Is MindManager becoming a platform?

Posted Oct 2nd 2005 10:37AM by Marc Orchant

I know I've been writing about Mindjet MindManager quite a bit lately but there's a good reason - they're innovating. Big time.

In the past, when I've shown people how I use mind maps for a wide variety of planning, research, and brainstorming tasks, almost everyone "gets it" but many just smile at me with one of those sympathetic "you're such a geek, Marc" kind of looks. I've gotten used to them. I'm at peace with my inner geek I guess.

But here's the thing. With the addition of smart Map Parts like RSS feeds, Outlook objects, built-in notifications, Excel linkage and internal spreadsheets and graphs, MindManager is evolving into a serious platform for me. I'm spending more time using it than ever before and find myself creating maps that contain all of the information I need related to whatever project I happen to be working on at the moment.

I used to do this in Outlook.

On the Mindjet Blog, Michael Scherotter just pointed to the MindManager Research Accelerator, and add-in for MindManager 6 that leverages Microsoft Office's Research Pane services and brings them into MindManager. A nice addition in and of itself, I thought. I use the Research Pane in Office applications (especially in Word and OneNote) a lot. But Mindjet has extended the capabilities in MindManager by also including these research services:

Starting to see why this is so amazing? Michael goes on to ask this very intriguing question:

"What Other Kinds of Search or Research Services Could be Added to the Research Accelerator?

    * Your Outlook Database
    * Your CRM System
    * Your corporate intranet knowledgebase or internet knowledgebase
    * Your company's research services.

Download it and try it out. It requires Mindjet MindManager Pro 6 or the MindManager 6 Trial. We want your feedback on it and anything else that you find in the Mindjet Labs. Post your comments on the Mindjet Labs blog or send an email to (labs at mindjet dot com)."

I am all over this. I've already added a number of reference links to a few of my most pressing projects just by researching the topic - within MindManager.

I've also been investigating the latest release of Gyronix ResultsManager, a MindManager add-on program that provides a unique and very powerful Getting Things Done-oriented set of capabilities to MindManager. This latest release, dubbed ResultsManager Vista, adds a wizard called (appropriately enough) ResultsManager Merlin which provides an essential helping hand that gets you up to speed very quickly with setting up your environment and building an initial set of project planning and tracking Dashboard maps. This new version also adds new filters and capabilities that improve the program in ways both subtle and profound. My two favorite new features are:

Support for "In-trays" in your maps, where you can temporarily keep ideas and actions that are not yet integrated. ResultsManager Vista's review Dashboards show you these "unsorted" activities for later processing
A ResultsManager template map that is the ideal basis for developing robust plans in MindManager

I've always found ResultsManager to be one of the most unique and powerful implementations of David Allen's GTD system. It's now a lot easier to get started with and more capable.

I'm going to answer my own question. Yes Virginia, MindManager is becoming a platform.

UPDATES: Don't just take my word for it. James Fallows, in today's New York Times, says many of the same things I just did (albeit from a different perspective and in fewer words).

Also, the Google Blog Search call in the Research Accelerator is currently broken. Michael is trying to find out what changed since it was working fine. Dancing with Google is often an adventure. Oh, one more thing. You will need to acquire a free Google API license key to use the Google services in the accelerator.

Reader Comments

(Page 1)

1. Marc,

I was debating whether the upgrade was worth the cost, but one new feature convinced me: inking inside of Topic Notes. I went back to MM5 just to confirm that it wasn't there before, and well, it wasn't. I know that adding graphics as inked notes was there, but the ability to ink inside of topic notes, alone, brings MM closer to being a true tablet platform.

Posted at 6:20AM on Dec 19th 2005 by Nitin

2. Nitin - agreed. It's a huge step forward. What I'd like to see as an enhancement would be the ability to copy-and-paste or import Windows Journal a/o OneNote ink into the notes fields.

There's so much in MM6 that enhances an already great app that I've been hard pressed to put all of the new goodness to work yet. Every day, as I use the new version, I discover something I can do to make my core set of maps even more useful and dynamic.

I've been keeping an anecdotal log of how often MM is running on my Tablet and I'm approaching the 75% mark during the work day and 50% when I'm at home. Those are Outlook-type numbers.

Posted at 6:20AM on Dec 19th 2005 by Marc Orchant

3. I have read your blog with a lot of interest and learned a lot. I am currently using MM Pro 5 and I am facing a problem which is solved in the new version 6. Not beeing able to purchase the new version now I would like to know if someone developped a solution for the following:

I need to add to topics custom set of fields. The same way we can add task info to a topic.

Basically I am building a knowledge map and need to add criteria of criticity to each topic.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Posted at 6:20AM on Dec 19th 2005 by Jallal Oussar

4. Jallal - you ask a great question. I suggest you contact Mindjet support directly to find out what documentation they have for developing your own map parts. From what I understand about the program's architecture, especially in X5 and version 6, this should be something you can do.

Posted at 6:20AM on Dec 19th 2005 by Marc Orchant

5. Jallal,
With the new Business Types and Custom Properties in MindManager Pro 6, you can do just that:
1. Do a Flickr Photo Search in the Research Accelerator.
2. click on blue topic icon to the left of one of the the results to put it in a map.
3. See the Public, Friend and Family boolean fields
4. Right click on the icon to the left of the image in the map.
5. Select Get EXIF data to add a subtopic to the picture with the picture's EXIF data.

The possibilities for this are very exciting.

Michael S. Scherotter
Mindjet Labs

Posted at 6:20AM on Dec 19th 2005 by Michael S. Scherotter

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