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IdeaFisher Pro: The Perfect Catalyst for Your Mind
By Chuck Frey
If you are looking for powerful, easy to use brainstorming software that can help you to generate new ideas with a minimum of training, then IdeaFisher Pro is the program for you. IdeaFisher is a powerful catalyst that is designed to amplify your mind's powers of association, enabling you to think with greater depth and flexibility -- and increasing your odds of coming up with a breakthrough idea.
Why IdeaFisher?
In today's world of accelerating, discontinuous change, business executives need to be able to think broadly -- to consider a wide range of possibilities, opportunities and potential threats -- and creatively. In addition, knowledge workers today spend much of their time communicating in one form or another. The ability to do so effectively -- with impact and persuasiveness -- is a key executive skill. IdeaFisher Pro helps you to meet these needs by stimulating your mind to think in new directions, to think more comprehensively, plan more thoroughly and communicate with more power.
QBank: Let me ask you a few questions…
IdeaFisher Pro's power comes from two main components: The QBank and the IdeaBank. The QBank is a database of several thousand categorized questions, which you can use to help you focus and define your problem more clearly, and to improve or enhance your existing ideas. Question categories included in IdeaFisher Pro are:
- Strategic planning
- Marketing strategy,
- Advertisement and promotional material,
- General problem solving,
- Modify questions, and
- Evaluate questions.
In addition, you can also purchase these specialized question modules from IdeaFisher:
- Speech and presentation writing
- Business plans and grants
- Conflict resolution
- Creative writing
- Name development
- Consulting
- Story and script writing
- New product and service development
- Public relations
To use the QBank, you drill down through question categories, sub-categories and lists of questions. Next, you double-click on a question you'd like to work with to select it. IdeaFisher copies it to a separate text window called the Answer Notepad, where you can then type in your answer below the question. This Q&A process feels easy and natural, and is a great way to help you to think about your problem or opportunity from multiple perspectives.
When you feel you have answered enough questions, you can use the "Filter Answer Notepad" command to analyze your answers for key words and concepts, which you can then transfer to the IdeaBank to begin brainstorming with them.
IdeaBank: Your key to more and better ideas
The second major component of IdeaFisher is the IdeaBank, a database of more than 65,000 words, phrases and concepts. They are grouped into topical categories, and further subdivided into major categories to form a hierarchical structure. The words and phrases in this huge database are also linked by more than 775,000 direct associations, giving the QBank a structure that mirrors the associative power of your brain.
To begin a search of the IdeaBank, you type a word into the program's search field and click OK. A window displays a portion of the IdeaBank's alphabetical index, positioned at the word or phrase you are searching for. Double-click on the word you want to explore, and the window changes to display a list of topical categories that are associated with your search term. These include broad categories such as "varieties/examples," "things/places," "verbs" and "descriptors."
Double-click on a topical category that you want to explore, and IdeaFisher displays a list of related words and phrases within that category. If you see one that interests you, double-click on it to transfer it to the Idea Notepad. You can then type any ideas or associations that come to mind next to this key word. This electronic notepad is a very effective way to capture your ideas, thoughts and brainstorms, and doesn't get in the way of your creative flow.
As you drill down through topical categories and word associations, IdeaFisher records the path that you've followed in the Idea Notepad, automatically creating a permanent record of your session. This can be useful if you want to retrace your steps later.
When you are done with an IdeaFisher session, the contents of the Idea Notepad and Answer Notepad can be exported as text, so you can continue to develop and refine them in your favorite word processing program or other software application that can import plain text files.
Personalizing IdeaFisher Pro
IdeaFisher Pro includes a Personal IdeaBank, which you can customize with key words and phrases from your profession, industry or area of interest. You can also create a Personal QBank, containing specialized sets of problem-solving questions, and share them with any co-workers or clients who also use IdeaFisher. For example, you could create a customized set of project planning questions that all product managers in your company must fill out when starting a new product development project.
Numerous applications for this creativity tool
The applications of IdeaFisher are almost too numerous to list here. The program's simple, easy-to-use interface and multi-faceted QBank and IdeaBank modules make it well-suited to nearly any application where you need to generate or enhance ideas, including:
- Creating marketing programs
- Viewing all aspects of a situation when creating a business plan or strategy
- Developing concepts and ideas for advertising
- Brainstorming new solutions to organizational problems
- Increasing the persuasiveness of sales and promotional campaigns
- Communicating your ideas clearly with maximum impact
IdeaFisher is most effective for personal brainstorming sessions, but can also be used as a powerful catalyst in group brainstorming, strategic planning or problem-solving sessions.
Who should use IdeaFisher Pro?
IdeaFisher Pro is ideal for many types of business and personal users, including writers, product development professionals, advertising executives, entrepreneurs, inventors and educators. Literally anyone who wants to develop new ideas and solve problems can benefit from the IdeaFisher's powerful, easy to use toolset.
Pros and cons of this program
The QBank contains an amazing variety of questions that can help you to refine and focus your thinking on many types of projects. I think it's a very effective tool, and I applaud IdeaFisher for offering additional modules customized to different types of projects and professions.
I'm not as enamored with the IdeaBank, however. Somehow, the process of selecting words and phrases seems too convoluted to me. As you drill down through the IdeaBank, the program opens multiple windows, which can sometimes be distracting. And, for some reason, when I double-click on a word to copy it to the Idea Notepad, it also opens up a new window that displays the IdeaBank's alphabetical index, as if it assumes that I want to start a new brainstorming session based on that word. I found that to be very disconcerting.
Also, the latest version of IdeaFisher is four to five years old, which means the IdeaBank is somewhat dated. For advertising copywriters and others whose job involves being in touch with popular culture, this could be a concern. The IdeaBank desperately needs to be updated to include new words, phrases and concepts.
Conclusion
During the last decade, IdeaFisher Pro as the, the gold standard for brainstorming software, and with good reason: Its power and ease of use enables users to be up and running with it in a matter of minutes. Its versatility is a plus also; IdeaFisher Pro can be used for everything from developing new product ideas and fine-tuning your corporate strategy to writing a speech or looking for creative solutions to a problem.
Despite my misgivings about the age and functionality of the IdeaBank, IdeaFisher Pro remains an excellent value and may very well be the perfect catalyst for your creative muse. This program can help you to generate many ideas, quickly.
IdeaFisher Pro (which comes with 6 QBank modules) retails for $396; IdeaFisher Workstation costs $549, and contains all 15 QBank modules. Writer's Edge and Expert Communicator versions are also available from IdeaFisher Software.
Published on 6/20/2003
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