The Underlying Blog

I’VE MOVED TO KyleMcFarlin.com, FOLLOW ME NOW

After years of sometimes reliable, sometimes flaky, always smart-ass blogging, I have moved completely to KyleMcFarlin.com. I was going to do it anyhow, but then Microsoft went and cancelled their 'MS Office Live Small Business' service so I just went ahead and did it now. In fact, not only am I moving my blog to there but VisualStrategist.com will also redirect to there, making me fully established at 'Kyle McFarlin.com'. Want to talk about massive ego synchronization... you're welcome 8-) .

The website is a work in progress. Think of it like the Death Star in 'Jedi'. The laser cannon works, but there are still condominiums to install. And hopefully pissed off people in bowl cuts and teddy bear costumes don't band together to blow my ass up. But if they do, I’m ready.

So anywho, please take a moment and add my new blog to your favorite reader:

Visit KyleMcFarlin.com now

And while you're there, take a moment and add me on your favorite social media networks, which are linked at the new site:

Visit KyleMcFarlin.com now

And if that weren't enough, you can sign-up for the Kyle McFarlin newsletter at the new website (if you already signed up for the Visual Strategist newsletter, you're good as it is the exact same newsletter from the exact same person, under a different title).

Visit KyleMcFarlin.com now

Thank you for your years of loyal readership (If it's not true, I'll never catch you), and please enjoy my new website / blog. I will be getting pretty unhinged when everything gets going, but you will never personally be in danger, and that's everything. Think of me like a nerdy Charles Barkley who can't ball (maybe not as witty either). But certainly as smart-assed. Again, you're welcome.

Go Kyle!

 

Visit KyleMcFarlin.com now

Mind Mapping Threatening to Dreams of Underachievement?

This is going to be a quick post this month… but let’s make super sexy note of one thing: I’ve kept my promise of blogging monthly. Wow, I need to do something hypocritical in some other area of life because I’m kind of ‘balls and my word’ over in this here realm.

So this month I have something cool for you to checkout. Chuck Frey recently posted a new report on mind mapping and the human potential. It’s a cool topic I’ve personally always been curious about. And by curious I mean I teach people this stuff for a living and rule at it. Pride before the fall but I’m wearing a parachute made of Chipotle rice – science says WTF. Chuck isn’t even asking you for an opt-in to get the report, even though you ought to join his list if you haven’t yet.

Here it is:

New report: How does mind mapping impact human potential?

Overall I liked the matter-of-fact treatment Chuck’s guests gave the subject. I’ve seen treatments in the past that are just a little too far out for me, a little too ‘let’s wear natural deodorant alternatives’. I wear Mitchum. I remind people of a Ford Truck. The Mitchum part is true.

And here are my thoughts, in 5 bite-size bullet points. Here’s what I think mind mapping is for:

1. Brainstorming
2. Arranging Information
3. Strategy & Goal Planning
4. Relationship Management
5. Execution on all fronts mentioned above (especially when using something like Mindjet’s Catalyst product)

That’s it.

Everything flows from those 5 things… everything.

That’s what I use it for, I meat and potatoes man (I think beer commercials are seeping into my brain as I read back over what I’ve written here. You can always tell when I’ve been watching NBA games).

If you’re in a hurry, just go to page 12 of the report for the mind mapped bullet points.

New report: How does mind mapping impact human potential?

What did you think? Leave a comment below.

Technorati Tags: Kyle McFarlin,Chuck Frey,mind mapping,Mindjet Catalyst,human potential,NBA,Brainstorming,Information Management,Strategy,Goal Planning,Relationship Management

Your Brain on the Brain is Better than Your Brain on Drugs

3 months since my last blog post…Too bad I can’t fire myself.

Recently I’ve taken to using a new application alongside MindManager. That’s noteworthy, because I’m not the type who tends to play with new programs for the hell of it. It’s called TheBrain. For those of you who don’t know, it’s in essence a visual database. Why I like it is because it caters to my innate laziness. Though theBrain can be used as a full fledge data suppository repository (Read: Real Work), I’ve taken advantage of one killer feature that takes about 5 minutes to put robustly into place: The ability to visually navigate the folder structure of your computer.

