TheBrain Cloud Services is host to millions of digital Thoughts from users around the world. We are super excited about our latest release to the cloud that give you even more online authoring features as well as faster response time and synchronization.

TheBrain Cloud Service Update Includes:

• Increased Performance for Online Brains
• Drag and drop files to upload instantly to Online Brain
• Online notes editor enhanced with checkboxes
• Thought Types and Tags can  be added a new context menu online
• Expanded Web Client Preferences for font, wallpaper and hint options

Read our press release for the full scoop or watch our new features tour.

Public Brains may be viewed at http:///www.webbrain.com/explore

Adding More Meaning to Your Brain

There are so many possibilities for classification and organization of information in TheBrain. If you are just creating a new Brain, the first step is to map out your ideas with Thought relationships. Once this is done, you can add another compelling level of insight to your knowledge map with Thought Types and Tags.

If you are still deciding how to structure your Thought relationships new to TheBrain, as precursor to this article, I suggest reading Parent Child or Jump?  What relationship do I choose?

Now on to Thought Types!

Thought Types
Thought Types are an additional classification of meaning you can add to your information. Thought Types are useful for grouping large amounts of Thoughts that don’t necessarily fit under the same area in your Brain.

You can use Thought Types to help you specify key types of information that are relevant to your business or projects. If you are creating a brain for your company, you might have Thought Types for managers, directors or executives, clients, customers, partners, and even project phases.

Thought Types have a mouse-over label to indicate the Type. You can also set icons and colors for each Type to see them easily.

An IT manager might have Thought Types for different classes of applications he or she manages.

Classification and Functionally Oriented Thought Types
Really any Thought Type that works for you goes.  To distinguish two different uses of Thought Types you can think of them as either “Classification Oriented” or “Functionally Oriented”.

Classification Oriented Thought Types are more “objective” attributes. Examples include person, place, or employee position.

The above Brain uses classification oriented Thought Types to show Phylum (Orange) , Class (Purple), Order (blue), and Family (Green) in the Animal Kingdom.

Note that by Thought Typing this information you don’t have to create additional Thoughts for these classifications.

Functionally oriented Thought Types are more subjective in nature, examples might include:  “Best Web site”, “Good Deal” or “My Favorite”. It’s important to note that you don’t necessary have to have a completely consistent and formal classification for your Thought Types. I really like functionally oriented Thought Types because you can still gain much utility by visually distinguishing Thoughts based on more subjective attributes.

For instance, you can create Thought Types to visually distinguish information from the rest of a larger group of Thoughts that has special meaning to you.

In this example I have a yellow Thought type for “Great Web Site”, green Thought Type for “Good Flash Reference” and orange for “My Favorite Web Site”. This makes these Thoughts stand out over and above the others.

Setting Your Display to Organize By Thought Type
If you enjoy having many Thoughts under one category, Thought Types can help you see key levels of classification at a glance while still having everything connected directly to a central Parent Thought.

Right click on the background, select “Arrange Thoughts by” and “Type”. All Thought of the same Type will be displayed together.

Super Types
You can only have one Thought Type per Thought but Thought Types can belong to a Super Type. Super Types represent a family of Thought Types. For instance you might have the Thought Type of “Person” as a Super Type of the Types “Manager” and “Executive”. This allows you to indicate that a Thought of the Type “Manager” is also a “Person” and when you use reports to look up Thoughts by Type this can be very useful.

From Thought Types to Thought Tags
If you find you want to add many more attributes to your Thoughts then a single Thought Type can accommodate, or you are creating a lot of functionally oriented Thought Types, you will probably want to start using Thought Tags.

Thought Tags
Thought Tags as the name suggests let you tag your Thought with additional attributes and contexts to further define or classify it. You can have as many Tags per Thought as you like. Furthermore, you can activate a tag by selecting it from the Tags tab or using instant activate and all the relevant Thoughts appear. This makes it possible to aggregate items based on an attribute that might otherwise be logically scattered throughout your Brain.

Clicking a Thought Tag in the Tags Tool displays all the tagged Thoughts.

