Articles and News

It is no coincidence that students just beginning to learn to read are offered short, simple sentences of only two or three words each. This practice reflects the general understanding that the level of complexity inherent in a piece of writing will affect the reader’s ability to understand it.

Is mind mapping a serious business tool? Anthony Landale reports on a technique that is easy to use across a range of business requirements, challenges and tasks.

The nature of perception itself depends on one’s view of the world. Some people believe in a theory known as strong direct realism, which holds that our perceptions are generally accurate. The broad representative theory, in contrast, teaches that what we see and hear in the physical world is only understood through a filter consisting [...]

This philosophical question has been debated by some of the world’s greatest thinkers. Jean Paul Sartre, for example, argued that an individual’s personal development could be limited by other people as they act in ways that interfere with a learner’s ability to absorb and retain information. This scenario, however, only suggests that humans may fail [...]

We learn new things every day – at home and at work. Have you ever wondered if you are maximising the way you think and learn?
Most of us think that our ability to learn, read quickly, be creative, and solve problems is fixed. We learned these skills years ago but realise that the qualifications, strengths and skills with which we entered employment [...]

It may never be the new rock and roll but for many people professional study is probably more important.
Of course many of us are required to study – and to keep on studying. CPD (Continuous Professional Development), for example, is here to stay and is mandatory in most professional membership bodies. Furthermore, if you are [...]

We all know how to think and learn, right? Not according to Clive Lewis, Director of Illumine, the training company that specialises in thinking, learning and creativity.
Being able to think, learn and work effectively used to be regarded as ‘nice to haves’. This perspective was often combined with the view that our ability to learn, [...]

Every day we are learning. Whether we are taking a qualification, studying a new client or assimilating the information in a report, learning is import. With the time constraints put upon us by business and personal lives the way we learn can be the differnence between make or break.
The Pyramid of Learning
Learning is a complex [...]

Power Mapping - Is Mind Mapping a serious tool? Here Clive Lewis, MD of Illumine Training, highlights the techniques that make Mind Mapping especially valuable for business executives and trainers alike.
We all live with pressure at work but what would you give for a tool that could improve your project management, that could bring your presentations [...]

So how can organisations help to nurture new ideas and stimulate creative thinking?
Here are ten ideas that might help to let your people off their creative leash:
1. Challenge adversarial thinking – People with negative attitudes kill creativity so watch out for cynics, people who pull rank or those who deliberately ignore or discount [...]

Parallel Process - Is mind mapping a serious business tool? Anthony Landale reports on a technique that is easy to use across a range of business requirements, challenges and tasks.

If you are one of those people who still takes notes in meetings, or you use notes as an aide memoir for training, for course revision or [...]

Mind Mapping is a tool that all trainers should be using? Here Clive Lewis, MD of Illumine Training, and Tony Buzan’s sole partner in corporate and public sector training explains why.
More than anything else trainers are communicators. But are you good at getting your message across? If you want to become a master communicator then [...]

Don’t panic. Map out a new strategy to free up your memory in eight steps. Louise Etheridge reports
If you were thinking of calling NHS Direct to make an appointment for a brain extension to cope with the avalanche of information you need to remember for your finals, put down that phone. There is another way. [...]