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Mappy Awards 2015: June ~ July ~ August ~ September ~ October ~ November
(Winners so far: Business / Education / Personal / General / English / Kids / Fun / Handmade / French / Spanish)
(No BIGGER version found…)
Mad Mapper’s Muse: At first I published this as by ‘A Mystery Mapper’, being uncertain as to its provenance. Happily now, after a great deal of tireless research and investigation into the darkest corners of the internet (ok, I sent a quick e-mail) I’m happy to reveal that it’s by one of the true pioneers of ‘learning by mind map’ and publisher of the wonderful Using Mind Maps magazine, Faizel Mohidin!
I’m on something of a quest for simplicity and elegance at the moment, and this one fits the bill admirably. Instead of lugging some hefty business plan writing tome around with you in case inspiration strikes, you can simply have this Business Plan ‘cheat sheet’ with you and the entire outline is there for you.
Strangely, I have very rarely if ever completed a comprehensive business plan, but obviously there are many domains where this particular document in indispensable. It would be nice to see and feature more of these ‘in a nutshell’ business maps which could then be used to sell the concept and power of the things to the decision-making powers that be. I’ll be working on it!
By the way, if this map interests you, be sure to check out Faizel’s site and magazine which is a true treasure trove of information and resources for mappers with a special emphasis on education and learning righter – bravo ?
Author’s Comment: Thinking about it…
Web Addresses: Using Mind Maps
(Click HERE for BIGGER version)
Mad Mapper’s Muse: The first thing that crosses my mind when I see a mind map like this is: How the hell can someone know all that? The second thing that crosses my mind is: No, but seriously, how can someone know all that?!! And the third thing is a sort of begrudging admiration mixed with teeth-grinding envy!
Of course, I suppose that the tireless Mr. Tay could have got it all out of a book, but I suspect not. In any case, he’s produced another stunner which I wanted to share and honour in the Education category this month.
For me, this is about as close to mind map heaven as you can get. Everything from the colours and curves to the compact yet comprehensive treatment of the subject matter, all wonderfully illustrated, well, need I say more?
Incidentally, Daniel was represented on the very first Mappy Awards back in June with this stunning example of his work – check it out, and give yourself a mapping masterclass!
Author’s Comment: Thinking about it…
Web Addresses: Facebook ~ Biggerplate ~ Wikipedia
(Click HERE for BIGGER version)
Mad Mapper’s Muse: This is a fine mind map I reckon, and that’s on a couple of levels.
Firstly I like Cristian’s use of colours and pictures – they really liven up the presentation and make you excited about discovering the content. And then there’s the content.
I’ve long been a fan of Brian Tracy, ever since I discovered his work in the self-help arena through his short but seminal book ‘Eat That Frog’, which is about… eating frogs, of course! Since then I’ve often looked at his books and even now I enjoy what he’s doing on-line and still learning from it.
Cristian’s impressive mind map deftly encapsulates what looks like some sort of seminar Tracy gave on his ‘Success Secrets’ and even the map is a fascinating read, so I can only imagine what the whole presentation must have been like.
Thanks for this Cristian, it presents a lot of valuable life-optimising content in a concise form and illustrates the powerful book-summarising potential of mind mapping amongst other things. Done any more?
Author’s Comment: Thinking about it…
Web Addresses: Biggerplate ~ Facebook (non-confirmed)
(Still looking for a BIGGER version…)
Mad Mapper’s Muse: I don’t actually think this lovely mind map is by Olga Koshelev but I found it on a Russian web site called Home & Work as part of an article by this lady and that’s a good as I can do for now.
In any case it’s a super piece because it’s clear, cheerful and charming. Whether it was done just for the exercise of making a one-off mind map or is a regular weekly activity is unclear but whoever did it certainly has the artist’s touch.
It’s the sort of map that makes you think: I wish I could do mind maps like that, or maybe, I wish I had the time to make mind maps like that!
I’m terribly behind in my own mind map making and this is going to inspire me to get going again just for the pure pleasure of it, which is one of the reasons I started in the first place. Thanks for a bit of back to basics beauty, mystery mapper. ?
Author’s Comment: Welcome any time!
Web Addresses: Home & Work
(Click HERE for BIGGER version)
Mad Mapper’s Muse: This powerful hand-drawn English language map comes from a blog called Learning English, or maybe Apprendre Anglais, which is French, but whatever the case it hasn’t been updated since 2009.
So whether or not it was created by the author of the article, given as Jonathan Lewis or not, I like it! Why do I like it? Because it takes an important concept in English – that of necessity and permission as expressed through modal verbs – and explains it clearly and colourfully.