Thought Tags are especially useful for task lists and GTD users where you might have many different labels you want to add to a Thought. (For more information on how to use TheBrain for GTD see Getting Things Done with TheBrain)

Thought Tags appear to the side of your Thought. You can have as many Thought Tags as you need per Thought.

The Difference between Types and Tags: When to Use Each.
You can think of Thought Types as the primary attribute of the Thought. Note that when you set your Thought Type you can specify color and icon that distinguishes the type. With Thought Tags you can have as many as you want on a Thought and they need not be the defining characteristic or key attribute of a Thought. This is even reflected in their display in the interface; they are off to the side of the Thought.

Use Thought Types for Primary Attributes and Thought Tags for additional classification.

As shown above, once all ideas for the company’s “Market Expansion” are captured, Thought Types are used to signify a primary attribute of an idea. In this case, something that is a “Green lighted project” or a “Hot topic” which has generated much debate is identified with a Thought Type. Thought Tags for “Cost” and “Timeframe” are used to show key factors that will affect executing these ideas. (For more information on using TheBrain for brainstorming see Visualizing Decisions and No Limits Brainstorming)

Information Architecture Issues Solved by Thought Types and Tags
Thought Types and Tags can help you evolve your Brain in the following ways:

• Prioritize or highlight key Thoughts out of large groups. Using Thought Types helps you Identify key information sets at a glance
• Provide a consistent framework for visually distinguishing information beyond Parent, Child and Jump relationships.
• Allow classification of many Thoughts without necessarily breaking things down under additional child Thoughts.
• Avoid creating frivolous categories in your Brain. For instance, I would never have a Thought in my Brain called “when talking to CEO” but my tag “CEO”, which I use to tag key Thoughts in my brain, is perfect for this!
• Filtered reports and searches can be generated in the reports tab with Thought Types and aggregate displays can be visualized with Thought Tags.

So what are you waiting for? Type or Tag a Thought Today!

Video Tip:

Use TheBrain for Outstanding Presentations

We had a great webinar today with a ton of questions.  Thanks to all attendees for their participation. We focused on how you can use TheBrain as a presentation and persuasion tool for more effective communication before, during and after your meetings. If you missed the webinar, feel free to watch the on-line recording.

Template Brains from Webinar

• Here is the BrainZip I used for my presentation. A Brain on “Presenting with TheBrain…”
• Here is the sample Brain of an executive annual meeting presentation done with TheBrain.

Here is an overview of what we covered:

Three Phases for Better Presentations with TheBrain

1. Before Presentation

1. Organize ideas and agenda with Thoughts
2. Pin key Thoughts so you remember them
3. Add zoomable icons to Thoughts
4. Add Thought Types and Tags
5. Adjust animation speed

2. During Presentation

1. Wander your Brain before the meeting starts to peek people’s interest
2. Use TheBrain’s Presentation Mode (Under View Menu)
3. Switch to Expanded and Outline View for bigger picture
4. Instant Activate gets you to whatever you need to talk about instantly
5. Create new Thoughts from your meeting discussion live and make the presentation interactive

3. After Presentation

1. Add in your meeting notes and new ideas
2. Continue to store additional information
3. Publish your Brain on the Web
4. Send a BrainZip to attendees

TheBrain Presentation Applications. There are a Ton!

Collective Brainstorming

• No limits to number of ideas that can be added
• Additional files and supporting research can be integrated
• Easy and flexible linking and unlinking of concepts

(See my previous blog post for more on Brainstorming)

Education Seminars and Lectures

• Enhance understanding of subject matter
• Provides overview of content for students
• Reinforces key concepts

(Watch Previous Webinar on Using TheBrain for Education)

Project Management Meetings

• Link people to areas of responsibility
• Perform impact assessment on project changes
• Visualize project phases and key milestones
  • Phase1
  • Phase2
  • Phase 3
• Visually identify and capture requirements

(Read previous blog post on project management)

Sales Pitches and Business Development

• Highlight and focus on key marketing messages
• Visualize contingencies of a problem

(See Ken Morris’ Brain on Sales Management)

Visual Arguments and Persuasive Proofs

• Legal briefings
• Political debates
• Raising money
• SWOT analysis

Visual Catalogues and Product Showcases

• Multidimensional categorization of products
• Zoomable icons highlight product

Why Not Just Stick to Traditional PowerPoint Decks?

