Mindgenius has pupils in view

A mind mapping software specialist is pushing the button on a scheme to help school leavers and graduates prepare for the demands of the business world.

East Kilbride-based Mindgenius, which recently unveiled a cloud-based version of its business management software tool used by hundreds of thousands of clients globally, is launching the free-to-use service in an effort to address a lack of an “entrepreneurial mindset” among some younger people.

Pupils and students will have access to the tool, which combines elements of Mindmapping with Gantt techniques – a bar-chart based means of graphical illustration – and Kanban, a Japanese system of inventory control, for a year.

Ashley Marron, chief executive of Mindgenius, said he hoped that giving youngsters use of the project management tool which is aimed at SMES would get them thinking in a more strategic way as preparation for a career in business.

He said: “Our experience of employing school leavers and graduates is that while they are tuned-in expertly to the demands of academia and of passing exams, many are unprepared for the commercial world.

“We believe there’s insufficient focus in the education system to getting students to think strategically. While they’re properly informed about particular disciplines, be that engineering, law or marketing, many lack the ability to properly adapt that knowledge to specific tasks.”

Marron helped to spin-out Mindgenius from Gael, which was sold to industry heavyweight Ideagen for more than £20.6 million in 2015 after developing and commercialising management implementation software.