The technique the author uses is perfectly suited to a mind map and this can be repeated for many language situations. He asks questions where the answer is (usually) Yes or No. Then, depending on your response, you continue along one branch or the other.
Very quickly you get to the actual language you need, along with some useful examples to get you going and productive quickly. Sweet!
Author’s Comment: Thinking about it…
Web Addresses: Learning English Blog
Mad Mapper’s Muse: Great! This is very clear and very similar to a map I did for my son Léo where each spoke is a daily chore or event, such as brushing his teeth or going to bed, with a time attached. Does it work? Yes and no! Sometimes we’re way off for various reasons, but often enough it’s he who tells me when we’re running over schedule. This certainly wouldn’t be the case if the map wasn’t there as a reminder of the ground rules.
Some would say this map doesn’t follow common guidelines about one work per branch, with is true, but it’s certainly one idea per branch, clearly illustrated with an image at the end which is easy for the kids to understand, especially when they are still learning to read.
Additionally, it’s quite good for new readers to see words in sentences and not in isolation so they start to understand how everything fits together.
As a teacher myself, I might be tempted to replace the redundancy of each sentence starting with ‘Learn to…’ with more varied and personalised language, such as ‘Weed grandma’s garden’, ‘Make a tasty salad’, ‘Fold towels nicely’ or ‘Replace loo roll when finished’!
I should also mention that as well as being a member of our Mind Map Mad group on Facebook, Nic is the author of a book called One Trillion Stories for Kids, which I haven’t actually seen yet, but which you can discover on his web site, linked to below. Thanks Nic!
Author’s Comment: Hi Sab, thanks for the opportunity. The activities are from a set of age appropriate activities devised from the Montessori school program, it’s something the institution put together probably by observation. I guess the message is more about the activity itself, as it promotes self confidence and independence.
The activities don’t necessarily have to be mirrored, they can be adapted accordingly to what the child can handle, but it’s more about the participation which I think is important. I’ve featured all the age mind maps on the One Trillion Stories blog section.
I really do think there is benefit sitting down with your kid showing them the mind map structure and see if they can carry out the task, this way you promote the learning of mind maps and the importance of these types of activities! Thanks…
Web Addresses: One Trillion Stories ~ Biggerplate
(Click HERE for BIGGER version)
Mad Mapper’s Muse: This is EXACTLY what I love getting in my inbox direct from our fantastic, friendly mind mapping Facebook group! Karl was on a course earlier this month with me called Applied Innovation run by Chris Griffiths and the team at OpenGenius and boy did we learn some cool stuff during those four days. Now to put it into practice.
Karl is very active on the Belgiun mind mapping scene and I hope we get some synergy going in 2016, seeing as I’m just around the corner in Paris, France.
I love the way he’s played around with the branches to make them into the letters of Mappy New Year (you did see that, right?). Then he’s found some inspirational words to get us starting next year on the right foot, or branch perhaps.
Fantastic – keep ’em coming Karl, looking forward to your next creations!
Author’s Comment: It is a honor! First of all I found the word play “Mappy New Year” (probably it already exists 🙂 but I wanted to do something with that.
I love to play with the blue dots on the branches in iMindMap 9. It stimulates my creativity. That is the reason why I made this one, to have a creative hour (fighting with dots and branches).
As a ThinkBuzan Licensed Instructor (TLI), I am an ambassador of mind mapping in Belgium. Together with 2 other Flemish TLI’s (Ilse Bal & Marina De Roover) I started Belgium Is Mindmapping this summer (it is a Flemish website). We share experiences. Mindmapping helps me improve my creativity, self-management, project management, business development, …
As an official TLI trainer I focus on the use of mindmapping and iMindmap software in both professional and personal ways. Mindmapping as a tool, not a goal!
Web Addresses: Facebook Page ~ Quattro Development ~ BelgiumIsMindMapping
Mad Mapper’s Muse: I stumbled across this lovely colourful and positive mind map as I surfed around the internet, and let me just tell you: surfing for mind maps is one of the most dangerously time-consuming activities known to man, which is my excuse for this article being published nearly three months late, but anyway!
The delightfully named Thaneeya McArdle has not only produced a great map, but she also explains exactly how she did it on her Art Is Fun website.
Thaneeya is a really wonderful artist and it’s a pleasure to browse through her site to see some of her colourful designs and stunning pictures. Make sure to check out her photorealistic and composite realism work, as well as her abstract and whimsical stuff, her owls and of course her… sugar skulls!
If only, oh, if only I hadn’t gone down the ????? route – well, that’s what looking at a site like Thaneeya’s can get you thinking but you have to be happy with what you’ve got and what you’ve done I suppose otherwise you wont’ get anywhere, right?