Using TheBrain for your presentation helps you:

• Focus on core ideas and their ramifications
• Get busy executives attention!!
  • Audience doesn’t get lost in the slide
  • A novel presentation means they will remember.
• Minimize graphic and artwork requirements
• Simplify complex relationships
• Visualize key ideas

Recording available at www.thebrain.com/recordings/get-attention/

Features Galore!

TheBrain 7 has over 50 new features and enhancements including:

• Next generation data visualization and mind mapping
• Enhanced linking and relationship mapping
• Seamless integration between cloud and client
• Increased performance and improved database backend
• More tools for getting things done

You can watch our features tour at  http://www.thebrain.com/thebrain7

TheBrain 7 features new curved links!

TheBrain 7 Upgrades

TheBrain 7 is a complimentary upgrade to registered PersonalBrain 6.0 Pro users who purchased after April 30, 2011 or $100 if originally purchased before April 30, 2011. Existing users can check for upgrade discounts at http://www.thebrain.com/store/upgrade/

TheBrain Service Plan

Today also marks the official unveiling of TheBrain Service Plan. It’s an all-inclusive software upgrade and cloud services for $159 per year. TheBrain Service Plan includes:

• All upgrades as long as your subscription is valid
• Online access of your Brain from a web browser
• Backup of your Brain online automatically
• Synchronization of your Brain across multiple machines

For more information on TheBrain Service Plan, please visit thebrain.com store, call 310-751-5000 or email sales@thebrain.com.

Yup…it just keeps getting better… You gotta luv technology!

Introducing TheBrain 7

We’re all on a mission. We have things to do, people to see and projects to complete.  But when you’re inundated with tasks and information it’s hard to bring it all together and make it happen.

TheBrain 7 gives you a clear view of all your stuff in a new intuitive Thought display.  With over 50 new features and user interface enhancements you get even more ways to connect your information so you can save time and get more done. Learn more.

Watch How to Take Your Information to the Next Level
with TheBrain 7

Over 50 New Features and Enhancements

• Visualize your ideas with TheBain 7 new curved links for even more intuitive Thought display
• Add more meaning to your connections with notes and attachments for links
• Get seamless integration between your Brains in the cloud and on your desktop
• Manage Brains with ease whether they’re online or local
• Navigate through your ideas faster. TheBrain 7 gives you more speed and an updated database backend
• Plus new SiteBrain export, optimized instant activate, additional reports…and more

Get Started. Download TheBrain 7 Beta Now!

Stay Clear and Focused on Your 2012 Resolutions with Visualization

The New Year is shiny and bright. Now is the time when we can look back on past accomplishments and mistakes of the previous year and start anew. Whether you are building on your previous Thoughts and projects or starting a new Brain, visualization software and mind maps enable you to formulate clear and doable plans for the New Year in a way that captures your best thinking.

Getting Outside Your Head

We all need a place for ourselves, a place to work, sleep, eat… but most importantly to think. You can make that place for thinking and translating your goals into action in your Brain. And it’s easier than you think. But first a little on the why…

David Allen, bestselling author and creator of Getting Things Done® talks about how you can develop a positive shift in your energy just by identifying what you need to do… i.e. when you are stressed out think about the relief you feel just by creating a list. In GTD Times he referred to this as “The value of getting things out of your psyche and into a more objective format”. Creating a place for your 2012 resolutions in your Brain not only gives you a digital space to start working on them, collecting information etc., but more importantly takes them out of your mind so you can work on them in a productive fashion. Therefore, the first step in your 2012 Brain is to identify and create Thoughts for all your key goals and resolutions for this year.

Creating Thoughts for your goals also helps solidify the commitment. In fact, I’m not sure if you can even have a resolution if at the very least, you don’t write it down. Though jotting a key goal down on a piece of paper may mentally provide commitment and relief, your digital brain provides a network for you to elaborate on your idea, remind you when to take action, and turn it into reality! Once you have created a Thought for your goal, the next step is to add other Thoughts that support and elaborate on your goal. This is where perseverance and planning come into play.

