthesia (the blending of the physical senses).
• Use variations of size of printing, line and image.
• Use organised spacing.
• Use appropriate spacing.

3 Use association
• Use arrows when you want to make connections within and across the
branch pattern.
• Use colours.
• Use codes.

'X
Be clear
• Use only one key word per line.
• Print all words.
• Print key words on lines.
• Make line length equal to word length.
• Connect lines to other lines.
• Make the central lines thicker.
• Make your boundaries ‘embrace’ your branch outline.
• Make your images as clear as possible.
• Keep your paper placed horizontally in front of you.
• Keep your printing as upright as possible.

A
Develop a personal style

96
THE G U ID IN G P R IN C IP L E S

Layout

1 Use hierarchy

L t Use numerical order

RATIONALE OF THE M IN D MAP LAWS

Techniques

1 Use emphasis
Emphasis, as we have already seen, is one of the major factors in improving
memory and creativity. All the techniques used for emphasis can also be used
for association, and vice versa. The following laws enable you to achieve
maximum and appropriate emphasis in your M ind Maps.

Always use a central image

An image automatically focuses the eye and the brain. It triggers numerous
associations and is astoundingly effective as a memory aid. In addition an image
is attractive - on many levels. It attracts you, it pleases you and it draws your
mention to itself.
If a particular word (rather than an image) is absolutely central to your M ind
Map, the word can be made into an image by using dimension, multiple
colours, and attractive form.

Use images throughout your Mind M ap

Using images wherever possible gives all the benefits described above, as well
as creating a stimulating balance between your visual and linguistic cortical
skills, and improving your visual perception.
If you set aside your fear of being a poor artist, and attempt to draw a
butterfly, for example, you may find your first image unsatisfactory. In some
instances, you might fail magnificendy! But the advantage is that you have
tried, and the next time you see a butterfly you will want to look at it more
closely in order to remember and duplicate it.
Thus, by using images in your M ind Maps, you will focus more clearly on

97
THE M IN D MAP BOOK

real life and will strive to improve your depiction of real objects. You will
literally ‘open your eyes* to the world around you.

Use three or more colours p er central image

Colours stimulate memory and creativity, enabling you to escape the danger«
monochrome monotony. They add life to your images and make them mold
attractive.

Use dimension in images

Dimension makes things ‘stand out’, and whatever stands out is more easily]
remembered and communicated. Thus, the most important elements in yourI
Mind Map can be emphasised by being drawn or written in three dimension

Use synaesthesia (the linking o f the physical senses)

Wherever possible, you should include in your Mind Maps words or imaged
that refer to the senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch and kinaesthesjl
(physical sensation). This technique has been used by many of the famoJ
memorisers, as well as by great writers and poets.
For example in his epic poem The Odyssey, an astounding work of memorjl
Homer uses the full range of human sensation to convey the excitement and
danger of Ulysses’ voyage home after the siege of Troy. In the following scend
Ulysses has made the mistake of angering Neptune, god of the sea, who gets
his revenge by raising a terrible storm:

‘A s he spoke a sea broke over him urith such terrific fury that the raft reeledagtm\
and he was carried overboard a long way off. He let go the helm, and theforcem
the hurricane was so great that it broke the mast halfway up, and both sail and
yard went over into the sea. For a long time Ulysses was under water, and it zoos]
all he could do to rise to the surface again, for the clothes Calypso had given /it»
weighed him down; but at last he got his head above water and spat out the bitten
brine that was running dozvn his face in streams. In spite of all this, however, m
did not lose sight of his raft, but swam as fast as he could towards it, got holdof
and climbed on board again so as to escape drowning. The sea took the raft and
tossed it about as Autumn winds whirl thistledown round and round upon a roail
It was as though the South, North, East and West winds were all playing battledm
and shuttlecock with it at once*

98
THE GUIDING PRINCIPLES

notice the rhythm, the repetition, the sequencing, the imagery, the appeal to
4 the senses, the movement, the exaggeration, the colour and feeling, all
untuned inone masterful and memorable paragraph.
It is interesting to observe how young children experience nature with all
MB senses. They touch, taste, move and explore; then chant, sing, rhyme and
Itileachotherstories, creating captivating M ind M ap fantasies and daydreams.
H i e these children, the great mémoriser Shereshevsky, known as ‘S’, used
baesthesia to help him remember virtually every instant of his life. In his
bookabout ‘S’, The Mind of a Mnemonist, Alexander Luria reports:

'For “S”, too, it was the meaning of words that was predominantly important.
Each word had the effect of summoning up in his mind a graphic image, and
what distinguished him from the general run o f people was that his images were
incomparablymore vivid and stable than theirs. Further, his images were invariably
Mud with synaesthetic components.. f

L Movement, too, is a major mnemonic technique, and can also be used to

[idvantage in your Mind Maps. Your words, your pictures, your whole M ind
Map can move - like the wonderfully memorable animations created by Walt
Disney. To make your images move, simply add appropriate visual indicators
»movement, as in the following examples:

Utavariations o f size o f p rin tin g , lin e a n d im a g e

Variation in size is the best way of indicating the relative importance of items
■U hierarchy. Expanded size adds emphasis, thereby increasing the probability
ofrecall.

J O I f f M F D I ü M ^ u u .t M W ) i

Useorganised spacing
Organised spacing increases the clarity of the image, helps in the use of
hierarchy and categorisation, leaves the M ind M ap ‘open* to additions, and is
aesthetically pleasing.
THE M IN D MAP BOOK

Use appropriate spacing

Leaving the right amount of space around each item gives your Mind Map]
order and structure. Taken to its logical conclusion, the space between^H
can be as important as the items themselves. For example, in Tapaneseftw
arranging, the entire arrangement is based on the space between the
Likewise, in music the sound is often arranged around the silence. For insOT
Beethoven’s famous Fifth Symphony actually starts with a rest or silent note!

Association is the other major factor in improving memory and creativity.It is]
the integrating device our brains use to make sense of our physical experience
the key to human memory and understanding.
Having established your central image and your Basic Ordering Ideas* the!
power of association can take your brain into the depths of any subject M
As already mentioned, any technique used for association can also be used!
for emphasis, and vice versa.

Use arrow s w hen you w ant to m a ke connections w ithin and across M

the branch pattern
Arrows automatically guide your eye to connect one part of a Mind Map with]
another. They can be uni-directional, multi-headed, and varied in size, fonril
and dimension. They give spatial direction to your thoughts.

Use colours
Colour is one of the most powerful tools for enhancing memory and creativity
Choosing specific colours for coding purposes or for specific areas of youi|
Mind Map will give you faster access to the information, will improve yomi
memory of the information, and will increase the number and range of youfl
creative ideas. Such colour codes and symbols can be developed both |yl
individuals and by groups.

Use codes
Codes enable you to make instant connections between different parts of youa
Mind Map, however far apart they may be on the page. These codes can take]
the form of ticks and crosses, circles, triangles and underlinings, or they can
be more elaborate, as in the Mind Map on page 106.

100
THE G U ID IN G P R IN C IP L E S

Codes can also save a lot of time. For instance, you could use a range of simple
codesin all your notes to represent people, projects, elements or processes that
frequently recur.
Codes reinforce and enhance categorisation and hierarchy through the simple
application of colours, symbols, shapes and images. They can also be used to
finksource material (such as biographical references) to your Mind Map.

J Be dear
Obscurity veils perception. If you scribble your notes they will hinder rather
Bttn help your memory.

Useonly one key word p er line

Each individual word has thousands of possible associations. Placing one per
line gives you associational freedom, like giving a limb extra joints. Important
phrases are «of lost. (For an extended discussion of this rule, see ‘The idea that
phrases are more meaningful’, on page 111.)

Print all words

Printed letters have a more defined shape and are therefore easier for your
mind p ‘photograph’. The extra time spent printing is more than made up
for by the advantages of rapid creative association and recall. Printing also
encourages brevity, and both upper and lower case letters can be used to show
die relative importance of words on your Mind Map.

Print key words on lines

The line forms a ‘skeleton’ for the ‘flesh’ of the word. It therefore provides
Organisation and nearness which improve clarity and aid recall. Lines also
encourage further connections and additions (see the Figures on page 114).

101
THE M IN D MAP BOOK

M ake line length equal to word length

This law makes it easier to place words near each other, thus facilitate
association. In addition, the space saved enables you to include more infos
mation in your Mind Map. (For more on this, see page 224.)

Connect lines to other lines

Connecting the lines on your Mind Map enables you to connect the thou™
in your mind. Lines can be transformed into arrows, curves, loops, circled
ovals, triangles, polyhedrons or any of the other shapes from your brain!
limitless store.

M ake the central lines thicker and organic

Through emphasis, thicker lines immediately signal to your brain the impora
ance of your central ideas. If your Mind Map is at the exploratory stage, you
may discover during the Mind Mapping process that some of the peripheiffl
ideas are actually more important than the central ones. In such cases yoiican
simply thicken the outer lines where appropriate. The organic, curved lines;
add more visual interest.

M ake your boundaries ‘embrace’ your branch outline

When a boundary line ‘hugs’ the outline of a completed Mind Map branch,J
defines the unique shape of that branch. This unique shape can then trigged
the memory of the information contained in that branch. For more advance«
mnemonic thinkers, such shapes can become ‘living pictures’, dramaticaffl
enhancing the probability of recall.
Many of us do this almost unconsciously as children. For instance, do yotil
ever remember lying outside on a sunny day, looking up at a blue sky dappleS
with clouds? If you did, the chances are that you looked up at the drifting
clouds and thought: ‘Oh, there’s a sheep!’ ‘There’s a dinosaur!’ ‘There’sj
boat!’ ‘There’s a bird’ .. .
Your brain was creating images from random shapes, thus making the shapes!
more memorable. In the same way, creating shapes in your Mind Map will

— 102
THE G U IDING PR IN C IPLES

enable you to organise many bits of data in a more memorable form. This
gathering of data, known as ‘chunking’, is a well-known mnemonic technique,
r According m psychologists, our short-term memory is on average only
capable of storing seven items of information. Chunking can help us use this
storage space more: effectively.
For example, an untrained brain-user may use all their short-term memory
capacity to store a seven-digit phone number. The skilled brain-user, on the
other hand, will chunk the seven digits in some meaningful way, thus leaving
space for other information.
fin 1982 Chase and Erickson carried out an experiment on this aspect of
memory, described by Glass and Holyoak in 1986. One subject proved to be
particularly interesting. Initially he could only remember the average seven
digits. However, after more than two years of practice in chunking techniques,
he could remember 82 digits. His particular strategy was to chunk digits that
matched information he had already stored in his long-term memory. For
example, the sequence ‘351’ was associated with a previous world record for
running the mile (3 minutes 51 seconds).
So drawing boundaries on a Mind Map has obvious mnemonic advantages.
Ifyou wish to add further branches after you have drawn a boundary then the
newset of branches can be enclosed by a new boundary, rather like the rings
ona sawn-off tree trunk.

Makeyour images as clear as p o ssib le

External clarity encourages internal clarity of thought. A clear Mind Map will
also be more elegant, graceful and attractive.

Keepyour paper placed horizontally in fr o n t o f y o u

The horizontal (‘landscape’) format gives you more freedom and space to draw
your Mind Map than the vertical (‘portrait’) position. A horizontal Mind Map
is also easier to read.
f Inexperienced Mind Mappers often keep the body and pen in the same
position while rotating the paper. This may not cause any problems while Mind
Mapping, but re-reading the Mind Map will require physiological contortions
that would test the abilities of a yoga master!

Keepyour printing as u p rig h t as p o ssib le

Upright printing gives your brain easier access to the thoughts expressed, and
this law applies as much to the angle of the lines as to the printing itself. If you
keepyour lines as close to horizontal as possible, your Mind Map will be much
easier to read.
THE M IN D MAP BOOK

nr Develop a personal style

As already discussed, we are all astoundingly unique. Our Mind Maps shS
reflect the unique networks and patterns of thought in our individualjj®
the more they do so, the more our brains will be able to identify with them!
In order to develop a truly personal Mind Mapping style, you shoulif f l B
the C1 + ’ rule. This means that every Mind Map you do should be stiw
more colourful, slightly more three-dimensional, slightly more imagjm
slightly more associatively logical, and/or slightly more beautiful than the last!
In this way you will constantly develop and refine all your mental skills;«
will also produce Mind Maps which you want to review and use for
and communication. In addition, the more you personalise your Mind Mapi
the more easily you will remember the information they contain. (For morec§
this, see Chapter 11.)

Layout

jL Use hierarchy
As discussed in Chapter 9, the use of hierarchy and categorisation in the fornj
of Basic Ordering Ideas enormously enhances the power of your brain. J

m Use numerical order

If your Mind Map is the basis for a specific task, such as a speech, an essay to]
an examination answer, you will want to communicate your thoughts in a
specific order, whether chronological or in order of importance.
To do this, you can simply number the branches in the desired order, evenl
allotting the appropriate time or emphasis to each branch if necessary. Lettera
of the alphabet can be used rather than numbers if you prefer. Either way, tmsl
use of order will automatically result in more logical, thought.

SUMMARY OF THE MIND MAP

RECOMMENDATIONS

Break m ental blocks

1 Add blank lines.

104
THE GUIDING PRINCIPLES

2 Ask questions.

3 Add images.

■ Maintain awareness o f your infinite associational capacity.

Reinforce

1 Review your Mind Maps.

2 Do quick Mind Map checks.

Prepare

1 Prepare your mental attitude

• Develop a positive mental attitude.
• Copy images around you.
ft Commit yourself to your Mind Map.
I Commit to the absurd!
• Make your Mind Map as beautiful as possible.

Prepare your m aterials

3 Prepare your workspace I environment

• Ensure that you have a moderate temperature in the room.
• Use natural light where possible.
9 Ensure that you have plenty of fresh air.
• Furnish the room appropriately.
'• Create pleasing surroundings.
• Play appropriate music, or work in silence if you prefer.

105
TH E M IN D M A P BO O K

RATIONALE OF THE MIND MAP

RECOMMENDATIONS U
The Mind Map recommendations are designed to help you implement^
laws, to release the flow of your thoughts, and to provide the best j
environment for your brain and body.

B rea k m e n ta l blocks

JL Add blank lines

Should you come up against a temporary block, simply add a line or linestoI
your on-going Mind Map. This will challenge your brain to complete whatHjq
been left unfinished and will ‘tap in’ to your infinite associative power, ■

Mind Map by Mark Brown demonstrating spectacularly the use of images,

shape and dimension (seepages 97-100).
TH E G U ID IN G P R IN C IP L E S

Ask questions
Kjoestions are the main device by which the brain accumulates networks of
Bpwledge. When you challenge your brain with appropriate questions you
Stimulate a Mock-breaking response.

1
J Add images
Adding images to your Mind Map increases the possible triggers for further
Bbodations and recall.

A
™ Maintain awareness of your infinite associational capacity
Maintaining this awareness will free your brain from its accustomed restrictions.

Exercises
Youmay find it useful to do two exercises at this stage.
Firstly, choose any piece of data from your memory and link it, logically or
pntastically, with any randomly chosen object.
["Secondly, take any part of a M ind Map on which you have got ‘stuck’ and
make it the centre of a new Mini-M ind Map. Do a quick word association
burst to get your mental flow going again.

Reinforce

I Review your Mind Maps

Research has shown that memory after review alters according to a specific
time curve (see Use Your Perfect Memory by Tony Buzan page 82). If you need
an active (as opposed to passive) memory of your M ind Map, perhaps for an
exam or a specific project, you should therefore plan to review it at a certain
time. This will enable you to refine or correct certain areas, fill in any areas
whichmay have been missed, and reinforce particularly important associations.
After a 1 hour learning period you should ideally review your M ind Map at
die following intervals:
•After 10-30 minutes «After a month
• After a day • After three months
•After a week • After six months
At this point the Mind Map will become part of your on-going long-term
memory.

107
TH E M IN D M AP BO O K

má Do quick Mind Map checks

Occasionally, while reviewing your Mind Map, you should quickly do a speed]
Mind Map (taking only a few minutes) which summarises all you can recall!
from your original.
When you do one of these fresh Mind Maps you are actually recreating and!
refreshing your memories, demonstrating yet again that creativity and memoffl
are two sides of the same coin.
If you only check your original Mind Map, your brain remains dependem
on the external stimulus of the Mind Map to recognise what it has already
done. Producing a fresh Mind Map, on the other hand, enables you to check]
what you can recall without external stimulus. You can then comparéjthe
result with your original Mind Map and adjust any errors, inconsistenci§M
omissions.

Prepare
To maximise your performance, you need to create the ideal context -mental]
and physical - within which to create your Mind Maps. The followingrec-j
ommendations should help you ensure that you have the best possible attitudJ
materials and working environment.

X Prepare your mental attitude

Develop a positive m ental attitude

A positive mental attitude unblocks the mind, increases the probability® ]
making spontaneous connections, relaxes the body, improves perceptions andI
creates a general expectation of positive results. All these benefits will be
reflected in your Mind Map. It is therefore vital to approach each Mine!
Mapping task positively, even if it takes place in a traditionally ‘negative
situation such as an exam.

Copy images around you

Wherever possible, you should copy other Mind Maps, images and works of
art. This is because your brain is designed to learn by copying and then creating
new images or concepts from those it has copied. Your reticular activating
system (a sophisticated ‘sorting station’ at the base of your brain) will autoa
matically look out for information that will help you improve your Mina
Mapping skills.

108
TH E G U I D I N G P R IN C I P L E S

yourself to your M ind Map

Manypeople get worried or frustrated if their Mind Maps do not live up to
thtt expectations. In such cases, you should analyse your Mind Map non-
jiidgmentally and renew your resolution to continue and improve.

Commit to the absurd!

[Specially in the initial, creative stages of any Mind Map, all ‘absurd’ or ‘silly’
Hts should be recorded, allowing any additional ideas to flow from them,
pis is because ideas that seem absurd or silly are usually those that are far
Bm the norm. These same ideas often turn out to be the ones that contain
pe greatteakthroughs and new paradigms which are also, by definition, far
Bfrthe norm.

Makeyour Mind Map as beautiful as possible

« I brain is naturally attuned to beauty. So the more beautiful your Mind
Hap is, the more you will create and remember from it. (For more on the
power of images, see pages 71-77.)

H Prepare your materials

Hjgbconscious level we tend to ‘tune in to’ or ‘tune out of’ any sensory
input,:depending on how attractive it is. Your paper, pens, highlighters and
filing systems should all therefore be the best you can obtain, so that you are
attracted to them and want to use them.

J Prepare your workspace I environment

Like your materials, your working environment can evoke in you a negative,
neutral or positive response. Your surroundings should therefore be as pleasant
and comfortable as possible in order to put you in the best frame of mind.

Ensure that you have a moderate temperature in the room

Extremes of temperature will distract you from your work. In a moderate
temperature you can easily adjust your clothing for optimum comfort.

Use natural light where possible

Natural light is the most relaxing light for your eyes, and also gives your brain
more accurate information on form, colour, line and dimension.

109
TH E M IN D M A P BO O K

Ensure that you have plenty o f fresh air

One of your brain’s main foods is oxygen. Fresh air provides youEffl
this fuel, thus increasing your perception and mental stamina.

Furnish the room appropriately

Make sure that your chair and desk or table are of the best qualitjl
and that their design allows you to maintain a relaxed, comfortable
posture. Good posture increases the supply of blood to your braini
perception and enhances mental and physical stamina. In adlffl
designed, attractive furniture will make you want to use your worksjj

Create pleasing surroundings

Like good-quality materials and furniture, attractive surroundings ffj
age you to use your workspace. Because learning is often ass^
punishment, many people subconsciously make their study or
a prison cell. Make yours a place where you actively want to go*jffl
have no particular learning task in mind. A few favourite pictures oni
an attractive rug —these little touches can all make your workspacla
welcoming, appealing environment.

Play appropriate m usic, or work in silence i f you prefer

We all react differently to music. Some people like to have musics®
Mind Map; others prefer silence. It is important to experiment both wS
without music, and to choose music - whether classical, jazz, pop, rockod
other type - which is appropriate to you and the way you are fe|
particular time.

FO U R DANGER AREAS
There are four major pitfalls for any Mind Mapper:

Mind Maps that aren’t really Mind Maps

2 The idea that phrases are more meaningful

3 The idea that a ‘messy’ Mind Map is no good

no
TH E G U I D I N G P R IN C I P L E S

■f Anegative emotional reaction to any Mind Map

All these danger areas can easily be avoided as long as you bear in mind the
principles explained below.

I Mind Maps that aren’t really Mind Maps

The Figures overleaf are often created by people at an early stage in Mind
Mapping who have not yet fully absorbed all the Mind Map laws.
At first glance, they look like Mind Maps and seem to obey the fundamental
MindMapping principles. There are, however, a number of differences. As both
figures develop, their structure becomes increasingly random and monotonous.
[Furthermore, all the ideas are reduced to the same level and each one becomes
^associated from the others.
I Because the laws of clarity, emphasis and association have been neglected,
what appeared to be developing into order and structure has in fact resulted in
confusion, monotony and chaos.
Gt©p. I

p' The idea that phrases are more meaningful

This danger area can best be explained with a practical example.
I Let’s say that someone has had a very unhappy afternoon and wishes to
make the Mind Map diary entries shown in Figures 1 and 2 on page 114.
F Initially this may appear to be a perfectly adequate record of an afternoon
that was indeed ‘very unhappy’. However, on closer examination, a number of
pjisadvantages become clear. Firstly, this note makes it extremely difficult to
revise the interpretation of the afternoon. The phrase expresses a fixed concept
which is not open to any other possibility.
By contrast, Figure 2 breaks the phrase into its individual word meanings,
allowing each word the freedom to radiate its own unique associations. The
importance of this can be seen even more dramatically in Figure 3, where the
[lingle-word rule is taken to its logical conclusion, and where the additional
guidelines of image and colour have been added. Here you can see that the
mainconceptin the afternoon is the concept of happiness with the major emphasis
on the un in unhappy. You may have been ill, failed dramatically, or received
some gxceptionally bad news, all of which is true. It is also true that the
saftemoon contained some positives (the sun may have shone, even if very
briefly!) which the single-word/image rule allows you to record truthfiilly. The
single unit Mind Map rule allows you to see both your internal and external
T H E M I N D M A P BO O K

environments more clearly and realistically, and therefore to be mor| ‘true|

yourself.
At their worst, negative phrases can wipe out days, years, and even
of people’s lives. ‘Last year was the worst year of my life’, ‘My schoolj
were pure hell!*, to quote two commonly heard examples.
If such thoughts are constantly repeated they eventually take on the appo]
ance of truth. But they are not true. Certainly, we all experience d isa^ H
and frustration at times. But there are always underlying positive factors®!
nothing else, the fact that we are still alive and conscious of being depress*
And of course there is the fact that we still possess the potential for posiif
change and development.

X
/\AA /
j f '%
\ J
mü
M

rm

Mind Maps that aren ’t really Mind Maps. Which of these structures leads to confusiM
monotony and drastic thought? (Seepage 111.)

- 112 —
TH E G U ID IN G P R IN C IP L E S

Using single words in your Mind Maps enables you to see your internal and
exten$ environment more clearly and realistically. It also provides balance,
allowing you to see the ‘other side* of any issue. It is especially helpful for
problem-solving and creative thinking because it opens your mind to all the
options.

3 The idea that a ‘m essy’ Mind Map is no good

In certain situations, perhaps when you are short of time or you are listening
jo a rather confusing lecture, you may produce a ‘messy’-looking M ind Map.
Sllis does not mean it is ‘bad’. It is simply a reflection of your state of mind at
the time, or of the input your mind was receiving.
Your ‘messy’-looking Mind Map may lack clarity and beauty but it will still
pan accurate record of your mental processes while making it.
Neatly written linear notes may look aesthetically pleasing, but what kind of
information retrieval do they give? As we have seen, such notes appear to be
very precise and organised but - lacking emphasis or association - they are
usually almost impossible for the eye to decode.
I Realising this can eliminate a lot of guilt and self-denigration. Looking at
your Mind Map may help you realise that it was not you but the lecturer you
were listening to, or the author of the book you were reading, who was
disorganisedjpiessy and confused!

4 A negative emotional reaction to your Mind Map

You mky occasionally produce a ‘final’ M ind M ap straight away but you will
often produce a ‘first attempt’. If you are disappointed or depressed by the
standard of your Mind Map you should simply remind yourself that it is only
a first draft which will require revision before it reaches maturity.

Exercise
Throughout this book the M ind Maps have been selected or prepared to
illustrate as many of the laws and applications as possible. At this point you
mayfind it useful to look quickly at all the M ind Maps in this book, checking
themagainst the laws and criticising where appropriate. Having done this, you
should copy elements from the best ones in order to produce your own, even
more radiant, beautiful and memorable M ind Maps!

113
TH E M IN D M AP BOOK

l ^ o y nM H A fP y A F T f g M ^ i

f i g u r e 1: Standard phrase noting, which atfirst glance appears adequate, but whichcm,
dangerous inaccuracies.

FIGURE 2: More concise noting, which illustrates the freedom for each word to radiateits09
associations,

fig u r e 3: Note following the full Mind Map guidelines, which allows the noter to reflecta
more comprehensive, true and balanced picture of reality.

Progression of noting a *very unhappy afternoon3in which application of the MindMapIptj

brings the noter much closer to the truth (see pages 111-12).

ONWORD
This chapter has given you all the knowledge you need to launch yourselfi^toJ
the infinite universe of Radiant Thinking! Having absorbed all the laws and
recommendations, you need to make your Mind Maps truly your own. The
next chapter, ‘Developing a Personal Style’, explains how you can enhanci
your Mind Maps by using them to express your particular personal combinatiJ
of skills and characteristics.
CHAPTER 11

D e v e l o p in g
a Pe r s o n a l S t y l e

Preview
• Foreword
I The art of Mind Mapping
BExamples of Mind Map art
■Benefits of creating artistic Mind Maps
1 The story of a great Mind Map artist
■inword

Forew ord
Inthis chapter you will learn how to use the Mind Map laws and rec-
Hiendations to express your individual personality. We begin with some very
^^Rxamples of the Mind Mapping art, and then explore the potential
J p ofcreating artistic Mind Maps. There is also the tantalising story of a
JMapper who, almost by accident, made a dream come true.

M art o f m in d m a p p in g
3 Maps provide the ideal opportunity to improve your hand/eye coor-
j|n andto develop and refine your visual skills. With a little more practice,
(heBjIge-makmg skills you have already developed can be used to take your
MidMapsinto the realms of art. Such Mind Maps enable your brain to express
town artistic and creative personality. In developing your own personal style
itisespeciallyuseful to apply the guiding principles ofimage, colour, dimension,
Spacing.
TH E M IN D M AP BOOK

Ex a m p l e s o f m in d m a p a r t
The extraordinary tree-like Mind Map on page 119 is by Claudius!
who is becoming famous throughout Europe for his art Mind Maps onfl
structuring of organisations. This generic Mind Map covers the fund^H
routes, the main branches and the possible ‘fruits’ for a growing business]!
The Mind Map on page 120 (top) was drawn by Kathy De StefanM
marketing consultant, to express her idea of the ideal job. The result j | |
brilliantly creative work of art as well as a vibrant and creative Mind Map
The other Mind Map on page 120 (bottom) was created by Dr JohnG^B
an international computer industry consultant. He wanted to express jjhi
concept o f‘love’ artistically, humorously and without using words. Peoplewho]
saw his Mind Map begged him for colour copies!

BENEFITS OF CREATING ARTISTIC MIND MAPS

X Development of artistic skills and visual perception, which in turnj

enhance memory, creative thinking and self-confidence.

Stress-reduction, relaxation and self-exploration.

3 Pleasure.

4 Providing good ‘role models’ for other Mind Mappers.

5 Achieving a greater understanding of the work of great artists. 4

6 Commercial. (For example, a five-year-old English boy becamfl

entranced with Mind Maps, started to do at least two a day, and sold each one
for five times his weekly pocket money!)

THE STORY OF A GREAT MIND MAP ARTIST

In 1984 Ulf Ekberg, a Swedish ship’s captain who was also an expert

116 —
DEVELOPING A PERSONAL STYLE

B^.systems, took a Mind Mapping course. Great things were expected

ofhim, for he regularly contributed cartoons to his company’s journals, and he
ltd alsostarted studying portrait and landscape painting.
I At tiie end of the course, when all the students had to complete their final
iMindMaps, Ulf’s mind went blank!
■^appointed and frustrated, he went home for the weekend, vowing to
{devote several hours to completing the course in the grand manner he had
■beamed of.
I Partly tp rid himself of the day’s frustrations, he went to work on the large
Iboat he kept in his back garden. It was a freezing winter’s day in Stockholm,
andasUlffinished his task he slipped and fell 10 feet on to the ice-hard ground.
ITo his delight, he landed on his feet perfectly. But, as he confidently took a
Itep, he fell to the ground in pain and literally had to crawl back inside. The
Idoctor confirmed that Ulf had two hairline fractures in the heel of each foot,
Iandthat hie would not be able to walk properly for at least two months.
I After his anger at his enforced immobility had subsided, Ulf decided to fulfil
Irae of his lifetime ambitions - to do a painting in the style of Salvador Dali.
[He planned to use as his subject a single-image Master Mind Map which
Rorporated everything he had learnt on his course as well as his own interpret-
ations and extrapolations.
iiAmong the concepts he wished to include were:

Bftrospection - the brain seeing itself seeing itself seeing itself...

»•The Roman ideal of mens sana in corpore sano (‘a healthy mind in a healthy
■body/a healthy body in a healthy mind’)
[•Love as an essential element for healthy brain function,
i The brain as synergetic - its parts adding up to more than its whole.
■Time as a variable.
•Themind’s ability to create whatever it wishes.
■Juggling as a metaphor for balance and self-control.
[•The Strong sense of justice found in a highly trained brain.
•The Biggest brain on the planet.
•The brain as musical.
I Thebasic question of existence.
iEinstein’s theory of relativity seen in the context of the brain as an infinite
nlsociation machine.
understanding bringing an end to war.
IThe brain as magical.
»Mistakes as acceptable and enjoyable parts of the learning process,
iThebreaking of all known boundaries.
THE MIND MAP BOOK
Mind Map by Claudius Borer showing how application of basic principles (the roots) will
lead to appropriate fruits! (See page 116.)
THE M IN D MAP BOOK

FREEDOM

« J M z
f0 * $ ^ r w % k

K athy de Stefano’s M ind M ap expressing her idea o f the ideal job (see page lW ii

M ind M ap by D r John Geesinck o f Digital Corporation, exploring the concept of love withom
the use o f zvord (see page 116).

120
DEVELOPING A PERSONAL STYLE

This first true example of Mind Map art has already been published in limited
■editions and is rapidly becoming a collectors* item.
■^Exploring Ekberg’s Art-Mind Map will introduce you to many ideas not yet
mentioned in this chapter and will inspire you to develop your personal Mind
Mapping style even further.

