Thinking For A Change by John C Maxwell Full Audiobook by bdoyle6626

Time Warner audiobooks presents thinking for a change eleven ways highly successful people approach life and work written and read by John C Maxwell hi this is John Maxwell throughout my life I've looked for answers to the question why are some people successful and others not let me tell you a story that I believe reveals the solution a friend of mine has two daughters Kim the 21 year old daughter applied to pharmacy school during her senior year of college on the day that she got word that she was accepted her older sister Jenny was there to share the news jenny was glad that Kim had achieved her goal but she pitied her at the same time mom she said I feel sorry for Kim she's going to have to go to school for four more years successful people think differently than unsuccessful people one sister heard the news and was excited because she thought about the lucrative rewarding career that was going to open up to her after graduate school the other sister thought only about the amount of time it would take to achieve it if you're currently not successful or you are not as successful as you would like to be it may be because you are not thinking your way to the top to place yourself on the pathway of success I suggest that you do the following listen to each chapter to better understand successful thinking evaluate yourself at the end of each chapter by answering the thinking question take the steps included to implement the kind of successful thinking contained in the chapter together for the next fourteen chapters we will take a thinking trip it could be the difference that makes all the difference in your life part one change your thinking and change your life chapter one understand the value of good thinking what is the one thing successful people have in common what is the one thing that separates those who go to the top from those who never seem to get there the answer good thinking those who embrace good thinking is a lifestyle understand the relationship between their level of thinking and their level of progress in the first book I wrote back in 1979 entitled think on these things I said your life today as a result of your thinking yesterday your life tomorrow will be determined by what you think today the title of that book was inspired by the words of the Apostle Paul who had managed whatever is true whatever is honorable whatever is just whatever is pure whatever is pleasing whatever is commendable if there is any excellence and if there's anything worthy of praise think about these things those words were often quoted to me by my father Melvin Maxwell they were important to him because he is an example of someone who changed his thinking and therefore changed his life if you met my dad he would tell you that he was born with a naturally negative bent to his thinking in addition he grew up during the Depression and when he was six years old his mother died but as a teenager he began to see that all the successful people he knew had one thing in common their lives were filled with positive thoughts about themselves and others he desired to be successful like them so he embarked on the daily task of changing his thinking he became a college president and touched the lives of innumerable people to this day he is my hero changing from negative to positive thinking isn't always easy especially if you're someone who has a difficult time with change for some people it's a lifelong struggle when it comes to making positive personal changes do you know what most people's number one challenge is it's their feelings they want to change but they don't know how to get past their emotions there is a way to do it take a look at the truth contained in the following syllogism major premise I can control my thoughts minor premise my feelings come from my thoughts conclusion I can't control my feelings by controlling my thoughts if you are willing to change your thinking you can change your feelings if you can change your feelings you can change your actions and changing your actions based on good thinking can change your life becoming a better thinker is worth your effort because the way you think really impacts every aspect of your life it doesn't matter whether you are a business person teacher parent scientist pastor or corporate executive good thinking will make you a better business person teacher parent scientist pastor or corporate executive good thinking creates the foundation for good results if you don't like the crop your reaping you need to change the seed you are sowing when it comes to achievement the seed is your thinking good thinking increases your potential if you're thinking shapes who you are then it naturally follows that your potential is determined by your thinking achieving your potential comes from making progress and progress is often just a good idea away that was certainly true of Sam Walton the founder of Walmart he explained I guess in all my years what I heard more often than anything was a town of less than 50,000 people in population cannot support a discount store for very long but Walton did not think the way his competitors thought and for that reason his potential was greater today Walmart is the world's largest retailer employing more than 1 million people in achieving annual sales in excess of one hundred and ninety 1 billion dollars every week more than 100 million customers visit Walmart stores for many people the greatest detriment to their success tomorrow is their thinking today if their thinking is limited so is their potential but if people can keep growing in their thinking they will constantly out what they're doing good thinking produces more good thinking if you make it a habit Albert Einstein observed the solutions to the problems we face today cannot be solved on the same level of thinking we were at when we created them look around you and you'll see that it is true the world keeps getting more and more complicated the good news is that no matter how complicated life gets or how difficult problems may seem good thinking can make a difference if you make it a consistent part of your life the more you engage in good thinking the more good thoughts you will continue to think I believe that good thinking isn't just one thing it consists of several specific thinking skills becoming a good thinker means developing those skills to the best of your ability in built to last Jim Collins describes what it means to be a visionary