Perseverance and Planning in Your Brain

The news media reports that yesterday (January 9th), nine days after people make their resolution, is the day when most people give it up. So clearly without the right backup system for your goals things can slip away. In order to stay the course you need to focus and create Thoughts in your digital Brain for concrete action items and tasks that will lead to your ultimate resolution. In my blog entry entitled “7 Steps to Making Your Creative Vision a Reality”, I identify several key steps that can help turn your goal into reality. But the main takeaway of this post is that success begins by breaking down your dream into manageable chunks and making each piece an actionable step. And luckily segmentation of ideas is what information visualization and mind mapping is all about. When you mind map the possibilities, this imagined future becomes more real because you have captured and elaborated on a vision outside of your mind. Think of it as digital self-awareness.

To begin planning in your Brain ask yourself: what are the key components of your goal… then begin to segment your larger goal into smaller actionable steps. Each one of these steps should be a Child Thought under your resolution.

Experimenting with TheBrain’s outline view enables you to see all necessary steps for your goal.

For instance, “Living to be 100” is a very nice goal but unless you define key steps and milestones to get there, it’s just a pipe dream. Under this Thought you might include key research on longevity and health, as well as key action-oriented Thoughts that will help you achieve your goal such as nutrition, exercise and stress management.

References and Inspirations

Even though you think you are committed to your resolution, research suggests otherwise, and over time your motivation may waiver. Therefore, it is absolutely critical to setup reminders and inspirations in your Brain. I suggest creating a Thought called “Why” under your resolution and use PersonalBrain’s Notes tab to capture your key reasons and motivations behind this goal. You can also link to some friendly “Propaganda Thoughts” to reinforce your plan… For instance if you are losing weight, add some research in your Brain on how important weight loss is to health. In this way your digital Brain trains and convinces your wet brain on the benefits of achieving this goal.

References and inspirations are an absolutely critical step in actualizing your creative vision. Of course, unlike conventional mind mapping software, there is no limit to the number of Thoughts or files that you can add to your Brain. This means that you can create an ever-expanding unlimited knowledgebase for your vision. Collecting and organizing key ideas and important examples will enable you to harness abundant information sources and put them to work for you. Once key source material is in your Brain, you can simply type in a name and get to the information you need instantly.

Your reference Thoughts will not only help you define your vision for the project, but also serve as important guidelines and benchmarks to ensure that your requirements are met. For instance, if you are designing a Web site, link and create Thoughts for Web sites that represent your ideal aesthetics and business goals. If you are working on a kitchen renovation, link to photos of all the key design elements.

Reminders and Monitoring Your Progress

Goal maintenance is key to success and your Brain can help you stay on top of things. Setup action oriented Thoughts that demand your attention periodically. For example, if your goal is losing weight, add additional Thoughts on number of steps walked or an exercise log that you update each week. You can use PersonalBrain’s Notes built-in time stamp to record your key metrics. You can also setup Thoughts and reminders in your Brain for periodic reviews so when you get busy with other stuff your goal is never forgotten. I suggest you setup weekly reminders with TheBrain’s built-in calendar. The reminder Thought ideally should lead to some action you need to take, even if it’s just a journal entry in PersonalBrain’s Notes. If your goal is more elusive, like taking your business global, your weekly action item can be more research oriented, like finding three new web articles on your goal. In this way your knowledgebase grows to serve your resolution and you in turn will use this newly acquired knowledge to meet your goals.

We Are What We Think

As you work on your 2012 resolutions your expanded view of your thinking will enable you to go full circle with your digital Brain. That is, you start off using your digital Brain to capture your goal but by directing your own ideas and thinking in TheBrain towards your goal you are actually training your mind to focus and absorb what is most important to you. Thus your digital Brain moves you to a deeper level of commitment and strategic thinking on that “2012 Thought” you created. It is this symbiosis of deliberate and selective brainstorming that takes you to a higher consciousness of an idea. This mindset makes the difference between a resolution and an accomplished result. So to all of you who seek more in life and work, may you forge a better, more intelligent future this year with new directed Thoughts and ideas in your digital Brain. After all, we are what we think we can be. So be the most you can be… in your Brain.