On w o r d
At this stage you may be feeling a bit like a child who has just been given a
whole set of incredibly complex and beautiful toys but doesn’t quite know
what to do with them. The next division explores the huge range of possible
applications for the Mind Mapping skills and techniques you have learnt.
DIVISION 4
SYNTHESIS
This division explores the many distinct tasks which can be successfully
using M ind Maps. These tasks include the following main
mas m intellectual activity: making choices; organising your own and
fatherpeople’s ideas; creative thinking and brainstorming; and creating
a group mind or Meta-mind.

CHAPTER 12

M a k in g C h o ices

Preview
§ [Foreword
• General decision-making
• Simple decision-making
• Journey through the mind of a Mind Mapper, Part 3
• Making the choice
t Dealing with indecision
• Decision-making exercises
• Benefits of dyadic Mind Maps
• Onword

o p p o s ite : Natural Architecture Plate 14

THE M IN D M AP BO OK

FOREWORD I____
The Mind Map is a particularly useful tool for clarifying personal choices.^
using the Mind Map to set out your needs and desires, priorities and coal
you will be able to make decisions based on a clearer view of the
involved. Having gained a comprehensive knowledge of the Mind J ^ B
laws, use this chapter to help you utilise your new-found skills to make del«

GENERAL DECISION-M AK ING

In general decision-making the Mind Map helps you to balance ||^ B
factors.
Let’s take the example of deciding whether or not to buy a new car.|B
require a certain degree of comfort and quality but you don’t have a great (ml
of money. You may therefore have to go for a second-hand car and so youvi
have to weigh up the financial saving against the reduction in reliabilif and
durability.
The Mind Map does not make the choice for you. However it dri i B
increases your ability to make the choice by highlighting the key trade*

SIM PLE DECISION-M AK ING I

A simple choice of this kind is known as a dyadic decision (derived fromS
Latin dyasy meaning ‘two’). Dyadic decisions are the first stage in d B
order. They can be broadly categorised as evaluation decisions, and theji
involve simple choices such as: yes/no, better/worse, stronger/weakëi moia
effective/less effective, more efficient/less efficient, more expensive/less expensfl
ive. The third journey through the mind of a Mind Mapper will provide!
example.

JOURNEY THROUGH THE M IND OF A MIND

MAPPER, PART 3
Visiting our host once again, we find that he or she is involved in decidiijB
whether or not to buy a house.
Following the Mind Mapping laws, a multi-dimensional, multi-coloiM
image is placed at the centre of the Mind Map. Because this is an evaluaf®
decision, the Basic Ordering Ideas are the dyadic y e s and n o .
Having established the central image and the major branches, om|
follows the Mini-Mind Map method which allows the Mind Map to ‘catclJ
whatever thoughts spring to mind in relation to buying the house. As soon«

124
M A K IN G C H O IC E S

■ some of the main branches are in place our host follows the Mini-Mind Map
Bnethod of allowing the sequence of thoughts in his/her head to flow naturally.
Eachisplaced wherever it best fits on the Mind Map. Since association is rarely
linear, the normal progression will involve quite a bit of leaping about from
onebranch to another as the sequence of thoughts dictates. Working on stress,
for example, might trigger thoughts on dreams, or environment on the other
side ofthe Mind Map. These thoughts, in turn might lead to considerations of
alternatives. (A methodical branch-by-branch completion of the Mind Map is
not desirable because it restricts the brain’s workings and traps it into a semi-
pbnological method of thinking.) It is far better to let the mind range free,
jjlowing the full range of thoughts and emotions to be incorporated within the
growing web of associations.
r The use, by our host, of images and colours is especially important in
Bpion-making because these visual elements help to capture concepts and
»notions. Contrary to widespread opinion, emotions are an integral part
of any decision-making process and should therefore be given appropriate
importance in the Mind Map.

MAKING THE CHOICE

Once all the relevant information, thoughts and emotions have been collated
on to the Mind Map, there are five major methods for making a dyadic choice:

1 Process-generated
In many cases the process of Mind Mapping itself generates the solution. As
the brain gets an overview of all the data it has gathered there is a sudden ‘aha!’
realisation which effectively concludes the decision-making process.

2
____Number-weighting
'If, after completion of the Mind Map, the decision is still not clear, the number-
weighting method can be used. In this method, each specific key word on either
side of the Mind Map is given a number from 1 to 100 according to its
Importance (see overleaf).
I When each item has been given a number, the ‘scores’ are added up, first
for the ‘y e s ’ side and then for the ‘n o ’ side. The highest total ‘wins’.
I The Mind Map overleaf by Vanda North, past President of the International
Society for Accelerated Learning and Teaching, and Co-founder of The Brain
Trust, gives a clear example of the number-weighting Mind Map. Vanda had

125
TH E M IN D M AP BOOK

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A im r f M a p fry Vanda North helping her make a decision as to

whether or not to move her business (see pages 125-6).

to weight a number of personal and professional factors in deciding whethffM

move her business headquarters or remain where she was. You can see which)
won!

*7 Intuition/Superlogic
If neither the first nor the second method has generated a decision, a choiej
can be made on the basis of intuition or ‘gut feel’.
Intuition is a much-maligned mental skill which I and neuropsycholoiM
Michael Gelb prefer to define as a ‘superlogic’. The brain uses superlojp»
order to consider its vast data bank (consisting of many billions of itemsgaineij
from previous experience) in relation to any decision it has to make.
In a flash the brain completes the most astounding mathematical calculation
considering trillions of possibilities and permutations, in order to arrivefat aj
mathematically precise estimate of probable success which might be sub]
consciously expressed as follows:
M A K IN G C H O IC E S

fHaving considered the virtually infinite database of your previous life,

and integrated that with the trillion items of data you have presented me
with in the current decision-making situation, my current estimate ofyour
mobability of success is 83.7862 per cent*

ijfe result of this massive calculation registers in the brain, is translated into a
»logical reaction, and is interpreted by the individual as a simple ‘gut feel’.
W Studies at Harvard Business School have found that managers and presi­
dents ofnational and multi-national organisations attributed 80 per cent of their
muss to acting on intuition or ‘gut feel’.
1 Hie Mind Map is especially useful for this form of super-thinking, in that it
givesthe brain a wider range of information on which to base its calculations.

A
™ [Incubation
[Another method is to simply allow your brain to incubate an idea. In other
Jtfords, having completed your decision-making Mind Map, you allow your
I brain|o relax. It is at times of rest and solitude that our brains harmonise and
integrate all the data they have received. And it is at such times that we often
make our most important and accurate decisions, because relaxation releases
die gigantic powers of the parabrain - the 99 per cent of our unused mental
Mbility, including that which is often called ‘the subconscious’. (For more on
this, see Tony Buzan, Harnessing the ParaBrain.)
I This method is supported by practical experience. For instance, many people
ttport suddenly remembering where something is, suddenly having creative
ideas, or suddenly realising that they need to make a particular choice, while
lying in the bath, shaving, driving, long-distance running, lying in bed, day­
dreaming, gardening, sitting on the beach, walking in the countryside, or being
in any other calm, restful, solitary situation. It is advisable that you use this
technique because it is in this kind of situation that your brain harmonises and
mtegrates, and as a result, tends to make its most meaningful and accurate
decisions.

<J\ If die weightings are equal

Ifyouhave completed your Mind Map, and none of the previous methods has
([generateda decision, there must be an equal weighting between ‘y e s ’ and ‘n o *.
Ina case like this, either choice will be satisfactory, and you may find it useful
limply to toss a coin (the ultimate dyadic device) - heads for one option, tails
for the other.
T H E M IN D M AP BO OK

During the coin-tossing you should monitor your emotions very careftilliin
case you find that you really do have a preference. You may think you havej
decided that the choice is equal but your parabrain may already have made i®
superlogical decision.
If the coin shows heads, and your first reaction is one of disappointmi^H
relief then your true feelings will finally be revealed and you will be able m
make an appropriate choice.

DEALING WITH INDECISION

In a very few instances all the above decision-making methods will fail and you
will be left swinging to and fro like a pendulum.
At this point the brain is undergoing a subtle shift from the dyadic (two*
option) choice to a triadic (three-option) choice. The decision is no longea
simply ‘yes’ or ‘no’. It is now:

1 Yes.

2 No.

Continue thinking about the choice.

The third option is not only counter-productive but becomes more so: the!
longer it is maintained. Eventually it becomes the choice because that is wherj
your mental energy is being directed.
The simplest solution to this problem is to decide not to make the thirl
decision! In other words, the minute you recognise this spiralling whirlwisdim
your mental horizon, you should immediately choose ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ (the first oil
second option). The basic principle here is that it is more fruitful to have madia
some decision and to be implementing it, than to be in a state of paralysisyH

DECISION-MAKING EXERCISES
Like all forms of thinking, dyadic decision-making requires training. Praetisl
your decision-making skills by asking yourself the following questions:
• Should I buy item X?
• Should I learn subject X?

128
M A K IN G C H O IC E S

■Should I change personal characteristic X?

■ Should I join organisation X?
■Should I go to country/city X?
In die following ‘object X’ exercise, the basic idea is to find BOIs without
paving any data - in other words, to construct a set of questions that you can
Iddress to any object and which, as a set of enquiries, can serve as the basis for
a fall Mind Map once the object is identified. This exercise can also be done
fa help you analyse a question before you attempt to answer it. In the ‘object
X’fexercise Mind Map overleaf, the main branches are explained as follows:

R History - What are its origins? How did it develop?

«Structure - What form does it take? How is it constructed? These enquiries

canrange from the molecular to the architectural.

RFunction - How does it work? What are its dynamics?

8 Role - What does it do: a) in the natural world? and b) in the human world?

Hjfossification - How does it relate to other things? Again, this can range
Irom very general animal, vegetable, mineral type questions to specific classi-
mcations such as species or the table of elements. You might like to try this
[exercise with one of the following ‘object X’ suggestions: horse, car, carbon,
Spain, sun, God, stone, book, TV. Of course you can use anything else of your
poosing. When you have finished this exercise, see if you can improve upon
the basic set of basic Mind Map ideas (if so, let us have them!).

You can also create dyadic Mind Maps on areas of public debate, such as
leligion, politics, morality, the professions, or the educational system.

[Be n e f it s o f d y a d i c m i n d m a p s

L Dyadic Mind Maps allow your brain to assimilate immediately a whole

range of complex and inter-related items of information, bringing all the issues
into clear focus. They also give the brain a pre-structured framework for
psociation, (ensuring that all the relevant elements are taken into consideration.
TH E M IN D M AP BOOK

They utilise the full range of cortical skills, resulting in a more eonra
prehensively considered decision.

3 They use images, colours and dimensions to add the necessary creativitj
to the decision-making process.

They also use colours and images to bring vital emotional responses into
the decision and help to highlight the major points of comparison.

5 The Mind Mapping process itself often results in or triggers a decisio™

6 They generate a greater number of specific items than any list method
thus ensuring a more accurate final decision, especially if the number-weighti^
method is used.

130
M A K IN G C H O IC E S

I They use a greater than usual range of cortical skills, thus releasing the
brain’s intuitive, superlogical abilities.

8 They provide a balanced and comprehensive environment in which

appropriate choices can be incubated.

« I By clearly reflecting the internal decision-making process, they enable

the individual to remain focused on all the elements relevant to that decision.

ONW ORD
Having familiarised yourself with dyadic decision-making, you are ready to
make the transition to polycategoric Mind Mapping. The next chapter intro­
duces you to this exciting technique which will help you make more complex
decisions and organise your own ideas.
CHAPTER 13

O r g a n i s i n g Y o u r O w n I deas

P r e v ie w
• Foreword
• Note-making
• Complex Mind Mapping
• Journey through the mind of a Mind Mapper, Part 4
• Thought-building exercises
• Benefits of polycategoric Mind Maps
• Onword

FO R EW O RD
In this chapter you will learn how to organise your own ideas (make notes)]!
using multiple-branched or polycategoric Mind Maps. These involve more!
complex hierarchies and a greater number of Basic Ordering Ideas than the I
simple dyadic model. Polycategoric Mind Maps can be used for most descripl
tive, analytic and evaluative tasks but we have used basic decision-makM
examples in order to ease your transition from dyadic to polycategoric Mindl
Mapping. You will also continue your journey through the mind of a Mindl
Mapper, and learn some enjoyable thought-building games and exercises^*

N O T E -M A K IN G
Note-making is the process by which you extract information from either your
memory or from your creative reservoirs and organise that information in an
external form. It is the process by which you organise your own ideas in either!
a dyadic or polycategoric (more complex) way.
■
O R G A N IS IN G Y O U R O W N ID E A S

COMPLEX MIND MAPPING

Whereas simple dyadic Mind Maps have two major branches radiating from
the centre, complex or polycategoric Mind Maps can have any number of
major branches. In practice, the average number of branches or Basic Ordering
Ideas (BOIs) is between three and seven.
■ This is because, as we saw in Chapter 10, the average brain cannot hold
more than seven major items of information in its short-term memory. You
should therefore aim to select the minimum number of BO Is that will truly
fembrace your subject, using them as a way of breaking the information up into
manageable chunks, rather like chapter titles in a book.
I The following groups of BO Is have been found to be particularly useful in
peveloping polycategoric Mind Maps:
;• Basic questions - how/when/where/why/what/who/which?
»Divisions - chapters/lessons/themes
»properties - characteristics of things
»History -chronological sequence of events
»Structure - forms of things
»Function - what things do
»Process - how things work
©valuation - how good/worthwhile/beneficial things are
classification - how things are related to each other
■Definitions - what things mean
■Personalities - what roles/characters people have
:Learning to develop and manipulate polycategoric Mind Maps will enormously
•enhance your brain’s ability to describe, analyse, evaluate and synthesise
■formation.
Khterestingly, over the last century, the highly sophisticated hierarchical
Ijassification systems used in biology and astronomy (see overleaf) have increas­
ingly come to resemble complex polycategoric Mind Maps - a case of Mind
Maps reflecting nature and vice versa!

JOURNEY THROUGH THE M IN D OF A M IN D

MAPPER, PART 4
Since we left our host in the last chapter, he or she has made the decision,
based on the completed dyadic Mind Map, to buy a house. The question now
is a rather more complex one: What kind of house shall I buy?
i At first the process is identical. Our host places an appropriate three-dimen­
sional, multi-coloured image at the centre. Then he or she selects BOIs
which cover the full range of choices available: price, environment, purposes,

133
THE M IN D MAP BOOK

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ORGANISING YOUR OW N IDEAS

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Natural Architecture Plate 15

TH E M IN D M A P BO O K

additions, size, style.

Once these parameters have been established, our host can fill in his or her
specific desires and priorities under each heading. This process immediateil
clarifies the range of choices to be made, highlighting the key trade-offs which]
will govern the purchase. The Mind Map does not make the decision itseljjit
presents the Mind Mapper with a ‘smorgasbord’ of choices from which the
most appropriate decision can be taken.
Having completed the polycategoric Mind Map our host is ready to consul!
the estate agents’ literature with a much clearer idea of what he or she wants
and needs from a house.

T h o u g h t -b u i l d i n g e x e r c i s e s
Like all forms of thinking, polycategoric Mind Mapping is a skill that can be
learnt and developed. Here are two useful and enjoyable thought-building]
exercises.

W hy w o u ld it be f u n to?
Each of these exercises can be done as speed Mind Maps as they are an excellent
way of improving your ability to select relevant BO Is quickly. Imagine, and
then Mind Map, why it would be fun to:

Go out with a __

2 Buy a . ..

3 Learn a __

4 Change a . ..

5 Believe a __

6 Withdraw from a __

136
O R G A N IS IN G Y O U R O W N ID E A S

[Begin a __

Create a __

Finish a __

Isure that you specify an object for each item on the list, and try choosing
pabsurd’ objects in order to boost your imagination, memory and creative
^^Ri>ilities all at the same time. The next step is to do a very quick M ind
J^fbreach one, choosing no more than seven major reasons why each item
j i b e fun. (A secondary benefit of these exercises is that they often result
real action being taken when you realise how m uch fun you could be having!)

[This is a more abstract, and therefore more demanding, way of testing your
selection skills. Your task is to prepare a M ind Map describing object X.
(Tic problem is that you do not know what object X is, so you must try to find
[a set If general-purpose BO Is which, if developed, could generate a full and
irdered description of any object.

making a decision
When your polycategoric Mind Map has been completed, the decision-making
process will resemble that of the simple two-way choice, and the steps to be
pllowed in this instance are the same as those outlined in the preceding chapter.

BENEFITS OF POLYCATEGORIC M IN D MAPS

paving completed a polycategoric M ind Map, you may wish to apply one or
Imore of the methods described in Chapter 12 (page 125, ‘Making the choice’)
B order to reach your decision.
■The major benefits of polycategoric M ind Maps are as follows:

^® T hey help you develop your mental powers of classification, categor-

iation, incisiveness and clarity.

137
TH E M IN D M A P BO O K

They enable you to collect complex data in an integrated form on a

single page, thus increasing the chances of making an informed and intelligent]
decision.

J They highlight the key trade-offs which must be considered in the

decision.

Like dyadic Mind Maps, they utilise the full range of cortical skills,!
resulting in a more comprehensively considered decision.

By stimulating all these cortical areas, polycategoric Mind Maps encouri

age the brain to enter into a dialogue with itself. In other words they allow the
brain to observe its own activity in an externalised whole picture and thus to
learn more about itself. This new knowledge expands the brain’s perspectivfl
encouraging it to have even more advanced thoughts about the topic.

O They can be filed away for future use as reminders of the reasons foi]
previous decisions or as guides for other situations in which similar decision!
have to be made.

On w o r d
Now that you have learnt how to organise your own ideas, to make notes using
polycategoric Mind Maps, you will find it easy to organise other people’s ideas,,
to take notes. The vital and enjoyable art of note-taking, traditionally the bane
of many people’s lives, is the subject of the next chapter.
C H A P T E R 14

O r g a n is in g
Ot h e r P e o p l e ’s I d e a s

Preview
t Foreword
t Note-taking
• The four main functions of notes
• Establishing a productive ‘mental set’ for note-taking
[• A practical example of polycategoric Mind Mapping
• Benefits of polycategoric Mind Maps for note-taking
• Onword

I FOREWORD
»This chapter looks at how you can use polycategoric Mind Maps to organise
■other people’s ideas (take notes). After exploring the main functions of notes,
you will learn how to prepare for note-taking so that you get the maximum
Renefit from each study session. There is also a practical example of poly-
■itegoric note-taking and a summary of its benefits.

In o t e - t a k i n g
Note-taking is the receiving of other people’s ideas from speeches, books and
■Other forms of media, and organising them into a structure that reflects their
wriginal thought. Note-taking should be supplemented with the note-taker’s
townthoughts.

THE F O U R M A IN F U N C T I O N S O F N O T E S
Binemonic - Analytic - Creative - Conversational.
— 139 —
V
TH E M IN D M AP BO OK

M nemonic I
Sadly, most students in school and universities around the world seem to thinfl
that notes are nothing more than a memory aid. Their only concern is thafl
their notes should enable them to remember what they have read just lonfl
enough to pass their exams, after which the information can be happily for*
gotten. As we have seen, memory is indeed a major factor but by no means tha
only one. Other functions, such as analysis and creativity, are equally importaS
The M ind Map is a particularly effective mnemonic device for all the reasofl
outlined in the next chapter, 13. As a note-taking technique, it has none
disadvantages of standard linear note-taking, as described in Chapter 3 (page!
49). Instead, it offers all the advantages of a method that works in harmojH
with your brain, utilising and releasing the full range of its capabilities. 1

Analytic
W hen taking notes from lectures or from written material, it is essential first i i
all to identify the underlying structure of the information being present«
M ind Mapping can help you extract the Basic Ordering Ideas and hierarch«
from linear information.

Creative
The best notes will not only help you remember and analyse information, they
will also act as a springboard for creative thought.

M ind Maps combine notes taken from the external environment!

(lectures, books, journals and the media) with notes made from the
internal environment (decision-making, analysis and creative thought)

Conversational
W hen you take M ind Map notes from a lecture or book, your notes shoull
record all the relevant information from that source. Ideally, they should a il
include the spontaneous thoughts that arise in your mind while listening to tha
lecture or reading the book. In other words your M ind Map should reflect the!
conversation between your intellect and that of the speaker or author. Speciffl
colour or symbol codes can be used to distinguish your own contribution tea
the exchange of ideas.
If the lecture or book happens to be badly organised or badly expressed, yOOT
M ind Map will reflect that lack of clarity. This may result in a messy-looking
M ind M ap but it will also reveal the source of the confusion. You will therefol

140
O R G A N ISIN G O TH E R P E O P L E ’ S ID E A S

pre a much better grip on the situation than linear note-takers who disguise
Konfusion in pages of neatly written but functionally useless lines and
lists.
[the Mind Map thus becomes a powerful tool, both for gathering information
^Bothers and for assessing the quality of their thinking.

Establishing a p r o d u c t i v e ‘m e n t a l s e t *
FORNOTE-TAKING
il orderto take best advantage of your note-taking opportunities, it is important
pryoupo organise your approach in a way that allows you to build up a clearly
Mind Map as your note-taking progresses.
Ill establish the best mental set for note-taking from a book, use the Mind
jMap Organic Study Technique (MMOST) as described in detail by Tony
nin Use Your Head (Chapter 9). The basic steps are as follows:

Very quickly browse or look through the entire book or article, getting a
Jeral feel for the way it is organised.

12 out the length of time to be spent studying and determine the

bunt of material to be covered in that time.

I Mind Map what you already know in that subject area in order to
jblish associative mental ‘grappling hooks’.

Define your aims and objectives for this study session and complete a
’erent Mind Map of all the questions that need to be answered in this study
ion.

5 K Take an overview of the text, looking at the table of contents, major

results, conclusions, summaries, major illustrations or graphs, and
anyother important elements which catch your eye. This process will give you
thecentral image and main branches (or Basic Ordering Ideas) of your new
^^jgoric Mind Map of the text. Many students report that they have often
lie d 90 per cent of their learning task by the time they finish the overview

141
N atural Architecture Plate 16
TH E M IN D M A P BO OK

stage. By focusing on the overall structure and major elements of the text, thd
author’s essential ordering impetus rapidly becomes clear and can easily qe
M ind Mapped.

6 Now move on to the preview, looking at all the material not covered IL
the overview, particularly the beginnings and ends of paragraphs, sections and]
chapters, where the essential information tends to be concentrated. Add to]
your M ind Map.

The next stage is the inview, in which you fill in the bulk of the learning
puzzle, still skipping over any major problem areas. Having familiarised yoursel
with the rest of the text, you should now find it much easier to understand
these passages and bulk out your M ind Map.

8 Finally there is the review stage, in which you go back over the difficult
areas you skipped in the earlier stages and look back over the text in order tol
answer any remaining questions or fulfil any remaining objectives. At this poin|
you should complete your M ind M ap notes.

The whole process can be likened to building up a jigsaw puzzle, beginning by]
looking at the complete picture on the box, then putting in the corners ancj
outside edges, and gradually filling in the middle until you have a completi
replica.
In a lecture situation, a similar approach is recommended. In order to make*
your note-taking task easier, you could ask the lecturer beforehand if he or shd
will give you a summary of the major topics, themes or categories that are toj
be dealt with in the session.
If this is not possible, simply construct a M ind M ap while listening, searching
for B O Is as the lecture progresses. After the lecture you can edit and refine youl
M ind Map, a process which will force you to make sense of the information, thua
enhancing your understanding of it. For more on M ind Mapping a lecture, see!
Chapter 26.
ORGANISING OTHER PEO PLE’S IDEAS

A PRACTICAL EXAMPLE OF POLYCATEGORIC

MIND MAPPING
|The polycategoric Mind Map on page 143 was produced by a father to help
[Ms daughter pass her university entrance examinations in English literature.
I When confronted with a structure as complex as the novel, it is an enormous
advantage for the brain to be able to refer to this type of mental ‘grid* which
[sets out the major literary elements in the novel.
m This type of Mind Map enables the reader to extract the essence of any text
pnore accurately and comprehensively. It also makes it much easier to transform
Ihat essential information into spoken or written form (such as an essay or
Examination answer).
■ The Mind Map overleaf was prepared over a four month period by Pan
Rollins, producer of Eire’s leading television programme, The Late Late Show.
IPan had to organise the entire crew’s thoughts on topics, presenters, and
ibogramme order, etc. For her own records, she noted, in the large arrows,
Blow the programme ranked for the week.

BENEFITS OF POLYCATEGORIC M IND MAPS FOR

INOTE-TAKING

1 All 12 benefits of Mind Mapping mentioned in Chapter 9 (pages 89-90).

I Your enormous Csearch-and-find’ mental association powers are un­

leashed.

3 Learning objectives can be attained far more quickly.

4 Mind Map notes can be quickly and easily transformed into essays,
Bjesentations and other creative or communicative forms.

^Hblver-increasing clarity of analytical thought.

6 A growing delight in accumulating knowledge.

TH E M IN D M A P BO O K

/ A permanent and easily accessible record of all your significant learninJ

experiences.

ONWORD m
Having used Mind Maps to organise your own and other people’s ideas, youl
are ready to explore Mind Maps and memory - the subject of the next chapteH

M ind M ap by Pan Collins, Senior Producer o f Radio Telefis Eirean’s *Late Late Showi
planning and recordingfor major programmes (see page 145).
CHAPTER 15

M em o r y

Preview
• foreword
• >AGreek myth
• The Mind Map as a multi-dimensional memory device 1
t The mnemonic Mind Map as a mirror of creativity
t Applications of mnemonic Mind Maps
• Benefits of mnemonic Mind Maps
• Onword

FOREWORD
'This chapter begins with a colourful Greek myth which has much to tell us
pbout the relationship between memory, energy and creativity. We then explore
Mind Maps as mnemonic and creative thinking devices, before summarising
| the benefits of mnemonic Mind Maps.

A GREEK MYTH
ileus, the king of the gods, was well-known as a philanderer. He spent most of
phis time seducing - either directly or by means of deception - all the most
peautiful women in the heavens and on earth.
■Contrary to popular belief, his affections were not spread equally - there was
one goddess with whom he spent far more time than any other. Her name was
ptnemosyne, the goddess of memory. On one occasion he spent nine days and
nights making passionate love to her, a coupling which resulted in the birth of
the nine muses.
■The muses represent creativity. Each is the goddess of a particular art:
Birato - love poetry
»Calliope - epic poetry

147
TH E M IN D M AP BO OK

• Euterpe - lyric poetry

• Polyhymnia - hymns
• Thalia - comedy
• Melpomene - tragedy
• Urania - astronomy
• Clio - history
• Terpsichore - dance
Zeus symbolises energy and power. So, according to the myth, applying energj
or power to memory produces a fertilisation which results in creativity. This
relationship has major implications for Mind Mapping theory.

T H E M IN D MAP AS A M U LTI-DIM ENSIO NAL

MEMORY DEVICE
Mnemonic techniques involve the use of imagination and association in order]
to produce a new and memorable image. As well as imagination and associatiori
the Mind Map combines all the cortical skills to create a highly advanced multil
dimensional memory device.
Multi-dimensional, in this context, means that rather than the one-dimeia
sional (line) or two-dimensional (flat page) perspectives, the Mind Map allow!
you to create an internal, radiant, three-dimensional image that uses cross!
association, colour and time.
A creative thought similarly combines two elements to produce a third fori
the purpose of projecting the present into the future. The creative device helps!
you project the present into the future for the purposes of changing or creating
that future. The mnemonic device helps you recreate the past in the present.
The mnemonic Mind Map is therefore identical in mechanics and design to
the multi-dimensional, creative Mind Map. In the same way that the mnemonil
Mind Map multiplies dramatically your powers of memory, similarly the cre-l
ative Mind Map multiplies the simple creative thinking model infinitely in all
directions.

T H E M NEM ONIC M IN D MAP AS A MIRROR OF

CREATIVITY
lik e memory, creative thinking is based on imagination and association. The
aim is to link item A with item B, thus producing the new, innovative
far-from-the-norm idea we label ‘creative*. The mnemonic and creativl
thinking processes are therefore identical in structure - the only difference isl
in intent.

148
M EM ORY

^mnemonic device associates two items in order to enable the brain to recall
pe-create) a third image in the future.
H i creative device likewise combines two elements to project a third into the
[future, but the creative aim is to change or affect the future in some way,
whereas the mnemonic aim is simply to remember.
■Thus by making mnemonic Mind Maps, you are simultaneously training
jycjur creative thinking faculties. These in turn enhance memory capacity, and
feutually reinforcing upward spiral is created.
■ The illustration overleaf exemplifies the Mind Map as both mnemonic and
Kreative thinking device. It was drawn by a leading American video producer
calledDenny Harris, and was originally made to remind him of what he wished
to cover in a video on the subject of memory. His Mind Map summarises the
lontent of the programme, including a preview, an in-depth explanation of
thf number/shape mnemonic system, the applications of a simple mnemonic
System, and general discussion of the practice and theory presented in the
programme. In this case, developing a mnemonic Mind Map became a genu­
inely creative process, itself producing new ideas for the structure and content
of the programme - memory feeding on creativity feeding on memory.

APPLICATIONS OF MNEMONIC M IND MAPS

Most ofthe specific applications are covered in Division 5, under the ‘Personal’,
gFamily’, ‘Educational’ and ‘Business’ section headings. However there are
(many other general memorising applications for Mind Maps, such as recalling
[radio and television programmes of particular interest, dreams, enjoyable family
Events, or general lists of ‘things to do’.
■ One particularly useful application is searching for a ‘lost’ memory —perhaps
pperson’s name or the whereabouts of an object.
In such cases, focusing on the missing item is usually counter-productive
pecause ‘it’ has gone, and in focusing on ‘it’ you are focusing on an absence or
»©thingness.
■ Bearing in mind the associative power of your mind, leave the centre of your
Mind Map blank, and surround it with words and images associated with the
[absent centre.
■ For example, if the ‘missing’ centre is the name of a person, the major
prrounding branches would include sex, age, appearance, family, voice,
Bobbies, profession, and where first and last met. In this way you dramatically
Increase the probability of your brain recognising the centre from its memory
[banks. (For more on this, see Tony Buzan, Use Your Memory, Chapters 23-24.)
I If you find it inconvenient to create a physical Mind Map to retrieve a

149
TH E M IN D M A P BOOK

Mind Map by the well known film and video producer Denny Harris, summarising an entire)
programme on Memory (seepage 149)

‘missing’ memory, you can simply visualise an internal screen on which you
create the same sort of M ind Map.

B E N E F IT S OF M N E M O N IC M IN D MAPS

X They utilise all the cortical skills, thereby enormously enhancing the.
probability of recall.

2
rem
They activate the brain on all levels, making it more alert and skilful at
remembering.

3 Their attractiveness makes the brain want to return to them, and again
encourages the probability of spontaneous recall.
enc

4 They are intrinsically designed to aid memory.

MEMORY

N atural Architecture Plate 17

— 151 —
TH E M IN D M A P BO OK

^ The use of the memory Mind Maps activates the brain to becoral
mnemonically alert and thus with each usage increases the base memory skilfl
level.