company he describes these companies this way a visionary company is like a great work of art think of Michelangelo's scenes from Genesis on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel or a statue of David think of a great an enduring novel like Huckleberry Finn or crime and punishment think of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony think of a beautifully designed building like the masterpieces of Frank Lloyd Wright you can't point to any one single item that makes the whole thing work it's the entire work all the pieces working together to create an overall effect that leads to enduring greatness good thinking is similar you need all the thinking pieces to become the kind of person who can achieve great things those pieces include the following eleven skills seeing the wisdom of big-picture thinking unleashing the potential of focused thinking discovering the joy of creative thinking recognizing the importance of realistic thinking releasing the power of strategic thinking feeling the energy of possibility thinking embracing the lessons of reflective thinking questioning the acceptance of popular thinking encouraging the participation of shared thinking experiencing the satisfaction of unselfish thinking and enjoying the return of bottom-line thinking as you become acquainted with each skill you'll discover that you do some well and others you don't learn to develop each of these kinds of thinking and you will become a better thinker master all that you can and your life will change Gabe Lyons an enjoy vice president recently attended an event at the Fox Theatre in downtown Atlanta and came back completely on fire with enthusiasm the speaker for the occasion was Jack Welch former CEO of General Electric Jack Welch came to promote his book Jack straight from the gut but he didn't read from the book or give a canned lecture he did something much more valuable for his audience he answered their questions Gabe said a young guy asked when you were my age what did you do that elevated yourself among all of your other associates how did you stand out in the crowd of all of the other young ambitious and driven colleagues of your day Jack responded the first thing you must understand is the importance of getting out of the pile the only way you are going to stand out to your boss is to understand this simple principle when your boss asks you a question assigns a basic project or send you out to gather some data you must understand that your boss already knows the answer that he's looking for as a matter of fact in most cases he simply wants you to go out and confirm what he already believes is true in his gut most people simply go out and do just that Jack continued confirm what their boss believes to be true but here is the difference-maker you must understand that the question is only the beginning when your boss asks you a question that question should become the jumping off point for several more ideas and thoughts if you want to elevate yourself you must sink your thoughts and time into not only answering the question but going above and beyond it to add value to the train of thought your boss was on practically speaking that means coming back to the table and presenting to your boss not only an answer but three or more other ideas options and perspectives that were probably not previously considered by your boss the goal is to add value to the idea and the thought by exceeding expectations when the question is given to you this is true not only with questions but assignments initiatives and everything else ever given to you to run with by upper management ask yourself this thinking question do I believe that good thinking can change my life take the next step toward understanding good thinking who are the best thinkers you know name them what separates them from the rest of the crowd describe what's different about them choose one of those thinkers and try to arrange to spend some time with him or her who you associate with matters in the past how would you have defined good thinking how would you describe it now what personal or professional issues have created ongoing obstacles to your progress don't try to solve them now simply describe them on a piece of paper or at your computer chapter to realize the impact of changed thinking it's easy to believe that unsuccessful people need to change their thinking but how about people who have already achieved a degree of success can individuals go to the next level without changing the way they think Karen Ford didn't set out in life to be a business person or an entrepreneur she started out as a teacher for ten years she taught second grade and she was a good teacher but when her second child was born he was diagnosed with a heart condition that required him to receive medication every four hours every day for a year so Karen left her job and stayed home to take care of her son that put her family in a bit of a financial bind that's when she decided to try selling Mary Kay Cosmetics it appealed to her because she could earn fifty dollars a week to make up for her loss teaching income she made plans to do that for a year and then when her son was well she would return to her career in teaching but she found out that she really enjoyed working with Mary Kay and she was really good at it I was making more income than I ever thought possible in my life she says I was being awarded diamonds trips cars she never returned to the classroom for the next couple of years Karen worked hard selling products recruiting like-minded women and building her own organization at Mary Kay each woman is an independent business person the company which now has over 750,000 Beauty consultants working with it has this philosophy in business for yourself but not by yourself Karen's success soon made her part of an exclusive group she was one of 8200 independent sales directors but she believed she was capable of going to the highest level in Mary Kay she wanted to become a National Sales Director for the next five years Karen worked tirelessly to achieve her goal she recruited people she increased her sales from half a million dollars a year to over six hundred and fifty thousand she felt that she had that everything needed to make it to the highest level but when the call finally came from Mary Kay in 1995 it was to tell her that she had not been appointed a National Sales Director karen was told that the main reason she hadn't made it was that she had gathered a bunch of followers