Will Flow Charts Become Mandatory Business Documents?

I was talking to a local marketing company CEO last week and got on the subject of flow charts. As it happened, the CEO had received a rare complaint from a client recently, which led the CEO to try ConceptDraw PRO for the first time.

Things Just Seems to Get More Complicated
Her decision to use PRO grew from her sense that the problem with the client really had to do with the fact that neither the client--nor her own staff--really understood the process behind the creation of marketing material. She said that at one time the materials had been so simple that there was no need to document the process. But that had changed as the market grew more complex.

And so very early one morning the CEO got up and opened ConceptDraw Pro for the first time. A few hours later, she had a flow chart that she now gives to all of her clients.

Not Just A Good Idea: It Could Become Law
Hearing her story reminded me of something another ConceptDraw PRO user told me. This person is an accountant with one of the Big Four accounting firms. She said that more and more often, the body that regulates auditors, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board or PCAOB, is asking companies to provide it with a flow chart that explains the controls the company uses to manage its accounting processes.

So on one hand we have a company that's creating flow charts to help it communicate with clients and with itself. And then we have a government agency that now requests (and, reportedly, will soon require) public companies to create these kinds of flow charts.

Do Pictures and Images Count Yet?
This is interesting to me because it marks what I think is a shift in acceptance among business users of so-called "graphic documents" like flow charts and, yes, mind maps. You might well argue that there are all kinds of graphic documents used today, such as project management charts and slide shows. I guess what I find significant is that graphic documents are now being used to communicate non-technical subjects and that they are often the prime document, not supporting, document.

Once You Make It Clear, It's Clear
So... when was the last time you communicated using graphic or visual images to represent the information you want to share? Are parts of your business hard to explain to your clients? Would it help you to have a clear represention of a business process? If you bought ConceptDraw OFFICE and have never played around with ConceptDraw PRO, give it a try. There is a lot of clarity--and maybe even some peace of mind--to be found.

James' 5 Toxic Beliefs, Mind Mapped

Having just blogged about books I like to have as mind maps, I ran across "5 Toxic Beliefs That Ruin Careers" by Geoffrey James, an Inc. magazine article that seems like a good thing for all you/we entrepreneurs out there (except for those of you who are so unrelentingly confident that none of these beliefs plague you) who want to start 2013 off on the right foot... the proper foot, I should say.

It makes me feel like adding...
This map may not be the best example. It's a very short article, as opposed to a long book. But it does show how mind maps put information in a very different setting. Is it better or worse than a regular article? Probably not.

But seeing things as a mind map always get me thinking about how to add my own content. In this case, I want to add:

• My personal thoughts about each belief.
• Examples of how a belief has screwed me up in the past.
• And how I (or others) have helped myself move on...

And it's easy to do...
I've always liked the mind map form because it makes information so easy to amend, annotate, adjust. I'm a writer, so I know how to insert copy into word programs. But it always feels like I'm shoehorning something in to something that's finished.

But when the information is in a map, the interface just screams out to me to hop in and add a comment, rearrange the order, add a graphic--all to make the information more personal and useful for me.

But that's just me. Would it work for you? Take a small risk and find out!

NOTE TO VARIOUS AND SUNDRY LEGAL DEPARTMENTS:
I do not intend in any way, shape or form to plagiarize this article in the process of turning it into a map. I have linked the title to the Inc. page. I have cited the author. I am not trying to pass it off as my own thinking. Instead, I am simply trying to help spread James's nice piece of work.

What Book Would You Like to See Mind Mapped?

I'm in the middle of "Who Stole the American Dream" by Pulitzer Prize-winning author/New York Times reporter Hedrich Smith. It's a great book. But there is so much in it that I'm afraid I won't remember much (that's a different story) a week from now.

Back in the old days, when my Toshiba Portege tablet still worked, I used the platform's hand-writing feature to map out books and articles. But now, eight years later, there is no way to do what I could do back then. I thought technology was supposed to move forward, not backward.

(Remember this platform? One of the best.)

At any rate... it would be interesting to be able to purchase a mind-mapped version of the books I'm interested in. One would, of course, have to work with the author to do it. And it would not be unreasonable to expect that some authors might recoil at the thought of having his or her masterpiece "reduced" to a map (I wonder how authors feel about Cliff's Notes).

But on the other hand, it might open up a whole new audience of people who want to content but don't have the time to read the book.

So there's a business idea for someone out there. And to help this mystery person get started, I'd be interested to hear what books you would like to be able to read as a map.

I know that very few people actually comment on this blog--or most blogs for that matter. But I would appreciate just a quick note-- the title of the book and maybe a word about why this one book in particular.

Thanks.

The Ultimate Parents Christmas Map

Yep, this is pretty much the only map you'll need for your Christmas shopping. (And let's face it, lots of us are not finishing up their shopping but just starting out.)

You can add branches to capture such things as how he or she was bad, maybe how bad they were on a scale of 1-10, and what kind of present might be suitable (along, of course, with links to the appropriate website, whether that be www.coalchunks.com or www.pinkpony.com)

You can make a master map, and attach your annual maps so that you can track behavior over time.

Or, you could just forget the whole thing, remember that Christmas is for kids, get something that shows how much you love them, wrap it up nicely, and put it under the tree! :o)

How much do you pay for team communication? Look at Skype and ConceptDraw MINDMAP as low-cost highly-effective tools

With growing demand for support of virtual teams, the presence of ubiquitools with omnifunctions on platforms for everything from a phone to a computer has exploded in the past decade. Consultancies, small businesses and virtual teams have their pick from a wide range of options to assist in the management of remote staffers.