6 They reflect the creative thinking process, thereby simultaneous!

enhancing creative thinking skills.

They maintain a high level of recall throughout a learning or listening

period (contrary to the standard forgetting curves described in Tony Buzaiii
Use Your Memory>Chapter 5).

8 They utilise all the individual’s associative capabilities, enhancing tfiej

brain’s physical imprinting and network-making capabilities, and therefoM
increasing the probability of recall.

9 They provide a ‘sure fire’ method of remembering, thus increasing die]

individual’s confidence, motivation and general mental functioning.

ONWORD
As we have seen, memory and creativity are two sides of the same coin. Having
explored the mnemonic benefits of Mind Maps, the next chapter illuminate!
their many advantages as creative thinking and brainstorming tools.

152
CHAPTER 16

C r e a t iv e T h i n k i n g

Preview
• Foreword
• Aims of creative Mind Mapping
• The Mind Map as a creative thinking mechanism
• The stages of the creative thinking process
• Mind Mapping to gain new paradigms
t Benefits of creative thinking Mind Maps
t Onword

FOREW ORD
In this chapter the focus is on creative thinking using Mind Maps. You Will
Biscover why Mind Maps are so stardingly effective in this area, and how
[you can use them to stretch and expand your own creative thinking and
Barnstorming abilities, thus gaining major new insights.

A IM S O F C R E A T I V E M I N D M A P P I N G
preative thinking or brainstorming Mind Maps have a great many objectives.
[The major ones are:

K To explore all the creative possibilities of a given subject.

To clear the mind of previous assumptions about the subject, thus

providing space for new creative thought.
TH E M IN D M AP BOOK

J To generate ideas that result in specific action being taken, or physiqi

reality being created or changed.

To encourage more consistent creative thinking.

3 To create new conceptual frameworks within which previous ideas can]

be reorganised.

To capture and develop ‘flashes’ of insight when they occur.

To plan creatively.

T H E M IN D MAP AS A CREATIVE TH IN K IN G
M ECHANISM
The Mind Map is ideally suited to creative thinking because it utilises all the!
skills commonly associated with creativity, especially imagination, association
of ideas and flexibility.
f In psychological literature, especially in the testing manuals on creative think!
ing by E. Paul Torrance, flexibility has been identified as a vital element in
creative thinking. Other important factors include the ability to:

• Associate new and unique ideas with pre-existing ones.

• Use different colours in creative thinking.
• Use different shapes in creative thinking.
• Combine unusual elements.
• Magnify and use dimension.
• Adjust conceptual position.
• Rearrange and link pre-existing concepts.
• Reverse pre-existing concepts.
• Respond to an aesthetically appealing object.
• Respond to an emotionally appealing object.
• Respond to an object which appeals to the senses of sight, touch, hearing
smell and taste.
• Use interchangeable shapes and codes.
CREATIVE TH IN K IN G

Natural Architecture Plate 18

jt can be seen from looking at the Mind Map laws and general theory
that the Mind Map is in fact a sophisticated and elegant external
manifestation of all of these defined categories: it is an external mani­
festation of the complete creative thinking process.

[JMy own researches have unearthed a striking similarity between the major
factors in creative thinking, and the major factors in the history of the dévelop­
pent cilmnemonic techniques. For discussion see p 148, chapter 15.)

155
THE M IN D M AP BOOK

The nearly identical nature of the creative thinking and mnemonic

principles confirms the Mind Map as the essential and natural mani­
festation and tool for these forms of thought. It also lays the foundation
for the claim that, in opposition to the bulk of literature on creativity
and memory, the two processes, rather than being separate, distinct,
and to many theoreticians opposites, are in fact mirror images of the
same process.

The popular myth that the creative genius is absent-minded and forgetful fails,
to take note of the fact that the particular geniuses in question are only forgetfifl
of those things which psychologists consider it important for them to remembesjfl
If attention were focused on their powers of memory in relation to the subject]
of their creative thoughts, we would find memories as vast as those of any of
the great mnemonists.

THE STAGES OF THE CREATIVE THINKING

PROCESS
Applying the creative thinking Mind Mapping technique correctly can enable]
individual Mind Mappers to produce twice as many creative ideas as a traditional
large brainstorming group in the same period of time.
These are the five stages in the creative thinking Mind Mapping process. *

1 The quick-fire Mind Map burst

Begin by drawing a stimulating central image. (For example, if you were trying
to think of new possibilities in flight technology, you might draw a Concordia
like pair of wings.) Your image should be placed in the centre of a large blank!
page, and from it should radiate every idea that comes into your mind when!
you think of that subject.
For no more than 20 minutes you should let the ideas flow as fast as possiblja
Having to work at speed unchains your brain from its habitual thinking pattern^
and encourages new and often apparently absurd ideas. These apparent^
absurd ideas should always be left in, because they contain the keys to nevi
perspectives and the breaking of old and restrictive habits. To quote the phill
osopher Rudolf Flesch:

156
CR EA TIV E T H I N K I N G

^Kpreative thinking may mean simply the realisation that there is no par-
[ ticular virtue in doing things the way they have always been done/

may also be useful for you to bear in mind Ezra Pound’s famous dictum:

^mGenius... is the capacity to see ten things where the ordinary man sees
Bone, and where the man of talent sees two or three, plus the ability to
^megister that multiple perception in the material of his art *

he reason for the page being as large as possible is to be found in Buzan’s

Bcept: ‘a Mind Map will expand to fill the space available’. In creative
inking, you need as much space as possible in order to entice your brain to
bur out more and more ideas.

■ First reconstruction and revision

lave a short break, allowing your brain to rest and begin to integrate the ideas
Berated so far. You then need to make a new Mind Map, in which you
fcntify the major branches or Basic Ordering Ideas, combining, categorising,
Elding up hierarchies, finding new associations, and reconsidering in the
Bntext of the whole Mind Map any ideas that initially appeared ‘stupid’ or
psurd’. As we have seen, the less conventional an idea, the better it often
tans out to be.
B)uring this first reconstruction stage, you may notice similar or even identical
incepts appearing on the outer boundaries of your Mind Map. These should
ttotbe dismissed as unnecessary repetitions. They are fundamentally ‘different’
pjthat they are attaching themselves to different branches radiating from the
Intral image. These peripheral repetitions reflect the underlying importance
pfideas which are buried deep within your store of knowledge but which
itually influence every aspect of your thinking.
lib give such concepts their appropriate mental and visual weight, you should
Ederline them on their second appearance; outline them with a geometric
hape on their third appearance; and, if they recur a fourth time, box them in
«[-dimensional shapes.
Kinking these related three-dimensional areas on your Mind Map, and
rensionalising the link, can literally create a new mental framework, leading
I lie flash of insight that occurs when old facts are seen from a new perspective.

KERLEAf: Mind Map by Lorraine GUI on the nature of creativity and the perspective of the
artist (seepage 161),

157
TH E M IN D M A P BO O K CREATIVE T H IN K IN G

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TH E M IN D M A P BO OK

Such a shift represents a massive and instantaneous reorganisation of entira

structures of thought.
In a sense, this type of M ind Map may appear to be ‘breaking the rules’, iiifl
that the central image and major branches no longer have central im portance
However, far from breaking the rules, such a M ind Map is using them to thel
full, particularly those of emphasis and imagery. A new idea discovered and!
repeated on the boundaries of thought may become the new centre. Following
your brain’s search-and-find workings, the M ind Map explores the furthesw
reaches of your current thought in search of a new centre to replace the olcfl
And in due course this new centre will itself be replaced by a new and eve*
more advanced concept.

The M ind Map therefore aids and reflects intellectual exploration and
growth.

«7 Incubation
As we saw in Chapter 12 (page 127), sudden creative realisations often coma
at times when the brain is in a relaxed, peaceful and solitary condition - perhaps
when walking, running, sleeping or daydreaming. This is because such state!
of mind allow the Radiant Thinking process to spread into the farthest reach®
of the parabrain, thus increasing the probability of new mental breakthrougH
The great creative thinkers have used this method throughout histora
Einstein instructed his students to include incubation as a necessary part of all]
their cogitations; and Kekule, the discoverer of the benzene ring, schedule«
incubation/daydreaming periods into his daily work programme.

A
T Second reconstruction and revision
After incubation your brain will have a fresh perspective on your first ana
second M ind Maps, and you will find it useful to do another quick-fire MinJ
M ap burst to consolidate the results of this integration.
During this reconstruction stage you need to consider all the informatiM
gathered and integrated in stages 1, 2 and 3 in order to make a comprehensi»
M ind Map.
The M ind Map on page 162 by Normia Sweeney was the result of intensl
incubation and a num ber of thought-revisions. It represents the culminationif|
ideas on the introduction of Brain Clubs to the world.

160
CREATIVE THINKING

■ The fin a l stage

ithis stage you need to search for the solution, decision or realisation which
^your original creative thinking goal. This often involves linking disparate
in your final Mind Map, leading to major new insights and break-
ughs.

IN D MAPPING TO GAIN NEW PARADIGMS

3ldeep and prolonged creative thinking, if new insights have been gained
Jpe first reconstruction and revision stage, incubation may produce a new
^ p o n the collective insights, known as a paradigm shift.
K|Mind Map on pages 158-159 is by Lorraine Gill. It summarises a series
H e s on the creative process as seen from the perspective of the practising
wThe Mind Map incorporates the History of Art, the growth of a ‘grammar
leeing’ and the tools for the accomplishment of creative tasks. Coinciding
Bpodern brain research, the Mind Map emphasises Art as a Science (and
as an Art) and also emphasises the training of both the imagination
1 the body in the creative process.
|The Mind Map on page 163 by Benjamin Zander, Conductor of the Boston
^B nic, is the result of such a process. The Mind Map reflects Zander’s
B|ly new approach to Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, an approach that
|rasitheresult ofyears of study, internal Mind Mapping, and intense incubation.

I Mparadigm shift is a global change in thinking about assumptions that

Ihavejybecome well-established worldwide. Examples include Darwin’s
Bheory of evolution and Einstein’s theory of relativity, paradigms of
Bhought that replaced previous paradigms. The Mind Map is the
Brimary tool for recording the process of paradigm shifting.
■ For the creative thinking Mind Mapper, the new realisation is itself
■placed in a new framework by sudden realisations that have occurred
■within the parabrain during incubation. In this way the Mind Mapper
■adds further dimensions to his or her thinking, records the stages of the
Baradigm shift gaining mnemonic and macroscopic visions of the
Subject matter leading not only to new creative ideas but eventually to
wisdom.

161
THE
MIND
MAP
BOOK
on Presenting Brain Clubs to the world and. especially the Arab nations (seepage 160)
Ultimately creative M ind M ap on the creation theme within Beethoven }s ninth symphony,
by Benjamin ZanderConductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra (see page 161).
TH E M IN D M AP BO OK

B E N E F IT S OF CREATIVE T H IN K IN G MIND MAPS I

They automatically utilise all the creative thinking skills.

+4 They generate ever-increasing mental energy as the Mind Mapper m<|

towards his or her goal.

They allow the M ind M apper to view a great many elements all aloflj
thus increasing the probability of creative association and integration,»

They enable the brain to hunt out ideas which normally lie in obs^
on the periphery of his or her thinking.

They increase the probability of gaining new insights.

U They reinforce and buttress the incubation process, increasing the prot|
ability of the generation of new ideas.

/ They encourage playfulness and humour, thus increasing the probabilM

of the M ind M apper straying far from the norm and producing a truly creatnj
idea.

ONWORD
Once you have released your personal creativity through M ind Maps, you] carl
gain enormous additional impetus by working with others to create a grouj
mind. This is the subject of the next chapter.

164
C h a p t e r 17

T h e G r o u p M in d M ap

P review
• Foreword
1» Functions of group Mind Mapping
t Creating a group mind
• Group Mind Mapping applications
• Examples of group Mind Maps in action
• The dyadic group mind
• Benefits of group Mind Mapping
• Onword

[FOREWORD
In this chapter we explore the exciting possibilities offered by group Mind
Maps, in which groups of individuals can combine and multiply their personal
creative abilities.

F U N C TIO N S O F G R O U P M IN D M A PP IN G
[The advantages of bringing individuals together in Mind Mapping groups were
peatly summarised by Michael Bloch of the Sperry Laboratory in his Tel/Syn
paper:

B ‘In our daily lives, we learn a m yriad o f information that is unique to each
K of us. Because o f this uniqueness, each o f us has knowledge and a perspective
m, that is strictly ours. Therefore it is beneficial to work with others during
■ problem-solving tasks. B y combining our M in d M a p knowledge with
K others, we further the associations that we as well as others m ake /

165
TH E M IN D M AP BOOK

During group brainstorming, the Mind Map becomes the external reflection!
the ‘hard copy’, of the emerging group consensus and subsequently become!
a group record or memory. Throughout this process, the individual brain!
combine their energy to create a separate ‘group brain’. At the same time the
Mind Map reflects the evolution of this multiple self and records the con-j
versation within it.

At its best, it is impossible to distinguish the group Mind Map from

one produced by a single great thinker.

CREATING A GROUP M IND

f Numerous studies have been done concerning the positive impact of checkinj
knowledge and asking appropriate questions, an impact which is magnified by
the use of the Mind Map. One of the most interesting was conducted by Frasi
and Schwartz (1975), who divided the subjects of their experiment into threej
groups of pairs. In Group 1, one person read a passage and then asked his or
her partner questions regarding the passage. In Group 2, one person read a
passage and was then questioned by their partner concerning the passage. In thei
third condition, they simply read the passage silently, and had no interactioil
with their partners. Groups 1 and 2 both performed well in subsequent test!
of their recall, while the third group performed poorly.
The findings of this experiment lend further support to the suggestion that:
noting your own knowledge and questions in a Mind Map form will lead to fan
better comprehension of the material you read. Frase and Schwartz’s finding!
also give added strength to the suggestion that it is extremely beneficial to workl
either in pairs or in a group, rather than studying alone, and to engage in active]
conversation about the material you are studying, rather than studying in
silence - very active verbalising leads to greater efficiency in the processing of]
the information, and to a greater recall. In addition, working with others will
result in the unique perspectives and associations of each individual con-1
tributing to a greater overall Mind Map and a much more comprehensive ancfl
integrated learning.
The stages involved in group Mind Mapping are similar to those already
described for individual creative thinking Mind Mapping. The main difference
is that many of the functions that take place in the individual’s parabrain during!
incubation are replaced by physical activity on the part of members of the MinJ
Mapping group. See pages 168-170 for the seven stages.

166
THE GROUP MIND MAP
TH E M IN D M A P BO OK

These are the seven major stages in the group M ind Mapping process:

JL Defining the subject

T he topic is clearly and concisely defined, the objectives are set, and the
members of the group are given all the information that might be relevant tel
their deliberations.

M Individual brainstorming
Each member of the group should spend at least 1 hour doing a quick-firei
M ind Map burst and a reconstruction and revision M ind Map, showing majoa
branches or Basic Ordering Ideas. (These are equivalent to stages 1 and 2 off
the individual creative thinking M ind M apping process on page 156-7.) 1
This method contrasts very markedly with traditional brainstorming in whieffl
one individual leads the group, noting the keyword ideas given by other!
members on a flip chart or central screen. This is counter-productive becausa
each word or concept publicly mentioned will create mental eddies and current;!
that will draw all members of the group in the same direction. In this wayj
traditional brainstorming groups negate the non-linear associative power of the!
individual brain, thus losing the massive gains that could be made by initially
allowing each brain to explore its own uninterrupted thoughts on the topic.®

Small group discussion

The group now divides into groups of three to five. In each small group the |
members exchange their ideas and add to their own M ind Maps the ideas!
generated by other members. Allow 1 hour for this stage.
During this process, it is essential that a totally positive and accepting attitudl
be maintained. Whatever idea is mentioned by a group member should be;
supported and accepted by all the other members. In this way the individujj
brain which has generated the idea will be encouraged to continue exploring
that chain of association. The next link in the chain may well turn out to be a j
profound insight, emanating from an idea that might have originally seeme<i
weak, stupid or irrelevant.

“ Creation of first multiple Mind Map

Having completed the small group discussion, the group is ready to create its
first multiple-mind M ind Map.

168
TH E G RO UP M IN D M AP

I A gigantic screen or wall-sized sheet of paper is used to record the basic

Ijtructure. This can be done by the whole group, one good Mind Mapper from
feach small group, or by one individual who acts as scribe for the whole group.
■Dolour and form codes should be agreed on in order to ensure clarity of
thought and focus.
■Basic Ordering Ideas are selected as the main branches, and all ideas are
Rporporated in the Mind Map, the group still maintaining its totally accepting
attitude. For the group mind, this Mind Map represents the same stage as that
leached by the individual Mind Mapper in Stage 2 of Individual Brainstorming.

■ [ Incubation
As in individual creative Mind Mapping, it is essential to let the group Mind
Map ‘sink in’. $
■Once again the Mind Mapping brainstorm process differs markedly from
Eaditional methods, in which the pursuit of ideas tends to be non-stop verbal
iand analytical activity until a result is achieved. Such approaches use only a
paction of the brain’s capabilities, and in so doing produce a result which is
Bess than this fraction, for by eliminating so many of the brain’s natural thinking
prills, not only are they not used, but the synergetic relationship they have with
Ithe few skills that are used is also lost.

U Second reconstruction and revision

lUter incubation the group needs to repeat stages 2, 3 and 4 in order to capture
the results of the newly considered and integrated thoughts. This means doing
Edividual quick-fire Mind Map bursts, then producing reconstructed Mind
Maps showing main branches, exchanging ideas, modifying the Mind Maps in
Imall groups, and finally creating a second group Mind Map.
■The two giant group Mind Maps can then be compared, in preparation for
fthe final stage.
■The Mind Map on page 171 (top) is a group Mind Map created by a
[team of eight Digital executives: Matthew Puk, Microsystems Unit Manager,
Khomas Spinola, Second Shift Unit Manager, Thomas Sullivan, Major
^counts Unit Manager, Chris Slabach, Field Service Manager, Lorita
■illiams, Unit Manager, Richard Kohler, Specialist Unit Manager, Tony
Bigonia, Field Service Unit Manager, and John Ragsdale, Field Service
planager. They had been working for five days on the development of teamwork.
tTheirConclusions were unremittingly positive!

169
THE M IN D M AP BOOK

/ Analysis and decision-making

At this stage, the group makes critical decisions, sets objectives, devises plans,!
and edits using the methods outlined in Chapter 12.

G r o u p m in d m a p p in g a p p l ic a t io n s
The major applications of group Mind Maps are as follows:
• Joint creativity.
• Combined recall.
• Group problem-solving and analysis.
• Group decision-making.
• Group project management.
• Group training and education.

EXAM PLES OF GROUP M IND MAPS IN ACTION

In recent years the group Mind Mapping method has been used very suc­
cessfully by families, schools, universities and multinational companies.
A Boeing Aircraft engineering manual was condensed into a 25-foot long
Mind Map, to enable a team of 100 senior aeronautical engineers to learn in a
few weeks what had previously taken a few years. The result was an estimatedj
saving of $11 million. See page 171 (bottom).
Electronic Data Systems (EDS), Digital Equipment Corporation and
Nabisco have implemented group commando study programmes. Using group
Mind Mapping and the Mind Mapping Organic Study Technique (MMOST)|
up to 120 senior members of staff were able to enter a seminar room in the
morning and leave that same evening with between four and six books’ worth
of information understood, Mind Mapped, integrated, comprehensive]!
remembered, and related to their professional situation.
At Oxford and Cambridge Universities, students like Edward Hughes (see
Tony Buzan, Use Your Head, 1989 edition) have used group Mind Maps to]
obtain, with a minimal amount of time spent studying, exceptionally high firsts
in their examination results.
Around the world, ‘family genius groups’ are being formed, in which the
family becomes a group mind and the individual parents and children con-i
sistently rank first in whatever mental (and often physical!) activities they]
choose to pursue. For a Mind Map of a full ‘family genius’ study day, see
Chapter 21.

170
THE GROUP MIND MAP

CfuPY
wum&&
ÄU ^ .SATISFACTION
VVOTHl^/
S u cce ss X /C o o P e R A T ib N

M ind M a p on the development o f team-work by D igital executives.

Dr Stanley with the 25-foot long Boeing A ircraft M in d M a p ( see pages 170 and 261).

— 171 —
TH E M IN D M AP BO O K

TH E DYADIC GROUP MIND

The most basic form of group mind is the dyadic mind, in which two individi
work as a partnership on a particular creative project. A similar procedurl
followed as that described in Chapter 21 for the larger group mind:

The subject is defined.

^ The individuals separate to prepare their individual quick-fire Mind Mag

bursts and basic Mind Maps.

3 They meet for discussion and exchange ideas.

4 The first joint Mind Map is created.

5 They incubate the newly integrated ideas.

6 A reconstructed, revised joint Mind Map is created.

/ They analyse and make decisions.

In long-term projects (like the writing of this book by my brother and me) join!
Mind Mapping will have several advantages. The resulting Mind Maps can bel
used as a way of ordering, recording and stimulating conversation in the man«
meetings that such a project requires. They also enable you to conduct the!
process over a long time, and in numerous sessions, with complete maintenance
of continuity and momentum.

BENEFITS OF GROUP MIND MAPPING

This method of thinking and learning is natural to the human brain.

172
TH E G RO UP M IN D M AP

id Throughout the group Mind Mapping process, there is equal and con­
sistent emphasis on both the individual and the group. The more frequently
fcdividuals are allowed to explore their own mental universes, the more such
explorers bring back and contribute to the group, without in any way losing
[their contribution.

3 The group mind benefits from individual contributions and instan­

taneously feeds back its own strength to the individual members, thus further
licreasing their ability to contribute to the group mind.

“ Even in its early stages, group Mind Mapping can generate many more
[useful and creative ideas than traditional brainstorming methods.

5 Group Mind Mapping automatically creates an emerging consensus,

thus building team spirit and focusing all minds on the group’s goals and
objectives.

U Every idea expressed by every member is accepted as valid. Members

thus increasingly come to feel that they ‘own’ the emerging group consensus.

7 The group Mind Map acts as hard copy for the group memory. It also
guarantees that at the end of the meeting each member of the group has a
similar and comprehensive understanding of what has been achieved. (This
again differs markedly from traditional approaches in which members of the
group usually leave with an assumed understanding which is often later found
lo differ widely from the opinions of other members.)

0 The group Mind Map provides a powerful tool for each individual’s self-
ievelopment and acts as a relatively objective point of reference against which
the individual can test and explore related ideas.

■ From this chapter and the earlier chapters on your own individual unique­
ness, you will be drawn rapidly to the conclusion that the more individual you
TH E M IN D M AP BO OK

are, the more significant will be your contributions to both yourself and to the
group. One particularly effective and enjoyable way to develop this uniqueness
is to develop your own personal M ind Mapping style.

ONW ORD
This chapter concludes your basic training in simple and more advanced Mind
Mapping, both at individual and group level. The next division examines ins
detail the many exciting applications for your new-found skills. The divisions
ends with intriguing new developments with M ind Mapping and computers!
and a personal view by Tony Buzan of a Radiant Thinking and Mentally!
Literate future.
DIVISION 5
U SE S
In this division we explore the many practical ways in which you can
useyour newly acquired M ind Mapping skills: we begin with personal
applications (self-analysis, problem-solving and keeping a M ind Map
diary); this is followed by family study; then educational applications
thinking, teaching and M ind Mapping a book, lecture or video); and
mfinally business and professional applications3 including the new
developments of computer Mind Maps
and the prospect of a Radiant Thinking future.
| Some readers may wish to work through the whole division in
Wsequence, others may prefer to consult the chapters that seem most
relevant to their particular needs.

t Personal
• Family
t Educational
• Business and Professional
t The Future
THE M IND MAP BOOK

SECTION A
Personal

C H A PT E R 18

S e l f -A n a l y s i s

P r e v ie w
• Foreword
• Self-analysis using Mind Maps
• Reviewing the past and projecting future goals
• Helping others to analyse themselves
• Examples of self-analysis Mind Maps
• Benefits of self-analysis Mind Maps
• Onword

FOREW ORD
This chapter investigates how Mind Maps can be used to give you a greater]
insight into yourself, your needs, desires and long-term aims. You will alsoj
learn how to help others analyse themselves, and get a chance to look at some
fascinating examples of self-analysis Mind Maps.

SELF-ANALYSIS USING MIND MAPS

Whether you’re weighing up the pros and cons of changing your job or trying]
to work out your long-term priorities, Mind Maps can be an enormous help in
clarifying your thoughts and feelings.

176
S E L F -A N A L Y S IS

»Because a Mind Map uses the full range of cortical skills it gives a com­
prehensive reflection of the self. Having seen this clear external image of
gburself, you are less likely to suffer the unhappy consequences of making
decisions that go against your nature and your real needs and desires.
1 It is helpful to begin with a ‘complete picture’ self-analysis Mind Map, which
Includes as many as possible of your major characteristics and personality traits.
[There are four major stages.

H Preparation of your environment

Before you begin, you need to prepare your environment, following the rec-
fcnendations given in Chapter 10 (pages 109-110). In such a sensitive area
m self-analysis, it is particularly important that your materials should be of the
pdghest quality and your environment as attractive, comfortable and mentally
Simulating as possible. Caring for yourself will make your self-analysis more
»pen, complete, profound and useful.

2
M Quick-fire Mind Map burst
(Draw a multi-coloured, three-dimensional central image which encapsulates
leither your physical or conceptual idea of yourself. Then do a quick-fire Mind
[Map burst, allowing a full and free flow of facts, thoughts and emotions,
forking at speed will make it easier to express all your ideas, whereas attempting
to be too neat and careful is likely to inhibit the spontaneous truthfulness
needed for such an exercise.

J Reconstruction and revision

[Nowselect your major branches or Basic Ordering Ideas. Useful BOIs include:
»Personal history - past, present and future
Strengths
• Weaknesses
• Likes
■Dislikes
• Long-term goals
»Family
■Friends
• Achievements
■Hobbies
»Emotions
TH E M IN D M AP BOOK

Mind Map by a female senior executive examining her belief systems, herself and her chosen
directionsfor thefuture (seepage 181).

Mind Map by a chiefexecutive of a multi-national organisation reconsidering his life andre­

focusing upon hisfamily (see page 181).
TH E M IN D M AP BOOK

The last item, your emotional nature, is particularly important and all too
often excluded. Colours, shapes, symbols and images are especially helpful m
expressing this aspect of your personality in your Mind Map.
Other helpful BOIs are concerned with the directions your life is current!»
taking or that you might wish it to take in the future. These BOIs can alsoi
form the main branches of your Mind Map.
• Learning
• Knowledge
• Business
• Health
• Travel
• Leisure
• Culture
• Ambitions
• Problems
Having completed your quick-fire Mind Map burst and having selected yourj
major branches, you should create a larger, more artistic and more consider^
version. This final Mind Map is the external mirror of your internal state. ■

Decision-making
Looking at your final Mind Map, you can make decisions and plan your futura
actions by using the methods described in Chapter 12 (pages 125-9).

REVIEWING THE PAST AND PROJECTING FUTURffl

GOALS
An annual personal review of past achievements and projection of future goals]
is extremely useful in ordering and planning your life, and the Mind Map is
the ideal tool for both these tasks.
Having assessed the past year’s achievements in Mind Map form, you can
use the same Mind Map as the basis for another Mind Map describing youra
plan of action for the coming year. In this way you can use the next year to
build on strengths and priorities, and perhaps choose to spend less time and
energy on areas which have proved less productive or satisfying in the past. ■
As the years go by, these annual Mind Maps form an on-going recordl
revealing trends and patterns over your whole lifetime and giving you major]
insights into yourself and the path your life is taking.

p r e v io u s p a g e : Natural Architecture Plate 20

S E L F -A N A L Y S IS

B As well as annual Mind Maps, we recommend that you do self-analysis Mind

Maps at the beginning and end of any important phase in your life, whether
fyou are changing job or house, or beginning or ending a relationship or course
■f study.

[He l p i n g o t h e r s t o a n a l y s e t h e m s e l v e s
piou may wish to help friends or colleagues analyse themselves, perhaps
pmeone who has never done a Mind Map before. In such cases you can follow
[the same four stages described earlier (pages 177-8), the only difference being
[that, rather than analysing yourself, you become a scribe for someone else.
■Your friend or colleague can describe his or her central image while you draw
[it. He or she can then dictate all the thoughts, feelings and ideas that come to
feind, while you write them down as a quick-fire Mind Map burst. You will
probably need to help your friend or colleague find suitable Basic Ordering
Ideas. You can then draw a comprehensive Mind Map incorporating everything
phat he or she has said, after which the analysis can be done either in private
lor, where appropriate, together.

glAM PLES OF SELF-ANALYSIS M IND MAPS

plie first example on page 178 (top) is a Mind Map created by a chief executive
:inp multinational corporation who originally wished to analyse his life in
plation to his business activities. However, as the Mind Map increasingly
pvealed his feelings, it began to reflect all the major elements in his life.
■These included family, business, sporting activities, learning and general
feett-development, and his interest in Eastern philosophies and practices.
■He subsequently explained that, before the Mind Mapping self-analysis, he
[hadassumed his business to be his prime concern. But, through Mind Mapping,
he realised that his family was the true foundation of his life. As a result he
Bansformed his relationship with his wife, children and other relatives, and
pjusted his schedule to reflect his true priorities.
■predictably enough, his health and his mental state improved enormously,
jhis family became much closer and more loving, and his business improved
Eamatically as it began to reflect his new positive outlook.
■The second example on page 178 (bottom) was created by a female executive
|who[was considering a change of career and personal direction. She did the
B l Map in order to see who she was and what her belief systems were.

I H p she suffered from relatively low self-esteem. However, by the time she
M pmpleted her self-analysis, she was as radiant as the Mind Map itself.
TH E M IN D M A P BO O K

B E N E F IT S OF SE LF-A NA LY SIS M IN D MAPS

Jl They provide a comparatively and increasingly objective perspective Ji

the self.

^ By utilising all the cortical skills, they give a full and realistic picture dfs
the individual.

5 They provide both macroscopic and microscopic views of the individual

encompassing broad trends as well as small but nonetheless relevant details, ■

4 They make future planning easier and more accurate by putting it in the
context of the individual’s present state.

5 They act as a perm anent record, thus allowing the M ind Mapper to gain
a truer perspective over the long term.

6 They can be used to help others analyse themselves.

By using colours, images and codes, they make it easier to express]

emotions and incorporate them in self-analysis.