who were simply trying to carry out her dreams and goals not leaders who could achieve on their own and rally others to succeed Karen was ready to quit Mary Kay she attempted multiple times to write her letter of resignation but she just couldn't do it she kept thinking about the people in an organization in the hopes and the dreams they had she didn't want to change her goal instead she determined to change herself she went on a personal growth binge devouring every leadership book and tape she could get her hands on she made it her goal to learn how to lead leaders when she read and began to work with her people again she started creating strategies and systems that would help her people to grow as she had and she determined to become the best business person she could at her current level because Karen changed herself from the inside out she began attracting different kinds of people people who could think and lead as she did and she took them to new levels of achievement on October 1st 1998 she received another phone call from Mary Kay headquarters this time she was informed that she had accomplished what only 170 other Mary Kay consultants around the world had done she had been made a National Sales Director it's hard to overstate the value of changing your thinking good thinking can do many things for you generate revenue solve problems and create opportunities it can take you to a whole new level personally and professionally it really can change your life here are some things you need to know about changing your thinking changed thinking is not automatic the unhappy truth is that a change in thinking doesn't happen on its own good ideas rarely go out and find the person if you want to become a better thinker you need to work at it but the good news is that once you begin to become a better thinker the good ideas keep coming change thinking is difficult the only people who believe thinking is easier those who aren't in the habit of engaging in it Nobel prize-winning physicist Albert Einstein one of the best thinkers who ever live asserted thinking is hard work that's why so few do it change thinking is worth the investment when you take the time to learn how to change your thinking and become a better thinker you are investing in yourself a human mind with the ability to think well is like a diamond mind that never runs out change thinking is the best gift that you can give others while learning to think better is a great investment in yourself teaching someone else to think better is the greatest present you can give them because it represents the gift of unlimited potential most people who are not content with their lives don't know the reason why often they suspect that circumstances or other people are to blame those who are more honest and self-aware know that the problem lies inside of them yet they still have trouble getting to the root of the issue they desire to change but they don't do anything differently so that they can change the truth is that only when you make the right changes to your thinking do other things begin to turn out right in your life the process of changing your life begins when you take responsibility to change your thinking follow the process faithfully and it will result in your experiencing a change life here's how it works step 1 changing your thinking changes your beliefs as you strive to change your thinking tell yourself these three things change is personal I need to change change is possible I'm able to change change is profitable I'll be rewarded by change step 2 changing your beliefs changes your expectations a belief is not just an idea that you possess is an idea that possesses you there is a great power in belief because it changes an individual's expectations when Karen Ford changed her thinking and built her beliefs on a new foundation of growth she had more than just hope and a dream to carry her forward she expected to achieve her goal because she had done the hard work of changing to prepare for it step 3 changing your expectations changes your attitude our expectations have a tremendous impact on our attitudes negative expectations are a quick route to dead-end thinking positive expectations bring a positive attitude they produce excitement conviction desire confidence commitment and energy all characteristics that help a person to achieve success if you would like to possess these qualities in greater abundance then the way to do it is to raise your expectations step 4 changing your attitude changes your behavior have you ever observed how your mood affects the way you act when you are feeling particularly happy are you more energized are you more likely to be kind to others do you take on tasks more readily and complete them with confidence and confidence how about when you're having a really bad day do you get less work done are you less patient with your family and colleagues does everything seem like a chore an attitude is little more than a mood or predominant emotion sustained over time your behavior is always impacted by your attitude the two cannot be separated from one another step 5 changing your behavior changes your performance when I was in my 20s I decided I wanted to become a better golfer I went to see a golf professional to get some advice on how to improve your using a baseball grip the pro told me you're never going to improve until you change it then he showed me the proper way to hold the golf club I don't know if I'll ever be able to do it this way I complain it's up to you he answered you can do it the old way but you'll never get any better my performance would depend on a change in behavior I made the change reaching new goals and moving to a higher level of performance always requires and change is awkward however take comfort in the knowledge that if a change doesn't feel uncomfortable then it's probably not really a change step 6 changing your performance changes your life when you change your performance that is what you're able to do on a consistent basis then you have the power to change your life although I write a lot of books my primary career is in communication each year I speak in person to more than 350,000 people now if you had heard me speak three and a half decades ago when I started my career you never would have expected me to achieve such success let's just say I was less than inspiring but my desire was to reach my potential I was determined to improve to get the end result of changing my performance I started the process of