Lex McKee – Mind Mapper Extraordinaire
I had the privilege of asking Lex about his extensive experience with Mind Maps and Mental Literacy:
Lex McKee is an accomplished musician, author, radio-show presenter, voice over artist, speaker, coach, and one of the most innovative Mind Mappers I know. In addition, he currently works enabling members of the community to achieve their goals within The Swanage United Reformed Church.
Lex has a wealth of experience across multiple fields with a specialist passion for Accelerated Learning. He established ‘The Registry of Accelerated Trainers’ with a mission to mentor and accredit excellence.
PC: I know you studied everything from botany to theology. What led you to become involved in training?
LM: Towards the end of studying for my degree in Theology, a copy of “Use Your Head” came into my hands. It was a revelation! I’d struggled with my ‘A’ levels, and the degree was understandably tougher, and yet I loved learning. Tony explained that the Brain loves to learn if we work with it… and I learned to work with it. Once I’d understood enough, I simply HAD to [share] these discoveries with others! I was bursting with enthusiasm!
PC: When and how did you first come across Mind Mapping?
LM: Mind Mapping was the most significant part of my understanding of “Use Your Head” – and when I thought it would be a good idea to share it with a group of my peers, I asked permission from Buzan Centres to use this trademarked approach. Through this, I met Vanda North and a whole world opened up…
PC: How did you meet Tony Buzan?
LM: Through my connection to Vanda, I learned that Tony was practically a neighbour, so one Christmas I got to meet my hero. We began our encounter by building his log fire together in his home. It was unforgettable.
PC: Besides Tony, who is your inspiration in the world of personal development?
LM: It was Vanda who took me under her wing and made me her apprentice – she’s, without doubt, the most significant influence in my career in training and development.
PC: You have a wealth of knowledge and experience in the fields of coaching, training and personal development. Which techniques are your favourite and how do they complement and interact with Mind Mapping?
LM: For decades, I’ve seen Mind Mapping as the GUI [Graphical User Interface] for our thinking. Any application of thinking (e.g., Neuro Linguistic Programming, Motivational Mapping, TetraMap, PsychoGeometrics) is massively enhanced by exploring and expressing it through Mind Mapping. It makes learning ‘sticky’ – and is thus my number 1 tool for Accelerating Learning.
PC: How have you used Mind Mapping in your life and what is the most unusual or creative application?
LM: What a fab question! Mind Mapping is essential for planning and managing any project. Like most of us, my life is (unnecessarily) complex. Mind Mapping brings focus and clarity as well as a clear pathway to making steady and consistent progress. My most creative applications tend to be around the way I write books and articles, although I was particularly pleased when I managed to get the whole Sermon on the Mount – Jesus’ most well known sermon – onto one page of A3 using a Mind Map.
PC: What is your proudest achievement?
LM: Having “The Accelerated Trainer” published by Gower. I couldn’t have achieved this without Mind Mapping for my neural network, and good friends for my human support network.
PC: What is your favourite quotation, humours, religious or otherwise?
LM: Maya Angelou says it perfectly for me:
“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
PC: As an advocate for ‘Global Mental Literacy’ what do you think are the most significant battles won and remaining challenges?
LM: I increasingly work in local schools and it’s great to discover that Mind Mapping is now a frequent technique-of-choice rather than an unknown approach – that’s an enormous battle won for GML. The remaining challenges are well-expressed in the peril of Post-Modernism. I have worked with students who genuinely believe there is no such thing as empirical fact. Scientists, in their opinion, are merely expressing their opinion or ‘truth’. That is so ridiculous that I believe it poses a threat to the future of civilisation. Mind Mapping is a great technique but its deeper power lies in the fact that it teaches us how to think robustly.
PC: I know you have used technology to create some of your Mind Maps and in your music. Do you think new developments in Artificial Intelligence pose a threat to creativity and human intelligence or will it be a force for good?
LM: You do ask delicious questions! I’ve been experimenting with ChatGPT – in fact, I’ve just asked it what was Tony Buzan’s greatest achievement. Mind Mapping was the answer. As an aggregator of vast amounts of information, I think developments like GPT could fuel ever-more focused and effective mind maps. As a ‘Creative’, I can see why so many writers and voice over artists, artists, musicians, and poets find these developments disturbing – but they are here to stay so best to adapt to them and harness their potential. If you remember Jessica Rabbit’s defence, she said you couldn’t blame her for the way she was drawn. We are drawing and programming our own future into very clever pieces of software/hardware – whether it will be a force for good, is really up to us. As an amateur student of history, I’d have to say I’m concerned…
PC: Is there a question you wish I’d asked or anything further you would like to comment on?
LM: There are other technologies to do with Entrainment (encouraging the brain through technology to access a resourceful state of mind) and the study of Neuro-Plasticity that offer great hope for drug-free enhancements to human wellbeing, learning, and aging-gracefully. From my Theological background, I believe the greatest mission to bring about Life – Life to the full, and to enjoy it abundantly. Mind Mapping enhances Life. When partnered with Neuro-Plasticity, Neuro-Genesis, and Entrainment – as well as the other empowering techniques we teach – the results can be most wonderfully synergistic.