ONW ORD
Having used M ind Maps for general self-analysis, the next chapter focuses in
how you can use them to help solve specific personal problems.
CHAPTER 19

P r o b l e m -s o l v i n g

Preview
• Foreword
• Solving personal problems using Mind Maps
• Interpersonal problem-solving using Mind Maps
• The stages of interpersonal problem-solving
• Benefits of interpersonal problem-solving Mind Maps
» Onword

FOREWORD
In this chapter y o u w ill fin d o u t h o w to use M i n d M a p s b o th to solve p e rso n a l
Bffoblems and to resolve d iffic u ltie s in y o u r re la tio n s h ip s w ith others. M a n y o f
I the skills you have a lready a c q u ire d - su c h as self-analysis a n d d e c is io n -m a k in g -
p la y a part in p ro b le m -so lv in g .

S O L V IN G P E R S O N A L P R O B L E M S
■ U S IN G M I N D M A P S
»This process is a lm o st id e n tic a l to self-an alysis except th a t the fo cu s is o n a
■pecific personality tra it o r c h a ra cte ristic th a t m a y b e ca u sin g y o u co n c e rn ,
w For example, le t’s im a g in e th a t y o u r p ro b le m is excessive shyness. Y o u b e g in
■with ia central im age (perhaps a p ic tu re o f y o u h id in g y o u r face b e h in d y o u r
Bands?), then d o a q u ic k -fire M i n d M a p b u rs t, re le a sin g a ll the th o u g h ts a n d
■motions triggered b y th e id ea o f shyness.
■ In the first re c o n stru c tio n a n d re v isio n , y o u r B a s ic O rd e rin g Ideas m ig h t
Include: the situ ations in w h ic h y o u feel shy; the em o tio n s w h ic h m a k e u p
lyour shyness; the p h y s ica l re a c tio n s y o u experience; the ve rb al a n d p h y s ica l
Behaviour that results; the b a c k g ro u n d to y o u r shyness (w h en it firs t started
land how it developed); a n d the p o s s ib le ro o t causes.
TH E M IN D M A P BO OK

Having comprehensively defined, analysed and incubated the problem, ypui

need to do a second reconstruction and revision. In this second Mind Map you
should look at each element of the problem and work out a specific plan of
action to solve it. Implementing these various actions should then enable you
to resolve the problem in its entirety.
In some cases it turns out that you are mistaken about the real problem. If
the same word or concept appears on several branches, the chances are that it
is actually more fundamental to your problem than the one you have placed in;
the centre. In this situation you should simply start another Mind Map, withj
the new key concept as your central image, and continue as before.

IN T E R PE R SO N A L PR O BLEM -SO LVIN G U SIN G

M IN D MAPS
Close personal relationships often come to grievous ends because neither'
person fully understands or appreciates the point of view of the other. If
emotions are running high, and there is no real communication, individual!!
find themselves in an increasingly destructive negative associational spiral, j
For instance, if person A feels that he or she has been hurt by person B,
person A is more likely to think negatively about person B. These negative!
thoughts increase the degree of h urt experienced by person A, which in turn
triggers further negative thoughts about person B. The destructive spiral gains 1
momentum until, to use a familiar phrase, the problem has been ‘blown up out
of all proportion’.
Eventually even positive events from the past are drawn into the destructive
whirlpool and are seen in a negative light. For instance, the birthday present!
one partner gave the other is no longer seen as a sign of love. Instead they are
accused of using it as a ‘bribe’ or a way of distracting from some misdemeanour!
By opening up clear channels of communication between individuals, MindJ
Mapping can help people avoid the negative associational spiral. In addition!
the radiant, all-embracing structure of the M ind Map enables the participants!
to put their problem in a wider and more positive context. All this is confirmed]
by the fact that a num ber of marriages and close friendships have been saved*
through M ind Mapping.
An example of such a personal problem-solving M ind Map is that by TessaJ
Tok-Hart on page 186. H er M ind M ap externalises the problems she had both!
experienced herself and noticed in others while communicating. The central!
image of the two faces joined by a thick line show the fundamental humanl
elements concerned, those items on the right being immediate hindrances and]
those on the left helpers to the process.
P R O B L E M -S O L V IN G

RFhe outer right hand arcs show the circumstantial factors which are frequent
puses of conflict. T he outer left hand arcs indicate characteristic qualities that
lari overcome conflict. T he ears of the face on the positive side are open and
ptening, the ears on the right closed to any incoming information. The
Htortened thick arrows in the centre of the right hand side of the M ind Map
Bdicate a complete blockage of communication. T he large arrows on the outer
ires of the M ind Map show war, destruction, alienation and disunity on one
Jide, and creativity, friendship, happiness and unity on the other.

trHE STAGES OF IN T E R PE R SO N A L PR O BLEM ­

SOLVING
for interpersonal problem-solving to succeed, it is essential that both indi-
Bduals fully understand the theory and application of M ind Maps. Assuming
phis basic knowledge, there are three major stages in the process.

1 Preparation of your environment

fas with self-analysis, it is im portant that your materials should be of the highest
guality, and your environment as comfortable and supportive of the entire
Process as possible. As the process may take several hours, especially for a
major problem, you need to plan activity and rest breaks, and light food, to
insure that the exercise does not end simply with analysis but reaches resolution.

2 Creadon of the Mind Maps

i t this stage, each individual does three large, separate M ind Maps: dislikes,
and solutions.
K each of the three M ind Maps you should follow the usual procedure of
^■completing a quick-fire M ind Map burst, which should be followed by a
^^tcareful reconstruction in which you select your BOIs.

mslikes

For up to 1 hour (or more if required) each participant does an exhaustive

liind Map on every negative aspect of the relationship to date. N o matter how
positive elements there may be in the situation, the aim at this point is to
H ;a full and objective description of the negative aspects.
k It is essential that the participants do their M ind Maps in complete privacy

I ■ th a t no views or opinions are exchanged during the M ind Mapping process.

THE MIND MAP BOOK

Mind Map by Tessa Tok-Hart on solving the problems of communication (seepage 184)m

After completion of the negative Mind Map, there should be a short break,,
during which conversation should be strictly kept to other matters.

Likes

An identical procedure is now followed to create a positive Mind Map, in which!

every past and presently satisfying aspect of the relationship is revealed. Once
again, it is essential that no discussion takes place during the Mind Mapping
process, the point being to have a formalised discussion after completion ofall
three Mind Maps.

Solutions

For this Mind Map, the individuals focus separately on resolution, working out
plans of action to solve each aspect of the problem.

q
*7 Formal discussion
At this stage each participant takes it in turn to give presentations (see Chaptejj
26), first on the negative Mind Maps, then on the positive ones, and finally on]
the solutions.
During the presentations, the listeners have new blank sheets of paper on
which they Mind Map comprehensively and precisely everything that is b 9
said about them. It is essential at this point that the listeners remain total!
P R O B L E M -S O L V IN G

Natural Architecture Plate 21

— 187 —
TH E M I N D M A P B O O K

silent scribes. The only permissible comments are those made for the purpose j
of checking that they have understood the presenter’s statements and for j
confirming that they can understand the others’ point of view. It is particularly!
important to follow this rule during the exchange of negative Mind Maps,
when some of the statements may be surprising, shocking or even traumatisingjj
The listeners need to remember that, based on the multi-ordinate nature of
perception, whatever the presenters are saying must be true from their perspectivem
These statements must be absorbed and integrated by the listener if he or she
is ever to understand why the problem has arisen and how it can be resolved. 3
It is also essential for all participants to tell ‘the whole truth and nothing but
the truth’ from their perspective, as holding anything back leaves festeringl
incompletions.
The order of presentations should be as follows:

1 X presents negatives, while Y Mind Maps.

2 Short break.

3 Y presents negatives, while X Mind Maps.

4 Short break.

5 X presents positives, while Y Mind Maps.

6 Short break.

7 Y presents positives, while X Mind Maps.

S Short break.

9 Y presents solutions, while X Mind Maps.

— 188 —
P R O B L E M -S O L V IN G

10 Short break.

11 X presents solutions, while Y Mind Maps.

JL Discussion. Agreement on solutions, and celebration!

|It is best to exchange the negative aspects first because they are obviously the
heart of the problem. The aim is definitely not to score points or to hurt each
[other, but to explain as fully as possible what is causing pain to one partner so
that both may heal the wounds. Indeed, the very act of getting all the negative
[aspects out into the open in an atmosphere of objectivity and respect can
[frequently more or less resolve a problem which has been mainly caused by
misunderstanding of the other person’s point of view.
I* Following the negative with the positive will often produce as many positive
surprises as there were negative shocks in the previous exercise. The positive
inspects of the relationship give added impetus to the search for solutions,
directing the individuals’ energies into a mini-group brain which is instinctively
prawn towards consensus. Immediately after the exchange of solutions, mutual
areas of agreement should be identified and plans of action confirmed.

BENEFITS OF INTERPERSONAL PROBLEM­

SOLVING M IND MAPS

ft Their structure guarantees openness on the part of the participants.

They give each participant a comprehensive view of the other’s

perspective.

3 They encourage honesty between the participants.

T 1 They place the problem within a much wider context, allowing a deeper
n&derstanding of its causes and a stronger impetus to resolve it.
THE M IN D MAP BOOK

*/ They act as an on-going record of the relationship, and the positive and
solution Mind Maps can be used as a source of strength and support as the
relationship develops.

v f This method allows the individual not only to understand the other, but
also to gain major insights into the self which lead to greater self-awareness and
maturity.

/ As well as greater understanding, they result in a closer bond betweeiil

partners, a less stressful relationship, and a greater respect for the uniqud
viewpoints of others.

The process described in this chapter is made considerably easier once youj
have completed your objective self-analysis. In this context you will find that
personal and interpersonal problem-solving becomes easier and more efficient!
in most cases leading to an increasing individual and mutual delight.

ONWORD
In addition to self-analysis and problem-solving, Mind Maps can play manyj
other useful roles in everyday life. In the next chapter we find out how to use a
Mind Map diary - the Universal Personal Organiser!

190
C H A P T E R 20

T he M in d M ap D ia r y

P r e v ie w
• Foreword
• The principles of the Mind Map diary
• The yearly plan
• The monthly plan
• The daily plan
• The life-planning divisions
• Benefits of the Mind Map diary
• Onword

FO REW O RD
■praditional diaries are the ultimate linear device, placing us firmly under the
■tyranny of time. In this chapter you will be introduced to a new, revolutionary
IMind Mapper’s diary which allows you to manage your time according to your
Kieeds and desires rather than the other way round. The Mind Mapper’s diary
I can be used both as a planning diary and as a retrospective record of events,
Bhoughts and feelings. The Mind Map diary alone offers the opportunity to
gynthesise these two traditional diary approaches.

ITHE P R IN C IP L E S O F T H E M IN D M A P D IA R Y
Inthe same way as Mind Mapping represents a large leap from standard linear
mote-taking, the Mind Map diary or Universal Personal Organiser (UPO) (see
[page 310) is far more efficient and effective than a standard diary.
I As well as the cortical skills used in traditional diaries (words, numbers,
fasts, sequence and order), the Mind Map diary incorporates colour, imagery,
pmbols, codes, humour, daydream, gestalt (wholeness), dimension, associ­
ation and visual rhythm.
191
TH E M IN D M AP BOO K

By giving you a true and full reflection of your brain, the Mind Map diary
enables you to operate in all three spatial dimensions, as well as those of colour s
and time. T he M ind Map diary thus becomes not only a ft’me-managemenl
system but also a self and ft/e-management system.

T H E YEARLY PLAN
The yearly plan (or annoplan) should simply give you an overview of the major?
events in the year. It should be as positive as possible (in order to give you
continuous supportive feedback), and it should contain no specific details, as
these can all be shown in the monthly and daily plans.
You will need to make extensive use of colours, codes and images in your
yearly plan, and you should establish your own colour codes to guarantee
secrecy where necessary. This colour coding should be continued in youri]
monthly and daily plans, to give consistency and immediacy in cross-reil
erencing, planning and recall.

T H E M O N T H L Y PLA N
The monthly M ind Map diary page is simply an expanded version of the single
m onth from the yearly plan. Dates and days drop from the top left, while hours !
of the day range from top left to top right.
To keep the page and mind uncluttered, each day has no more than five
meetings/events/tasks entered as coloured images, coloured codes or keywords!
Any additional details can be included on the daily plan.
The example on page 194 covers the m onth of August 1990 from my own
diary, in which I have shown meetings, special events, goals and time spent on
business trips to different countries.
W ith consistent colour coding, it is possible to get an instant overview of the
whole of the coming year. Likewise, by laying out the previous year’s plan
alongside the 12 monthly plans, you can gain instant access to any period, with]
guaranteed recall.
Furtherm ore, these yearly and monthly plans provide the ideal basis for your
annual review of the past and setting of future goals (see Chapter 18, pages
180-1). Cross-referencing, calculation and observation of overall trends all
become much easier when you have an overview of the whole year.

T H E DAILY PLA N
T he daily M ind M ap diary page is based on the 24-hour clock, the Mind Map

192
TH E M IN D M AP DIA R Y

as a planning and mnemonic device, and the fiact that the hum an brain is a
[visionary, goal-oriented mechanism.
I As with the yearly and monthly plans, as many M ind Mapping laws as
possible are applied. Ideally, you will make two M ind Maps for each day: the
Ifirst one to plan the day in advance; and the second to m onitor its progression -
this can also be used to recapture the day in retrospect.
I The example on page 198 is the second day of August from my own monthly
plan. In this daily plan the 24-hour clock in the upper left-hand corner gave
[me a true perspective on the am ount of time in the day. The central image of
Ithe day’s M ind Map was the book you are now reading. The smiling mouth,
lesembling Aladdin’s lamp, indicated that I was dictating sections of the book
[and I was hoping that I would be inspired by the ‘genie’ of my imagination.
H The day divided itself into five major branches, by far the largest being my
ivork on the book. T he walk and run, the massage and the physical training,
prere all intended to help me think about and physically prepare for the sub­
sequent days on which I planned to work on the book. The evening was a
celebration with a friend!
I like the yearly and monthly plans, these daily plans can be used to review
[any period in your life, either comprehensively or in-depth. A quick browse can
[pus bring back a whole week, m onth or year with glorious vividness.

[th e l i f e - p l a n n i n g d i v i s i o n s
Kike other personal organisers, the M ind Map diary can also help you keep
brack of different aspects of your life. Once again, to keep the mind uncluttered,
[it’s best to use only a few major Basic Ordering Ideas. The most useful are:
• Health
• lamily and friends
• creativity
•p rk
[in each of these divisions you can plan and M ind M ap telephone calls, meetings,
Eolidays, etc, and jot down creative ideas and things to remember.

BENEFITS OF T H E M IN D MAP DIARY

X It provides both a macroscopic and a microscopic view of your life

pcoming, as it grows, a comprehensive life-management tool. It allows you to
fepan future and past; to plan and record.
TH E M IN D M A P BO O K

‘Linear’ page from Tony Buzan’s diary showing use of all cortical skills for more creative and
easily remembered diary keeping (seepage 192).

194
TH E M IN D M A P BO OK

2 * is visually attractive, and becomes more attractive as the user’s skill

improves - the user eventually begins to create works of art.

J The yearly, monthly and daily plans allow for instant review of year-longi
periods, with cross-referencing and observation of long-term trends.

The Mind Map diary puts every event in the context of your whole life, i

The diary system is in itself a multi-dimensional mnemonic of multi­

dimensional mnemonics! It thus provides a virtually complete externalises
memory-core of your life.

vf It puts you in control of those areas of your life which are most important!
to you.

/ The system, by its design, encourages automatic self-development. It

accomplishes this by allowing the brain to use more effectively the recentlj
discovered TEFC A S model of learning. The T E FC A S model refers to the
fact that the brain operates by 7rial, after which there is an Event, followed by
Feedback, which is then Checked by your brain and to which it Adjusts towardsl
its always and ultimate goal, «Success.

s Its use of image, colour-coding and the other Mind Mapping laws give
you instant access to the information.

Because the Mind Map diary is visually stimulating and attractive, it

encourages you to use it. This differs greatly from standard diaries which many
people subconsciously reject - ‘forgetting’ to put things in their diaries, puttingj
them in the wrong place, or feeling guilty about not using them at all.

p r e v io u s p a g e : Natural Architecture Plate 22

T H E M I N D M A P D IA R Y

IV Reviewing your diary becomes almost like ‘going to the movies’ of

pur life!

DNWORD
Mind Mapping not only enhances your powers of self-analysis, problem solving
[and personal organisation, it can also enrich your family life. The next section
Ixplores the many exciting ways in which you can use M ind Maps for family
study and enjoyment.
THE M IN D MAP BOOK

•f< -y
f»0.(11

Mind Map from Tony B uzan’s personal diary showing M ind M ap o f the day in which he
began formally writing T he M ind M ap Book, and symbolising the genie that came from
ideas discussed in conversation (seepages 192-3).
SECTION B
Family
CHAPTER 21

F a m il y St u d y
AND STORY-TELLING

P review
• Foreword
• Mind Map story-telling
• Group Mind Map Family Study
• The family Mind Mapping study day
• Benefits of family Mind Mapping
• Family Mind Mapping in practice
• Onword

Fo r e w o r d
[This chapter explores the many ways you can apply the techniques described
IChapter 17, ‘Thé Group Mind’, to the family. Whether it’s used for enter­
tainment or study, family Mind Mapping is exciting, challenging and, above
I all, fun. It can also strengthen and enhance your relationships with each other.

■Min d m a p s t o r y - t e l l i n g
■First prepare your environment and materials: Mind Mapping paper spread
I out on the floor or tables and plenty of good-quality coloured pens. There are
■seven major stages in the story-telling process.
TH E M IN D M AP BOO K

X. Thinking of an idea
Each member of the family does an individual brainstorm on ideas for a superi
creative fairytale. The ideas might take the form of suggested titles (the more
fantastic the b e tte r...) or perhaps central characters (animal, vegetable, extra­
terrestrial or even human!).
Each person reads out his or her ideas and a vote is taken on which titles or
characters to use for today’s group story. It may be difficult to choose, but you ^
can always keep the others and use them for another day’s story-telling.

M Individual brainstorming
Taking a new sheet of paper, everyone draws the chosen central image or j
character and spends about 20 minutes doing a quick-fire M ind Map burst of
the first ideas that come to mind for making the story original, gripping and
extraordinary.

«7 Reconstruction and revision

Each family member now selects Basic Ordering Ideas, preferably including ]
some or all of the following:
• Plots
• Characters
• Themes
• Settings
• Language level
• Colours
• Pictures
• Morals
• Feelings
• Outcomes
These form the major branches on the reconstructed and revised Mind Mapsfl
Younger members may need a little help here from parents . . . Just explain that
characters are ‘the people in the story’, plots are ‘what happens in the story’J
and so on. These M ind Maps should be filled with images and colour, and
should take between thirty or forty minutes to draw.

4 Incubation
By this time you’ll all be ready for a break! Play games, rest, have a drink, and

— 200 —
FA M ILY STU D Y A N D S T O R Y -T E L L IN G

maybe p snack, and then spend about 30 minutes looking at and discussing
each other’s Mind Maps. This will probably be very amusing as well as sur-
Srisingr- people often find members of their family far more imaginative than
aiey ever imagined! But remember that it’s essential to be totally positive about
roeryone’s ideas. Any criticism or discouragement at this stage will drastically
Iduce that individual’s confidence and enjoyment.

I Creating the first group Mind Map

Elect aiscribe, or, alternatively, each member can take it in turns to draw part
Ifthe giant Mind Map. Begin with a multi-coloured, multi-dimensional central
Inage, then select and combine the best Basic Ordering Ideas to make a
pnplete outline for a story. Have as many concepts as you wish radiating out
fromeach of the major branches.

6 1 Telling the story

Sitting in a circle round the completed M ind Map, each member takes it in
lurn to tell part of the story. The story can be passed on at any point but it
Stouldldeally be left slightly ‘up in the air’, leaving the next person to think of
imaginative, fantastic or witty continuation.
Each member should aim to make the story more bizarre and imaginative
with every turn. This will encourage the group mind to use the M ind Map as
Rmndation on which to build a really inventive tower of fantasy.
H t’s a good idea to record this story-telling stage on tape.

7I 1K Creating the second group Mind Map

|fter another short break, you can play back or re-tell the story, while creating
Ifinal and more beautiful M ind Map. This final M ind Map can be done either
bigroup exercise or individually. For the better stories, it is an especially
Eood idea to transcribe the complete text, using a large type, and keeping to a
maximum of ten lines per page. Opposite each page of type should be a blank
page, and on each blank page a different member of the family can draw
■ttstrations appropriate to the text. In this way the family creates a superb
|brary|pf fairytale books and in the process of becoming authors also learns a
large number of skills that can be transferred to the school situation. The M ind
llaps and illustrations can be used as decorations for the walls in the children’s
pdrooms (indeed they often end up decorating the entire house!).
TH E M IN D M A P BO OK

\VftS5W

Fairy-tale Mind Map done by Donna Kim and her children (see pages 199—201). J

G RO UP M IN D MAP FAMILY STUDY

The Mind Map Organic Study Technique (MMOST) - as described in Chapter!
14 (pages 141-4) and Tony Buzan, Use Your Head, Chapter 9 - enables!
individuals to multiply the speed, comprehension, effectiveness and efficient
of their study by five to ten times. By applying the same techniques to familjl
or group study, this improvement can itself be multiplied by the number of
members of the group.
Briefly, MMOST consists of two main stages, preparation and application!
and can be used for group study as follows:

1 P reparation
• As a group decide on the am o u n t to be read in this study session, and
ascertain the level of difficulty by very quickly scanning the text. The amouni
can range from a single chapter in a short study session, to a complete division
in a longer study session, to a complete book in the family study day (see;
above). In the longer study sessions, family members can decide that each;
will study the same material and compare, or study different material and
combine.
F A M IL Y STU D Y AND S T O R Y -T E L L IN G

Natural Architecture Plate 23

- 203 -
THE M IN D M AP BOOK

• Decide on an appropriate amount of time for your study session, and divide
it into chunks of an appropriate length to cover each section or division of
text.
• As individual members, do a quick-fire Mind Map burst of all your current
knowledge of the subject, raising your level of mental alertness and estab­
lishing associative ‘grappling hooks’ to take new information on board. This
process also helps you identify areas of ignorance which will need special]
attention.
• Look at each other’s Mind Maps, exchange ideas and create a Mind Map or
Mind Maps of the group’s existing knowledge.
• As individuals, Mind Map the goals and objectives of this study session. The
Basic Ordering Ideas ‘Who?’, ‘When?’, ‘Where?’, ‘Why?’, ‘What?’, ‘How?’
and ‘Which?’ are particularly useful at this stage.
• Again, look at each other’s Mind Maps, exchange ideas and create appropriate
Mind Maps of the group’s goals and objectives for the study session.
• Creating Mind Maps of your existing knowledge and your goals will sharpen]
the group’s mental focus and increase your motivation and concentration.^
• Individually and then as a group, Mind Map all the questions that need to
be answered in this study session.

7 Application
• As individuals, take an overview of the text, looking at the table of contents!
major headings, results, conclusions, important graphs or illustrations, and
anything else which catches your eye.
• Try to identify the major elements in the text, discuss your impressions with
other members of the group and create a preliminary group Mind MapJ
showing the basic structure of the text.
• Now move on to the preview stage, looking at the material not covered in
the overview, particularly the beginnings and ends of paragraphs, sectioni
and chapters, where the essential information tends to be concentrated. 1
• Again, discuss your impressions with the rest of the group, and start filling in
some of the detail on the group Mind Map.
• Next comes the inview. In this stage you are at the filling-in stage of yourj
mental jigsaw puzzle. Here you go back over the material, filling in the bulk]
of the material that you do not cover in the overview and preview. At this]
stage mark the difficulties and move on - they will be dealt with soon.
• Finally comes the review. During this stage you go back over the difficult bits ]
and problem areas which you skipped in the earlier stages. During this stage!
you also look back over the text to answer any remaining questions, to fulfill

204
F A M IL Y S T U D Y A N D S T O R Y -T E L L IN G

any remaining objectives, and to complete your ongoing personal Mind Map.
b Once more, group discussion afterwards will help resolve any ‘problem areas’,
answer the tough questions, and fulfil the remaining objectives. You then
; individually or as a group put the finishing touches to your Mind Maps.
I* Having completed this group study process, each individual has both a macro-
I understanding (an overall grasp) of the material and a micro-understanding
I (a more detailed knowledge of its content). The macro-understanding is
I contained in the large group Mind Maps and the major branches, whereas
I the micro-understanding is expressed in the detailed areas on the Mind Maps.

THE FAMILY M IN D M APPING STUDY DAY

[The family study plan can be used by any family whose members wish to
Increase their knowledge, whether for academic purposes or simply for general
Interest. It has been designed to make studying as efficient and enjoyable as
possible.
I Using this type of study plan and well-organised Mind Map notes, the
Kontent of a whole book can be communicated to members of the group in 30
|minutes-l hour! The study day is designed to give each member of the family
lover two hours of study time on an individual book. Thus in a family of four,
four books can be read, Mind Mapped, understood and exchanged in a day!
I The study plan has been described in detail in Tony Buzan, Harnessing the
WaraBrain, Chapter 10, but the basic steps are summarised below:

1 Start at about 10 am with some preparatory physical exercises (30

minutes). These exercises can take the form of games, stretching or aerobics
and should be more for the purpose of warming up than strenuous exertion.

2 Quickly browse through the text to be studied (15 minutes).

1 Break - rest, play games, or relax in some other way (5-10 minutes).

TT Decide how much time you have available for study, and divide it into
ihunks to cover appropriate sections of material (10 minutes).

205
THE M IND MAP BOOK

Mind Map your existing knowledge of the subject, your goals and objeeJ
tives and the questions you want to answer (20 minutes).

Break (5-10 minutes).

/ Take a quick overview of your book, looking at the contents, major!

headings, and so on. Then put in the major branches on the group Mind Map|
(15 minutes).

8 Preview the book, looking at the material in more detail, and continud
building your Mind Map (15 minutes).

Lunch break (55-60 minutes).

10 This is the interview stage, during which you can discuss and resolva
your problem areas with other members of the family (30 minutes).

11 Break (5-10 minutes).

12 Review the book, dealing with any outstanding problems or question!

and filling in the final details on your Mind Map (30 minutes).

1 3 Break (5-10 minutes).

1 4 This is the exchange, during which each family member presents!

from his or her own Mind Map of the book, a complete summary of what hasi
been learnt from the study text. (For details on giving presentations, seej
Chapter 26.)
Each presentation should take about 25 minutes, with a 5-10 minute bread
after the first two. While one member gives the presentation the other member!

- 2 0 6 - ----------------- —
M ind Map of a complete study day completed by two mothers, Lynn Collins and Caro Ayre (see page 208).
TH E M IN D M AP BOO K

act as scribes, making their own M ind Maps and attempting to gain an under­
standing at least equal to that of the presenter. With the benefit of hindsight,]
and the presenter’s organisation and layout, you should all be able to refine
and improve each other’s and your own M ind Maps to the highest possible!
level. The M ind Map on page 207 is the result of a study day held outside in a
garden in springtime Somerset, England. Two families, the Ayres and the
Collinses, were studying books and information on developing family genius,
and therefore were applying what they were learning to what they were learning! I
The final M ind Map of the study day was completed by the mothers, Lynn
Collins and Caro Ayre. T he central image represented the four quarters of
their subjects of study, and each branch was cleverly numbered so that the
num ber was also a picture representing the content of the branch. For example,*]
the num ber three is incorporated into the shape of one half of the brain, as this
branch deals with the left and right functions of the brain, while the number
six is represented by a unicorn (unique-horn) - representing uniqueness! The
M ind Map is filled with many other witty images for which the reader may
enjoy searching!

15 Celebration - perfect your own method!

Some of the things done to celebrate include a night out at a cinema, theatrej
or sporting event, a special dinner, exchanging special ‘awards’ and buying a
‘family’ gift.
The day after this type of study day you may well find that you have an
enhanced memory and understanding of the text studied. This is becausa
dreaming or ‘sleeping on it’ has given the ideas a chance to integrate and realign!
themselves within your mind.
After this, regular reviews at the intervals recommended on page 107 will
enable you to maintain your recall and understanding of the text.

B E N E F IT S OF FAMILY M IN D M A PPIN G

1 Family M ind Mapping offers all the benefits of group Mind Mapping!
listed in Chapter 17 (pages 172-3).

2 By using M ind Maps for story-telling, the family’s creativity is enhanced

208
FAM ILY STUDY AND STORY-TELLING

*7 Individual study speed and effectiveness is multiplied by the number of

family members.

4 Throughout the Mind Map study process, family members engage in

conversation about the material they are studying, rather than studying in
silence. Research has shown that active verbalising leads to more efficient
processing and greater recall of information.

5 By using Mind Maps, rather than linear notes, the family ensures that
knowledge is enhanced as it is communicated rather than debased.

6 Family members increase their ability to comprehend new areas of

knowledge.

7 As a consequence, they enhance their ability to prepare for, and sit,

examinations.

8 More importantly, their whole attitude to learning and examinations is

pansformed. Through family Mind Mapping, all family members can come to
view study as a pleasure rather than a punishment.

7 Using the Mind Map as a means of helping and communicating with

jother family members can increase the motivation of all individuals to improve
[their thinking and Mind Mapping note-taking/making abilities.

10 Family Mind Mapping strengthens the family unit, as each member

[becomes involved in and supportive of the intellectual interests of the others,
and shares a sense of satisfaction and increased motivation. The family becomes
la family of friends.

209
THE M IN D MAP BOOK

FAMILY M IND MAPPING IN PRACTICE

Many families who have started holding regular study days have had their
children go from bottom or near the bottom of the class to first, second or third
place in all subjects. Likewise, the parents have found themselves excelling at
work and in professional studies.
One Swedish family, with two parents and three children, enjoyed their study
days so much that they held them regularly every weekend for six months. As
the children did better and better at school, and as they told their friends about
their exciting study days, word spread and the family ended up being almost1
besieged by neighbourhood children asking if they could join in!

ONWORD
In this chapter we have covered the main family applications of Mind Mapping,
and at the same time have seen how these can spill over into the educational
area.
The next section expands on the educational advantages of Mind Maps in
such specific tasks as writing essays, preparing for examinations, teaching, and
taking notes from books, lectures and films.
SECTION C
Educational
C H A P T E R 22

T h in k in g

Preview
• Foreword
• Mind Mapping for essays
• Mind Mapping for examinations
• Mind Mapping for projects and reports
t Examples of Mind Map projects
• Benefits of Mind Maps for presentation and writing tasks
• Onword

FOREWORD
IThis chapter covers three major thinking and note-making applications of Mind
plaps - the preparation and writing of essays, examinations, and projects or
Reports.