I’m gonna make this short & sweet because the Lakers are on right now. And I’ll likely talk more about theBrain in the coming months/years. Even if you never went beyond the recommended steps below, you’ll get one helluva a lot of benefit out of theBrain from using this technique alone…

So, here are your next actions:

1. Download theBrain.
2. Install it (Duh).
3. Under Options > Preferences > UI, make sure you have ‘Show virtual thought folders’ checked.
4. Open theBrain and File Explorer next to each other. Drag one of your mission critical folders from File Explorer into theBrain as a main topic directly off of the central topic.
5. That’s it. Use theBrain to quickly navigate from folder to folder, file to file. If you use my VSS template set, try navigating it with theBrain. Like a Ferrari for your filing system. As Pac said, ‘Picture me rollin’.
6. I like to have theBrain and MindManager open next to each other. See how it works with your screen real-estate. For the record, I think these two play nicely. Both companies should sooo buy me a steak dinner for believing that.
7. If you’re motivated, take a look at theBrain website, where they’ve stocked it out with learning materials. Also the blog is killer.

I hope that helps. Let me know what you think of theBrain in the comment section below. If you don’t leave a comment, my feelings will be hurt. My feelings of steel that is. Colbert forever.

A special thanks to Brian Friedlander for his ludicrous belief and subsequent encouragement that I would blog again. You win Brian.

Technorati Tags: Mindjet MindManager,TheBrain,Database,VSS,Visual Strategist,Kyle McFarlin,Chipotle,Brian Friedlander,Gyronix ResultsManager

Wallace must be drinking his Tim Horton’s to take this on:

Before I turnoff my computer for the weekend (4 hour Workweek, oh snap!). I wanted to point you to a recent interview Chuck Frey did with Wallace Tait. For those of you don’t know, Wallace has one of the greatest minds in the visual mapping arena. If he’s Kobe I’m Lebron James (okay, the rain of arrogance came early this post). In it, Wallace makes a compelling case for a standard Visual mapping body of knowledge... Basically, if there was a central repository for visual mapping best practices, people might actually learn about & use visual mapping with some skill and savvy as opposed to the 3 generations removed from original sinnin' kissin' cousins-like usage scenarios I often see. Don't fret clients, that's before I remake you in my awesome mapping image (To be read with Stephen Colbert-like snap).

I'm in a lazy mood and that means I have a mental block to the assload of work he's proposing. He's most likely right on the other hand, which is why I come to you on a beautiful Ohio Friday (mid-30s and cloudy) with this. On the other hand, I do have 1 moment of pause: So many people go cross-eyed when they see visual maps that the only way this glorious toolkit may cross the famed chasm is to be used at such a phenomenal level by a few high-profile companies that other companies MUST follow suit or go the way of the dinosaur. I miss the dinosaurs.

Did I mention I'm feeling a little lazy? Time to go play in the gray day... so here's the link. Focker out!

Leave a comment and let everyone know what you think.

Technorati Tags: Wallace Tait,Chuck Frey,Kyle McFarlin,Visual mapping,4 hour workweek

Christmas in January with Context Organizer

Before I wrap for the evening and watch King James go ballistic on the Hornets, I thought I’d blog the piece of software I’m most excited about this year.

I’ve always enjoyed reading. And I’ve always felt an elephant was standing on my head when I would walk into a Barnes & Noble and realize there’s all of this information and no way I could ever read it all. As time went by, I understood that you don’t have to read everything to get the jist: Just get broad enough you sound competent around yuppies and know the hell out of your chosen field.

Sounds easy, right? Well, I could still probably spend the rest of my life covering visual mapping and all of the topics influential to it. Another ‘screw it, the hell with visual mapping, let’s play video games’ moment brought to you by our sponsor, ‘feeling of overwhelm’.

Never one to back down from a bucket of fried chicken challenge, I’ve done everything I can to learn about speed-reading and faster ways of consuming information. But still, it takes time to summarize a book into those beautiful little chicken nuggets of value. Can you tell I haven’t eaten dinner yet?

That’s why I’m so damn excited about Context Organizer, which I just started playing with tonight. Now, we all know that I’m lazy when it comes to giving product description, so I defer to Brian Friedlander’s excellent post. According to Brian:

“Context Organizer you are able to quickly get the context of attached documents as well as web sites right within MindManager 8, that are visually displayed as topics and subtopics.”

I’ll add that it also works with MindManager 7 because that’s what I’m using on this computer (Don’t get your knickers in a twist Mindjet, I’m using MM8 on my other computer. You know I’ve got love for ya! Holla.). Further, it’ll summarize a document you are hyperlinked to from within MindManager.

I summarized a website and 2 PDFs… and found that I can get immense topical value out looking through the output. In fact, I think the output from Context Organizer is very similar to what speed-reading programs are trying to get you to pick up on.