Happy New Year and Happy Digital Thinking!

Whether you are making your annual trip back home for the holiday season or are on the road each week, your Brain can help you make the most of your travel plans. Moreover, by adding key resources into your Brain you’ll create a robust knowledgebase for key destinations that gets better every time you use it.

TheBrain is invaluable for keeping trip itineraries accessible and collecting cool snippets of your destinations.

Remembering What You Know…
When You Need it.

Someone once asked me how my travel Brain is different from a Google search or a travel book. And my answer is: it’s completely different because your Brain lets you customize the onslaught of information and bring it together in a way that is most relevant to YOU. Organize things from your perspective with your favorite activities, friends, restaurants and neighborhoods.

Essentially your travel Brain helps you remember what you know when you need it, as well as leverage key information assets so you can make better decisions about your trip. Sometimes the possibilities when you travel are endless. You can copy and paste maps to key destinations. Drag and drop links from hotel web sites. Jot down notes about rates and plans. Then “instant activate” your ideas on a moment’s notice. This is especially helpful if time is of the essence and you want to make sure you get a broad picture of your options.

In terms of basic travel Thoughts, I recommend storing your rewards and airline numbers in your Brain so you can get to your information quickly. For instance when I am booking a flight online I just activate my American Airlines Thought to see my frequent flyer number for flight credits etc. And like many business travelers I fly so many airlines that I can’t possibly remember them all and I certainly don’t carry the cards in my wallet! I also drag and drop email confirmations or print flight confirmations as PDFs and add them in my Brain to track out of state travel and to access itineraries on a moment’s notice. But perhaps the most magical aspect of your digital Brain is how it will surprise you with the right ideas when you need them. Like when I’m in New York I can activate my ”New York Asian Fusion Restaurants” Thought and always find my favorite restaurants in the area. Or that area map of snorkeling in turtle cove in Hawaii that is not in any tourist books that I discovered several years ago… Stuff that is really fun and useful but you would never remember over time without your Brain!

Thought Creation and Access on the Road

With offline and online access, working on your Brain while in the air is easy. I like to add new Thoughts and ideas to my Brain while I’m flying. Luckily TheBrain desktop client doesn’t require online connectivity all the time. This is essential for roadies like me. That being said, any changes I make on my laptop from the sky can be synchronized to the cloud and to my home computer with WebBrain synchronization services.

Furthermore accessing your Brain without your computer is easy with online access. Just open your WebBrain.com account from any device to reference your Brain or add new ideas.

Your Thoughts Most Travelled…

With delayed flight schedules and overcommitted agendas travel can be stressful and overwhelming. While you can’t control your flight, or the weather, you can be armed with the best and most relevant information in your digital Brain to ensure you’re ready for everything. Your Brain will maximize your time while in the air and give you all the essential resources when you need them. This goes a long way to put you in the driver’s seat for all your present and future travel. So happy travels this holiday season and beyond with your digital Brain!

Event planning by its very nature involves many variables, people and ideas coming together. Organizing events in PersonalBrain where you can link any idea to anything else will help you visualize all aspects of an event, build and grow good ideas.

Our own organic brains aren’t always linear. One thought can lead to a cascade and convergence of many others. So trying to confine your thinking to a folder or a linear filing structure can really inhibit creative approaches to problems and events. Or even worse the process of organizing information into folders becomes so tedious that we simply don’t bother. We carry it all in our head.  This presents a number of problems from misplaced information to overlooked ideas that lead to disappointing results, not to mention the psychological drain of never getting things off your mind…

Your digital Brain will enable you to take control of life events by leveraging your own thinking. Create a Thought in your Brain for all your key events. Even just having an area where you dump ideas or add key references and notes will help you to elevate your life. Think of it as the visual grocery list with hooks into all the information you need.

Integrating Resources for Action
Sometimes we know exactly what needs to be done but we just need a place to stay inspired and track our progress. With PersonalBrain you can drag and drop all relevant files, emails, and web pages. For instance if you are organizing a conference you need to track all your marketing

collateral, speaker agendas and venue links – it’s only a click away in your Brain.