MIND MAPPING FOR ESSAYS

Whereas note-taking from a book or lecture involves taking the essential
elements from linear material to generate a Mind Map, note-making for an
Essay means first identifying the essential elements of the subject in a Mind
[Map and then using your Mind Map notes to build a linear structure.
[•As always, you should begin your Mind Map with a central image representing
■ the subject of your essay.
TH E M IN D M A P BO OK

• You can then select appropriate Basic Ordering Ideas, as described in Chapter
9 (pages 83-89) and Chapter 13 (page 133-8), as your major branches or
principal sub-divisions. At this stage you should pay close attention to what
the topic or question is asking you to do. T he wording of essay topics usually^
suggests what the BOIs need to be.
• Let your mind range freely, adding items of information, or points you wish-
to make, wherever they seem most relevant on your M ind Map. There is no
limit to the number of branches and sub-branches that can radiate outwardi
from your Basic Ordering Ideas. During this M ind Mapping stage you!
should use codes (colours, symbols, or both) to indicate cross-reference or
association between different areas.
• Next, edit and re-order your M ind M ap into a cohesive whole.
• Now sit down and write the first draft of your essay, using the Mind Map as
a framework. A well-organised M ind M ap should provide you with all the
main sub-divisions of your essay, the key points to be mentioned in each, and
the way those points relate to each other. At this stage you should write as
quickly as possible, skipping over any areas that cause you special difficulty,
especially particular words or grammatical structures. In this way you will
create a m uch greater flow, and you can always return to the ‘problem areas’
later, m uch as you would when studying a book.
• If you come up against ‘writer’s block’, doing another M ind Map will help]
you overcome it. In many cases just drawing the central image will get yourl
mind going again, playing and freewheeling round the topic of your essay. If
you get blocked once more, simply add new lines branching off from the key
words and images you have so far generated, and your brain’s natural gestalt]
or ‘completing tendency’ will fill in the blank spaces with new words and
images. At the same time you should remind yourself of your brain’s infinite!
capacity for association and allow all your thoughts to flow, especially the
ones you may have been dismissing as ‘absurd’. Such blocks will disappear
as soon as you realise that they are actually created not by your brain’s!
inability but by an underlying fear of failure and a misunderstanding of the
way the brain works.
• Finally, review your M ind Map and put the finishing touches to your essay,]
adding cross-references, supporting your argument with more evidence or
quotations, and modifying or expanding your conclusions where necessary.!!
It is worth mentioning that the M ind Maps we are discussing are meant to|
replace the voluminous linear notes that most students write before actuallfi
writing their essays. T he M ind Map m ethod uses a single M ind Map and a
quick first draft in place of the standard twenty pages of notes and two or three I
drafts. It is worth saying here that a word-processor is an excellent complement1

212
T H IN K IN G

to a Mind M ap in that it allows increased flexibility of drafting. Similarly, the

Mind Maps Plus com puter program (see page 310) is a superb essay-writing
companion.
School or university students, who take exams regularly, will find it very
useful to write every essay to a strict time limit, as if it were an examination
question. This approach is especially rewarding in highly competitive academic
situations, where your brain needs constant training to excel under pressure-
cooker examination conditions (see the Edward Hughes story in Tony Buzan,
Use Your Head3 Chapter 1, pages 11-14).
Three of the M ind M aps on pages 214-15 are by Swedish school children,
Karen Shmidt, Katarina Naiman and Thomas Enskog, and were done for
essays on sports, Sweden, and computers, respectively.
As Katarina said when doing her M ind Map:

‘The more I wrote and drewt, the more things came to my mind - the more
ideas I got, the more brave and original they were. I have realised that a
M ind M ap is never ending.
‘Only some other person I respect, a stomach aching o f hungeror real
thirst could make me stop building my M ind M aps!’

[ These M ind Maps, two in Swedish, further indicate the universality of the
Mind Map language.

MIND M A PPIN G FO R EX A M IN A T IO N S
Having taken M ind M ap notes throughout your course of study, and having
[reviewed your M ind Maps at the recommended intervals, you should be
more than ready for die examination. All you need to translate your excellent
[knowledge into excellent performance is the correct approach.
• The first step is to read the examination paper fully, selecting the questions
I you choose to answer, noting in mini-M ind Maps any thoughts that immedi-
1 ately spring to mind on reading the questions.
| • Next, you have to decide in what order you are going to answer the questions,
I and how much time you will devote to each.
I* Resisting the temptation to start answering the first question in detail straight
■ away, do quick-fire M ind Map bursts on all the questions you intend to
■ answer. By following this procedure, you enable your m ind to explore,
■ throughout the examination, the ramifications of all the questions regardless of
K the particular question you are answering at any given time.
• Now go back to your first question and do a M ind Map to act as the

213
TH E M IN D M A P BOO K

GONDe/ ste S!^

J p H S ^
jr % E ^ s Æ

/OOf*,

-ppAgV^I
TH IN K IN G

M in d M a p by Thomas Enskog fo r a school project (see page 2 1 3). ± 4,

" * *

One of the M in d M aps by James Lee that helped him pass exams (see page 216).

— 215 —
THE M IN D MAP BOOK

framework for your answer. The central image corresponds to your intro­
ductory comments, while each of the major branches provides a major
subheading or section of the essay. For each extension from your major
branches, you should be able to write a paragraph or two.
• As you build up your answer you will find that you can begin to cross-refer
throughout your knowledge structure, and can conclude by adding your own
thoughts, associations and interpretations. Such an answer will demonstrate
to the examiner a comprehensive knowledge, an ability to analyse, organise,
integrate and cross-refer, and especially an ability to come up with your own
creative and original ideas on the subject. In other words you will have
achieved top marks!
The Mind Map on page 215 (bottom) is one of hundreds of Mind Maps by
student James Lee. He prepared these Mind Maps to help him pass his senior
and university entrance examinations. At the age of 15 James missed six months
of schooling because of illness and was advised to go back a year in view of the
fact that his O-level examinations loomed on the horizon. James persuaded his
teachers to let him ‘go for it* and started to Mind Map everything in sight! In
just three months he did a year’s work, and in ten examinations scored seven
As and three Bs. The Mind Map on page 215 (bottom) is one that James did
for History, outlining the main explanations given for the commencement of
the Second World War.

M IN D MAPPING FOR PROJECTS A ND REPORTS

Writing a project or report, ranging from a few pages to the length of a doctoral
thesis, can also be made much easier by using Mind Maps.
Such projects may involve extensive research and final presentation in
written, graphic and oral form, but the approach is essentially the same as that
used for essays and examinations.
As in any study task, the first step is deciding how much you plan to cover;
within a given time. These time/volume targets are just as important in long- j
term projects as in short-term ones.
Then, during the research phase, you can use Mind Maps to take notes from
source material, to write up research results, to organise and integrate your
ideas as they emerge, and to form the basis of your final written or oral
presentation. (For more on giving presentations, see Chapter 26.)
lik e a Mind Mapped essay or examination answer, projects and reports
written in this way are likely to be much better structured, and more focusedl
creative and original, than those based on the laborious traditional methods of
linear note-taking, drafting and re-drafting.

216
T H IN K IN G

Ex a m p l e s o f m i n d m a p p r o j e c t s
[The Mind Map on page 219 summarises a project carried out by IB M and the
[British government’s Youth Training Scheme. The aim was to give guidance
pn the most effective ways of teaching young people. This summary proved so
mseful that it was incorporated into the IB M /Y T S Training Scheme Manual,
;as were a num ber of other M ind Maps.
if Another example concerns a 13-year-old American schoolgirl called Lana
Israel who has become a highly successful author with her book Brain Powerfor
[Kids - How to Become an Instant Genius co-written with Tony Buzan.
I Lana’s rise to fame started at Highland Oaks Middle School in Dade County,
gFlorida, when she entered a school science project competition,
ft Having discovered M ind M apping and become fascinated by it, Lana chose
' as her project an investigation of the effects of M ind Mapping on learning. She
■decided to run a series of experiments on recall and creativity, using her
passmates as subjects. Like any good scientist, she divided her subjects into an
Experimental group and a control group, and carefully monitored the two sets
|of test results.
I The group of students using M ind Maps showed a marked improvement in
B r results, and the precision and creativity of Lana’s project won her first
[place in the county science fair. It also qualified her for the inter-state com­
petition where she came second out of 42.
p As a result, Amanda Morgan-Hagan, one of Lana’s former teachers, invited
[her to the Eighth World Conference for Teachers of Gifted and Talented
iitudents, to be held in Sydney, Australia. Said Amanda Morgan-Hagan: ‘Lana
Showed me what she had done and I suddenly thought this would be marvellous
[for the conference, and a wonderful presentation for world educators to hear.’
»Using Mind Maps as the basis of her presentation, Lana became an instant
lelebrity. She appeared on national television, gave numerous radio talks, and
was interviewed by the leading daily newspapers. H er book got huge exposure,
land she received hundreds of letters from people wanting to find out more. For
an example of one of Lana’s M ind Maps, see page 242.
■ What started out as a school science project has developed into Lana’s life’s
iwork. In her words: ‘M ind Mapping has helped me so much, I want to share
[that knowledge with other people. I want to change the face of education
worldwide.’ Indeed, John Sculley, head of Apple Computers, said he thinks
Ithat, through M ind M apping, ‘Lana will change the world’.

o v e rle a f: Natural Architecture Plate 24

217
THINKING
M in d M a p by IB M Teaching D epartm ent fo r the *H elping People L ea rn * in itia tive, in conjunction w ith the B ritish G overnm ent (see page 2 17).
THE MIND MAP BOOK

B E N E F I T S O F M IN D M A P S F O R P R E S E N T A T IO N S
A N D W R IT IN G TA SK S

X They eliminate the stress and unhappiness caused by disorganisation,]

fear of failure and ‘writer’s block’.

^ They free your associative ‘grappling hooks’ to take in new information

and ideas, thus enhancing creativity and originality.

They enormously reduce the time needed for preparation, structuring ;

and completion of the presentation or writing task.

They put you in continuous control of the analytical and creative process,

mJ They result in a more focused, organised and integrated presentation*!

essays project or report.

ONW ORD
As demonstrated so clearly by the story of Lana Israel, the student who learns
appropriately will naturally evolve into a good teacher. The next chapter!
explores the many ways in which Mind Mapping can help those involved in
teaching others.

220
C h a p t e r 23

T e a c h in g

P review
• Foreword
• The developing brain
• Applications of Mind Maps in teaching
• Special Education
• Benefits of teaching with Mind Maps
• Onword

FOREWORD
This chapter sheds new light on the role of teachers and explores the many
grays Mind Maps can be used to make teaching and learning more stimulating,
injoyable and effective.

The role o f teachers

Teaching is arguably one of the most important professions in our
society because teachers are responsible for that most treasured of all
resources, the human intellect. Given that the brain operates syn­
ergetically building gigantic structures on the basis of knowledge it
already possesses, the role of the teacher becomes even more important.
If the knowledge base is false or weak then the more the student builds
on it the more likely it is that the entire structure will eventually collapse.
Sadly, in such cases, increasing effort results in ever more unsatisfactory
performance.

o v e rle a f: Natural Architecture Plate 25

T E A C H IN G

It is therefore essential that all teachers understand that the first

lesson that m ust be taught to students is Mental Literacy, Learning How
to Learn - even before they are taught the three Rs.

In order to accomplish this goal, the brain requires an appropriate tool. The
IMind Map is that tool.

Th e d e v e l o p i n g b r a in
When does the hum an brain first learn to M ind Map?
i ‘When it is taught,’ you might reply.
B The correct answer is, ‘T he m om ent (and perhaps before) it is born!’
■ Consider the way a baby’s brain develops, especially the way it learns lan­
guage. One of the first words babies speak is ‘M am a’. Why ‘M am a’? Because
‘Mama’ is the centre of the M ind Map! From her radiate the main branches of
love, food, warmth, protection, transport and education,
p Thus the baby instinctively M ind Maps internally, from the mom ent it is born
and throughout its life, building from each radiant centre, growing branches and
petworks of association that eventually develop into its adult body of knowledge.
■; The teacher needs to ensure that those intricate networks are constantly
nurtured in order to ensure that they not only continue to grow throughout
lihe student’s life, but that they can also be used externally.

[Ap p l i c a t i o n s o f m i n d m a p s i n t e a c h i n g
lApart from familiarising his or her students with the theory and practice for
I Mind Mapping, the teacher can use M ind Maps in a num ber of practical ways
to make teaching and learning easier and more enjoyable.

EL Preparing lecture notes

[One of the most powerful ways to use M ind Maps is as lecture notes. Preparing
p lecture in M ind M ap form is much faster than writing it out and has the big
Edvantage of allowing the lecturer and the student to keep an overview of the
Bvhole subject at all times. A M ind M apped lecture is easy to update from year
Ito year without becoming messy and its mnemonic qualities mean that a brief
Bverview before the lecture quickly brings the topic right back into focus.
■Because the lecturer’s own knowledge will evolve the same M ind Map will
■trigger quite different lectures if used from year to year. This avoids the tedium
THE M IN D M AP BOO K

of stale lecture notes without requiring any extra work! It makes lecturing more
fun and more interesting for both the lecturer and the students/audience.
As a framework for lecturing, a M ind Map enables the speaker to hold a
perfect balance between a spontaneously spoken and fresh talk, on the one
hand, and a clear and well-structured presentation on the other. It allows
accurate time-keeping during the lecture or, if the time allowed changes for
some reason, it allows the speaker to edit ‘on the move’ to adjust the talk to a
greater or lesser length, as required. This editing function can also be very
useful if some new information becomes available just before the lecture (a
news story, a previous speaker).
The M ind Map on page 226 was done by Barry Buzan for a wide ranging
lecture to a gathering of academics and foreign policy officials. The topic in the
centre was fixed by the organisers of the conference and was therefore not
reduced to a single word or a simple image. There are quite a few code words
on the M ind Map that point to areas of knowledge or to the ideas of other
authors that are familiar to the speaker. Note the long-line architecture, which
provides an alternative way of laying out the primary and secondary branches.
From this kind of M ind Map, a properly qualified lecturer could speak for ten
minutes or ten hours. Any one of the main branches could itself be a lecture,
so this could also be an outline for a course. It could be (and was) used as a
university lecture. It could be (and in this case wasn’t) used as a preparatory!
sketch for writing an article.
The M ind Map on Chemical Kinetics on page 227 (top) was prepared by
Graham Wheeler, head of Chemistry at Herschel Grammar School in England.!
The M ind Map covers an entire section of a chemistry course for senior
students preparing to go to university, and is used both by the teacher, to plan
and guide his own lecturing, and by the students to help them follow the
lectures.
Over the five-year period during which Graham Wheeler has taught A-level
Chemistry with M ind Maps, he has had a 98 per cent pass rate.

2
m Yearly planning
The M ind M ap can be used to give the teacher an overview of the whole year’s]
study programme, showing the term divisions and the type of lessons to be
given. (For instance, a geography teacher could get an idea of annual frequency]
of field trips and slide presentations in relation to standard lessons.)

224
TEACHING

«7 Term planning
This is a sub-division of the yearly plan, and often takes the form of a smaller
Mind Map expanding from a branch or branches on the yearly programme.
The term plan might show which topics from the curriculum the teacher
intends to cover and in roughly what order.

4 Daily planning
This takes a similar form to that of the daily Mind Map diary described in
Chapter 20 (pages 191-7), and would record the specific details of lessons,
such as start and finish time, classroom, topic to be covered, and so on.

Lessons and presentations

Using a large blackboard, whiteboard, flip chart, or an overhead projector, the
teacher can draw, as the lesson progresses, the corresponding part of the Mind
Map. This externalised reflection of the thought process will help clarify the
structure of the lesson. It will also hold the students’ interest and enhance their
memory and understanding of the subject covered. ‘Skeleton’ Mind Maps can
also be handed out for the student to complete or black and white photocopies
can be provided for students to colour themselves.

6 Examinations
If the purpose of an examination is to test the students’ knowledge and under­
standing rather than their writing ability, the Mind Map is the ideal solution.
It can show the teacher at a glance whether or not the student has a general
grasp of the subject, as well as his or her major strengths and weaknesses. The
Mind Map also reveals those areas where the chain of association has, for some
Season, gone awry. This approach gives the teacher a clear and objective idea
of the student’s state of knowledge, uncluttered by judgements about skills in
other areas such as grammatical correctness, spelling ability and neatness of
[handwriting. In addition it saves a huge amount of time normally spent reading
and marking piles of examination scripts!
KThis concept has been taken farther by Christine Hogan, Director of the
[School of Management, Curtin University of Technology in Perth, Australia. As
Eo-ordinator of undergraduate Organisational Behaviour programmes Hogan
introduced Mind Mapping to all staff and students. She says:
Al i n d A ia p b y Professor B a r r y B u z a n f o r a -w ide-ranging lecture to a g a th e rin g o f academ ics a n d fo re ig n p o lic y officials ( see pa g e 2 2 4 ).
TEACHING

Mind M ap on Chemical Kinetics by Graham Wheeler covering an entire section o fa chemistry

course (seepage 224).

Mind M ap by Superintendent Douglas B rand considering training (see page 229)-

THE M IND MAP BOOK

‘We introduced it as an examination tool. A t the beginning of the semester

students were given a unit guide plus objectives for each week. On the
opposite page they were encouraged to make a summary M ind Map. They
were told that a Mind M ap would appear on the exam and they would be
given a choice of weekly topics, e.g.:

Choose either “motivation” or “leadership33 and draw a Mind Map

illustrating the basic theoriesIconceptlmodels and your own ideas on the
topic. Use a double page in your answer book.

We then developed a scheme in which we could grade students3 Mind

Maps:
Marking Scheme
a) Content:
Breadth (coverage of range of theoriesIconcepts) 5
Depth (coverage of detail) 5
b) Covered own ideas 4
c) Used Mind Mapping strategies:
Colour 2
Symbol 2
Arrows _2
TO TA L 20

We believe that Mind Mapping is a strategy that can be used to encourage

“deep33 rather than “surface33 learning. Biggs and Telfer (1987), and
Morton and Slajo (1976) conducted research into deep and surface learn­
ing where “deep33 is intrinsically motivated, where students try to under-
stand the meaning to their work and understand the context of new ideas
and concepts. ‘Surface3learning tends to be externally motivated and leads
to rote learning.
Watkins and Hattie (1985) indicate that surface approaches are most
frequently used successfully at primary and secondary level and that few
students find it necessary to modify their strategies at university level.
Many of our students are being asked to change to deep learning in Mind
Mapping where they are encouraged to see the whole picture and make
connections between theories, concepts and their own ideas.3

Projects
Mind Maps are ideal for planning, monitoring and presenting projects. They:
encourage comprehensive and focused thinking in the early stages, enable both

228
TEACHING

teacher and student to check on progress and observe the growing web of inter­
related information, and provide an ideal framework for either written or oral
presentations at the end.
The Mind Map can be especially useful in professional education. In the
London Metropolitan Police Service (a body of 44,000 personnel) training is
a growing and major concern. Superintendent Douglas Brand used a Mind
Map (see page 227, bottom) to consider all residual issues concerning training
after the Service had completed a general review. The Mind Map shows how
both comprehensive considerations and intricate details can be incorporated
on a single Mind Map. It also covers areas that those involved in training might
find useful for themselves.
Another example shows how Mind Maps can be used to plan lessons in one
of the fastest-growing areas of learning at the moment: language training. The
Mind Map on page 230 was drawn as a lesson plan for a group of non-native
English speakers by Charles La Fond, who runs a series of international
language training schools. The pictures in the Mind Map are designed to
stimulate the minds of the students to ask questions during the course of
teaching, to encourage discussion and to indicate activity. This Mind Map
provides a day’s worth of learning and is also used as a review.
The companion Mind Map, on page 231, shows in even more detail how
Mind Maps can be used specifically for the teaching of grammar. The Mind
Map by Lars Soderberg, a Swedish master linguist and teacher, incorporates a
[comprehensive overview of the main elements of French grammar on a single
page. In a single ‘visual grasp’ the Mind Map takes that which for many is
t considered difficult, if not impossible, and makes it clear and easily accessible.

SPECIAL EDUCATIO N
[Mind Maps are particularly useful for helping those with learning disabilities.
The Mind Map on page 231 was done by the author in conjunction with a
pine-year-old boy we shall call ‘Timmy’. Timmy suffered from fairly severe
jfcerebral Palsy, which meant that his motive functions were significantly imp­
aired. He was considered by many to be ineducable and unintelligent.
[- When spending an afternoon with him surrounded by coloured crayons and
[ blank notepaper, Tony first asked him to say who his family was. As notes were
Imade Timmy watched intently, even correcting a fairly complicated spelling of
I his sister’s name.
B Timmy was then asked what his main interests were, and without hesitation
he said, ‘space and dinosaurs’, so these were put down as major branches of
j the Mind Map. Timmy was asked what he liked about space. He said, ‘the
229
A iind M a p of a language lesson for a group o f non-native English-speakers by their teacher Charles L a Fond (see page 229).
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Lars Soderberg s M ind M ap of an overview of French grammar (see page 229).

Mind Map by ‘Timmy* with the help of Tony Buzan, demonstrating the abilities and
knowledge of the learning disabled (see page 229).

- 231
THE M IN D MAP BOOK

planets’. Timmy then concisely named the planets in their correct order
showing that he not only had a far better grasp of our local solar system than
90 per cent of the population, but that his picture of it was clear. When Timmy
got to the planet Saturn, he paused, looked straight into Tony’s eyes and said,
‘L-U-H-V-L-E-Y. ..’
When it came to discussing the dinosaurs, Timmy asked for the pencil
and did a quick scribbled drawing. Knowing that such scribbles are never
meaningless, Tony asked him to explain what it meant. Timmy explained that
it was, fairly obviously, a diplodocus and a tyrannosaurus rex: father, mother
and baby. Timmy’s mind was as bright and clear as any good university
student’s, his only difficulty being between the wiring of his thought and his
physical expression of it.
He asked to do his own Mind Map. He produced another ‘scribble’ and
explained it as follows: the orange represented his body, which made him very
happy. The black squiggle in the top section represented his brain, which made
him very happy. The yellow squiggle represented those parts of his own body
which did not work, which made him unhappy. He paused for a moment and
finally added the dark squiggle covering the bottom of the Mind Map, which
he said represented how he was going to use his thinking to help make his body
work better.
In this and many other such cases, the Mind Map frees the ‘learning disabled’
brain from semantic restrictions which often increase the disability if there is
one, and may even create one where, in the beginning, there was not.

BENEFITS OF TEACH ING W ITH M IND MAPS

1 They automatically inspire interest in the students, thus making them

more receptive and co-operative in the classroom.

m They make lessons and presentations more spontaneous, creative and

enjoyable, both for the teacher and the students.

Rather than remaining relatively rigid as the years go by, the teacher’s!
notes are flexible and adaptable. In these times of rapid change and develops
ment, the teacher needs to be able to alter and add to teaching notes quickly
and easily.

— 232 —
TEACHING

^ Because Mind Maps present only relevant material in a clear and mem­
orable form, the students tend to get better marks in examinations.

5 Unlike linear text, Mind Maps show not just the facts but the relationships
between those facts, thus giving the students a deeper understanding of the
subject.

■fa The physical volume of lecture notes is dramatically reduced.

On w o r d
Having discussed ways of using Mind Maps in educational writing tasks and
teaching, we still need to look at their applications in one of the most important
learning activities, note-taking. The next chapter goes into detail about how
best to use Mind Maps when taking notes from a book, lecture, video, computer
or film.
THE M IN D MAP BOOK

Natural Architecture Plate 26

- 234 -
C h a p t e r 24

C r e a t in g t h e
M ASTER MIND MAP

P r e v ie w
• Foreword
• M ind Mapping a book
• M ind Mapping from lectures/videos/computers/films
• Reviewing your M ind Map notes
• Creating a Master M ind Map
• Benefits of M ind Map notes and the Master M ind Map
• Onword

I FO REW O RD
H We have a lre a d y seen ( in C h a p t e r 3) th e a p p a llin g in te lle c tu a l q u a g m ire c re a te d
H j j y tra d itio n a l lin e a r m e th o d s o f n o te -ta k in g , a n d th e m a n y ad v an tag e s o ffe re d
by M in d M a p n otes. I n th is c h a p te r th e M i n d M a p p in g te c h n iq u e is re la te d
^ s p e c ific a lly to re a d in g b o o k s , a tte n d in g le ctu re s , a n d a c q u ir in g a la rg e b o d y o f
H in t e g r a te d k n o w le d g e .

■ M IND M A P P IN G A B O O K
recap b rie fly , th e te c h n iq u e o f M i n d M a p p in g a b o o k fa lls in to tw o p a rts -
^ » re p a ra tio n a n d a p p lic a tio n . W it h in th ese d iv is io n s th e re are e ig h t stages. F o r
H p a s e o f referen ce , th e stages are s u m m a ris e d b e lo w , w it h re c o m m e n d e d tim e
^ H im its. A c o m p le te s u m m a ry M i n d M a p b y V a n d a N o r t h o f th e M M O S T
^ R e ch n iq u e , in c o r p o r a tin g a s tu d y -d a y p la n , is o n pag e 2 3 9 .
THE M IN D MAP BOOK

P reparation

1 Browse - create the central image of the Mind Map (10 minutes)

2 Setting time and amount targets (5 minutes)

3 Mind Mapping existing knowledge on the subject (10 minutes)

4 Defining and Mind Mapping goals (5 minutes)
A pplication (times dependent on material studied)

5 Overview - add main Mind Map branches

6 Preview - first and second levels

7 Inview - fill in the Mind Map details

8 Review - complete the Mind Map

P reparation

1 Browse (10 minutes)

Before you start reading the book in detail, it is essential to gain a quick
overview. The best way is to look at the front and back cover and the list of
contents, and flick through the pages a few times, getting the general ‘feel’ of
the book.
Then take a large blank sheet or Mind Map pad and draw a central image
that summarises the subject or title. If there is a particularly striking or colourful
image on the cover or inside the book, feel free to use it. If you are also
reasonably sure of the main branches that are going to radiate from the centre,
you can add these at the same time. They will often correspond to the major
divisions or chapters of the book, or your specific objectives in reading it. ;
By starting your Mind Map at this early stage, you are giving your brain a
central focus and the basic architecture within which it can integrate all the
information gained from studying the book.
CREATING THE MASTER MIND MAP

Setting time and amount targets (5 minutes)

In view of your study objectives, the book’s content and level of difficulty, and
the amount of knowledge you already have, decide on the amount of time you
will devote to the entire task, and the amount you will cover in each study
period.

3 Mind Map of existing knowledge on the subject (10 minutes)

Now ‘turn away’ from the book and your previous Mind Map, take a new sheet
of paper, and as fast as you can do a quick-fire Mind Map burst on everything
you already know about the topic you are about to study. This will include
whatever information you have gained from your initial browse through the
book, plus any general knowledge or specific items of information you may
have picked up during your whole life that relate to the topic in any way.
Most people are delighted and surprised to find that they actually know a lot
more about the topic than they had previously thought. This exercise is also
especially valuable because it brings appropriate associations or ‘grappling
hooks’ to the surface of your brain and sets it moving in the direction of the
topic you are studying. It also enables you to identify areas of strength and
weakness in your knowledge, indicating which aspects you need to supplement.

4 Defining and Mind Mapping Goals (5 minutes)

At this stage you can either add to the existing knowledge Mind Map you have
just completed, using a different-coloured pen, or you can take a new blank
sheet and do another quick-fire Mind Map burst on your goals in reading the
book. These goals may take the form of specific questions you wish to find the
[answers to, areas of knowledge you wish to find out more about, or perhaps
skills you wish to acquire.
Mind Mapping your goals in this way greatly increases the probability of
your eye/brain system registering any information it comes across that seems
[[relevant to those goals. In effect, the Mind Map of your goals acts as an
[‘appetite’ that naturally motivates your search. In the same way as a person
who has not eaten for several days will become obsessed with food, good
[preparatory Mind Maps increase your ‘hunger’ for knowledge.
THE M IN D MAP BOOK

Application (times dependent on m aterial studied)

5 "™ 8 Overview, Preview, Inview, Review

Having completed your preparation, you are ready to start the four levels of
reading - overview, preview, inview and review - which take you ever deeper
into the content of the book. For details of these stages see pages 204-205.
At this point you can either: Mind Map the book as you read; or mark the
book while reading and complete your Mind Map afterwards. These approaches
are both equally valid - the one you adopt is entirely a matter of personal choice
and may depend on whether the book is yours.
• Mind Mapping while you read is like having an ongoing ‘conversation’
with the author, reflecting the developing pattern of knowledge as the book
progresses. The growing Mind Map also enables you to keep checking
your level of understanding and adjusting the focus of your information!
gathering.
• Mind Mapping afterwards has the advantage that you produce your Mind
Map only once you have gained a complete understanding of the book’s
content, and the way each part relates to the others. Your Mind Map will
therefore be more comprehensive and focused and less likely to require
revision.
Whichever method you choose, it is important to remember that Mind
Mapping a book is a two-way process. The aim is not simply to duplicate the
author’s thoughts in Mind Map form. Rather, it is a question of organising
and integrating his or her thoughts in the context of your own knowledge*
understanding, interpretation and specific goals. Your Mind Map should there­
fore ideally include your own comments, thoughts and creative realisations]
arising from what you have read. Using different colours or codes will enable
you to distinguish your own contributions from those of the author.

M IN D MAPPING FROM LECTURES/VIDEOS/

C OM PUTERS/FILM S
This is very similar to Mind Mapping a book, except that you are often subject
to the linear progression of the lecture or presentation and do not have the
luxury of being able to refer to different parts of the material at will.
For this reason, it is especially important to get an overview of the topic as
quickly as possible. Before the lecture, video or film begins, you should draw
your central image and as many of the main branches as you can. (Most good«
lecturers are pleased to help anyone who shows an interest in their subject and

238
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THE M IN D MAP BOOK

will be happy to give you a preview of the lecture showing the main areas they
plan to cover.)
Again, before the lecture, video, or film begins and if circumstances permit,
you can do a quick-fire two-minute Mind Map burst of your existing knowledge
on the subject, in order to prepare your brain to take in new information.
As time progresses, you can fill in the information and ideas on your original
Mind Map wherever they seem most relevant, adjusting your basic structure if
necessary. As with Mind Mapping a book, you should always include your own
comments and contributions in response to those of the lecturer.
Don’t worry if the information you are receiving becomes disorganised and
your Mind Map notes appear ‘messy’. As we have already seen, so-called
‘neat’ linear note-taking is actually a far less efficient means of communicating
information to the brain.
Lana Israel, the girl mentioned in Chapter 22, page 217, obviously uses
Mind Maps as a standard part of her school life. Her Mind Map on page 242
is a combination of note-taking, and essay and exam preparation. As Lana said:

‘This M ind Map is taken straight from my history notes. M y teacher

usually lectures every day and naturally I M ind Map his lectures. This
M ind Map deals with America’s earliest political parties and their stands.
The central image illustrates the split in politics which lead to the formation
of two separate parties. Just by glancing at my image, I am made aware
of the theme of the Map and general characteristics of the parties. Democrats
being more common men and Federalists more concerned with aristocracy.
The use ofpictures in M ind Mapped notes is wonderfulfor chunking down
concepts, recalling information and making history fun. The equivalent of ^
this Map, linearly, is at least two to three pages of linear notes - studying
three pages rather than one is certainly not fun. Furthermore, this Map
can be reviewed in under a minute, saving time and enabling one to
remember more as key words are strongly linked. The use ofM ind Mapping
adds so much more to study: fun, uniqueness, creativity, stronger recall, >
organisation while subtracting tedious hours of cramming, review and
revising. A t the same time M ind Maps have helped me get As in History -
“A ” Definite Advantage!’