growth by changing my thinking I knew that I could not approach communication in the same way mentally and performed differently I began by studying speakers who were respected in my limited circle of experience and watching what they did I tried to figure out what they were doing then I copied them the next thing I did was take a more intellectual route to communication I used research stats and etymology in the process I learned a little more particularly when it came to preparation in writing with those skills under my belt I began studying people who were on a level of skill beyond anyone in my circle I saw how they connected with an audience and I began trying to do the same I realized that people learned better when there was some kind of a hook I saw how people responded to humor and incorporated the kind of humor that I was good at it took me eight years to learn how to be myself before an audience and to develop my own style progress always requires change going to a new level always requires changing your mind I know that you know that intuitively but you need to make that idea a foundation to the way that you live your life Martin Grunder tells a story about Mark Victor Hansen the motivational speaker who created the Chicken Soup for the Soul Empire years ago before his great success Hansen approached Tony Robbins at an event where both of them were speaking he said Tony I've been doing this for a long time and I'm doing okay I'm making about a million dollars a year doing what I'm doing I know for a fact that you made a hundred and fifty six million dollars last year with your speaking and teaching in all of your products how do you do it how can I do it grunts Eze Robbins turn to Hansen and ask who is in your mastermind group that's a group of like-minded people someone meets with to generate ideas and have accountability millionaires replied Hansen we're all millionaires that's what you're doing wrong Robbins remarked you need to find yourself some billionaires and begin associating with them they'll get you thinking at their level to say that Hansen has gone to another level since that conversation is stating it mildly his goal is to sell 1 billion chicken soup books and he is well on his way to accomplishing that do you want to succeed where you have failed before do you want to go to a level you never even dreamed possible if you do don't start by trying to change your actions start by changing your mind nothing else you can do will have as great an impact thinking question is my desire for success and to improve my life strong enough to prompt me to change my thinking measuring the impact of change thinking when Karen Ford faced obstacles in her path to the next level and failed she was tempted to quit how have you handled similar situations list several major disappointments you've faced in your career or personal life and how you responded now ask yourself when you have tried to improve your life in the past where have you focused your energy write down the following six words thinking beliefs expectations attitude behavior and performance using that list ranked where you ordinarily place the most emphasis by marking it with a 1 mark the next most important area with a 2 and proceed until you've ranked all 6 in order based on your answers how much will you have to change the way you naturally want to do things in order to change your thinking as outlined in the chapter explain and finally I believe that success is okay as long as it's seen as growth not an end in itself could your past successes beginning in the way of your future success think about an area where you have been successful in the past but have currently plateaued figure out what is lacking in your current performance and trace back through performance behavior attitude expectations and beliefs until you go back to the source thinking how much do you change your thinking to break through to the next level Chapter three master the process of intentional thinking becoming a good thinker isn't overly complicated simply stated it's a discipline and like most disciplines it can be cultivated and refined that's why I want to teach you the process that I've used to discover and develop good thoughts it's certainly not the only one that works but it has certainly worked well for me number one find a place to think your thoughts if you go to a place to think and you expect to generate good thoughts there then eventually you will come up with some good thoughts everybody is different when it comes to where to think some people think best in the shower others like my friend dick Biggs like to go to a park for me the best places to think are in my car on planes or in my spa find a place where you can think and plan to capture your thoughts on paper so that you don't lose them number two shape your thoughts rarely do ideas come fully formed and completely worked out most of the time they need to be shaped until they have substance during the shaping time you want to hold an idea up to strong scrutiny many times the thought that seemed outstanding late at night looks pretty silly in the light of day ask questions about your ideas fine-tune them one of the best ways to do that is to put your thoughts in writing as you shape your thoughts you really find out whether an idea has potential or not by asking questions you gain perspective on your ideas number three stretch your thoughts if you come upon great thoughts and spend time mentally shaping them don't think you're done and can stop there if you do you will miss some of the most valuable aspects of the whole thinking process you miss bringing others in and expanding ideas to their greatest potential if you really want to take an idea to the highest level ask others to help you I found that there's a kind of formula that can help you stretch your thoughts it says the right thought plus the right people in the right environment at the right time for the right reason equals the right result it's a combination that's hard to beat here's why the right thought everything begins with the seed of an idea the right people when you expose an idea to the right people incredible things can happen to that idea the original thought often grows along with its vision power and impact who are the right people to stretch a vision they are the ones who love you and embrace your vision know you and strengthen your vision and compliment you and enlarge your vision the right environment a right environment is one we're thinking