Tony Buzan invented MindMapping, and he is widely considered one of the world’s leading experts on using the brain, learning, and thinking skills. He has written 85 books that have sold over 5 million copies worldwide.
MindMapping is a tool to enhance creative thinking of individuals and groups. I use MindMaps, with all my clients in multiple ways: teaching them this tool to analyze problems and opportunities either for individual thinking or group analysis. It is the quickest and most productive method to begin developing any idea or topic, evolving its components, often many of which had not been thought of before, and then converting them into an outline.
I, Vincent Liuzza, met Tony at a Young Presidents Organization (YPO, the world’s largest organization of CEOs) seminar in Key Largo, Florida on the general topic of improving the effectiveness of CEOs. His sub-topics on MindMapping included improving the use of both sides of our brain, the left (linear thinking) and the right (creative and analytical). He was the most demanded creative-thinking expert by YPO chapters world-wide.
Over the next several years we met several times at various venues, and he became interested in my management consulting practice. He felt that he needed outside objective input on how he could manage his speaking, creating, and publishing organization more efficiently, more profitably, and with less stress.
He, I, and his assistant scheduled a day-long session on his next trip to the U.S. The following month we held that meeting in Washington DC, where his publisher had an event scheduled for announcing his latest book. Our planned day-long meeting lasted only a half-day. Finding his solution was quick and easy.
Just as I personally employ MindMapping in understanding and assisting all my clients, I also assure that my clients are aware of and employ “personality profiling” tools (my favorite is the DiSC method) amongst their key management team. I quickly discovered that Tony’s personal assistant was the complete opposite personality to the one that he needed and that best complemented his personalty strengths. Her personality strengths and weaknesses were the same as his. He was open and outgoing, and weak on detail and follow-up. And so was she. He needed an assistant who was detail-oriented, follow-up focused, and more personally organized.
He quickly made the change. Six months later he reported back to me that his productivity increased 25%. Upon the publishing of his next book, he sent me a copy with a note on the inside front cover recognizing my consulting help. See below. And, then a year later, he further reinforced his thanks with the notes in his subsequent book!