REVIEW ING YOUR M IND MAP NOTES

Having completed your Mind Map notes, you should review them regularly in
order to maintain your understanding and recall of what you have learnt. The
natural rhythms of your memory are discussed in detail in Tony Buzan’s Usd
CREA TING TH E M ASTER M IN D M AP

Your Memory, Chapter 11, and Use Your Head, Chapter 5. The essential points
are summarised here.
For a 1-hour period of study the optimum intervals and time limits for review
after the study are as follows:
• After 10 minutes - take a 10-minute review
• After 24 hours - take a 2-4 minute review
• After a week - take a 2-minute review
• After a m onth - take a 2-minute review
• After six months - take a 2-minute review
• After a year - take a 2-minute review
The information will then be stored in the long-term memory.
Rather than just looking at your original M ind M ap for each review, it is best
to start by doing another quick-fire M ind M ap burst of what you remember.
This will show what you are able to recall without any assistance. You can
then check against your original M ind Map, adjusting any discrepancies and
strengthening any areas of weak recall.

C REA TING A M A ST E R M IN D MAP

If you are involved in a long-term course of study it is a good idea to keep a
giant M aster M ind Map reflecting the major sub-divisions, themes, theories,
personalities and events in that subject. Every time you read a book or go to a
lecture, you can record any major new insight on your M aster M ind Map,
thus creating an external mirror-image of your growing network of internal
knowledge. In Chapter 27, page 271, a multiple-purpose M aster M ind Map
outlines their uses in handling a management emergency!
The M ind M ap on page 243 on bird classification and ‘orders’ by Brian
Heller, a devoted amateur ornithologist and senior executive with IB M , is an
1excellent example of such an external mirror-image. On a single page, Brian
has managed to summarise a life-time of knowledge.
Those who have done this notice a surprising and rewarding trend. After a
I reasonable length of time, the boundaries of the M ind M ap begin to edge into
| other subjects and disciplines. Thus the periphery of a M aster M ind Map on
psychology begins to touch on neurophysiology, mathematics, philosophy,
I astronomy, geography, meteorology, ecology, and so on.
i This does not mean that your knowledge structure is disintegrating and
[ moving too far from the point. It actually means that your knowledge is
I becoming so deep and extensive that it is beginning to relate to other areas of
I knowledge. This is the stage of intellectual development familiar to the great
I thinkers of history where all disciplines are found to relate to all others. It is

241
THE M IN D MAP BOOK

also the stage at which your Master Mind Map helps you to contribute to the
continuing expansion of human knowledge.

BENEFITS OF M IND MAP NOTES AND THE

MASTER MIND MAP

X They enable you to keep the whole knowledge ‘picture* in view at all
times, thus giving you a more balanced and comprehensive understanding of
the subject in its entirety. -I

^ They take up far less space than linear notes. Between 10 and 1,000
pages of text can be summarised on one large Mind Map page.

3 They give your brain a central focus and structure within which to
integrate your knowledge of any subject.
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THE M IN D MAP BOOK

They increase your brain’s ‘hunger’ for knowledge.

^ They allow you to relate your own thoughts and ideas to those expressed
in books, lectures or presentations.

They are far more effective and efficient for review purposes.

/ They enhance your memory and understanding of books, lectures and

presentations, enabling you to excel in any course of study.

ONW ORD
Having completed their formal education, many people find employment in
business or in one of the professions. The next few chapters show how you can
use Mind Mapping to make your working life easier, more enjoyable and more
productive.

244
SECTION D
Business and Professional
CH APTER 25

M e e t in g s

P r e v ie w
• Foreword
• M ind Mapping as individuals
• M ind Mapping as a group
• Chairing a meeting with a M ind Map
• Benefits of M ind Maps for meetings
• Onword

FO R EW O R D
At meetings everyone should ideally be both a presenter and a member of the
audience. Using Mind Maps results in active participation, both at individual
and group level, and active participation is the key to a truly stimulating and
productive meeting.

M IN D M A P P IN G AS IN D IV ID U A L S
Using the techniques already described in Chapter 14 (pages 139-146) and
Chapter 24 (pages 235-44), individuals can create their own Mind Maps
throughout the meeting.
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THE M IN D M AP BOO K

The subject of the meeting provides the central image, and the major items
on the agenda correspond to the main branches. As the meeting progresses,
you can add ideas and information wherever they seem most relevant. Alter­
natively, you may wish to have a mini-Mind M ap for each speaker. As long as
these are all on the same large sheet of paper, it will be quite easy to indicate
cross-references as themes and trends begin to emerge.
Once again, there is no need to worry if your M ind Map notes look ‘messy’.
They are simply reflecting the confused state of communication at that par­
ticular time, and can always be clarified and redirected later on.
The M ind M ap on page 246 was made by Lady M ary Tovey at a four-hour
meeting of the Executive Council of T he Brain Trust charity. The central image
wittily depicted the central theme of the meeting, and the M ind Map itself
covered the equivalent of eight pages of standard minutes. The particularly ;
useful technique that Lady M ary used on the M ind M ap was the recording of
the positions of the people at the board table throughout the meeting - an extra
and very helpful mnemonic aid.
The M ind Map on page 251 is another example of a multi-lingual Mind
M ap incorporating Japanese and English. T he M ind M ap was done by a senior
executive of IBM Japan and was made as an on-going record of meetings both
professional and social over a three-day period in Barcelona, Spain. This Mind
M ap also served as the basis for a presentation upon the return of the executive
to his local business centre in Japan.

M IN D M A PPIN G AS A G R O U P
As well as individual M ind M aps, it is advisable to have a Master Mind Map
on a large board, screen or chart that is visible to all. In this way the elected
scribe can register every contribution and place it within the overall structure
of the meeting.
This avoids the all-too-common problem of good or brilliant ideas being
discarded, or never emerging, because the traditional methods of structuring
meetings and recording minutes counteract the growth of natural group com­
munication.
A group M ind M ap can incorporate both brain storming and planning. A
M ind M ap was created to summarise a meeting between Chess Grandmaster
Raymond Keene, OBE, Lord Brocket, Annette Keene, Vanda North and
Tony Buzan. T he meeting concerned the continuance of Brocket Hall as an
international centre for M ind Sports and also as the venue for a series of other

p r e v io u s p a g e : Natural Architecture Plate 27

M EETINGS

events including the World Draughts (Checkers) Championships, the World

Memory Championships, various Chess Championships, the launching of
books and a massive Mental Olympic Games.
Location, finance and marketing were all considered in depth. As a result of
the meeting six new Mind Sports events were established.
A particular advantage of using Mind Maps in meetings is that the Mind
Map gives a clearer and more balanced picture of the true content of the
meeting. Research shows that in traditional meetings preference is given either
to those who speak first, last, loudest, with particular accents, with a higher
level of vocabulary, or with a greater position of authority. The Mind Map cuts
through this informational prejudice, gives a more objective and integrated
view which allows everyone to be heard and encourages balanced participation
and increased teamwork.

Ch a i r i n g a m e e t i n g w i t h a m i n d m a p
Mind Maps are particularly useful for chairing meetings. The chairperson has
the agenda on a basic Mind Map and can use this fundamental frame to add
| thoughts, guide discussions, and record the basic outline of what will eventually
be the minutes of the meeting. Colour coding can be used to indicate action,
pideas, question marks, and important areas. Chairing a meeting this way allows
lithe person in the chair to be much like a captain of a starship guiding it safely
■through the clusters and galaxies of ideas.
H A variation on this theme is to have an official Mind Map-minuter, sitting
Inext to the chairman, in order to enable the chairman to participate on many
Bevels at the same time, while keeping a constant overview of the developing
■thrust of the meeting.
» O n e individual who used this Mind Mapping approach with particular
Buccess was Fidelity’s Bruce Johnstone. In a January issue of Money magazine,
Ithe feature article on Johnstone explained how he had ground out average
Bjnnual returns of 21 per cent over the past ten years and had become ‘America’s
(Best Income Investor’. The article states:

‘Several books in his office mark him as a man determined to make the
most of his mind: such titles as The Brain User’s Guide and Use Both
Sides of Your Brain. One fruit of his studies is the M ind Map, a note-
taking diagram that marshalls key words and ideas on a single page. A t
fortnightly staff meetings, often with thirty or so analysts and fund man­
agers on hand, Johnstone sits at one end of the conference table diagraming
the discussion, while Peter Lynch, mastermind of Fidelity Magellan, the
THE M IND MAP BOOK

nation’s best growth fund, rations each speaker to three minutes with an
egg-timer. A t one session last November, for example, Johnstone drew a
green branch on which he wrote “AT& T - maybe - deregulatedBran­
ching off, in purple, was another line labelled eflexibility - raise - rates"
and another marked “B translation: buy AT& T!” After the meeting
Johnstone ordered 20,000 shares at 25 dollars. In two weeks the price went
to 27 dollarsT

BENEFITS OF MIND MAPS FOR MEETINGS

1 They ensure that every member understands the viewpoints of the other
members.

2 They place all contributions in context.

J Including all individual contributions on the Mind Map increases energy,

enthusiasm and co-operation within the group.

Each member of the group has a complete record of the meeting, thus
ensuring that everyone understands and remembers exactly what has been
decided.

^ Because Mind Maps are such an efficient means of communication.

Mind Map meetings usually take about one-fifth of the time taken by traditional
meetings.

They increase the probability of stated goals being reached.

ONWORD
As we have seen, most meetings also involve presentations. The next chapter
focuses on using Mind Maps to enhance your skill in presenting ideas and
information in business.

— 250 —
M E E T IN G S
251

M ulti-lingual M in d M a p o f a meeting over three days in Spain (see page 248).

C H A P T E R 26

P r e s e n t a t io n s

Preview
• Foreword
• Using Mind Maps to prepare a presentation
• Mind Mapping versus linear preparation
• Giving a Mind Mapped presentation
• Example of a Mind Mapped presentation
• Benefits of Mind Maps for presentations
• Onword

FOREWORD
Presentations - on a one-to-one basis, in small or large groups, on radio or
television - are a vital part of business life today. Yet an amazing number of
people are terrified of public speaking, ranking their fear of making speeches?’
above their fear of spiders, snakes, diseases, war and even death! This chapter!
looks at how Mind Maps can help in overcoming fear thereby enabling you
to prepare and present your information and ideas clearly, interestingly and
effectively. There are also some amusing examples of how not to give speechii
and presentations!

USING MIND MAPS TO PREPARE A PRESENTATION

Business is actually far more closely related to education than is common!!
realised. In both environments, communication is central. And any act of
communication involves imparting and receiving information; in other wordsa
teaching and learning.
So preparing business presentations is almost identical to preparing exam­
ination or essay Mind Maps (see Chapter 22). It also bears many similarities»
to self-analysis and problem solving Mind Mapping (see Chapters 18 and 19)1
-2 5 2
PRESENTATIONS

I Having drawn your central image, the first step is to do a quick-fire Mind
I Map burst of any ideas that come to mind which are in any way connected
Ito the topic you have chosen.
i Look again at your quick-fire Mind Map, organise your main branches and
Kjb-branches, and fill in any other key words that come to mind. As each key
■word will take up at least 1 minute of your presentation, it’s a good idea to
Restrict your Mind Map to a maximum of 50 key words and images for a
I 1-hour speech.
I Look at your Mind Map again and pare it down even further, getting rid of all
Extraneous material. At this stage you should also put in codes to indicate where
■youwishto insert slides, videos, particular cross-references, examples, and so on.
[i Now consider the order in which you wish to present your main branches
1 and number them accordingly.
■Finally, allocate an appropriate length of time to each branch, and then just
Hollow your own instructions!

IlIND MAPPING VERSUS LINEAR PREPARATION

■There are several disadvantages to linear methods of preparing speeches:

Because the speaker has to keep referring to written notes, he or she

loses eye contact with the audience.

| Having to ‘hold on’ to the notes makes it impossible to reinforce major

points with physical gestures.

I Written English is very different from spoken English. ‘Grammatically

Prrect’ written language is inappropriate for a spoken presentation, and will
^B st certainly induce extreme boredom in the audience. A Mind Map gives
Rpresenter a perfect balance between the spontaneity of natural talk and the
Bructure of worked-out ideas. This powerful combination is the key to effective
ted confident) presentation.

I I A pre-prepared speech is always ‘out of date’. It does not allow the

speaker to adjust to the audience’s immediate needs or to adapt the speech in
Ksponse to points made by other speakers.

253
PRESENTATIONS

J After about 20 minutes, the attention of the people in the first 30 rows
tends to be less on the content of the speech than on how many pages are left!

6 Being totally dependent on any inflexible form has inherent dangers.

7 Because the speaker is chained to his notes it is difficult to adjust the

presentation so that it finishes within the allocated time.
Here are a couple of true stories to illustrate these points.
Our first presenter had to make a speech at a three-day design conference in
Washington DC, USA. The conference was attended by 2300 delegates and
our man was number 72 out of 75 speakers. He had to give his prepared speech
from behind a podium and he was allotted the ‘graveyard shift’ - the slot that
starts immediately after lunch.
He was not a trained speaker, and as he approached the end of his 45-minute
[presentation most of the audience were dozing off. They all awoke at the
[screamed conclusion of his speech, which was, ‘Oh my God! The last page has
gone!’ The last page had indeed disappeared. And in that moment of sheer
terror he had not the faintest idea what was on it!
L Our second presenter was an admiral who was known for his ability to make
| even the most boring prepared speeches sound interesting. He could read a
ispeech in much the same way as an audio-typist transcribes it - perfectly but
[without any knowledge of its content.
I This admiral was asked to give a speech to some senior naval officials and,
as he was short of time, he asked his aide to prepare a 1-hour speech for him.
L He gave his presentation but began to suspect that something was amiss
lyhen, after an hour, he found that he still had about the same number of pages
; to go.
f t Finally the truth dawned - he had been given two copies of the same speech.
But the real horror was that the copies were ordered page 1, page 1, page 2,
page 2, page 3, page 3, and so on. Because of his senior rank, no one had dared
■point out that perhaps this was carrying the mnemonic value of repetition a bit
[too far! A Mind Map would have saved him the embarrassment.

GIVING A M IN D MAPPED PRESENTATION

In contrast to linear notes, a Mind Map gives the speaker freedom and flexibility
o p p o s it e : Natural Architecture Plate 28

255
THE M IN D MAP BOOK

as well as order and precision.

If the audience has particular needs or questions that arise, either before or
during the speech, you can immediately link them into the Mind Map. Equally,
if the time available for your presentation suddenly expands or shrinks, you can
edit quickly and easily. The flexibility of a Mind Map allows you to monitor
your progress easily and to accelerate or expand your presentation accordingly.
Exactly timed performances are impressive in themselves as well courteous to
other speakers and the audience.
Likewise, if the previous speaker has made similar points but with more
knowledge or force than you, then you can quickly add to or alter your Mind
Map, highlighting these points for agreement and thus form the ‘brilliant him,
brilliant me’ association!
On the other hand, if the previous speaker has made misinformed or illogical
comments, these can also be linked into your Mind Map and then expanded
in your presentation in order to encourage subsequent discussion and debate, j
To hold the audience’s interest and ensure that they follow the pattern of
thought, you can build up a Mind Map as the speech progresses, introducin|jl
it as a ‘simple little map of ideas’.

E x a m p l e o f a m in d m a p p e d p r e s e n t a t io n
The Mind Map on page 258 forms the basis of a presentation on the prediction*
of John Naisbitt, the futurist. The central image is a picture of Naisbitt and the
arrow from the top of his head represents his vision of the future, from 19901
to the year 2000. The ten numbered branches correspond to the ten major I
areas of change predicted by Naisbitt over this time span.
In summary, Naisbitt predicts that the economy will become information^
based and global; that the world will experience another renaissance in the !
arts, literature and spirituality; that the major cities will decline as centres of
commerce; that socialism in the form of state welfare will disappear; that
English will become the global language; that the media will become electronic;!
interlinked and global; that the major business area will shift from the Adantic I
to the Pacific Rim; that politics will become individual and entrepreneurial!!
that growth in all areas will be seen as infinite; and that trade will be free. As a
result of these changes, the overall trend will be towards a general lessening of |
war and conflict. All these changes can be seen in the context of Naisbitt’s first |
set of megatrends, shown in the box in the top left-hand area of the Mind Map. ]
This Mind Map forms the basis of a discussion, lasting from a day to a week, I
of the future of the planet. It was made by Tony Buzan, using the technique«
described in Chapters 14, 16 and 24, during a two-day seminar held in I
PRESENTATIONS

Stockholm in 1987. At this seminar John Naisbitt presented his ideas to a

group consisting of government, business, professional and educational leaders.
The second Mind Map (page 259 top) was prepared by Tony Buzan, Dean
of the Young Presidents’ Organisation Faculty, as a welcoming speech given to
an international body of professors and dignitaries (who were lecturing aboard
the QE2). The Mind Map served as both the basis for the opening speech and
also as a review for the participating Faculty.
t The third Mind Map (page 259 bottom) is by Raymond Keene, OBE,
(Grandmaster in Chess, Chess Correspondent for The Times and Spectator, and
the most prolific author on chess and thinking in the history of the field. The
Mind Map was in preparation for a lecture Raymond Keene gave in Spanish
on Spanish TV (Television Espana for the programme En Jaque). The Mind
Map was on the great sixteenth century Spanish chess player and writer Ruy
Lopez and the intellectual and political influences of his time. As Keene says:

‘The virtue of a Mind Map when preparing a speech or writing an article

is two-fold: the writer is constantly stimulated by the branching trees of
ideas to new and more daring thoughts; while at the same time the key
words and images ensure that in the verbiage of speaking and writing, no
majorpoint is overlooked.
The Mind Map is particularly useful in this context. Without turning
[ or shuffling any pages, it is possible to inform the audience in advance
about the structure and key points. Because you are always operatingfrom
I me sheet, you can tell your audience what you plan to say, you can say it
f zoith confidence and then you can recap to demonstrate you have proved
I your point. With linear notes, the danger is ending simply where the notes
| stop, in essence a random moment, often determined by chronology rather
; than meaning.
Assuming that the lecturer has complete command of his or her subject,
I the key words act as a catalyst for enthusiasm and ex tempore ideas
I instead of a dry recitation offacts often determined by dates (i.e. lecture
I starts at the beginning of subject’s life and finishes at the end) rather than
ft significant content. If the lecturer does not have perfect grasp of the subject,
I- linear notes simply make it worse. Whether writing an article or giving a
I verbal lecture, the Mind Map acts like a steering wheel to navigate through
■ the main oceans of the presentation ’

It is worth noting that Keene wrote this as part of an article for The Times; and
it was based on the Mind Map he used for his presentation on Spanish
television.
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PRESENTATIONS

Mind Map by Tony Buzan for welcoming speech (see page 257).

mind, Map by Raymond Keene OBE in preparationfor a lecture given on Spanish television
(seepage 257).
THE M IN D MAP BOOK

Mind Maps have proved so useful in presentations, that psychologist and

author Michael J. Gelb has written an entire book, Present Yourself, based on
Radiant Thinking and the Mind Map approach. Not surprisingly, to present
the book he devised a complete Mind Map.

BEN EFITS OF M IND MAPS FOR PRESENTATIONS

1 They increase eye contact with the audience.

2 They give you freedom of movement.

3 They increase involvement, both for the speaker and the audience.

4 They utilise a greater range of cortical skills.

^ They enable you to adapt your presentation to the needs of the audience
and to time it precisely.

They make it easier to alter or expand on key points.

7
fori
They result in a more memorable, effective and enjoyable performance
for both the speakers and the audience.

8 They give you the freedom to be yourself.

ONW ORD
Having explored the specific applications of Mind Mapping for meetings and
presentations, the next chapter broadens the focus to look at the way Mind
Maps can be used to enhance communication and increase efficiency in many
other management situations.
CHAPTER 27

M a n ag em en t

P review
• Foreword
• Using Mind Maps for management
• Examples of management Mind Maps
• Benefits of Mind Maps for management
• Onword

FOREWORD
Management with Mind Maps is a book in itself, and, on many levels, it is the
book you have almost finished reading! This chapter shows how all the pre­
viously described Mind Map applications can be brought together in a man­
agement context to increase efficiency, productivity and enjoyment.

USING M IND MAPS FOR MANAGEMENT

Mind Maps can be used by every individual in a business or professional
organisation in any situation where linear notes would normally be taken.
I To begin with, the day can be planned using a Mind Map diary (see Chapter
120). Subsequently, telephone calls, meetings, counselling sessions and inter-
[views can all be Mind Mapped, to ensure that the participants have a full and
[accurate grasp of what has been discussed and agreed.
By using Mind Maps in their training courses, companies like EDS, Digital
[Computers and British Petroleum have already found that they can make huge
^savings - in some cases as much as 80 per cent! In fact D r Mike Stanley, Project
Leader at the Boeing Aircraft Corporation in Seattle, reduced an aircraft design
itlanual to a 25 foot long Mind Map which won him awards within the company
[(see pages 170-71). Stanley says:

261
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M ANAGEM ENT

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Mm<i Map fcy Nigel Temple, founder o f Temple M arketing in Britain, used as the basis for
discovering the marketing needs o f each customer (seepage 267).
TH E M IN D M A P BOOK

‘The use of M ind Mapping is an integral part o f my Quality Improvement

programme here at Boeing. This programme has provided savings of over
$10 million this year for my organisation (ten times our goal). We have
developed a unique application of M ind M apping techniques to identify
Quality Improvement projects here at Boeing. Within one month’s timey
over 500 projects were identified which represent millions of dollars of
potential cost savings’

In addition to increasing the speed and efficiency of learning, Mind Maps over­
come the usual memory loss curve, whereby 80 per cent of what is learnt is
forgotten within 24 hours. Reviewing M ind Maps at the intervals recom­
mended in Chapter 24 ensures that what is learnt is both ‘held’ and utilised by the
brain. In general, the skills previously covered - making choices; organising your
own and other people’s ideas; individual and group creativity; analysis; defining
and solving problems; setting time and am ount targets; and especially memory
and communication - are essential to successful management.

Ex a m p l e s o f m a n a g e m e n t m in d m a ps

X Management Structure
M ind Maps can be used to structure an entire organisation, to act as a stabilising!
vision for the organisation, and to explain the organisation to others. The Mind
Map on page 262 is by M r Jan Pieter H. Six, Vice-President of Interpolis, a
Dutch insurance company. In both structuring and explaining his organisation
to others, Six considered: organisation; roots; co-operation; acquisitions; salesd
and reorganisation.

Organisation

The organisational development will be looked upon from two points of view:
level of command (top, division, branch or department) and dominance in
the organisational structure of product (life/non-life), customer (farmers/':
individuals/business) or region.

Roots

Interpolis is rooted in the Catholic agricultural cooperatives. The farmers are

organised into four Catholic farmers’ unions, one in each diocese. These unions

264
MANAGEMENT

have created their own cooperative institutions like banks, a pension fund and
insurance companies, originally mutual fire insurance companies.

Cooperation

In 1969 the pension fund and the four insurance companies merged into
Interpolis. Four years later the five companies were concentrated in Tilburg.
The organisational structure was heavily determined by product.

Acquisitions

In 1972, Interpolis acquired specialist hail insurer Hagelunie, followed in 1985

by general insurer De Twaalf Gewesten. Both companies have a joint office
called Triadome. Specialist cattle insurer Paarden-Vee-Unie is Interpolis’ latest
acquisition.

Sales

Interpolis sells its products through intermediaries. Three distribution channels

can be distinguished: the 800+ Rabobanks, the 60 LLTB-agents and 100+
NEVAT-agents.
1 Until recent years the sales staff consisted of a marketing department and
; five regional sales organisations, each with its general and specialist inspectors.

[Reorganisation

[Reorganisation brought many changes between 1987 and 1989. In 1987 the
t specialist inspectors were detached from Sales, transformed into several special­
ist corps and added to three branches.

2m Marketing
The Mind Map is a major tool in marketing. Temple Marketing in Britain uses
a ‘Marketing Matrix Mind Map’ (MMMM) to plan the marketing needs of
■eyery customer.
I The Mind Map on page 263 is by Nigel Temple, President and Chief
■Executive Officer of Temple Marketing, and forms the basis of their marketing
I plan with every client.
I The Mind Map considers: the range of products the client wishes to market;
jthe business and marketing objectives of the client; the prime messages the

265
THE M IN D MAP BOOK

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Completed EDS *Championship ’ Mind Map (see pages 266-7).

client wishes to get across to the public and the medium by which they wish to
do so; the nature and structure of the consultancy agreements; the use of
various media and the inclusion or exclusion of them in the overall marketing
plan; the nature of the response desired and the means for monitoring that
response; and the target markets in the near, mid and long-term future. As the
Temple group says:

(We use M ind Mapping to improve our account planning and issue-managemetm
process on all levels. In brain-storming sessions, for example, wefind Mind Mapping
to be a powerful toolfor recording the creative output in a more logical order.’

«J Leadership
Electronic Data Systems (EDS), the information systems conglomerate, makes
the teaching of Mental literacy among its employees a prime corporate goal.
One main feature of this campaign is the development of leadership capa­
bilities. To accomplish this it was essential to establish a complete under­
standing of what individual project goals were and to establish the purpose of
the leader or ‘champion* for the many and various projects.
MANAGEMENT

MindMap by Thomas H. Schaper ofthe Association International Management in Germany,

on incorporating effective use of time management in life (see below).

To identify the role of the champion in each project group, the entire group
was handed a blank Mind Map (see page 268), which they then, as a group,
filled in. As Jim Messerschmitt and Tony Messina, the Directors of the projects
and originators of the Mind Maps, said:

‘It worked especially well, took a very short period of time, and everyone
had a complete understanding of what we were trying to accomplish and
what the purpose of their champion leader was*

An example of a completed leadership/champion Mind Map can be seen

ppposite.

A
■ Time Management
As discussed in Chapter 20 the Mind Map is especially useful for time man­
agement. The Mind Map above was done by Thomas H. Schaper of the
(Association International Management in Gottingen, Germany.
I Schaper’s Mind Map deals with his instructions to other managers on the
[effective use of their time in the management of their lives. The Mind Map

— 267 —
THE M IN D MAP BOOK

t f l N b MAP

‘Championship* Mind Map used by Jim Messerschmitt and Tony Messinas Director of
Leadership Project at EDS. This is the first stage (seepage 267).

focuses on target areas: the nature of planning (incorporating a German

mnemonic ‘ALPEN’ for the prime steps in personal time management); the
nature of biological rhythms; and the maximisation of energy by the appropriate;
management of one’s time.
As often happens with Mind Maps, Schaper has found his to serve multiple j
purposes. It helped him streamline his own time and self-management and
enabled him to guide his colleagues. Mind Maps became a focal point of
interest, making him an expert in the field and someone who others approaches
for guidance.

S Accountancy - Practice Development

Mind Maps are becoming an increasingly valuable currency in the accounting
field. Award-winning students in the English Institute of Chartered Accountants
use them to prepare for their examinations, tax advisers in such prestigious com­
panies as Price Waterhouse use them for solving problems and advising clients, !
and as can be seen from the Mind Map by Brian Lee (page 270), founding
partnerofB.H.Lee&Company, Accountants, AuditorsandTaxationConsultantsli
Mind Maps are being used in the development and expansion of practices, f l
MANAGEMENT

Lee had three major radiants on his Mind Map: dangers; practice develop­
ment; and expansion. He describes the Mind Map in the following way:

4D angers
The major danger is the overuse of resources by over-committing and over-
extending. It is essential to consider what dangers might exist to the career
structures of Partners and staff when expanding, what pressures would be
felt on income, spending and reinvestment plans and how much energy
might be misplaced, diverted or prove to be too limited.

Practice D evelopm ent

Not only do we need to develop, we need to consolidate. There is no point
in obtaining new customers if at the same time you lose old ones. It is also
important to realise that development applies to staff as well as clients.
Development can be achieved by marketing, advertising, referrals and in
particular,from existing clients. This can all be aided by holding budget meet­
ings, emphasising other services and seminars and holding special events.

E xp a n sio n
Expansion needs to be defined. It revolves around a number of initial
questions. Who is expanding: Partners, Associates, customers, staff? When
is the expansion to take place? Over what period? Where are you aiming
to expand, i.e. the place, catchment area? Are you intending to do so by
joint venture, purchasing other business, co-operating with others orforming
otherpartnerships? Also, how do you identify opportunities in each of those
areas and what might persuade somebody to join in such an expansion
plan, i.e. them being able to retire, take holidays, have on-hand help,
expand a business empire, or lessen responsibility and at the same time
actually make more money! What are the costs involved in such expansion:
capital costs, resource costs and costs against normal rate of income?
Care should be exercised in using methods to achieve expansion and
identify opportunities. What are the reasons? Where is the money coming
[ from? Will it make a profit? Is it secure? Does it give the status that
[ everybody requires? External and internal along with other areas ofknow-
[ ledge exist and should be used in pursuit of the answers to these questions.’

I Lee summarises:

r \Accountancy traditionally works within a very logical and sometimes

ft restricted framework. Mind Mapping takes thought far beyond these
I boundaries’
THE M IN D MAP BOOK

Mind Map by B. H. Lee of B. H. Lee & Company, Accountants on the developments

dangers, and expansion of a business practice (seepages 268-9).

6 Multiple Uses-in-One
f Jean-Luc Kastner, a Senior Manager in Hewlett Packard Medical Products?!
Group Europe, was confronted with a problem. His company manufactures a
computer system that is able to monitor and analyse the rhythms of the heart,
detecting malfunctions early enough to alert the attending physician in order
to take proper corrective actions. They run a four-day ‘Cardiac Arrhythmia
Training Course* taught by specialised trainers.
One day the staff member in charge of this application training reported ill!
and was going to be absent for two months. Kastner, as ‘the boss’ and as the
only person with enough background information to even consider runnings
the course, was obliged to fill in for his employee. The emergency required that
he organise and supplement his existing knowledge and teach the course, i

The ‘Cardiac Arrhythmia Training9is a course intended to provide HPapplicatim

support engineers with in-depth knowledge of:
• the human heart physiology
• the main rhythm problems and their consequence
• computer algorithm works
• arrhythmia system operation.

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THE M IN D M A P BOO K

In addition trainees must be able to:

• train the end user (a nurse or a doctor)
• explain some o f the features that may lead the device into difficult situations
(The computer is still not as good as a cardiologist!)

U sing the M ind M ap Teaching M ethod

This training course seemed to be an ideal case for testing teaching by M ind Maps on
a very difficult subject.
I developed the course within five days by M ind M apping the existing materiaI,
with the following goals:
a) To have all students pass successfully the graduation tests at the end of the 4 days.
b) To have all students build their own reference manuals.
c) To not use overhead projections (unless a copy o f a medical record).
d) To improve the recallfactor after one month by 100% (it was often well below 40%)*
e) To have both teacher and students enjoy the experience.