is valued ideas flow freely fresh eyes are welcome change is expected questions are encouraged eatos are checked ideas stimulate better ideas and thinking generates teamwork if you are in a wrong environment then you need to find one that encourages you if you're a leader you need to realize that you are creating the environment that you are in the right time ideas are fragile things when they first see the light of day if you try to implement them too early or introduce them while there are more naysayers than supporters they won't survive when you are still in the stretching stage of an idea present it without time frames or rigidly defined goals thoughts must be allowed to breathe before you harness them the right reason JP Morgan said a man always has two reasons for doing anything a good reason and the real reason motives mattered if your ideas are motivated by adding value to others rather than just yourself people will be more inclined to help you stretch them sometimes a thought is only a springboard to a greater idea but without that springboard the great idea would never be found sometimes the thought becomes great when it is partnered with another great idea and sometimes a thought is remarkable just as it is and only needs to be fleshed out finding a place to stretch thoughts gives you a chance to take that idea as far as it can go number four land your thoughts any idea that remains only an idea doesn't make a great impact the truth is that the real power of an idea comes when it goes from abstraction to application if you want your thoughts to make an impact you need to land them with others first so that they can someday be implemented as you plan for the application phase of the thinking process land your ideas first with yourself landing an idea with yourself will give you integrity people will buy into an idea only after they buy into the leader who communicates it that won't happen if the leader doesn't believe in it himself land your idea with key players let's face it no idea will fly if it isn't embraced by the influencers landing an idea with the influencers in your organization for example will increase your influence after all they are the people who carry thoughts from idea to implementation and then land your idea with those most affected landing thoughts with the people on the firing line will give you great insight those closest to changes that occur as a result of a new idea are able to give you a reality read and that's important because sometimes even when you've diligently gone through the process of creating a thought shaping it and stretching it with other good thinkers you can still miss the mark number 5 fly your thoughts what good is thinking if it ultimately has no application in real life if your thinking is totally separate from your actions then it's not productive and that's the value of learning how to master the process of thinking well it leads you to productive thinking if you're able to develop the discipline of good thinking and turn it into a lifetime habit then you will be productive all of your life once you've created shaped stretched and landed your thoughts then flying them can be fun and easy give your plans the right amount of thinking time and you'll find that the implement and time decreases and the results get better you're thinking time is like the runway of an airport just as the larger planes need a longer runway to fly Big Ideas need a long runway of thinking to be launched in every chapter I will give you a practical way to approach the kind of thinking explained in that chapter for this chapter on mastering the process of good thinking I recommend the following six steps number one expose yourself to good input good thinkers are always looking for things to get the thinking process started however what you put in always impacts what comes out I recommend that you read books review trade magazines listen to tapes and spend time with good thinkers and when something intrigues you whether it's someone else's idea that you discovered or a seed of an idea that you've come up with keep it in front of you put it somewhere in your favorite thinking place to stimulate your thinking number two expose yourself to good thinkers another way to gain good input is by spending time with the right people all the people in my life who might consider to be close friends or colleagues our thinkers they're constantly trying to grow and learn the writer of Proverbs observe that sharp people sharpen one another just as iron sharpens iron if you want to be a sharp thinker get around sharp people number three choose to think good thoughts to become a good thinker you must become intentional about your thinking process regularly put yourself in the right place to think shape stretch and land your thoughts make it a priority remember thinking is a discipline recently I had breakfast with Dan Kathy the president of chick-fil-a a fast food chain with its headquarters in the Atlanta area I asked him if he made thinking time a high priority in his life not only did he say yes but he told me about what he calls his thinking schedule it helps him to fight the hectic pace of life that discourages intention thinking dan says he sets aside time just to think for a half a day every two weeks for one whole day every month and for two or three full days every year dad explains this helps me to keep the main thing the main thing since I am so easily distracted you may want to do something similar to what Dan does or you can develop a schedule or method of your own no matter what you choose to do go to your thinking place take paper and pen and make sure you capture your ideas in writing number four act on your good thoughts ideas have a short shelf life you must act on them before the expiration date the ultimate goal of thinking is application World War one flying ace Eddie Rickenbacker said I can give you a six word formula for success think things through then follow through number five allow your emotions to create another good thought when I was a pastor I counseled many people in that process I discovered that for some people the greatest challenge to becoming a good thinker is their emotional turmoil or baggage past hurts or current worries prevent them from spending productive time thinking to start the thinking process you cannot rely on your feelings if you wait until you feel like doing something you will likely never accomplish it the same is true for thinking you cannot wait until you feel