Free online mind-mapping tool

Click the image above to see a larger version.

Mindomo is a free online mind-mapping tool. I have only spent a little time there but it appears to be full-featured. You can create maps, share them, and search for maps on any topic. Worth a look.

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Alignment

Alignment, originally uploaded by dgray_xplane.

Some people think of organizational alignment as "getting people to buy in" with an idea that is already formed. This may be useful sometimes but I don't think it's optimal.

Alignment is the process of synthesizing varied opinions and viewpoints on a subject.

Getting alignment on "why we're doing this is not about getting everyone to see "the right answer" so much as incorporating everyone's viewpoint into a "shared vision" of what that means.

Cultural alignment can mean "same thing" as in, "we are all driving toward the same goals" (true north) or it can mean "same way" as in, "we do things consistently."

A flock of geese does both -- can a modern organization work in the same way without stifling creativity?

What does alignment mean to you? What does it mean in your organization? Please share your thoughts.

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What's the best tool for communication?

It depends on what you are trying to do. Click the diagram at left for a larger view.

How to Save the World: "What are the reasons we use faulty judgement, and use the wrong technology for communications?

* Habit: We tend to use the tools we're most familiar, comfortable, and in the habit of using, even when they're not optimal. It takes some practice to train ourselves to think 'what's the best medium to use for this?' before we start or respond to a communication.

* Personality: Some people (e.g. those who are shy about face-to-face meetings) hide behind e-mail even when it's not the right medium. Sometimes it's up to use, the recipients, not to get drawn into time-wasting e-mail threads, and walk down the hall or pick up the phone and talk it through in real time.

* Physical layout: Having people who need a lot of face-to-face contact in offices far apart just to pay homage to the organization chart can obstruct the use of optimal communication technologies.

* Ignorance: If people don't know communication technologies are available, or if they're hard to learn or remember how to use, or too complicated, they won't be used.

* Unavailability: Some organizations refuse to allow IM, blogs, wikis or free collaboration tools or 'free' tools that need to be downloaded to each PC, for security or centralized management reasons. Obviously, if the tools aren't available, less appropriate tools have to be used."

Read more here.

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Specialist or generalist?

Specialist or generalist?, originally uploaded by dgray_xplane.

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Interesting interface

Musicovery is an interesting interface that lets you browse music by mood and genre, and then listen to it. Imagine integrating something like this with iTunes.

"Kind of like Pandora meets the Visual Thesaurus meets a 70's mood ring." -- Matt Homann.

Thanks Matt!

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Slidecasting by Slideshare.net

How to Change the World: Reality Check: Slidecasting by Slideshare.net: "Slidecasting by SlideShare.net enables you to synchronize PowerPoint slides and audio files. To create a slidecast, you upload slides to SlideShare.net. The audio file is hosted anywhere on the web. Then you link the slides and audio by using an online synchronization tool. When you play the slidecast, the audio is streamed from its location and plays with the slides. The service is completely free."

Thanks Guy!

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How to Draw a Giraffe

WHOLPHIN DVD � Film: How to Draw a Giraffe

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16 Awesome Data Visualization Tools

16 Awesome Data Visualization Tools: "From navigating the Web in entirely new ways to seeing where in the world twitters are coming from, data visualization tools are changing the way we view content. We found the following 16 apps both visually stunning and delightfully useful."

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What are you reading?

A comment by chap got me curious: What are you reading? I am especially interested in magazines and books.

Please share your favorite magazines, most recent books you have read/enjoyed, and if you don't mind, your job title -- I imagine that if you're a CTO you might be reading different things than if you are a product manager.

I'll start: I've been reading Everything is Miscellaneous by David Weinberger. My favorite magazines are Business 2.0 and the Economist. Job title: CEO.

Also I'd appreciate your vote:

If Time Inc. does shut down Business 2.0, which magazine(s) should we seek to partner with, so we can continue to publish visual explanations of business technology issues?

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Visual communication - an interview with Dave Gray

I was recently interviewed on the User Experience Podcast:

Visual Communication - an Interview with Dave Gray

"Dave talks about giving ourselves permission to draw, about how the printing press led us to communicate in a particular way, and about how that can limit our communication in a digital environment, about how PowerPoint can be both inhibiting and comforting, and about how where we are with video today is where we were with PageMaker 20 years ago."

Would love to hear your thoughts.

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Time Inc. threatens to shut down Business 2.0

The next generation of search engines, originally uploaded by dgray_xplane.

As many of you may know, XPLANE has worked with Business 2.0 magazine since its initial launch in 1998. Over the last nine years we have worked closely with the magazine to develop visual explanations of technology and business issues. I believe it's a truly special publication and I have never seen another magazine quite like it.

If you want a trip down dot-com memory lane, I have posted a few of my favorite Business 2.0 XPLANATiONs here.

Time Inc., the parent company, is about to drop the axe on Business 2.0 magazine because of a decline in ad revenue. Actually, according to a recent New York Times article, this is largely due to a recent move by Time to consolidate the sales forces of its finance and business publications:

Aside from the overall downturn in the magazine business, current and former Time Inc. employees point to what appears to have been an ill-advised move this year to combine the advertising sales teams of Time Inc.’s finance and business publications, which include Fortune, Money, CNNMoney.com, Fortune Small Business and Business 2.0.

Consolidated under a single banner, Time Inc.’s Business and Finance Network (or Tibfin, as it is known inside the company), Time sales representatives stopped pitching the distinct appeal and audience of Business 2.0 to focus on the larger titles like Fortune.

That often turned Business 2.0 into an afterthought; big advertisers like Microsoft and Intel were offered discounts on other Time Inc. business titles if they would also buy pages in Business 2.0.

Adage reports a grassroots movement to save the magazine, and today readers started a Facebook group to convince Time Inc. to reconsider:

Please join the fun and let's see if we can save the magazine! Join the Facebook group here.

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New job openings at XPLANE

Are you a visual thinker? We have some new job openings at XPLANE. Read about them here. Maybe you can join our gang!

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A blog is a way to change a company from the inside

... but not the way you think. A blog is a way of getting support and affirmation from the outside, for the things you are trying to do on the inside.

A blog is a way to keep your faith alive.

As always, please share your thoughts.

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Did You Know 2.0

Would love to hear your thoughts on this.

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What is language?

What is language?, originally uploaded by dgray_xplane.

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