S tru ctu re
The training was structured using the Master M ind M ap as a *road map’. Each
branch represented one major topic, and for each branch I developed a detailed Mind
M ap designed in order to be reproduced on a flip chart. Every second hour a major
break was taken.

The Course
A t the beginning of the course the trainees were instructed to leave all personal writing
materials outside the room. They were confronted with tables that had only A3 blank
sheets o fpaper and a wide variety of coloured pens.
The trainees were introduced to M ind Maps. For the 4 days to come they were
requested to copy from the flip chart whatever M ind M ap notes the teacher made* ■
The course was organised in sections o f 40 minutes, with 10 minute breaks. During
these breaks trainees had access to computer-aided training tools that simulatedpatient
electro-cardiograms (ECGs). They tested their knowledge as the course progressed.M
When one branch o f the Master M ind M ap was completed the trainees were asked
to develop their own Master M ind Maps. For this purpose a gigantic sheet of paper
was posted on the wall and the group as a whole participated in building the Master
M ind M ap [see page 271].
A t the end of the day, the students were asked to copy the Master M ind Map on
their own documents and to review and file the documents of the day.
On the next morning one o f the students reviewed the Master M ind Map of the
previous day with the group. The next activity then started.
A t the end o f the course and before the fin a l test the group reviewed the Master
MANAGEMENT

Mind Map and discussed it in detail.

The final 2-hour examination (requiredfor graduation) was then taken.

Results
We have run the course based on the outline described. (Twelve students, from
England, France, Germany, Italy and Ireland attended.) A ll twelve graduated with
18 out of 20 - the best grade even
I conducted an informal survey after one month and the recallfactor was well above
70%. In fact out of 10 questions asked, they could answer, on average, nine of them!
Coursefeedback was excellent, the studentsjudged the method to be more successful,
more useful and more fun than the old slide-show-based course. Some students even
commented that the pace of the M ind Map-based course was much better adapted to
trainees whose English knowledge was not perfect. This demonstrates the success of
Mind Map-based training.
The M ind Map-based course has been run in the meantime 4 times by different
trainers with comparable results.
Mind Map teaching is definitely the teaching tool of the 90s.

BENEFITS OF M IN D MAPS FOR M ANAGEMENT

1 They result in better management and organisation, leading to a happier,

more motivated workforce. This in turn means fewer working days lost through
illness and a better public image for the company.

2 They improve communication between members of staff.

3 They make training more efficient and effective.

^ They can make marketing and promotion more focused, leading to

improved sales.

ONWORD
The computer Mind Map has only very recently been achieved. The next
chapter explains how computer technology interacts with human technology.
CHAPTER 28

C om puter M in d M a p p in g

P review
• Foreword
• Creating and editing a Computer Mind Map
• Scale and depth
• Data organisation
• Tracking spontaneous thoughts
• Group participation
• Outputs
• The future of Computer Mind Mapping

FOREWORD
Until just before the publication of The Mind Map Book, Mind Maps had
always been created using coloured pens and paper. But now technology makes
it possible to Mind Map using computers, because they now have enough
memory capacity, speed and software capability to allow Mind Maps to be
drawn on screen.
At the moment computer Mind Mapping cannot compete with the infinite
visual variety, portability and ‘minimum tool requirement’ of traditional Mind
Mapping techniques. However, the areas where computer Mind Mapping can
offer a significant improvement to personal productivity are the areas of:
automatic Mind Map generation; Mind Map editing; data storage; data
retrieval; text input; and the organisation of data. The creation of many different
variations of the same Mind Map is also facilitated and accelerated.
This chapter introduces the work of Peter Barrett, who worked in conjunction
with the authors to create the Mind Map Plus software.
C O M PUTER M IN D M A PPIN G

Natural Architecture Plate 30

- 275 -
THE M IN D MAP BOOK

CREATING AND E D IT IN G A COM PUTER MIND MAP

Creating a Computer Mind Map is very simple. From your directory screen
you select ‘Make a new Mind Map*. This selection immediately creates a new
display on which you enter the key word for your new Mind Map. Once this
key word, your central image, is entered, the computer automatically draws,
colours and positions your central Mind Map image in the middle of the screen.
In exactly the same way as you do with a standard Mind Map, you add your
main themes and branches, each main branch being simply identified as a key
word entry in your computer. All sub-branches are automatically positioned
and coloured, each sub-branch inheriting the colour of the main theme.
In its creative stage, Mind Mapping encourages you to get information down
with ease and flow and not to worry too much about precise structure and the
correct placement of ideas. The new Computer Mind Mapping provides an
excellent separation of the creative and editing parts of the process.
Once created, branches can be repositioned, recoloured, copied, moved, and
even the complete structure reorganised as required. Every single element or
sub-section of each branch and indeed each branch itself, can be picked up
and moved to any other location on the Mind Map. Branches can also be
individually coloured with key words different from the branch line, and key
words can be plain or in panelled backgrounds, all allowing for coding of
themes, allocation of tasks, and the defining of different areas of responsibility;!
With Computer Mind Mapping, you become an accelerated architect of
ideas, able to experiment in an infinite playground of structures.

SCALE AND DEPTH

The zoom capacity of computers allows Mind Maps of immense size (Mega
Mind Maps) to be created. Eventually the size of the given computer screen
would limit the amount of information that can be clearly seen, a problem)]]
which with manual Mind Maps would require either a redrawing of the Mind
Map on an even larger sheet of paper or continuing on a separate sheet of
paper. The computer alternative is a key feature, there being three options!
available for handling Mega Mind Maps.

X With the new computer technology, Mind Maps can already be drawn
on the screen to a depth offourteen levels. At the more extended levels, some of
the branches of greatest detail are more difficult to read. The computer solves !
this immediately with a zoom facility that enables you to enlarge any given
viewing area. If even further detail is required, the zoom within a zoom can be

276
COMPUTER M IN D M A PPIN G

invoked. This last facility allows you to view any detail of the Mind Map, while
at the same time still maintaining on the screen the original structure of the
overall Mind Map.

2 As a Mega Mind Map grows, ideas near the periphery may become
important enough to become new centres. The Mind Map Computer Pro­
gramme allows any idea or branch to become a new central focus with all the
other elements of the Mega Mind Map arranged and emanating from this new
centre. Thus a vast range of ‘different views’ of the original structure can be
taken, enormously enhancing an understanding of all the interrelationships
contained within the original idea.

3 When a Mind Map becomes so large that it needs to extend beyond even
the fourteen-level stage, the computer allows you to develop each branch or
sub-branch into a complete Mind Map itself. This can then be linked in to the
[main Mind Map, giving you further levels of branch organisation.

DATA ORGANISATION
[One of the major benefits of the new Computer Mind Mapping is the facility
: to organise and reorganise your information. An integrated data organisation
■environment allows you to group files into directories, sub-directories and sub-
Rub-directories, etc., enabling you to locate easily and with instant retrieval
■capability items from any category. The Mind Map Plus allows you to create a
[text file linked to each and any branch of your Mind Map, and to merge these
Ifiles into a single file suitable for word processing.

[TRACKING SPONTANEOUS TH O U G H TS
■Where your data is not ‘organised’, but takes the form of spontaneous thoughts
that you wish to record but which at the time have no other particular associ­
ations, it is always useful to have a place to make notes. In Computer Mind
■Mapping a ‘jotter facility’ allows you to record ideas in any directory or file,
(saving or connecting them as appropriate.

GROUP PARTICIPATION
IA special computer screen display panel for adding new branches to a Mind

277
menu Mind Maps Plus.

THE MIND
278

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t o p l e f t : Computer M ind M ap Plus menu, t o p r i g h t : Zoom view of Computer M in d Map. b e l o w l e f t : Computer M in d M ap branch
‘Plants’ aggregated around itself as a centre, b e l o w r i g h t : Computer M in d M ap branch *Favourite3 on separate M ind Map.
THE M IN D MAP BOOK

Map has been made especially large so that it can be observed easily by a small
group sitting around a computer, much as would be typical of a standard
management or design meeting. In this way, an entire group can contribute to
the development process with one individual acting as the input agent. This
procedure develops a common ownership in the computer Mind Map which
can then be printed or copied for use by all members of the group. (See
Creating the Master Mind Map, Chapter 24.)

O U T PU T S
Mind Map graphics can be printed in either mono or colour on a wide range
of printers and plotters. In addition, text can be directly printed and files
created to help export data to other software for further editing or for use in
other documents. Special PCX files of Mind Maps can be created for inclusion
in manuals.

T H E FUTURE OF COM PUTER M IN D MAPPING

Computer Mind Mapping is in its infancy and with increasingly powerful
computers and more innovative software becoming available, enormous
advances will be made within the next few years. Some features which will be
available in the very near future include:

1 Multi-coloured images to act as the central Mind Map image or to be

attached to any part of any branch.

2 Additional, variegated and organic natural branch patterns.

3 Pen-Pad computer technology will make the input to computers much ;

like traditional Mind Mapping. The inevitable improvement in portable com-1
puter technology will make colour screens universally available at reasonable ;
cost and low weight.
This means that carrying a very powerful computer with a broad range of |
software will become the norm for students, managers and the general user. ;
Mind Mapping software will become linked to other software, providing an
increasing range of appropriate tools for the mentally literate computer user. 1

280
COMPUTER M IN D M A PPIN G

TT Group Mind Maps generated by computer users at different locations

around the world will soon be able to be made via modems and/or networks
allowing the connected members to simultaneously generate a Mega Mind
Map giving rise to the Global Mind Map.

ONWORD
With the growth in tandem of machine and human intelligence, what is our
most likely and possible future? In the final chapter Tony Buzan gives a personal
perspective on a predicted Intelligence Revolution, the rise of Brain Stars, and
the prospect of mentally literate individuals working towards a mentally literate
bociety and a Radiant Thinking radiant future.
THE M I N D MAP BOOK

s»
SECTION E
The Future
C h a p t e r 29

T ow ards a r a d ia n t
THINKING AND MENTALLY
LITERATE WORLD

P review
• Foreword
• The Intelligence Revolution
The brain information explosion
Brain Stars
The Mind Sports Olympiad
• Mental Literacy
1 The Mentally Literate individual
2 The Mentally Literate family
3 The Mentally Literate organisation
4 The Mentally Literate society
5 A Mentally Literate civilisation
• Radiant Thinking HRadiant Future

FOREWORD
The last ch a p ter o f The Mind Map Book lo o k s at the sta rtlin g ly e n co u raging
current trend s in the fie ld o f th in k in g a n d the b ra in , an d the rise o f new heroes
and heroines - the B ra in Stars.

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THE M IN D MAP BOOK

This chapter explores the implications of Radiant Thinking and Mind

Mapping for our future, and examines the possibilities of a Mentally Literate
world from the perspectives of the individual, families, organisations, societies ,
and a global civilisation.

T H E INTELLIGENCE REVOLUTION
As The M ind Map Book goes to press, the world stands on the brink of a major
revolution: the discovery that intelligence can understand its own nature, and
in so doing can enhance and nurture itself. Simultaneously, we are realising
that our main asset is our intellectual capital.
National Olympic squads are currently devoting as much as 50 per cent of
their training time to the development of mental strength and stamina, while
the top US information technology companies alone spend hundreds of millions
of dollars on developing the Mental Literacy skills of their employees.

T he b ra in in fo rm a tio n exp lo sio n

In 1992 alone, interest in our brain power exploded into the popular domain,
as an increasing number of national and international newspapers and maga­
zines ran major feature articles on the workings of the brain.
• Fortune magazine splashed ‘Brain Power’ across its cover, claiming that ‘intel­
lectual capital’ was becoming society’s most valuable asset.
• Omni magazine (twice) featured ‘The Brain and Ageing’ and a ‘Brain Diet’.
• Stern in Germany wrote on ‘The Development of Mental Fitness’.
• Synapsia magazine featured ‘The Development of a Global Brain’.
• Newsweek explored how science was opening new windows on the mind and
featured Mental Literacy in an article that generated a record response.
• Time magazine discussed drugs and the brain.
• US News produced a special double issue featuring creative thinking and
another issue headlining the relationship between mind and body.
• The New Scientist produced a cover illustration featuring twenty brains!
• The Times newspaper in England investigated the neuro-scientific revolution!
• The Wall Street Journal popularised research into the brain cell.
• The September 1992 issue of Scientific American was totally devoted to ‘Mind
and Brain’, featuring memory and learning.

Coinciding with this accelerating media coverage, we are seeing a new breed!
of superstar emerging on the international stage - the Brain Star.
TOWARDS A RADIANT T H IN K IN G AND MENTALLY LITERATE WORLD

B rain S ta rs
The twentieth century started with film stars, and rapidly moved on to singing
stars, rock stars, pop stars and sports stars. This century will end and the next
begin with Brain Stars who demonstrate the principle of a healthy mind in a
healthy body. Already Gary Kasparov, the athletic and dynamic World Chess
Champion, has millions of children around the world pinning posters of him
on the walls of their rooms and dreaming of becoming international chess
Grandmasters and champions.
Similarly, the charming young Hungarian girl Judit Polgar, the youngest ever
chess Grandmaster, is becoming a cult figure. Dominic O’Brien, the first World
Memory Champion, who uses Memory Mind Maps to help him recall record-
breaking amounts of data, now regularly appears on international television.
And then there is Raymond Keene, game master and world record holder for
books written on games and thinking (75+!). Through his Mind Maps, articles,
books and television presentations (see pages 257-60) he has built up a fol­
lowing of 180,000 people who stay up until 1 a.m. to watch his programmes.
Other members of this growing ‘Charge of the Bright Brigade’ include Carl
Sagan, famous astronomer and leader of the billion-dollar-plus search for
extraterrestrial intelligence; Omar Sharif, whose brilliance as a bridge player is
now outshining his career as an actor; Edward De Bono, who travels around
the world speaking to vast audiences about lateral thinking; Bobby Fischer, the
weight-lifting American chess genius who resurrected the game in the public’s
consciousness, and who recently returned at the age of 50 to beat Boris Spassky;
and Stephen Hawking, the Cambridge physicist, whose book A Brief History of
Time has, to date, been on the bestseller lists for longer than any other book in
the history of publishing.
These Brain Stars and mental athletes were recently joined by the extra­
ordinary polymath and Professor of mathematics, 65-year-old D r Marion
Tinsley, the World Draughts/Checkers Champion. Tinsley, disproving all the
myths about age and mental abilities, has been the world number 1 since 1954,
during which time he has lost only seven games. He recently beat the world’s
new number 2 player, Chinook, a computer programme. Stating that he was
using only a small part of his brain’s Radiant Thinking abilities, Tinsley crushed
a computer that could calculate three million moves a minute, and which had
fa database of over 27 billion positions!
Paralleling this trend is the growing popularity of intellectual quiz pro­
grammes such as Brain of Britain and Mastermind, and the establishment of
prizes such as the Brain Trust’s ‘Brain of the Year’, most recently awarded to
iGary Kasparov for mental games, Chiyonofuji for physical exploits, and Gene
Roddenberry for his work in engineering media.

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THE M IN D MAP BOOK

T he M in d S p o rts O lym p ia d
A recent survey by David Levy, the man who became famous in 1968 for
challenging computers to beat him at chess, and who held them all off for 201
years, has shown a staggering global interest in mental sports. Over 100 million!
people play Trivial Pursuit and Monopoly, while 200 million play Scrabble
and do crosswords. As many as 60 million play bridge, 250 million play
draughts/checkers, and over 300 million play chess.
As a result of this astronomical growth in interest, the first Mental Olympic;]
Games will be held in 1994, the year of publication of The M ind Map Book. The
Games will feature competitions in all forms of Radiant Thinking, including all
the major mental games, memory competitions, creative thinking competitions!
and Mind Mapping competitions. Why not enter? Use The M ind Map Book as
your basic training manual!

M E N T A L LITERACY
All these trends reflect the increasing international drive towards Mental
Literacy, defined thus:

As a knowledge of the alphabet and its permutations and combinations

is to traditional literacy, and as a knowledge of numbers and their
permutations and combinations is to mathematics, so a knowledge of
the biological and conceptual alphabets of the brain and its apparendy
infinite permutations and combinations is to M ental Literacy.

The M ind M ap Book, with its emphasis on the radiant biological and conceptualj
architecture of the brain, is an introduction to M ental Literacy, a concept
which we hope will have profoundly positive effects on the individual, the
family, the organisation, societies, and civilisation in general.

1 The Mentally Literate individual

In our historically ‘mentally illiterate state’, the m ind of the individual is
imprisoned in a relatively small conceptual framework, without the use of
even the m ost prim ary M ental lite ra c y tools with which to help expand this
conceptual framework. Even traditionally ‘well-educated’ and literate indi­
viduals are significantly restricted by the fact that they are able to use a fraction
of the biological and conceptual thinking tools which are available.
TOWARDS A RADIANT TH IN K ING AND MENTALLY LITERATE WORLD

Illustration showing relative sizes of the ‘mental screensyof the illiterate, linear and radiantly
thinking minds. The radiant thinker’s automatic self-enhancingfeedback loop allows the screen
the possibility of becoming infinitely large. (See below.)

Cognitive am plification
The Mentally Literate human is capable of turning on the radiant synergetic
thinking engines, and creating conceptual frameworks and new paradigms of
limitless possibility. The illustration above shows the ‘mental screens’ of the
illiterate, the linear, and the Radiant Thinking mind. It can be seen that this
last screen, by the nature of the intellectual machinery which drives it, continues
to grow with an infinite possibility for size and dimension. It is the Radiant
Thinker’s automatic self-enhancing feedback loop which allows this massive
intellectual freedom, and which reflects the inherent ability of each individual’s
brain - a formidable powerhouse, compact, efficient and beautiful, with poten­
tially limitless horizons.
Applying Radiant Thinking principles to the brain enables you to range more
freely among the major intellectual activities of making choices, remembering
and creative thinking. Knowing the architecture of your thinking allows you to
make choices and decisions using not only your conscious mental processes,
but also your paraconscious - those vast continents, planets, galaxies and
mental universes waiting to be explored by those who are Mentally Literate.
THE MIND MAP BOOK

The Mentally literate individual is also able to see the vital powerhouses of
memory and creative thinking for what they really are: virtually identical mental
processes that simply occupy different places in time. Memory is the re-creation
in the present, of the past. Creativity is the projection, from the present, into the
future, of a similar mental construct. The conscious development of memory or
creativity through the use of Mind Maps automatically increases the strength
of both.
The most effective way for the individual to develop Mental literacy skills,
and to amplify the cognitive screen, is to follow the Radiant Thinking guidelines
outlined in Chapter 10. The guidelines are a training ground for the develop­
ment of mental skills such as those used by the ‘Great Brains’ (see Chapter 2
and pages 295-304). Indeed Leonardo da Vinci, arguably the greatest all­
round user of mental abilities, devised a four-part formula for the development!
of a well-rounded brain that reflects these guidelines perfectly.

Leonardo da Vinci’s Principles for the Development of a Complete Mind

1 Study the science of art.
2 Study the art of science.
3 Develop your senses - especially learn how to see.
4 Realise that everything connects to everything else.

In modern Mind Mapping terms, da Vinci was saying to the individual:

‘Develop all your cortical skills, develop the entire range of your brain’s receiving
mechanisms, and realise that your brain operates synergetically and is an infinitei
and radiant association machine in a radiant universe.’

By applying the Mind Map guiding principles and da Vinci’s laws, the
brain can develop its own uniquely individual expressions, exploring hitherto]
undreamed of domains. As Professor Petr Anokhin continued, after the quote I
on page 31:

*There is no human being alive or who has ever lived who has even remotely
explored the full potential of the brain. We therefore accept no restrictive
limitations on the potential of the human brain - it is infinite!’

288 —
TOWARDS A RADIANT T H IN K IN G AND M ENTALLY LITERATE WORLD

M The Mentally Literate family

In a Mentally Literate family, the emphasis will be on growth, communication,
learning, creativity and love, in a context in which each family member realises
and cherishes the miraculous, radiant and indescribably complex individuals
who are the other members of that same family. As John Rader Platt has said:

‘I f this property of complexity could somehow be transformed into visible brightness

so that it would stand forth more clearly to our senses, the biological world would
become a walking field of light compared to the physical world. The sun with its
great eruptions would fade to a pale simplicity compared to a rose bush, an
earthworm would be a beacon, a dog would be a city of light, and human beings
would stand out like blazing suns of complexity, flashing bursts of meaning to each
other through the dull night of the physical world between. We would hurt each
other’s eyes. Look at the haloed heads ofyour rare and complex companions.
Is it not so?’

It is so.

The Mentally Literate organisation

In the future, we hope the Mentally Literate organisation, whether it be a club,
a school, a university or a business, will be seen in the context of an extended
family, guided by the same principles, understandings and visions.
We have already, in the early 1990s, begun to see the first dramatic signs.
The Brain Club, an international charity for anyone who wishes to learn how
to use their brain, has established ‘cells’ in eight different countries, and
publishes a magazine called Synapsia, the international Brain Club Journal.
In schools, a growing number of teachers and students are becoming involved
in Mental Literacy, and at Eton, the famous English public school, the school’s
Brain Club has, in its first year, 300 members! (See page 290.)
Meanwhile, students at Durham University, led by James Lee, have formed
| a club devoted to the promotion of Mental literacy, and established a network
throughout the entire English university system.
In the business world too, the trend towards Mental Literacy is accelerating.
In addition to the numerous examples given in Chapters 25, 26 and 27, both
[professional business writers and thinkers are reaching the same conclusions.
iPeter Drucker, in his book Innovation and Entrepreneurship, predicted that ‘the
manager of the future will simply be a learning guide’, while John Naisbitt, in

289
PROGRAMME OF EVENTS & rNV|T^

X VI
|| [ . ^ v ' 7,l A 1 n g i v / i f j < k .

THE MIND
MAP
290

BOOK
A iin d A ia p b y J o n a th a n M o n ta g u o f E to n C ollege, o u tlin in g s e m in a r w e e k e n d (see p a g e 2 8 9 ).
TOWARDS A RADIANT THINKING AND MENTALLY LITERATE WORLD
THE M IN D M AP BOO K

Megatrends 2000, summarised ten trends for the hum an race as it approaches
the millennium by identifying the m etatrend underlying all the megatrends:
‘Learning how to learn is what it’s all about’.
Almost identically, Alvin Toffler (the author of Future Shock) in his new book
Power Shift says, ‘The illiterate of the future will no longer be the individual
who cannot read. It will be the person who does not know how to learn how
to learn.’

“ The Mentally Literate society

W ith increasing numbers of Mentally Literate individuals, families and organ­
isations, we will soon see the dawning of Mentally Literate societies.
Realising the importance of this trend and its implications, the United States
Senate recently declared the 1990s the ‘Decade of the Brain’, stating:

‘Resolved by the Senate and House o f Representatives o f The United States of

America in Congress assem bledthat the decade beginning January 1, 1990,
hereby is designated the “Decade o f the Brain ”, and the President of The United
States is authorised and requested to issue a proclamation calling upon all public
officials and the people of The United States to observe such decade with appropriate
programs and activities’

This initiative has already had considerable effect. Apart from encouraging
further research and exploration into the brain, companies such as EDS have
initiated ‘Education Outreach’ programmes promoting Mental Literacy. We
have also seen the launch of the Education 2000 programme, searching for
new ways of understanding the brain’s ability to learn, establishing life-long
learning programmes throughout the country, and researching the future needs
of schools. In addition an intellectual climate has been created in which the
brain increasingly features on radio and television programmes and in the
general media.
Societies are considering both the general impetus of the ‘Decade of the
Brain’, as well as such specific initiatives as that of the Venezuelans in creating
a ‘M inister for the Development of H um an Intelligence’,
The M ind M ap on page 291, done by Sheikh Talib the Arabian philosopher I
and thinker, outlines a plan for the development of a Mentally Literate society.
Demonstrating its pan-linguistic nature, the M ind Map covers the stabilising
roots of education, economy and politics, and includes the other major factors
of agriculture, services, operating mechanisms, industry, communication and
TOW ARDS A RAD IAN T T H IN K IN G A N D M EN TA LLY LITERATE W ORLD

marketing.
On the right-hand side of the M ap, ‘Information Technology’ is emphasised
because it is becoming more and more important in the way modern societies
communicate and conduct business. On the left-hand side of the Map, the
‘Education’ branch shows two eyes with hats on them facing each other.
As Sheikh Talib says:

‘This is a strong depiction for the need to educate the educators. This task has been
neglected by many countries who fa il to see the enormous importance o f it. A good
plan can only be successful if modifications can be applied at any stage. Therefore,
the plan should be flexible and dynamic; it must be alive/

One of the interesting things about this particular M ind M ap is that, during
the early stages, a young waitress took a quick look at it, and when asked what
she thought she saw, replied: ‘It’s a picture about making a better world.’ She
did not read the Arabic language, nor did she know beforehand what the subject
was. This is a clear and vivid example of the success of the M ind Map as a
basic communication tool, and of the importance of the application of research
on how a hum an brain works.

«7 A Mentally Literate civilisation

From the development of a literate society it is only a single step to the
development of a Mentally Literate civilisation. With the explosion of Radiant
Thinking through the computer, satellite and media networks, we are taking
the first steps towards a global information structure that begins to mimic that
of an embryonic brain. It thus becomes increasingly possible to envision a
planet in which communication and understanding become faster and more
complex while simultaneously becoming more accessible and understandable.
We are beginning to move towards the realisation of the philosopher Olaf
Stapledon’s vision, in Star Maker, of a global brain some four million years
hence:

‘In the true racial experience the system of radiation which embraces the whole
planet, and includes the million million brains o f the race, becomes the physical
basis of a racial self. The individual discovers himself to be embodied in all the
bodies o f the race. He savours in a single intuition all bodily contacts, including the
mutual embraces o f all lovers. Through the myriad feet of all men and women he
enfolds his world in a single grasp. He sees with all eyes, and comprehends in a
single vision all visual fields. Thus he perceives at once and as a continuous,

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THE M IND MAP BOOK

variegated sphere, the whole surface of the planet.

But not only so.
He now stands above the group-minds as they above the individuals. He watches
them as one might study the living cells of his own brain; but also with the aloof
interest of one observing an ant hill; and yet again as one enthralled by the strange
and diverse ways of his fellow-men; yet chiefly as the artist who has no thought but
for his vision and its embodiment.
In the racial mode a human apprehends all things astronomically. Through all
eyes and all the observatories, he beholds his voyaging world, and peers outward
into space. Regarding the solar system simultaneously from both limbs of his world,
he perceives the planets and the sun stereoscopically, as though in binocular vision, j
Further, his perceived “now” embraces not a moment but a vast age.*

Is it possible for us to even begin to approach such a Mentally Literate future? j

The Mind Map Book suggests that it is.

RADIANT THINKING - RADIANT FUTURE

In order to examine the possibilities, it is necessary to return momentarily from
the cosmos to the cortex, and to search for Rader Platt’s beacons of hope in
the welter of discouraging news about economics, pollution and the general
global state. If we are to achieve a complete understanding of our current
situation, and a more realistic interpretation of our future, it is necessary to
look very closely at the single factor which most dramatically affects all future
possibilities. This crucial factor is not the general environment, nor is it the
theories of economics or psychology, nor even the ‘basic aggressiveness Of
mankind’, nor the ‘irreversible tide of history’. The main, almost blindingly'
obvious factor is that which has been the subject of The Mind Map Book, and
which in large part records, controls and directs the rest of the equation: the
Radiant Thinking human brain.
In our increasing understanding of this incredibly complex and mysterious
organ, in our increasing understanding of the family of mankind - ourselves!
and our radiant fellow humans - and in our increasing understanding of the
inter-connectedness and relativity of all things, lies our hope for the future.

It can be so .

SOBEIT.

294
ADDENDA
N o t e s b y t h e G r e a t b r a in s
Q u iz

Here are 17 notes by great thinkers from the fields of politics, the military,
architecture, art, poetry, science and literature.
They show that it is natural for an advanced intelligence to use a greater than
average range of cortical skills. They are included here, for your information
and entertainment, in the form of a quiz. It is suggested that you leaf through
them, attempting to identify which great thinker made which note. At the time
of going to press, the highest score on this quiz was 7 out of 17!

