Greetings!

As we get started in Q2, I hope that you are enjoying warmer temperature wherever you may be. In last month's newsletter, we shared some information on wikis and how they may help your organization. This month, we came across FreeMind, a mind mapping software program that may help you manage information and brainstorming sessions. We hope this technology adds value to your process. Have a wonderful spring weekend!

Doreen Gebbia

In our March Newsletter, we explained how wikis help simplify work environments at companies where collaboration is crucial. This month, we wanted to make you all aware of "mind mapping" tools. Sure, mind mapping is what we all did in junior high - those diagrams that linked words in bubbles to bigger words in bubbles. Today, this form of brainstorming has been taken to a whole new level. There are numerous mind mapping software programs available that promote productivity and creativity. The one that recently struck a cord with us is FreeMind. This free mind mapping software is written in Java and is easy to use. In fact, in February the tool won the "Project of the Month" at Source Forge. The two young developers are proud of their project that allows users to create foldable trees of plain text notes, enriched with colors and other graphics. The searchability and folding features make FreeMind valuable as a knowledge base tool. The software can be almost fully controlled by keyboard.

This unique tool can be used to keep tabs on ongoing projects and the state they are in, to link ideas and files together, for research connected to the main project, and for note keeping in the case where some notes are expandable when necessary. To make FreeMind highly user friendly, the developers have incorporated colors into the brainstormed "bubbles" to emphasize different stages or areas of a creative map.

Generically speaking, the best way to use the tool is when there is a small database or knowledge base that is too little for a typical data tracking system. Also, when the end result of an information collection is unknown, FreeMind helps form a more concrete foundation that highlights future problems and issues.

In the same way that wikis may not work for every company situation, this tool is not useful for all situations. However, it is well designed and it is worth a try to see if FreeMind helps you organize information.

More than just a how-to book for the 21st Century, Re-imagine! is a call to arms a passionate wake-up call for the business world, educators, and society as a whole. Focusing on how the business climate has changed, this inspirational book outlines how the new world of business works, explores radical ways of overcoming outdated, traditional company values, and embraces an aggressive strategy that empowers talent and brand-driven organizations where everyone has a voice.

Written by one of our favorite business visionaries, Tom Peters is recognized around the globe as one of the most influential and revolutionary management gurus of the last century.

Read more about Tom Peters at: www.tompeters.com
 

The "billionaire nobody knows," you may have seen Bill Bartmann on the cover of Inc or other business publications. Bill's life is an incredible story of over coming homelessness and failed business ventures to become one of the most financially successful people in the country. Some of the stories and information shared on Bill Bartmann's website are inspiring to any business person.

Bill and his wife, Kathy, now travel the country, sharing their stories of how they created their successes and how they dealt with their challenges. It is their life's goal to do for failure what Betty Ford did for alcoholism and Susan Komen did for breast cancer

Read more on Bill Bartman's life at www.billbartman.com

It is no wonder why Tom Lange says that he has "the coolest job." His latest project was to research the airflow around the uniquely shaped Pringles Chips. After coming to the conclusion that they flew off the production line if they were moved too quickly, modifications were made to improve the Pringles production speed.

Mr. Lange is responsible for the economic and structural analysis of different materials in products made by Proctor & Gamble. He uses "finite element analysis" to figure out what conditions will cause a bottle to break, the aerodynamics of products that ensure the fastest production, and how to achieve the best smell for a product.

We wanted to share this with you, in case you want to add it to the list of things you may want to do when you grow up.