Another Repost from Tommaso Coniglio’s Blog http://synapseburning.com as a follow up to the previous post on ideas from books: The Ultimate Book of Mind Maps (part 1)
“In my previous post I explored the concept of mind mapping and the theory behind its effectiveness, based on Tony Buzan’s approach. Now I want to touch on a related topic, to which Buzan dedicates the second part of his mind mapping book: success! Chapter 3 is literally titled: The ultimate success formula (we are definitely in cliché “self-help” territory, and if I didn’t have so much respect for the author, a phrase like that would have stopped me from reading further…)
So what is this special formula for success, and what does it have to do with mind maps?
The “goal of goals”
In 30 years of teaching, Buzan has discovered that most people seem to think that the path to success – the “goal of goals” – is to get better with every trial. This is a deeply flawed formula, because it implies that we should progress in a linear fashion, and that errors, especially after many trials, represent heartbreaking failures. In other words, Buzan maintains that most people are wrought with the fear of failure, which ultimately translates into fear of success, because there can be no success without experiencing a certain amount of “failure” all along the learning path – a path that is everything but linear.
This is why Buzan introduces his own formula for success, which is meant to mirror the way the brain works in learning and adapting to the universe: to learn with every trial. This formula acknowledges that learning is a complex process with a few ups and many downs, and with long periods when it seems like we are making no progress at all. It also puts errors is the proper perspective: they are the conduit for success or, conversely, success is the byproduct of our errors. [….]
Wow, this is getting more complicated. Success is so multi-faceted that I cannot accept that trial and error is the only means to reaching it. Influences outside our control, which we know for fact are on the horizon and those unforeseen beyond our scope can only but make trial and error a rocky road to success. If there is nothing else to factor in but our own enterprise then it would take a complete idiot not to learn from failure and grow accordingly. Perhaps the reason that some people don’t grow can be down to a lack of feedback from the end user. This must be the case in any kind of consumer market and I would extend it to artistic crafts too even if, ultimately, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Surely a mind map can help lessen the strain and repetitiveness of trying and failing but if someone is stubborn they will probably avoid including their own shortcomings into the mind map, thus, defeating the whole point of the exercise. Maybe people should initially use mind maps to analyse their own comportment, skills and faults and a personalized road map should result which could help them navigate around their own failings and reach a more suitable goal quickly and painlessly.
I hope I haven’t misread the article but it seams a little bit too scientific, at least in respect of attaining success. :S