This week, I will be attending the Gartner Symposium/IT Expo Africa 2009 in Cape Town, South Africa. In case you are wondering why I will be attending, I am the Business Intelligence Manager of a large fashion retailer in South Africa. To fulfill my role, I have to make certain strategic decisions about technology and trends based on my understanding of the road ahead.

For those of you that don’t know who Gartner is or what they do, I quote from their website:

Gartner is in the business of prediction. It is probably fair to say that the profession of prediction is being viewed with some cynicism at the moment. Yet, at the end of 2007 and all through 2008, Gartner warned its end user enterprise and IT vendor clients alike that there were stormy seas ahead. Indeed, projected global growth by mid 2009 is only 0.2% compared to 3.7% the same time in 2007, and predictions show a recovery to just 2.7% by mid 2010. Gartner saw this coming and we told you how to best navigate the rough waters. We even went so far as to suggest that CIOs prepare two budgets to factor in a global recession.

We predicted falling growth and falling IT budgets, but we also told you that there would be islands in the storm. The emerging economies of Africa have proved themselves to be such islands. Of course African economies are not immune to the immense shocks happening in the global economy – the price Africa is paying for its ever closer connection to the rest of the world. But they are still growing, though not as fast. Last year, if you listened to our advice, you were prepared for what you are now experiencing. IT budgets are holding steady or increasing slightly in most cases. Opportunities exist in the developing world that do not exist in the developed one, if you know where to look. IT must help to find, develop and underpin these opportunities. And, oh yes, watch every cent.

Gartner is the leader in this field. For them to be able to do this, they have to look at the big picture.

So many of us are busy with the ‘daily grind’ that we hardly have the time to look at the big picture. We are too busy with the petty cash problems, that we forget about the budget!

The difference between a manager and a leader

Stephen R. Covey, in his famous book ‘The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People’ gives us a wonderful scenario of this. He uses it to display the difference between a manager and a leader, but the principles apply to all of us, even in our personal lives.

The story goes like this:

You can quickly grasp the important difference between the two if you envision a group of producers cutting their way through the forest with machetes. The’re the producers, the problem solvers. They’re cutting through the undergrowth, clearing it out.

The managers are behind them, sharpening the machetes, writing policy and procedure manuals, holding muscle development programmes, bringing in improved technologies and setting up working schedules and compensation programmes for machete wielders.

The leader is the one who climbs the tallest tree, surveys the entire situation, and yells, ‘Wrong jungle!

But how do the busy, efficient producers and managers often respond? ‘Shut up! We’re making progress.’

Are you in the wrong jungle?

Using the Mind Map as a planning tool

The Mind Map, more than any other tool available, allows you to see both the big picture and relevant details on one page.

It enables you to survey the landscape and decide the path you want to follow.

My use of Mind Maps strategically

I have already made a Mind Map of the various streams offered at the upcoming convention and picked the path that I want to follow.

I will then draw a Mind Map of the various areas I’ve chosen and map Gartner’s predictions on each of these areas. To this, I will attach my thoughts and ideas about the matter. After this, I will be able to apply this to my work environment and make a prediction of whether we are going in the right direction or not.

I will present my Gartner experience to the rest of management and my team, together with their predictions and use it to brainstorm their ideas on the matter.

Such is the value of the Mind Map in big picture thinking…

By using Mind Maps as a part of your thinking process, you will start to develop leadership thinking abilities.

Don’t forget, you can also use Mind Maps in your learning process. At the moment we offer our Learning Management Programme, which you can do online at your own pace.

We will also be delivering great Mind Map tools in the following months to help you in your personal life, in your business/career and in your education.

Bookmark www.mindmaptutor.com and visit regularly.

Also, please pass this along to your friends and get them to subscribe to my weekly newsletter at www.yourweeklytutor.com, if you feel that it could add value to their life.