Gyronix ResultsManager
I have received several emails now from fellow students and others that have come across my blog and many of them have recommended Gyronix's ResultsManager to me. I love emails like that so keep them coming!Now to address their overwhelming recommendation I decided to finally look into it. I headed over to the Gyronix site to see what all the hype was about. If you've never heard of Gyronix or ResultsManager you might as well head to the site yourself now because I fear my first impressions will bias your thoughts on a potentially useful program. I also know several people that really find the Getting Things Done (GTD) system that the plug-in is really built around to be incredibly helpful to relieving stress and increasing their productivity.
I have spent a good chunk of the afternoon looking into and I just don't see it yet. If you love the GTD philosophy and love the Gyronix's ResultsManager software then I recommend you stop reading. Also please don't send me emails like your so stupid you didn't even give it a chance. If you can shine some light on my frustrations then by all means share but I am simply trying to express how I feel about the software at this current moment.
As with all new software I first looked at the price to see how much this little application was going to cost be if arrived at the conclusion I had to have it. There is a standard and a professional edition. The standard costs $145 and the pro version was $285. Also this is assuming you already have MindManager. The program is not a stand alone application and is meant to work with MindManager. There is a student discount though which is 40% off the pro edition. That's $171! Here I would like to remind you that with your educational discount MindManager which is an entire stand alone application will cost you only $150! So immediately I am thinking to myself I already don't like it. It's really going to have to impress me to get a hold of my money! A $171 plug-in???? That's more than MindManager the thing better be something at that price!
So moving past my frugality, I downloaded the trial. I started taking screen clippings, jotting down notes about the installation and recording my thoughts figuring I would be able to report back here about how wonderful the experience was despite having to spend more on a plug-in than the MindManager software alone.
I got it loaded up, read through the tutorial and glanced over the demo maps. I went over the things they told me made ResultsManager a must for anyone that works with MindManager. But the whole time I kept thinking what is so darn special???? My impression was that my videos that demonstrated my usage of MindManager have already incorporated a very similar scheme. My own MindManager maps and school organization process, although a little more crude esentailly captured the main concept. Linking to maps, recording daily tasks, using markers. Yes you can create this nifty little thing they call a ResultsManager Dashboard but I was not impressed. It seems the methods I have developed do nearly the same thing but ended up costing me what? Nothing!
Maybe I am stubborn and like my own system, make I am mad because my bracket has fallen apart, or maybe I just can't comprehend spending $171 for a plug-in. It's only day one right now but until someone can show me what I am missing or I have a change of heart I'm going to tell my fellow students to save that $171 for something else! Play with MindManager a bit more, discover its more advanced features and rest assure your not really missing that much with this the thing called "ResultsManager"
*For those of you that love the program I am not attacking you or your beliefs in its effectiveness. I like the GTD system and find it to be very effective! I just don't think the Gyronix ResultsManager is anything special yet. That may change when I look into it more (I saw nothing special in MindManager at first) but for now I still don't see how such an expensive plug-in can benefit me all that much from my current system. I do see how it could replace GoBinder as my schedule and planning software but at $50 and built in and easy support for adding classes I see GoBinder and my wallet finding a stronger relationship.
posted by Jason Dorko at 6:14 PM
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4 Comments:
I agree. I've tried it a couple of times and I don't see the value. Perhaps I don't use MM the way others do to get the value from RM. I keep looking for someone to explain it so I can get it, but I'm still waiting.
I had the same response to it. I didn't see the big whoop that it was more than my MindManger program was and it was just a plug-in, and not something that seemed so special even.
Well glad to know I'm not the only one! I honestly though I was missing something.
Jason, Fred and Tracy
The key thing that ResultsManager does, that out-of-the box MindManager doesn't, is keep track of multiple projects across multiple maps. If you have 10 projects across 10 maps, then you must visit each one to decide where you are up to and what is next. This is what ResultsManager does automatically.
GTD is based on creating and maintaining action lists. ResultsManager is designed around outcome-oriented planning and prioritising, and generates & maintains the lists for you. If you use MindManager to make lists, then ResultsManager adds little or nothing, and seems unreasonably expensive. But if you switch to using MindManager as a planning tool, then ResultsManager automates the conversion of visual plans into action lists, which does save real time. So Fred, you are right when you suggest the value might be connected to the way that you use MindManager. Most people naturally use MindManager as a list-maker, which it's very good at.
Best regards
Nick Duffill
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