A perfect reason to do absolutely no more work tonight.

Good Night and God Bless.

You can get a free 21 day trial of the software at Context Discovery.

Technorati Tags: Brian Friedlander,Kyle McFarlin,Context Organizer,Mindjet MindManager

Are You 'Watching' Your Mind Maps?

Lately I've been a little bit disenchanted with my mind maps. Not because of content, just because I would create a map and often not look at it again. Also, when you work in mind mapping for a living, sometimes you just don't feel like going back into a map and fooling with looking at it. May sound crazy, yet if you map it right you've committed a lot of it to memory. I'm mostly talking about content maps... execution maps I live in. It's like the fast food employee who burns out on hamburgers. I love fast food. McDonald's is swell.

What I have been doing though, when I want to brush up on a subject, is just going into MindManager 7, clicking on the 'View' Tab, and throwing it into presentation mode. Then I can just watch the map by continuously hitting 'Tab'. It's entertainment on par with Scarface and Nemo.

Maybe all of you are doing this already, yet it feels like an epiphany for me. And I think the term 'presentation mode' makes us think that it's only for when you're showing it to other people. NOT SO. Maybe Mindjet should call it 'Sit on your butt with some popcorn and be entertained mode'. I rule. You can have that one for free Mindjet.

Much love to all of my readers. Now I've got to go watch CP3 face down San Antonio.

Technorati tags: Kyle McFarlin, Mindjet MindManager, McDonald's, Chris Paul, NBA, Scarface, Finding Nemo

Are You a Dinosaur?

'We are all information managers, whether we acknowledge it or not, the fact that we create, manage and exchange information to gain knowledge is a testament to the human need for expansion.' -Wallace Tait-

 

Amen. A recent theme for me is how impossible it is to stay still: you either get worse or you get better as a recent post by my buddy Rich Schefren illustrates. IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO STAY THE SAME. In the 21st century knowledge is a commodity to be managed and if you don't think so you'd better start looking for your jeans in the dinosaur department. Because if you don't acknowledge it, your competitor will... and down the line you'll hear the cannon of competition in the distance, growing louder every day.

Curious to learn what all the fuss is about? You can read Wallace Tait's Interview here:

Assistive Technology: Visual Mapping and the Information Economy

Technorati tags: Wallace Tait, Brian Friedlander, Kyle McFarlin, Information Economy, Visual Strategist, Rich Schefren

Business Case for Mind Mapping Found Before Big Foot!

I'm sick of the lack of awareness of what Mind Mapping can do for businesspeople. Day by day, workers/executives/entrepreneurs drown, and I don't use that word lightly because like shark attacks and bull running it scares me. They drown in a sea of e-mail, crappy bosses, projects, romantic affairs (what the *#$%?), operations, files scattered everywhere, PowerPoint Presentations, Excel spreadsheets, relationships, trips, family, American Idol, fried chicken, etcetera. Meanwhile, they get little in the way of tools that truly help them shovel their way out of hell.

In Chuck Frey's new book, The Mind Mapping Manifesto, he throws a harpoon right at the heart of the business world's ignorance of mind mapping, especially felt here in the US (Seriously Europeans, take a moment and savor how mind map friendly your nations are). And priceless is Chuck's new phrase of mind mapping: 'The Savvy Executive's Secret Weapon.' That's pimp.

According to Chuck,

'Not enough executives and entrepreneurs truly understand what mind mapping software is and what it can do for them. This is the best software you've never heard of!

So I decided to do something about that. I'm Chuck Frey, founder of InnovationTools.com, author of the Mind Mapping Software Weblog and of the popular e-book, Power Tips & Strategies for Mind Mapping Software.

I've seen the impact that it can make on the work and lives of people just like you. Mind mapping software can help you to:

• Conquer information overload
• Make better decisions
• Reach clarity faster on key issues
• Become a more creative problem solver, and
• Supercharge your effectiveness

That's why I've written The Mind Mapping Manifesto - to spread the word about the productivity benefits this type of software offers, and to help you to make an informed decision about investing in it. In short, I've built the business case for mind mapping software.'

Well you go Chuck, and hopefully the thought virus you've created spreads. Hells bells, Chuck even encourages you to spread the book around to members of your organization, so I have to imagine the Barons of Linear Notetaking may be waking up very soon. And it may even feature some choice bits from everyone's favorite espresso fiend. This year, let's hope I improve at Halo 3 (has anyone written an e-book on how to enjoy getting your ass shot off?) and mind mapping finally starts to get the recognition it deserves as THE tool that will finally reconcile hippies and suits.