Great Brain Note A

THE M IN D M AP BOOK

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NOTES BY THE GREAT BRAINS QUIZ

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Great Brain Note H

— 299 —
THE M IN D MAP BOOK

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Great Brain N ote Q

ANSWERS TO NATURAL ARCHITECTURE PLATES QUIZ

P age
2-3 Natural Architecture Plate 1 Horsehead nebula
19 Natural Architecture Plate 2 Quiver tree, Namibia
30 Natural Architecture Plate 3 Lightning
42 Natural Architecture Plate 4 Insulin molecule
47 Natural Architecture Plate 5 ‘Order piercing chaos* (computer graphic: Lya­
punov exponent for the logistic equation with its
parameter varying in the sequence A A B A B A B
A A B A B A B . ..
A : Abscissa, B: Ordinate. The orange figure in
the picture foreground indicates periodicity) while
the blue picture background indicates chaos)
55 Natural Architecture Plate 6: Photomicrograph o f a diatom
58 Natural Architecture Plate 7: Leaf o f saw palmetto plant
62 Natural Architecture Plate 8: Dandelion seed head
70 Natural Architecture Plate 9: Gorgonian coral
78 Natural Architecture Plate 10: Shell of Venus comb gastropod
82 Natural Architecture Plate 11 : *Seven-winged bird’ (computer graphic: chaotic
attractor obtained by iterating points on the
plane. The points wander chaotically on this
figure; only a large number o f points permits us
to discern ordered structures)
95 Natural Architecture Plate 12 Orb spider’s web with dew
118 Natural Architecture Plate 13 Male peacock’s tail display
122 N atural Architecture Plate 14 Gorgonian coral
135 N atural Architecture Plate 15 Resin cast of blood vessels supplying brain
142 Natural Architecture Plate 16 Peacock worms (marine)
151 Natural Architecture Plate 17 Snow-covered tree
155 Natural Architecture Plate 18 Photomicrograph o f dextrose crystals
167 Natural Architecture Plate 19 Colonial sea-anemone
179 Natural Architecture Plate 20 Oak tfee in winter
187 Natural Architecture Plate 21 Seed o f wild clematis or ‘traveller’s jo y’
THE M IND MAP BOOK

Page
195 Natural Architecture Plate 22: ‘Light at the end of the tunnel* (computer
graphic: biomathematical simulation of a hal­
lucination as it occurs under conditions close to
clinical death or induced by drugs. A lab­
yrinthine Turing structure develops in the visual
cortex, which due to the retinocortical map
renders this picture)
203 Natural Architecture Plate 23 Solar eclipse
21S Natural Architecture Plate 24 Electron micrograph o f hookedfruit ofgoosegrass
222 Natural Architecture Plate 25 Raindrops on lupin leaves
234 Natural Architecture Plate 26 Ice crystals on window
247 Natural Architecture Plate 27 Close-up of cactus spines
254 Natural Architecture Plate 28 Tartaric acid crystals
263 Natural Architecture Plate 29 Aerial view of Colorado River delta
275 Natural Architecture Plate 30 Electron micrograph o fpollen grains ofpot mari­
gold (Calendula)
2S2 Natural Architecture Plate 31 Photomicrograph of centric diatom

3 06
ANSWERS TO GREAT BRAINS QUIZ

Page
41 (top) Great Brain Note 1: Pablo Picasso: page from manuscript ‘A sul y
Blanco’, 1894
41 (bottom) Great Brain Note 2: Leonardo da Vinci: drazoing
295 Great Brain Note A: Isaac Newton: autograph sketch of reflecting
telescope
296 (top) Great Brain Note B: Albert Einstein: diagram in answer to a school-
girl’s question
296 (bottom) Great Brain Note C: Thomas Edison: light bulb drawing from 1880
notebook
297 Great Brain Note D: Leonardo da Vinci: drawings ofparachute and
flying-machine wings
298 Great Brain Note E: Isaac Newton: letter to Oldenburg, 6/2/1671,
describing experiment on light
299 (top left) Great Brain Note F: Michelangelo: study of anatomical proportions
299 (top right) Great Brain Note G: Beethoven: page from ‘Conversation Books’,
1819 fol., used to communicate with visitors
299 (bottom) Great Brain Note H: James Joyce: drawing of Leopold Bloom, from
‘Ulysses3, 1920s
300 (top) Great Brain Note I: Vincent van Gogh: letter to Emile Bernard,
Arles, June 1888
300 (bottom) Great Brain Note J: Christopher Columbus: sketch map of island of
Hispaniola, from logbook o f the *Santa M aria ’
voyage
301 (top left) Great Brain Note K: William Blake: (The Lamb’ from ‘Songs of
Innocence’
301 (bottom) Great Brain Note L: Leonardo da Vinci: musical notation
302 (top) Great Brain Note M: Laboratory notebook of Nobel prizewinner
Walter H. Brattain, 23/12/1947', recording dis­
covery of the transistor effect
302 (bottom) Great Brain Note N: Mark Twain: self-portrait, 1874
303 (top) Great Brain Note O: William Blake *Newton ’ (detail)
303 (bottom) Great Brain Note P: John F. Kennedy: doodles, 2/7/1963
304 Great Brain Note Q: Charles Darwin: drawing ofthe tree ofevolution
ALSO BY TONY BUZAN
BOOK S including art, literature, science and
Use B oth Sides o f Your Brain (Plume 1991) languages. Accompanied by M emory
The classic bestseller. Foundation learning Vision , a workbook in which to record your
skills and the Radiant Thinking process of 10,000 knowledge data-bases.
Mind Maps explained by their creator. Latest
information on your brain’s functions,
Spore One (Boydell Press Ltd 1972)
enabling you to learn how to learn more
A poetry collection showing how reality can
effectively.
be seen through many facets. A poetic work­
out for your brain.

Use Your Perfect M em ory (Plume 1991)

An encyclopaedia of memory techniques.
Provides brain-related, easy processes for BO O K S W ITH
remembering names, faces, places, jokes, O T H E R AUTHORS
telephone numbers and everything else you Get A head (Buzan Centre Books 1992)
want or need to remember. By Vanda North with Tony Buzan
A practical, easy and inviting introduction to
Tony Buzan’s Mind Maps. How to apply them
Speed Reading (Plume 1991) to your life to get ahead quicker. Video also 1
The classic book on improving your reading available.
skills. Establish a range of reading speeds from
1 to 10,000 wpm with good comprehension.
Self checks throughout. Brain Power fo r Kids (Brain Power for Kids
Inc 1991)
By Lana Israel with Tony Buzan
M ake the M ost o f Your M ind (Colt Books Lana has used Tony’s Mind Mapping to
1977, revised edition Pan Books 1988) improve her grades at school, write a book, j
H arnessing the Parabrain (special business conduct research, travel to Russia and be on
edition) national television at only 15 years of age. You
A complete coursebook dealing with reading, can too!
memory, number skills, logic, vision, listening
and study. Builds to the complete B rain Training (Buzan Centre Books 1993)
family/business Mind Map Organic Study
By Tony Buzan with Pecub
Technique.
Cartoon character, Brain Brain, guides you
through a little handbook introducing you to
the astounding capacity of your own bio- ;j
M aster Your M em ory (David & Charles
computer and how to use it.
1988, revised edition 1989)
Learn to expand your memory systems.
Provides basic data in 12 subject areas, Brain Sell (Buzan Centre Books 1993) • 1

308
ALSO B Y T O N Y BUZAN

By Tony Buzan with Richard Israel 6 audio tapes and 48 page workbook covering:
Based on latest brain research with example memory; logic; listening; range reading;
experiences from the top sales producers. number skills; dealing with change and using
You’ll discover how to communicate, sell and Mind Maps for creative thinking and
live better. enhancing intelligence.

R adiant R em em bering (Buzan Centre Super C reativity and M ind M apping

Books 1993) (Audio Renaissance Tapes Inc 1988)
By Vanda North with Tony Buzan Tony Buzan introduces you to a new level of
Practical application of the memory creative thinking enhanced by learning how
principles, systems and rhythms of everyday to Mind Map. A participative manual is
life, work and study. Saving yourself time, enclosed.
frustration and embarrassment.
M ake the M ost o f Your M ind (Simon &
R adiant R eading (Buzan Centre Books Schuster Sound Ideas 1986)
1993) A comprehensive complement to the book of
By Vanda North with Tony Buzan the same name.
Practical application of information about the
eye and brain to manage all kinds of reading Learning and M em ory (Drake Educational
material with speed, efficiency and Associates)
appreciation. Climb over that stack of An historic interview with Tony Buzan relating
information. Make informed decisions. brain research to how to learn and remember.

R adiant Speaking (Buzan Centre Books

1993) VID EO TAPES
By Richard Israel and Vanda North with Tony Mindpovoer
Buzan Mind Mapping applications for today’s
Step-by-step practical application by three business. The B BC’s new technologically
leaders in their fields to effective speaking superb video-led course teaches you how to
under any circumstances! use Mind Maps to clarify your thinking and
make better use of your mental resources.
R adiant Selling (Buzan Centre Books 1993) Includes one trainer workbook and
By Richard Israel and Vanda North with Tony participant workbooks. Additional participant
Buzan workbooks are available in packs of 10.
Sell from one brain to another the way you
would want to be sold to! A revolution in Im proving M ental Performance
selling techniques. Comprehensive and flexible video training
programme. 17 courses in one! Applies Mind
Mapping, memory and information
AUDIO TAPES management to all aspects of your business and
Brain Power (International Centre for training needs. Provides the skills identified as
Creative Thinking 1991) necessary for success in the 21st century.
The ‘how to’ course in Learning we all need!
THE M IN D MAP BOOK

D eveloping F am ily G enius Thinking Cap Poster

A complete, entertaining and highly practical By Lorraine Gill
course for the entire family introducing them
to the wonder of their brains. Learn how to SEM 3
learn, think, remember, speed read with User-friendly laminated chart of the Self­
comprehension, study effectively and easily enhancing Master Memory Matrix to enable
and take and pass exams. the M aster Your M em ory reader to memorise?
up to 10,000 items with additional ease.
The E nchanted Loom
Classic documentary on the brain, featuring The Universal Personal Organiser (UPO) I
interviews with the world’s major contributors Buzan Centre Books,
to the field. This unique approach to time and self­
management is a diary system, based on the
techniques created and taught by Tony Buzan |
OTHER PRODUCTS and the Buzan Centres. The Universal
M ind M aps Plus Softw are program Personal Organiser is a living system that
The new computer thinking tool for managers, grows with you and gives a comprehensive 1
consultants, professionals, students, teachers, picture of your life, your desires, and your 4
analysts, authors, journalists and many others. business and family functions.
May be used on any pc compatible with VGA
running DOS. The first Mind Map program Training Courses in Mental
doubles creativity, allows flexible and Literacy
instantaneous manifestation of ideas and logs Full range of Radiant Thinking skills for study, I
levels of thought. Can translate to linear for work and life include courses prepared for: A
the non-Mind Map literate. • Individuals from 5 years of age upwards! ;
• Families of any size
M ind M ap K its • Clubs, organisations, committees
Each printing of a Mind Map pad has a limited • People of any intellectual level of ability '■
edition Mind Map on it. Collect them all! The • Learners from beginner to advanced levels j
kit contains an A3 and A4 Mind Map pad of • Corporations of any size, the board and
50 pages and a pack of 6 felt-tip pens and 4 directors, managers, and all staff
highlighters.
Applications of the
Body and Soul Poster Radiant Thinking
Master Mind Map poster, a limited edition processes to:
poster depicting, in a surrealist manner, all
the principles taught by Tony Buzan. This C om m unicating
beautiful picture is called Body and Soul and • Stimulating and organising information
each numbered copy is signed by the Swedish • Writing with clarity
artist, Ulf Ekberg. • Speaking in a direct, inviting and powerful I
manner
Brain Poster • Training, interviewing, negotiating, direct-■
Cartoons by Pecub ing or appraising
ALSO BY TONY BUZAN

• Selling in a brain-friendly way The Brain TrustlClub - Charity

Number 1001012
Managing The Brain Trust/Club is an international
• Yourself organisation designed to help you increase
• People as individuals, in teams, meetings and your mental, physical and spiritual awareness.
groups This is done by waking that sleeping giant,
• Time, papers, change and information your brain, and teaching you how to access its
infinite intelligence, first by learning how to
Thinking learn and then by developing specific skills in
• Problem-solving and creating thinking areas of your choice.
• Changing attitudes about change, failing, You can do this by studying in your own
ageing and learning home, or by meeting with others who also
• Short and long term planning and develop­ wish to expand their vast range of mental skills
ing projects as outlined in The Mind Map Book. Form your
• Prioritising and organising projects and time own ‘mental gymnasium’ and improve the
following skills:
For full information on: • Memory
• Training courses in mental literacy • Mind Mapping
• The new Radiant Thinking/creativity/ • Learning and study
remembering/reading/speaking/selling • Mathematics
courses • Physical performance
• Products to learn how to learn • Communications
Contact: • Game skills
The Buzan Centres Ltd • Range/speed reading
Suites 2/3 • Creative thinking
Cardigan House • IQ
37 Waterloo Road • The arts
Winton • Vocabulary building/Language learning
Dorset BH9 1BD • Personality development
UK • Special skills
Telephone: (0202) 533593
Fax: (0202) 534572 Each area within the Brain Club may be
graded and certificates awarded as you reach
The Buzan Centres USA Inc advancing levels of competence. For details
415 Federal Highway contact:
Lake Park
Florida 33404 The Brain Club
USA PO Box 1821
Telephone: (407) 881 0188 or (800) Marlow
Y-MIND MAP Bucks
Fax: (407) 845 3210 SL7 2YW
Please send a LARGE 10x30 cm (8"x 12") Telephone: (0628) 477004
stamped, self-addressed envelope.
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Aiken, E .G ., Thom as, G .S ., and Shennum, W.A. ‘Memory for a lecture: Effects of
notes, lecture rate, and information density.’ Journal o f Educational Psychology 67 (3), 439-
44, 1975.
Anderson, J.R. Cognitive Psychology and Its Implications. Second edition. New York: W.H.
Freeman & Co., 1985.
Anderson, J.R. ‘Retrieval of propositional information from long-term memory.’ Cognitive
Psychology 6, 451-74, 1974.
Anokhin, R K . ‘The Forming of natural and artificial intelligence’. Impact of Science on
SocietyVol. X X III3, 1973.
Ashcraft, M .H . Human memory and cognition. Glenview, Illinois: Scott, Foresman & Co.,
1989.
Atkinson, Richard C ., and Shiffrin, Richard M . ‘The Control of Short-term Memory’.
Scientific American, August 1971.
Baddeley, Alan D. The Psychology of Memory. New York: Harper & Row. 1976.
Bever, T. and Chiarello, R. ‘Cerebral dominance in musicians and non-musicians.’ Science
185, 137-9, 1974.
Bloch, Michael. ‘Improving Mental Performance’ biographical notes. Los Angeles:
Tel/Syn 1990.
Borges, Jorge Luis. Fictions (especially ‘Funes, the Memorious’). London: Weidenfeld &
Nicolson, 1962.
Bourne, L .E ., Jr., Dominowski, R .L ., Loftus, E.F., and Healy, A.F. Cognitive Processes.
Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall Inc., 1986.
Bower, G .H ., and Hilgard, E .R . Theories o f Learning. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-
Hall Inc., 1981.
Bower, G .H ., Clark, M .C ., Lesgold, A .M ., and Winzenz, D. ‘Hierarchical retrieval
schemes in recall of categorized word lists.’ Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior 8,
323-43, 1969.
Breznitz, Z. ‘Reducing the gap in reading performance between Israeli lower- and middle-
class first-grade pupils,’ Journal of Psychology 121 (5), 491-501, 1988.
Brown, M ark. Memory Matters. Newton Abbot: David & Charles, 1977.
Brown, R ., and M cNeil, D. ‘The “Tip-of-the-Tongue” Phenomenon’. Journal of Verbal
Learning and Verbal Behavior 5, 325-37.
Bugelski, B .R ., Kidd, E ., and Segmen, J. ‘Image as a mediator in one-trial paired-
associate learning,’ Journal of Experimental Psychology 76, 69-73, 1968.
Buzan, Tony. Harnessing the ParaBrain. London: Wyvern Business Books, 1988.
Buzan, Tony. M ake the Most o f Your Mind. Cambridge: Colt Books, 1977. London: Pan,
1981.
Buzan, Tony. Speed Reading. New York: Dutton/Plume, 1991.
Buzan, Tony. Use Both Sides of Your Brain. New York: Dutton/Plume, 1991.
Buzan, Tony. Use Your Perfect Memory. New York: Dutton/Plume, 1991.
Buzan, Tony. The Brain User’s Guide. New York: E.P. Dutton, 1983.

— 312 —
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Carew, T.J., Hawkins, R.D., and Kandel, E.R . ‘Differential classical conditioning of a
defensive withdrawal reflex in Aplysia Californica,’ Science 219, 397-400, 1983.
Catron, R .M ., and Wingenbach, N. ‘Developing the potential of the gifted reader.’
Theory into Practice, 25 (2), 134—140, 1986.
Cooper, L .A ., and Shepard, R.N. ‘Chronometrie studies of the rotation of mental images.
In Chase, W.G. (Ed.) Visual Information Processing. New York: Academic Press, 1973.
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316
In d e x
Page references in italics indicate Boeing Aircraft Corporation Chase and Erickson experiment
illustrations and Mind Maps. 170, 171, 261, 264 (1982)103
Natural Architecture Plates and BOIs see Basic Ordering Ideas chemicals within the brain 27
Notes by the Great Brains have Borer, Claudius 116, 119 chunking 102-3
not been indexed. Bower, Clark, Lesgold and civilization, Mentally Literate
Wimzenz study (1969) 85 293-4
‘A’s of Mind Mapping, The
brain 24-5, 34, 35, 46, 138 clarity (Mind Mapping
Three 92-3
capacity 31, 53, 54, 56, 60, technique) 96, 101-3
‘1 + ’ rule 104
68, 72 Clark, Bower, Lesgold and
Aboriginal cave paintings 37
cells 26-9, 28, 31, 31 Wimzenz study (1969) 85
accountancy 268-9, 270
cerebral cortex 32, 32-3, 49 codes 100-1
Adam, Sean 143
analysis development 223 cognitive amplification 287-8
incubation of ideas 127 coin-tossing 127-8
helping others to analyse
and inefficient note-taking Collins, Lynn 207, 208
themselves 181
50 see also Ayre, Caro
see also Self-Analysis Mind
information explosion 284 Collins, Pan 145, 146
Maps
major functions 35-6 colours 33, 46, 98, 100
analysis of information 36
superlogic 126-7 complex Mind Mapping see
Anderson and Parlmutter
see also architecture, natural; Polycategoric Mind Maps
experiment (1985) 80
intelligence Computer Mind Maps 274, 278,
Anokhin, Professor Petr 29, 56,
Brain Club, The see Brain Trust 279
288
Brain Stars 284-5 creating and editing 276
architecture, natural 17, 20
Brain Trust 160, 248, 289, 311 data organisation 277
see also brain
Brains, Great see Great Brains future 280-1
arrows 100
brainstorming 64, 68-9, 168, group participation 277, 280
art, Mind Map 115-121
169 outputs 280
benefits 116
Mind Maps see Creative scale and depth 276-7
association 34, 46, 68, 73, 76
Thinking Mind Maps tracking spontaneous
brain’s capacity for 53, 56,
Mini-Mind Map image thoughts 277
68, 107
exercise 74-7 computers 285
expanding powers of 79-81
Mini-Mind Map word Mind Mapping from 238, 240
logic of 88
exercises 64-7 cortex, cerebral 32, 32-3
Mind Mapping techniques
see also association; images creative thinking 288
96, 100-1
and imagery Creative Thinking Mind
see also brainstorming;
branches 59, 102 Maps 148-9
images and imagery
Branching Association Machine aims 153-4
axons 27
(BAM!) 56 benefits 164
Ayre, Caro 207, 208
Brand, Superintendent Douglas as a creative thinking
see also Collins, Lynn
227, 229 mechanism 154-6
BAM (Branching Association Brocket, Lord 248 paradigm shifts 161
Machine) 56 Brown, Dr Mark 106 stages of the creative thinking
Barrett, Peter 274 Bull and Whittrock experiment process 156-7, 160-1
Basic Ordering Ideas 85-6, 89, (1973) 84 see also Group Mind Maps;
100 Buzan, Barry 8, 224, 226 Mnemonic Mind Maps
advantages 88 Buzan, Tony 7-8, 73, 75, 194,
evaluation decisions 124 198, 217, 248, 2 5 7 ,258, 259 daily planning 192-3, 198,
polycategoric Mind Mapping 225-6, 261
132, 133 categories 85,88-9,99,101,104 daydreaming see incubation of
self-analysis 177, 180 see also Basic Ordering Ideas ideas
story-telling 200 cells, brain 26-9, 28, 31, 31 De Bono, Edward 285
Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 cerebral cortex 32, 32-3 De Stefano, Kathy 116, 120
161,163 cerebral hemispheres 32-3 decision-making 124
see also Zander, Benjamin chairpersons 249-50 complex see Polycategoric
Bloch, Michael 33, 165 champions 266-7, 267 Mind Maps

- 317 -
TH E M IN D M AP BOOK

decision-making—cont Mini-mind Map word 64-7, Homer 98-9

simple 124, see also Dyadic 81 Howe, Dr 51-2
Mind Maps thought-building 136-7 Hughes, Edward 170
deep learning 228
dendrites 27 families, Mentally Literate 289 IBM/YTS Training Scheme
dendritic spines 27 Family Mind Maps 170 Manual 211,219
Deutch and Springer (‘Left benefits of 208-9 images and imagery 34, 46, 86,
Brain Right Brain’) 50 in practice 210 97-8, 107
Diary, Mind Map story-telling 199-202, 202 associated in practice 76
benefits 193, 196-7 studying 202 central 59, 83-4, 97, 98, 100
daily plan 192-3, 198, 225, day 205-6, 208 clarity 103
261 MMOST 202, 204-5, copying 108
life-planning divisions 193 239 Mini-Mind Map image
monthly plan 19 2 ,194 feedback by readers of this book exercise 74-7, 75
principles 191 22-3 power of 71-4
term plan 225 films, Mind Mapping from 238, see also association
yearly plan 192, 224 240 impulses, electrical 27
Digital Equipment Corporation Fischer, Bobby 285 incubation of ideas 127
170, 171 Flesch, Rudolf (quoted) 156-7 Creative Thinking Mind
dimension skills 46, 98 Frase and Schwartz study Maps 160, 161
disabilities, learning 229, 231, (1975) 166 Family Mind Maps 200-1
231-2 free-association 79 Group Mind Maps 169
Drucker, Peter 289 see also association; indecision 128
Durham University 289 brainstorming intelligence 24
Dyadic Mind Maps 124 development 37
Geesink, Dr John 116, 120 revolution 284-6
benefits 129-131 Gelb, Michael J. 260
exercises 128-9, 130 see also brain
gestalt (wholeness) 35, 46 Interpersonal problem-solving
group Mind Mapping 172 Gill, Lorraine 37, 73, 157, 158-
methods of making a choice Mind Maps 184-5
9, 161 benefits 189-90
125-8 Great Brains 39-40, 41 stages 185-6, 188-9
notes by and Quiz 295-304 Interpolis company 262, 264-5
education see essays; quiz answers 307
examinations; teachers and intuition 126-7
Group Mind Maps inview 144
teaching applications 170
Education 2000 programme 292 Israel, Lana 217, 240, 242
benefits 172-3
Edwards, Dr Betty 73 computers 277, 280, 281 Johnstone, Bruce 249-50
Einstein, Albert 160 creating a group Mind Map
Ekburg, Ulf 116-17,118, 120 Journey through the mind of a
166, 168-70 Mind Mapper, Part 1 85-6
electrical impulses 27 dyadic 172
Electronic Data Systems (EDS) Part 2 87, Part 3 124-5,
examples 170 Part 4 133, 136
170,266-7 functions of 165-6
emphasis (Mind Mapping see also Creative Thinking Kasparov, Gary 285
technique) 34, 96, 97-100 Mind Maps; Family Mind Kastner, Jean-Luc 271, 270-3
Enskog, Thomas 213, 215 Maps; meetings Keene, Annette 248
environment, working 109-10, Keene, Raymond 248, 257,259,
177, 185 Haber, Ralph 71-2 285
Erickson and Chase experiment Harris, Denny 149, 150 Kekule, Friedrich A. 160
(1982) 103 Harvard Business School 127 key words 49, 52, 59, 86,89-90,
essays, Mind Mapping for Hattie and Watkins research 101
211-13 (1985) 228 Kim, Donna 202
Eton school 289 Hawking, Stephen 285 Kosslyn, S. M. 74
evaluation decisions see Dyadic Heller, Brian 241, 243
Mind Maps hemispheres, cerebral 32-3, 49
examinations 225, 228 Hewlett Packard Medical La Fond, Charles 229, 230
Mind Mapping for 213, 216 Products 270 language training 229, 230, 231
exercises 21, 80, 89, 113 hierarchies 84, 88-9, 99, 101, Late Late Show, The 145,146
decision-making 128-9, 130 104, 132, see also Basic laws, Mind Map 93-4, 96-104
mental block 107 Ordering Ideas layout (Mind Map laws) 94, 97,
Mini-Mind Map image 74-7 Hogan, Christine 225, 228 104
IN D E X

leadership 266, 266-7 memory traces 29 natural architecture see

‘Learning 10000 Pictures’ mental attitude 108-9 architecture, natural
(Standing) 72 mental blocks 87, 104-5, 106-7 neuronal pathways 29
learning disabilities 229, 231,Mental Literacy 286 neurons see brain cells
231-2 civilizations 293-4 Nickerson, R. S. 72
lectures families 288-9 Nine Muses, The 147-8
Mind Mapping from 238, 240 individuals 286-8 North, Vanda 125-6, 126, 235,
preparing notes for 223-4, organizations 289, 292 239, 248
226,227 societies 291, 292-3 note-making/taking 43, 44, 48,
Lee, Brian 268-9, 270 mental maps 29 73,211
Lee, James 215, 216, 289 Messerschmitt, Jim (quoted) 267 advantages of Mind Map 89-
‘Left Brain Right Brain’ Messina, Tony (quoted) 267 90, 242, 244
(Springer & Deutch) 50 messy Mind Maps 113, 240 consequences of inefficient
left cerebral hemisphere 32-3, Mind Map Organic Study 50
49 Technique (MMOST) 141, disadvantages of standard
Leonardi da Vinci 40, 41, 288 170, 202, 204-5, 235, 239 49-50, 87
Lesgold, Wimzenz, Bower and Mind Map Plus software 274 major styles 44, 44-5, 48
Clark study (1969) 85 Mind Maps and Mapping making 132
lessons 225, see also teachers andas a creative thinking results of research 51-2
teaching mechanism 154-6 reviewing Mind Map notes
Levy, David 286 definition 59 240-1
‘Line is man-made’ (Gill) 37 development 34-5 taking 139
linear notes 34, 43, see also note-
the future 280-1, 283-9, main functions of 139-41
making/taking 292-4 ‘mental set’ for 141, 144
lines 101-2, 106 laws and recommendations nuclei, brain cell 27
lists 49, 87 93-4, 96-114 number-weighting 125-6
logic skills 33 The Three ‘A’s 92-3 numerical order 104
London Metropolitan Police users descriptions 60-1
Service 229 see also Radiant Thinking O’Brien, Dominic 285
Lopez, Ruy 257 Mini-Mind Maps 124-5 Object ‘X’, 128-30, 130
lost memories 149-50 exercises 64, 65, 64-7, 74-7, Odyssey, The (Homer) 98-9
Luria, Alexander 99 «0,81 Olympic Games, Mental 249,
MMOST 141, 170, 202, 204-5, 286
Management Mind Maps 261, 235, 239 organizations, Mentally Literate
264 Mnemonic Mind Maps 148 289, 292
benefits 273 applications 149-50 overview (note-taking from
examples 264-70 benefits 150, 152 books) 141, 144, 238
Marketing Matrix Mind Map as a mirror of creativity 148-
263, 265-6 9 paradigm shifts 161
Martian view of human see also Creative Thinking Parlmutter and Anderson
intelligence 92 Mind Maps experiment (1985) 80
Marton and Slajo research Mnemosyne (Goddess of Personal Problem-solving Mind
(1976) 228 memory) 147 Maps 183-4, see also Inter­
Master Mind Maps 241-2, 243, monotones 46, 49 personal Problem-solving
248, 268 Montagu, Jonathan 290 Mind Maps
benefits 242, 244 monthly plan 192, 194 phrases 111-12
meetings 245 Morgan-Hagan, Amanda 217 Picasso, Pablo 40, 41
benefits of Mind Maps 250 movement 99 pitfalls of Mind Mapping 110-13
chairing 249-50 multi-dimensional Mind Maps Platt, John Radar (quoted) 289
group Mind Mapping 248-9, see Creative Thinking Mind Polgar, Judit 285
251 Maps Polycategoric Mind Maps 132-3
individuals Mind Mapping multiple-branched Mind Maps benefits 137-8
245, 246, 248, 251 see Polycategoric Mind Maps note-taking 139-41
Mega Mind Maps 276-7, 281 Muses, The Nine 147-8 benefits 145-6
Megatrends 2000 (Naisbitt) 292 examples 145
memory 35, 36, 68, 80, 140, Nabisco 170 ‘mental set’ for 141, 144
147-50, 152, 288, see also Naiman, Katarina 213, 214 thought-building exercises
association; images and Naisbitt, John 256-7, 258, 289, 136-7
imagery 292 Power Shift (Toffler) 292

319
TH E M IN D M AP BOOK

preparation 108 S (Shereshevsky) 51, 99 team-work 169, 171

materials 109 Sagan, Carl 285 techniques (Mind Map laws) 94,
mental attitude 108-9 Schaper, Thomas H. 267, 96,97-104
working environment 109- 267-8 TEFCAS model of learning 196
10 Schwartz and Frase study Telfer and Biggs research (1987)
presentations 206,208, 225,252 (1975) 166 228
benefits of Mind Maps 220, Sculley, John 217 temperature 109
260 Self-Analysis Mind Maps 176 Temple Marketing 263, 265-6
examples 256-7, 258, 259, benefits of 182 Temple, Nigel 263, 265
260 examples 178, 182 term planning 225
giving a Mind Mapped reviewing past and projecting time management 267-8, 267,
presentation 255-6 future goals 180-1 see also Diary, Mind Map
inter-personal problem­ stages 177, 180 Tinsley, Marion 285
solving 186,188-9 Senate, United States 292 Toffler, Alvin 292
preparation 252-3 senses, the five 34, 36, 68, 98-9 Tok-Hart, Tessa 184-5, 186
Mind Mapping versus Sharif, Omar 285 Torrance, E. Paul 87, 154
linear 253, 255 Shereshevsky (‘S’) 51, 99 Tovey, Lady Mary 246, 248
preview (note-taking from Sherrington, Sir Charles 26-7 triadic decisions 128
books) 144 Shmidt, Karen 213, 214
primacy effect (memory) 34 Six, Jan Pieter J. 262, 264 uniqueness of individuals 68
printed word 99, 101, 103 Slajo and Marton research applications of 68-9
problem-solving see Inter­ (1976) 228 Universal Personal Organizer see
personal Society, Mentally Literate 291, Diary, Mind Map
Problem-solving Mind 292-3
Maps; Soderberg, Lars 229, 231 videos
Personal Problem-solving spacing 99-100 Mind Mapping from 238,
Mind Maps spatial awareness skills 34, 46 240
projects special education 229-32, 231, Vinci, Leonardo da see Leonardo
examples 217 231-2 da Vinci
Mind Mapping for 216, Sperry, Professor Roger 32, 33 visualisation skills 34, 46, see also
228-9 Springer and Deutch (‘Left images and imagery
Brain Right Brain’) 50
questions 107 Standing, Lionel 72 Watkins and Hattie research
quick-fire Mind Map bursts Stanley, Mike 170, 171, 261 (1985) 228
156-7, 168, 177 Stapledon, Olaf 293 Wheeler, Graham 224, 227
Stefano, Kathy De see De Whittock and Bull experiment
Radiant Thinking 16, 20, 31, Stefano, Kathy (1973) 84
53-7, 59, 287 Story-telling Mind Maps 199- wholeness (gestalt) 35, 46
the future 294 201 Wimzenz, Bower, Clark, and
recency effect (memory) 34 style, personal 104, see also art, Lesgold study (1969) 85
recommendations, Mind Map Mind Map words 101-2, 111, 113
94, 104-110 superlogic 126-7 brainstorming 64-8
reconstruction and revision surface learning 228 using images instead 73,
Creative Thinking Mind surroundings 110 83-4, see also images and
Maps 157, 160 Sweeney, Norma 160, 162 imagery
Group Mind Maps 168, 169 symbols 45 see also association; key words
Self-analysis Mind Maps synaesthesia 98-9 workspace 109-10
177 see also senses, the five writer’s block 212
Story-telling Mind Maps Synapsia 289 writing
200 synaptic buttons 27 benefits of Mind Maps for
reinforcement 107-8 synaptic gaps 27 writing tasks 220
repetition 29 development 37
reports, Mind Mapping for 216 Talib, Sheikh 291, 292-3
reviewing Mind Maps 107-8, tools 45-6
144, 240-1 teachers and teaching 221 year plan 192, 224
rhythm skills 33, 46 applications of Mind Maps
right cerebral hemisphere 32-3, 223-32
49 benefits of using Mind Maps Zander, Benjamin 161,163
Rosenweig, Dr Mark 56 232-3 Zeus 147-8