Author’s Comment: Thinking about it…
Web Addresses: Art Is Fun ~ Thaneeya McArdle
Mad Mapper’s Muse: Tidying. Hmm, now there’s a thing I don’t do with much relish. But maybe that’ll all change after what Anthony’s done here.
He’s taken an intriguing, original, current and self-contained and potentially controversial topic and mind mapped it splendidly. And not once, but twice, which is why, for the very first time in the history of the Mappy Awards, I’m offering you not one but two (2) (deux!) maps for this month’s French category winner. There’s one above and one below, both clickable to get a bigger version.
So why intriguing? Well, I’m one of those people who can’t quite get my head around the whole idea of tidying, which is the topic of this book, much less… reading a book about it! So I’m intrigued because when I don’t understand something I’m always interested to find out more!
Original? Well I hadn’t come across the subject before, other than in a very practical way when getting yelled at to get my stuff off the floor… Current? Yep, coz apparently this book is a HUGE hit all around the world. Who’da thunk it? Self-contained? Anthony’s managed to get all the main ideas into two maps, and that’s it, job done, tidy life doncha know.
Only here’s the thing. I’m a fan, for obvious reasons (check my desk), of the notion that it’s ok to have a horrendously ‘untidy’ desk because and empty desk would suggest an empty mind, and that’s the last thing I want. But I do get it. We can talk about it sometime.
Nice work Anthony, and I’m looking forward to your next two (hundred?!) maps on Biggerplate and in our Facebook Group! Now go… tidy up a map or two!
Author’s Comment: Le livre de Marie Kondo “La magie du rangement” (titre anglais : “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing”) a été vendu à des millions d’exemplaires dans le monde et prétend transformer l’existence du lecteur à travers sa perspective du rangement et de l’organisation de son espace intérieur.
J’ai souhaité m’intéresser au sujet (même si j’étais déjà un expert accompli en la matière…hum, hum…).
Tout d’abord, je vous recommande la lecture de ce livre : il renferme de précieux conseils et décrit surtout un état d’esprit par rapport à vos possessions, le tout étant assez délicat à résumer sur une ou deux planches.
Le Web regorge d’articles et de videos sur le sujet, ils pourront constituer une aide complémentaire appréciable pour la mise en pratique les différentes suggestions, mais, encore une fois, je préconise de lire le livre au préalable.
Pour disposer d’un aide mémoire des éléments les plus marquants dans le cadre de mon application de la méthode, j’ai constitué deux Maps auxquelles je peux me référer pour ne pas perdre de vue les fondamentaux, et m’aider lors des différentes étapes.
Ah oui, une dernière chose : les résultats me concernant ont été particulièrement spectaculaires ! (je vois d’ici votre question : “mieux qu’un ‘expert accompli’, ça donne quoi ?” c’est simple : ‘maître en expertise’ !)
Mad Mapper’s Muse: This WILL be the year I finally improve my Spanish, and this new category here on Mind Map Mad will help me!
I know Sandra already from the Paris mind mapping community, but didn’t realise that a) she spoke Spanish and b) she has done some nice maps to help us non-Spanish-speakers understand what it’s all about.
So along with the new French-language section in the Mappy Awards, this month really is a language-learner’s paradise.
I have to admit that even just the term preterito imperfecto sends me running for the paracetamol but I’ll be seeing Sandra again at the Biggerplate Brunch here in Paris in May so maybe she’ll be able to explain it a bit more to me then.
So, I’m on the look out for great Spanish (and French) language mind maps on any topic. The unifying theme of these new categories is the language the maps are written in, not the subject matter. I can’t cover all the topics out there in all the languages of the planet so that’s the route I’m going to go down and I know we’ll discover some more amazing maps together over the next few months. If you have one up your sleeve, what are you waiting for?
We now have ?? French and ?? Spanish speaking Mind Map Mad Chat Groups over on Facebook, where we share mind maps and ideas in those languages – well, I stutter, others speak – so come along and say ‘Hola’, or ‘Bonjour’ if you prefer. Hasta pronto / A bientôt !
Author’s Comment: I discovered mind mapping when I was a student and it was a revelation for me! I realized that it is creative, pleasant and very efficient way to learn things and prepare exams.
Then I started to map for my own development and found that it was also a great tool to explore myself and to think about my life, my future goals and dreams.
Now, when I need to work in a team, I use mind mapping as collaborative tool to emerge new ideas and solutions.
For me, mind mapping is really a magical tool which I can use in almost every area of my life! It allows me to create, learn, think, explore, organise, memorise, enjoy, have fun, share, it makes me an artist and I can even offer it as a gift!
Web Addresses: Biggerplate
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