Re: Should Brainstorm be part of a multi-faceted outliner

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Note: This message is from the outliners.com archive kindly provided by Dave Winer.

Outliners.com Message ID: 4432

Posted by jackcrawford
2005-10-27 03:51:52

Derek’s interesting post (#4398) got me thinking about the theory behind Brainstorm - namely, obtaining better productivity and creativity by focusing on one task at a time, rather than being “distracted” by an entire outline. I seem to recall a reference to the design being influenced by concepts espoused by Dr Prasad.

I wonder what people here think of this proposition? While it is undeniable that the theory is well-based, it strikes me as a bit too fundamentalist and has led to some (unnecessary) inflexibity in Brainstorm.

I can appreciate that forcing a single-task focus is beneficial in a blue sky environment such as creative writing, but I have found it be a little irritating in more business oriented environments where some structure is assumed, indeed demanded.

For instance, if I were writing a business plan, I would want to use some headings that are expected by the readers - customer markets, SWOT analysis, competitors, financials and so on.

As I draft the elements of the plan, I like to see the full outline because it needs to be an integrated and balanced document. Some information might be moved into other sections and I would want to be sure that I have covered the essential areas. Also I might find that a reference under one section triggers some ideas that need to be placed in another.

I don’t really need to brainstorm the plan from the ground up in a continuous stream. In fact, if I did that, I would be creating extra work for myself as I would have to then sort it into its various components.

I guess what I’m saying is that I would like to be able to use the aerial view in Brainstorm in an active way when it is occasionally more beneficial to do that. If that functionality was available, I doubt that I would have a use for Notemap.

Jack

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