The Productivity Show #34 - Kyle McFarlin (Visual Strategist)
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I talked with Kyle McFarlin, who specialises in visual capture tools such as Gyronix Results Manager and MindJet’s Mindmanager. I bag MindManager 7 and Kyle defends it! A good discussion for how we capture and learn.
Gyronix Certified Trainer - Results Manager gives you a dashboard summary of you mindmaps
MindManager - For MindMapping, nearly 1 million users of the software
Why MindManager 7 - The Ribbon Bar. Works well with Office 2007 look and feel. The ribbon bar brings up more options. More visual and aesthetic. Isolate single topic/branch.
Message to MindJet! - Spend more time on the interface. Easier to print, overlap topics, fit more on the map, slanting and zig-zagging branches. Cut the cord or add organic options. Yahoo MindManager group.
The future of Mapping - Concept Mapping, Linking topic but not centrally, flow charting, less of the bullet like maps.
Second Life MindMap - George Kurtz vertical mindmap in Second Life. Go fly around a mindmap.
Microsoft Research - Image Visualisation, unbelievable future of software, creates 3D map from tagged photos.
Uses for Second Life - Scott Adams book promotion. Conferencing, interacting, 3D. Building the interfaces for 2D software.
Virtual Reality - To move around a spreadsheet. Wow! The Croquet Project, open source development software for online worlds. I have seen the future of my 3D spreadsheet. Check out the YouTube demo.
Kyle’s GTD - Results Manager for Getting Things Done. Yet another Moleskine user! VSS template sets. “Eat your own dogfood“. Input folder on PC. Projects in VSS templates. Horizons of Focus - 3 main objectives. Bi-weekly review. List of actions and project generated by Results Manager.
GyroQ - Pop-up text box for capturing info and thoughts, and web addresses, which each generate a branch/sub-topic on a mindmap. Capture manual notes into GyroQ.
Tony’s reset his life - Kicked out most projects by reviewing my Core Values. What are we doing projects for? Intent of our plans. Highlight intent and values to work out what you really want to work on.
The World’s most offensive rap album! - Massive Undertaking
Are the projects you capturing really necessary - Are the people you’re dealing with really necessary!
Visual Strategist - Entrepreneurs and high level business managers coaching.
MindMap projection on wall - Capture of meeting/thoughts/ideas
Go To Meeting - Coaching over the internet. 90% of Kyle’s coaching is over the internet. Cost, Time, and Green savings. Remote meetings.
Skype Prime - Charge a per minute rate for the service you’re offering.
8min Chunking - 8 minute lessons and 10 minute breaks! All learning will be in 8 minutes.
Tablet Laptop - Replaced by DV9000 to run Second Life. Tablet to highlight PowerPoint presentations. Go cold turkey and burn the bridges to force tablet pen use. Marc Orchant and The Tablet PC Show.
Outlook - Strip out the attached files to reduce the .pst size.
Windows Mobile - Palm Treo
Turn the technology off once per week - Get a life, get out.
Less Fried Chicken
Hocus Pocus by Focus - Tedious! best summarised by Louis Balfour and Jazz Club.
December 18th, 2007 at 5:14 am
[...] Listen to the McFarlin’s maverick interview at Tony Goodson’s Personal Productivity Show . [...]
December 20th, 2007 at 12:46 am
Please edit out all the hundreds of exceedingly annoying repetitions of the brainless phrase “you know” from the interview audio. No, I don’t know–that is why I started out to listen to the interview. I gave up after about the 200th repetition of phrase, “you know”. Sorry. Might have been a good interview, but I won’t ever know. :-(
December 23rd, 2007 at 5:53 am
Fantastic podcast. This and #32 have been among the best ever by the PPP people. Great work.
And the Visual Strat. Solution is very interesting - well worth the d/load if you are a Mind Mapper.
January 15th, 2008 at 11:03 am
Hi Marc C,
YOU KNOW, you are right: I uttered too many ‘You Know’s’ during the interview. Kind of like counting the number of times the ‘F’ word is uttered in Pacino’s Scarface. I’ll do my best to avoid using the same phrase over and over in the future, or at least vary it with 3 or 4 at the very least.
Thanks for the helpful feedback Marc.
January 25th, 2008 at 10:54 am
Good interview, Tony. I thought you did a fine job of extracting the pith of what McFarlin offers for us mappers and productivity geeks.
You know, no disrespect to the guy complaining about McFarlane’s conversational peccadilloes, but let’s face it — if you’re counting the number of things you can’t stand when an expert is giving you valuable, FREE insight — then you’re paying attention to the wrong things.
I call this the King Of The Squirrels Syndrome. I write more about this on my blog at http://roicopy.com/2008/01/24/a-million-dollars-or-king-of-the-squirrels/ .
Here’s my point: while grammar perfectionists are fond of citing the “rules,” when their copy is tested against mine (or another grammar heathen’s), the conversation tone version is always the winner.
So you tell me, is grammar more important than the communication? The results say not.
January 29th, 2008 at 5:54 am
[...] During the Productivity Show podcast, while interviewer Tony Goodson was doing a fine job of extracting the pith of McFarlin’s expertise for gaining more control of schedule and productivity via visual mapping strategies, one guy wasn’t listening to that. [...]
January 29th, 2008 at 10:33 pm
Grrrr, don’t get me going about the MarcC comment. I held on to it before publishing it, for a while, and didn’t want to get into a flame war.
My suggestion to Marc, is to edit the show himself, and I’d love to have him on the show, to see how he goes!! It’s big thing in blogging and podcasting, on how much editing to do, to the point where you stop writing or recording. Just Do It. And publish it, errors and all.
I’ve spent two days, on the next show, perfecting the sound. In the end, I’ve given up, and published it, as best I can, with the time allowing. Kill the Perfectionist.
I hadn’t noticed Kyle’s “You Knows” until it was pointed out. I guess we each have our filters and Marc’s is “You Knows”.
You wouldn’t say Bill Gates is the best presenter in the world, but many hang on his words.