You can also take notes on your Thoughts and files to capture those snippets of information. Plus, PersonalBrain’s built-in calendar lets you set reminders and other dates so you are always on top of any action items and deadlines.

Dragging and dropping sources of inspiration that you read about on the web will enable you to recalibrate and reenergize yourself when you need an extra nudge. This might include key leaders in your industry, pictures of desired results or reference links for your project.

Achieve Multifaceted Focus with Instant Activate
Unfortunately, creativity can’t be produced on-demand. So being able to capture your thinking when the idea strikes is important. But being able to instantly recall an important idea is even more critical. One of the advantages of your digital Brain is that it allows you the freedom to relieve your mind from mundane details. So rather than having your Thanksgiving  dinner plans, marketing projects and new kitchen renovations all circling around in your head, you can get it all into one place and give your mind a break. You can turn off your thinking with the confidence you can return to it in a moment’s notice and get back into the groove of things.

One of the most powerful features that PersonalBrain offers is Instant Activate. Just type in a few letters and up pop the Thoughts you need. You can always get to exactly where you need to be in seconds.

The power of this feature should not be underestimated. It gives you the ability to get to any Thought and its related content in seconds. This is especially crucial for users juggling multiple projects or tasks. Anyone who needs to shift contexts, respond and bring up information quickly will love this feature.

Instant Activate

Just type in the first couple letters of what you need and a list of your Thoughts appear. Click on the Thought and get your information instantly.

Thought Tags and Types for Prioritization
With multiple responsibilities and projects moving at once it’s critical to manage and control the flow of your information, your time for each project and even the desirability of the projects themselves.

Once you have all your key ideas and to-dos captured you will need to take a step back and prioritize or even delete a few!  You can use Thought Types and Tags in PersonalBrain to visually prioritize your responsibilities. Use bright colors to represent and visualize the more important projects or commitments.

Thought Types for “Green Lighted Projects” (in green) and your “Action Items” (in orange) convey a visual priority when juggling multiple projects.

Seeing all this in your digital Brain enables you to be more conscious of what you need to focus on.

Visualizing Your Next Event
You can get started by mind mapping and visually organizing an event by creating a Thought in your Brain. This Thought will serve as the central knowledge hub to store and access information as well as add new ideas. With the Thanksgiving week upon us creating a travel section in your Brain is perfect for organizing itineraries, confirmation numbers, etc.

For more information on using TheBrain for travel you can watch this recorded event and get a template Brain.

Watch Matt Create His Thanksgiving Brain in 5 Minutes

With your event focused Brain you can take care of the little things that bog you down and keep your eye on the big picture. This helps you get more done so you can make the most of finer things in life. So whether you’re organizing your turkey recipes or planning for an international event, the same principle holds true:

Smarter Context = Better + Stress-Free Results.

Use PersonalBrain to make your summer shine, by capturing and growing your creative ideas and projects.

 
What Is Creativity?

The connections in our mind converge and new ideas are generated. But there is a certain mystery and awe in our creative facilities. This intangible process makes our creative process and output somewhat unpredictable and serendipitous.

How do you maximize such an ephemeral and yet essential process? I don’t claim to know all the answers, but there are some easy things anyone can do and PersonalBrain can help you with all of them.

Clearing the Deck for New Ideas for Creative Connections
I’ve noted that August can be a great month for creativity due to less intense deadlines. However, if you are in the construction industry or have kids at home from school you might actually have less time. But regardless of your workload or season, if you’re pre-occupied with mundane tasks and commitments, they will take up precious space in your mind. Creative opportunities will be missed. As Dee Hock said, “Clean out a corner of your mind and creativity will instantly fill it.”

This idea of clearing your head for more productivity is an essential theme in David Allen’s Getting Things Done methodology. A key aspect of GTD is having a trusted place to put things away along with a system of organization and prioritization so ultimately you can focus on what really matters to you. Not only can PersonalBrain capture your creative vision but you can use your digital Brain to store information, tasks, allowing you to sift through the data clutter that might be holding your creativity back. 

For more information on how to use PersonalBrain to “Get Things Done” see my blog post.
For more information on dealing with information overload see my article on “Digital Sanity.”

