Month: April 2005

Red Couch interview with Buzz Bruggeman

Shel does a fun interview with Buzz over at the Red Couch. As I read through it, it occurs to me that there is one more reason to become an ActiveWords user
buried in that interview. Sure, ActiveWords helps me be more productive
at my keyboard. But better yet, if you download ActiveWords and start
using it, chances are you will hear from Buzz shortly after. If you
blog about the experience, it's a virtual certainty.

Now, having a connection with Buzz is almost certain to lead to your
getting to know and meet lots of new and interesting people. But put a
little time and effort in from your side and you will get know Buzz
himself. And that's going to make your life more interesting. Pretty
good return on your investment, whatever currency you use to do your
calculations in.

Interview: Buzz Bruggeman.
Every industry has them and you probably know a few in your sector.
They are professional connectors, people who know everyone in their
industry and seem to have their hand on the pulse of what’s
happening. They help people find… [The Red Couch]

Bertrand Russell on problems and solutions

An interesting reminder for the morning. It is curious that we
generally devote so little time to this in both our education and our
work practices. Think how often the organizational and educational
systems we are embedded in convey the implicit assumption that someone
else has already defined the problem correctly and that our only
responsibility is to produce the relevant solution. Possibly an
acceptable message in an industrial world, but not one I would
encourage in today's world

On Problems. On Problems —

“The greatest challenge to any thinker is stating the problem in a way that will allow a solution.”
— Bertrand Russell (1872 – 1970)

Mindjet recommends: Blogs on Information Visualization and Collaboration

Some pointers to an interesting set of blogs. I was immensely flattered to find McGee's Musings
on the list. More importantly, it offers some pointers to some blogs I
wasn't aware of. And it also shows off some of the interesting features
of MindManger.

Mindjet recommends: Blogs on Information Visualization and Collaboration.
This MindManager map contains hyperlinks to some of our favorite blogs
on information visualization, collaboration (and related fields) as
well as their RSS feeds. Download this map and make it your personal
blog/news feed dashboard.Download this Map [The Mindjet Blog]

A strategy for improving knowledge work – new column at ESJ

In my most recent column at Enterprise Systems Journal, I'm taking another look at what a strategy for improving knowledge work
might entail. Of course, as I look around the borderline chaos that
constitutes my half of my home office and the contents of the backpack
that constitutes my mobile office, it's questionable whether I am
qualified to have any useful advice. Based on long prior experience,
this is not something that will get figured out in a single column. But
we'll keep on trying.

Mapping your Mindmaps – learning from the masters

It's really encouraging to see the folks at MindManager joining the
ranks of bloggers. Although I would have labeled myself a power user of
MindManager, I'm learning new things with every post. This happens to
be specific to how to make better use of MindManager, but others relate
to broader issues of how to use your technology as a partner in doing
your knowledge work.

Mapping Your Maps.
I don't know. Maybe most of you MindManager power users (or even not so
power users) out ther have been doing this for years. I just figured it
out…I don't like the file folder metaphor. And yet, that is how, form
day one, I have been saving all my maps. When I try to conjure up […]
[The Mindjet Blog]

Distinguishing doing something from doing something useful

A nice thought to mull over, courtesy of Betsy. It can take a long time
to be comfortable with the notion of leaving well enough alone.

“Much of the social history of the
Western world over the past three decades has involved replacing what
worked with what sounded good.”
Thomas Sowell, via Niek Hockx
I'm off to the airport, where Frank and I will meet the famous Niek,
and then get on a plane for Saudi Arabia. I told Niek to keep his eye
open for somebody wearing solid black from neckline to ankle and wrist.
Not sure if I'll be able to blog from Riyadh, but la vida es una buena
aventura, and this certainly will be a big adventure.

The Art of Intelligence

If you consider the C.I.A. as an example of a knowledge based
organization, this op-ed piece from David Brooks is worth some thought.
Here's the money quote from my parochial perspective:

But the problem is not bureaucratic. It's epistemological. Individuals
are good at using intuition and imagination to understand other humans.
We know from recent advances in neuroscience, popularized in Malcolm
Gladwell's “Blink,” that the human mind can perform fantastically
complicated feats of subconscious pattern recognition. There is a
powerful backstage process we use to interpret the world and the people
around us.

When we think about knowledge work processes, we need to be very
careful to ensure that we do not destroy those processes by mapping
them onto bad assumptions about the nature of knowledge work.

The Art of Intelligence. Many of the C.I.A.'s failures stem from its reliance on bureaucracy and analysis rather than humanism. By By DAVID BROOKS. [NYT > Opinion]