The last time I searched for Key Words in Google, Google Adwords came up as the number one result.
What does Google have to do with Key Words?
It is interesting to see how a company like Google latched onto the idea and now use it in their marketing, tools and business model.
In case you wondered how Google makes money when they give away the best search engine for free, they do this by selling advertising space.
If you want to place an advert on Google’s Adwords, you first need to decide …

“If you want something done, ask a busy person to do it”, is accredited to the actor, Lucille Ball. This quote came to mind while chatting to a colleague of mine, Alain Jaques.
He used the concept of getting fit, in the work context. We work in a tough, fast paced environment with tight budgets and limited resources. He said: “… to work here, you have to become work fit…“, or something to that effect. (Really sorry if I’ve misquoted you, Alain.)
The idle person is the one that is more likely …

…Or is it?
I’ve recently been criticized by a number of ‘certified’ Mind Mapping instructors. Who, correctly, claim that I am breaking certain laws of Tony Buzan, the inventor of the Mind Map.
Those criticisms made me relook at my Mind Maps and my personal style of Mind Mapping. I came to some interesting conclusions, which I’d like to share with you today. These are my experiences and my opinions and not necessarily a scientific fact.
To illustrate some of my points, I will equate Mind Mapping to running. Before you run off, …

Background
This article was prompted by a conversation I had with a colleague. She said she was going back to linear notes for the minutes of her meetings, as she found the Mind Map minutes to be too unstructured. She felt that the Mind Map rendition of the minutes were ‘all over the place’. When the minutes were reviewed at the next meeting, nobody new what was said or what needed to be done. It was chaos!
I immediately jumped in by responding that it is often a lack of Mind Map …

Lifelong Learning

Arie de Geus

‘Your ability to learn faster than your competitor may be your only sustainable competitive advantage’, is a quote by Arie de Geus that I often use because of the great message it carries.
Arie de Geus gets my admiration because he is not a pure academic only. He started out in ‘the real world’ and progressed to management in Royal Dutch Shell, retiring after working there for 38 years.
He was largely responsible for developing the concept of the learning organisation. His reputation as an academic came after his …

Philosophical
Since November last year, my articles focused quite a bit on my philosophy of success. Philosophical discussions are often controversial and spark lots of debate, but it’s something I quite like.
You should perhaps also develop your ‘own philosophy of life’. This will ensure that there is always a higher purpose for everything that you do.
Getting Practical
During the first few articles of this year, it started to get more practical, where you actually had to define what it is you wanted to achieve and by when.
Last week’s article on Goal Setting …

Before I start with this week’s article, I would like to address a comment by Tim Fulford on last week’s post. He criticised my Mind Map for not using one word per line and the lack of images. You can see his comments on the post at MindMapTutor.com.
Even though I gave him my reasons for not following the Mind Map rules strictly, I welcome his passion and input around puristic Mind Maps as advocated by Tony Buzan, the inventor of Mind Maps. Tim is a certified Buzan instructor and obviously …

Your ability to learn faster than your competition is your only sustainable competitive advantage – Arie De Geus

Tutor: ‘A Teacher; usually instructing individuals and often engaged privately.’ – Collins English dictionary.

We show you how you can learn faster with less effort by using Mind Maps.

Living on Purpose
Last week’s article, living on purpose, introduced you to big picture thinking of your life. If you always have the big picture in mind, passion, which is a primary ingredient of success, is usually sustainable.
Single-minded focus is undoubtedly the biggest guarantee of success and a Mind Map is the ideal tool to document this focus, as a Mind Map always has a central theme – a single focus.
While having a single purpose and focusing on it, will dramatically increase the chances of you achieving success, does it bring …

Strangely, this was one of the more difficult articles to write. It surprised me, as I was thinking for some time about the first article for 2010. It had to be inspirational but not one of those New Year’s resolution ones that have already been forgotten.
The scene had already been set in previous articles, Your results are a reflection of a year’s work, Passion makes perfect and MindMapTutor guidelines.
I had the idea fixed quite clearly in my mind, as well as the points I wanted to get across to you, …