Thinking Outside the Box with Lateral Connections
Creativity in many cases is simply putting together existing ideas in a new way. As Albert Einstein put it, “The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources.”

From Einstein to Edward de Bono to Tony Buzan, many an insight on creativity relates to how making connections between two seemingly disparate concepts can be the key to that “Eureka” moment. Your mind and imagination are the ultimate source for these nuggets of gold.

PersonalBrain enables you to capture your thoughts anytime, when they come to mind so you can leverage them when the time is right.

There’s really no better place to get your creative juices flowing on a project, hobby or interest than in your digital Brain. PersonalBrain makes linking together information fun. You can connect any idea to anything else so your creative ideas aren’t stuffed into folders. This lateral thinking enabled by non-linear connections is the hallmark of creativity and is easily achieved in PersonalBrain.

Fill your PersonalBrain with the concepts that are important to your business or life. Whether it’s key points in your supply chain, new ideas for your manufacturing process, or key principals that separate you from the competition, each of these Thoughts forms a foundation for a network of lateral connections that can lead to your next breakthrough.

For example, if you are a software engineer being able to link development ideas to applications can trigger new features for customers. An architect might link building specifications to new materials to come up with the best design. What PersonalBrain provides is a new perspective beyond mundane folders to organize information. This gives you more possibilities to see connections in a new light.

Inspirational Warehousing and Idea Incubation
Now that you’ve started to build a structure that encompasses your business goals or passions, you should capture and link up all the ideas you have, no matter how fanciful they may seem at first blush. Much our modern world is built on ideas that must have seemed crazy even to their creators. In the case of your Brain, these ideas don’t need to get in the way and if they never lead anywhere, there’s nothing lost. Your PersonalBrain can hold hundreds of thousands of “Thoughts”.  On the other hand, keeping them connected to the topics they are about allows them to incubate and keeps them accessible when a catalyst for making them into reality happens or something comes to mind later.

A snapshot of Jerry Mickalski’s 160,000+ Thought Brain on creativity as published on WebBrain.com

Harlan Hugh the inventor of TheBrain, puts all his ideas in his PersonalBrain, regardless of how trivial. These ideas incubate, grow and build connections over time. Some might be used in the future and others are just there to trigger more ideas. This expansive knowledgebase has resulted in multitude of technical innovations of TheBrain software. Sandy Ping, CEO of VentureForward, and one of the inventors of billion dollar commercial successes such as Cascade Action Paks and Swiffer WetJet uses his PersonalBrain to make connections between market research, products, patents and new ideas to foster his own innovative thinking.

Organizing ideas is central to evolving your creative process. With PersonalBrain you can organize by connection rather than separation which preserves and captures lateral thinking that is often necessary to innovate and create.

(To learn more about PersonalBrain’s Big Thinkers go to: http://www.thebrain.com/community/big-thinkers1/)

Expanding Your Mind and Talent
By consciously adapting your workflows with the intent to be creative, you will find that you are. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy when you have the means to execute it. The simple act of capturing you ideas will spawn others and PersonalBrain’s ability to remind you of those ideas when you are thinking about related concepts will enhance your own innate creativity.  You can not only capture your ideas but the overall business and creative processes. This is especially relevant for project managers. Becoming conscious of your processes and methodologies will enable you to gain a level of control on your thinking and projects.  We just did a webinar last week entitled “The Ultimate Performance Network” demonstrating how to explicitly mind map business processes.  Understanding your workflows and project cycles helps you evolve and build on current thinking so you can improve and streamline things.

And for people who have no defined processes whatsoever, PersonalBrain can be even more useful. I know creatives in Hollywood who dread Microsoft Project but can organize a project like nothing in their PersonalBrain!  With PersonalBrain anyone can take a basic idea or vague objective and start visualizing specifics: hammering out next steps, contingency plans, key documents all visualized together. For more information on how to realize the results of creativity see my blog post on “7 Steps To Make Your Creative Vision a Reality”

So clear out a corner of your mind by putting it all into your digital Brain. Two Brains are always better than one. With PersonalBrain you will never run out of space, so add your most outlandish ideas, inspirations and connections. Let the idea germination begin!