One low-cost service that has seen increased use since its inception to improve communication is Skype®. With over “250 million active users each month [and] over 115 billion call-minutes logged in quarter 2 (of 2012), alone,” Mark Gillet, Skype’s Chief Development and Operations Officer Skype is a clear leader in cost-effective communications. Now, CS Odessa has capitalized on that popularity and released a new feature for ConceptDraw® MINDMAP that instantly shares and opens presentation documents for each attendee before the presentation begins. 

Unfortunately, when it comes to communication tool-sets, many developers miss the mark when it comes to cross platform applications. Often, the practical solution is a piecemeal of software, email, and phone services that can result in an adequate level of communication; adequate, but not ideal. If some users are not using the preferred platform, a meeting can get congested with dissemination of information, as users can’t all read the same documents.

Since both ConceptDraw MINDMAP and Skype are Windows and Mac compatible, all users have the freedom to access and edit documents mind map documents on their own system while a presentation is underway. Furthermore, even if a mind map was created using other ConceptDraw products, such as ConceptDraw Project, the users can still view the entire document using just ConceptDraw MINDMAP and Skype.

One of the best features of ConceptDraw MINDMAP its cost-effectiveness. For $199 per license, you get a powerful mind-mapping and presentation tool. Using MINDMAP with Skype Presentation, MINDMAP delivers empowering interoperability features that can support meetings, briefings, and brainstorming sessions from across the world with heretofore unseen accessibility, ease-of-use, and power. Combined with Skype’s low or no-cost, Skype Presentation Solution for ConceptDraw MINDMAP gives users a high-powered efficiency tool raises project success-rates dramatically.

Attention Marketing Professionals: Get Ready Now for 2013

I blog about all kinds of things. But lately, after working with a number of marketing companies, I'm going to try to put a little more focus on using MINDMAP for market campaign planning.

I've touched on this before. But mind mapping is such an exemplary way to plan that, with the New Year fast approaching, I hope to convince at least some of you that a modest investment in ConceptDraw MINDMAP will transform the way you plan your campaigns.

Mapping enables you to visually see your entire marketing or PR campaign on one screen. This is so helpful to strategic thinking. Try it once, and you will wonder how you ever did it before with spreadsheets, lists, or project management software. And with mind maps you see the big picture--and still have immediate access to all the nitty gritty details upon which success hangs.

So if you're in marketing, public relations, or communications, stay tuned to this blog for the next couple of weeks to learn about some interesting ways to work with your clients to get 2013 off on the right foot!

Make Holiday Gifts Decisions Wisely

More on living a retro life
My wife and I decided to buy our daughter a new camera this year. Originally, it was because she's going to take a photography class at school. I started looking at all kinds of digital SLRs, was overcome by the selection, and called the photography teacher to see what kind of camera she recommended.

"Well, it just needs to be a film camera," she said. I did a doubletake. A film camera? Why?! "Because I'm going to be teaching the class some darkroom techniques." In fact, she said, the entire first semester will be spent learing about cameras and darkrooms. The kids won't shoot any pictures at all.

A short rant about dank darkrooms
I think it's great to spend time learning about the camera itself. But it seemed/seems odd to me that people are still using darkrooms. I didn't even know companies made film anymore. I can appreciate that there is nothing like actual film for getting the best image (Ansel Adams et al). But these are young kids--middle schoolers. It seems to me like the appropriate thing to teach at this age is how to compose a picture, not how to develop film. And to make them wait an entire semester to shoot one frame?

But I'm not the teacher, am I? Okay. No problem. I think I have an old Nikon around she can use for the class. But I know my daughter. She loves to snap away. And there's no way we can afford to do that with actual film.

To the hunt
So once again, I started researching cameras, but this time for a camera our daughter could use until she mastered her darkroom techniques. I did some quick searching around and came up with three candidates (Click on image to enlarge it):

You can see that little paperclip icon at the upper right corner of each branch. That means there's a hyperlink attached. When I click on the link, it takes me right to the page that features that particular camera.

When I open up the next level of branches, I can see some of the detailed info I've collected on this camera: Its name an product cousins, how it's powered, its zoom, whether you can override auto and get manual control, how big the censor is, what kind of preset modes there are and, last but not least, a collection of product reviews.

Details, details...
As I keep drilling down, more information becomes available to me. I really like being able to see a photo of what I'm thinking about buying. Yes, it's good to make decisions based on what's under the cover. But come on, you want it to look nice too, right? And then there is a list (again, with hot links to the actual sites) of some product reviews.

Comparing apples to apples
The hardest thing for me when trying to make an intelligent buying decision is keeping track of the main variables I want to track: Which camera(s) needs special batteries? How long is each zoom? What is the size of the sensor? What does it cost? Are there any rebates?

MINDMAP is a great way to keep track of these variables. By capturing each individual feature on its own branch, I can easily drag and drop branches to quickly compare each of these features side by side.

Make your Christmas a little calmer this year
Once I have a good sense of what I want to buy, I print out the map and take it with me to a local store--in this case, a local photo store. Having this information with me makes it much easier to ask the right questions, and to make sure the salesperson isn't blowing smoke up my... wallet.

Think Global. Buy Local.
I like to do research the internet, then buy locally--giving the local vendor a chance to match or beat online prices. But if they can't, I usually go with them anyway unless the price is just crazy high. I paid $30 for a 3-year, no-questions-asked warranty on my daughter's camera. If it breaks, I drive right up the street, drop the camera off at this same store, and it goes to the front of the repair line.

Supporting local businesses means that you help them stay local so they'll be around if and when you have a question, need a repair, or are ready to upgrade. The difference between online prices and local retail prices can evaporate when you consider all of the benefits of having stores in your immediate area.

Alas, you can't buy ConceptDraw MINDMAP at a local store, so we're the exception to that rule. But we like to think that we treat each customer as if he or she were our neighbor. So drop on by our website and see what you think!