Discover more about the Mind Mapping Manifesto now.

Technorati tags: Kyle McFarlin, Chuck Frey, The Mind Mapping Manifesto, Europe, US

My Beehive from Hell Hairdo

Yeah, it's great that I came out against hair dressers whose hair looks like crap in a previous post about eating your own dogfood. Poor people, I found out today how easy it is to be negligent in an area of supposed expertise.

See, I went to see my accountant today (Sunday) and have my taxes done (Pipe down with the hypocrisy exclamation mark: Saturday is my Sabbath). And lo and behold, I'd done an A+ sucky job of systematizing my finances over the past year. I had everything we needed with me... it just took eons to find it all. Not that I'm a finance whiz, but I do tell everyone else to create Projects that turn into Operations - Processes... and meanwhile, I've piled crap onto crap in my own situation. The hell with eating my own dogfood, I need water wings as I'm swimming in the by-product. I made the damn VSS template set... I guess I could live by it in EVERY area of my business, not just those I enjoy (hello Marketing, hello R&D, hello Training & Consulting).

And God bless my accountant, who has given me what I feel is a framework to turn 2008 into the year I systematize financial processes like Lil' Wayne makes mix tapes. I'd give her a shoutout by name, but I haven't a clue if she wants to join this online freakfest I've created at the Underlying Blog. I'm a freakfest! Beautiful.

So, where are you falling short in practicing what you preach, and what is the next action you can take to fix it?

Tonight, my own dogfood smells like crap... tomorrow, I have to eat it. Me, I'll be process mapping some financial stuffery.

So the hypocrite rides again. I'm hungry, it's time for lucky charms.

That's life, and that's the way it is, and it's a good problem to have.

My my, I won't shutup. LUCKY CHARMS.

Technorati tags: Kyle McFarlin, Hair Do, Lil' Wayne, VSS Template Set, Mindjet MindManager, Lucky Charms

No Excuses for Being A Lazyass Blogger... Except Actual Work

Folks, I've sucked about blogging over the last couple few of weeks. No excuses. I've just been a lazy bastard about it. If I were you, I'd probably quit reading it (as if you didn't anyhow... oh wait, here you are).

What I have been doing, again no excuses, is mind mapping the hell out of Rich Schefren's Strategic Profits Live Event at Disney World in Orlando Florida. I'm proud to say the maps I've created will even be included with the Home Study Course Strategic Profits is offering. Life changing event I'll add, not the least of which was Gary Vaynerchuk going nuclear on having a lack of, errr... vision about one's own ascendancy to greatness. And Jay Abraham? The dude is the John Gotti of strategic business building: Teflon, smooth as silk and infinitely compelling. No Jay, I'm not saying you're a gangsta. Killer content, and I no longer have any excuses for being anything less than myself.

Check out Jay here:

Check out Gary here:

 

As much as I love being back in Ohio, hot damn do I miss the sun. I'm sure it was wonderful for the attendees to meet me, and I sure enjoyed making their acquaintance as well. I wonder if it's possible to make Ashland, Ohio and Amish Country the Silicon Valley of the Midwest? WE NEED A TECH COMMUNITY HERE. I love coffee.

Also, I'm a huge fan of Disney. I've loved animation ever since I was old enough to realize it wasn't real (Bambi sucks when you think the bullets will come out of the screen... Actually I'm not partial to Bambi no matter what). Alice in Wonderland, the Jungle Book, Nemo, that's the stuff. So yes, I'm a big kid at heart! My two cents to Disney though: Get some of your plain-clothes crime operatives to watch out for bad parenting in addition to theft as most parents have completely ceded control to their kids... who will slam into you repeatedly while waiting in line for Space Mountain. Say it with me, CUR-MUDG-EON.

One of the things I learned at the event is to BE-YOURSELF. Sometimes I write this blog in my own voice, like now. Other times, I write it like some corporate stooge, attempting to make sure it offends exactly no one and therefore bores the hell out of everyone, not the least of which is me, the author. I have to read this crap as I write it. Sucks when it's blandified oatmeal.

My buddy Brian Friedlander asked me what I've been up to: I'M BACK BAAABBBYYY!!! (Big ups, Joey Tribbiani).

Technorati tags: Kyle McFarlin, Strategic Profits, Mind Mapping, MindManager, Disney, Ohio, Brian Friedlander, Gary Vaynerchuk, Jay Abraham