Thinking.
I don’t know where to begin on this one. What is the value of good thinking?
You hear some common phrases, “Why didn’t I think of that?”, “Work Smarter, not Harder.”
Can people even think better? Can we really think different (ie Apple)?
John Maxwell writes in “Thinking for a Change” about 11 skills in thinking. This isn’t gloss. The problem in thinking is that people gloss over things. Here is the list:
- Big Picture Thinking
- Focused Thinking
- Creative Thinking
- Realistic Thinking
- Strategic Thinking
- Possibility Thinking
- Reflective Thinking
- Popular Thinking
- Shared Thinking
- Unselfish Thinking
- Bottom-Line Thinking
We know that big picture thinking means – look at the picture, but we want to know – how to do it? John’s advice summed up is: Expand your world and learn from it, and be comfortable with the ambiguous. Expanding your world means to do things that you normally would not do, meeting new people, etc…
One cannot be too ambiguous in all aspects – that is where focused thinking can come in. Focused thinking is about spending time and energy on a problem. Not everything will come easy. People may think of an issue for 10 seconds maximum before making a decision. Spend more time than you think is necessary. You may have to repeat a scenario in your mind over again (maybe to the annoyance of your colleagues.)
John’s book is a good one.
When I need to think of something, I find it is helpful to ask myself some questions to get my thoughts flowing.
1.) What are you trying to do?
2.) Why are you trying to do it?
3.) What if it does not happen?
4.) What are the constraints? Are they real? Why are they real?
5.) What are you afraid of? Is there any underlying true reason for this issue?
I may also try to imagine (visualize) the set of steps in minute detail – this will also bring out considerations. For a simple example, let’s say I am thinking about whether I have forgot anything before going on a trip. Imagine: I get in the car and pull out my keys. I drive to the airport. I park and go to the counter, get out my passport and credit card (do I have my passport, do I have the credit card?). I need to go in the security line. Take off my shoes, put my stuff in the machine (did I remove the liquid from my handbag, did I bring my laptop). Now I go to the gate and wait. (did I bring a book to read while waiting, did I bring a snack?), etc….
My quick advice, to myself and readers is:
- ask yourself a defined list of questions when thinking of a problem. Think of questions and talk to yourself.
- visualize the scenario
- take more time to think than you need. Don’t give up thinking at your first or second inclination. The idea will come.