like thinking to do it however I found that once you engage in the process of good thinking you can use your emotions to feed the process and create mental momentum try it for yourself after you go through the disciplined process of thinking and experience some success allow yourself to enjoy the moment and try writing the mental energy of that success if you're like me it's likely to spur additional thoughts and productive ideas and number six repeat the process one good thought does not make a good life the people who have one good thought and try to write it for an entire career often end up unhappy or destitute they are the one-hit wonders the one book authors the one message speakers the one time inventors who spend their life struggling to protect or promote their single idea success comes to those who have an entire mountain of gold that they continually mine not those who find one nugget and tried to live on it for 50 years to become someone who can mine a lot of gold you need to keep repeating the process of good thinking it doesn't matter whether you were born rich or poor it doesn't matter if you have a third-grade education or possess a PhD it doesn't matter if you suffer from multiple disabilities or you're the picture of health no matter what your circumstances you can learn to be a good thinker all you have to do is to be willing to engage in the process every day here's a thinking question for you am I willing to pay the price to cultivate the habit of giving birth to nurturing and developing great thoughts every day here's how you can put good thinking into action number one if you don't already have a good thinking place you need to find one where will you choose to create your thoughts number two who are the good thinkers in your life list them number three what are you currently working on that could benefit from some think time you may want to address the issue you identified at the end of chapter one take some time to write down the problem number four spend some time thinking about that issue then get together the good thinkers in your life to help you stretch and then land your thoughts number five what good input are you regularly exposing yourself to do you have a plan for growth what magazines journals or tape services do you subscribe to just to challenge yourself as a thinker if you don't already do that then begin immediately choose three to five resources that you can begin using to improve yourself part two eleven thinking skills every successful person needs chapter four acquire the wisdom of big-picture thinking if someone told you that on the longest day of the year you would be able to look deep into an old fashion well that was located in a certain town and see the Sun reflected in the water what would you think an egyptian librarian heard that bit of information that the sun could be seen shining at the bottom oh well in a town of signing it and it was more than just trivia to him he surmised that if it made a reflection in a well the Sun must be directly overhead and if it were directly overhead than it would cast no shadows from upright columns or posts yet on the longest day of the year in the city of Alexandria where he lived he observed that straight columns did cast shadows he decided to travel the 800 kilometers to syena to verify that what he had heard was true on the longest day of the year he looked into the well and saw the Sun reflected and sure enough at midday posts cast no shadows he began to see a bigger picture of what these seemingly insignificant facts meant surprisingly it went against what nearly everyone believed at the time you see the librarians name was Eratosthenes and he lived more than 2200 years ago as the director of the greatest library in the world the Library of Alexandria in Egypt was said to possess hundreds of thousands of Scrolls he was at the intellectual capital of the world for his time in a third century BC nearly every scholar in Alexandria and around the world believed that the earth was flat but Eratosthenes reasoned that if the sun's light came down straight and the earth was flat then there would be no shadows in both locations if there were shadows in one location but not the other then there could be only one logical explanation the surface of the earth must be curved that's a pretty impressive mental leap although it seems perfectly logical to us today but Eratosthenes made the big picture connection by using everyday facts and putting them together what's even more impressive is that he actually calculated the size of the earth using basic trigonometry he measured the angle of the shadows and calculated that it was approximately 7 point 12 degrees that's about one fiftieth of a circle any reason that if the distance between Syene and Alexandria was 800 kilometers then the earth must be around 40,000 kilometers in circumference he wasn't far off the actual circumference of the earth through the poles is 40,000 and 8 kilometers you don't have to be a scientist or a mathematician to embrace big-picture thinking or to benefit from it it can help any person in any profession spend time with big picture thinkers and you will discover the following big picture thinkers learn continually big picture thinkers are never satisfied with what they already know they are always visiting new places reading new books meeting new people learning new skills and because of that practice they're often able to connect the unconnected just as Eratosthenes did they are lifelong learners one of the things that I do to help me to maintain a learner's attitude is spend a few moments every morning thinking about my learning opportunities for the day as I review my calendar and to-do list knowing who I will meet that day what I will read which meetings I will attend I know where I am most likely to learn something and I mentally cue myself to look attentively for something that will improve me if you desire to keep learning I want to encourage you to examine your day and look for opportunities to learn big picture thinkers listen intentionally one of the best ways to broaden my experience is to listen to someone who has expertise in an area where I don't when you meet with people it's good to have an agenda so that you can learn it's a great way to partner with people who can do things you can't big picture thinkers understand that there are lots of things they do not know they frequently ask penetrating questions to enlarge their thinking and understanding if you want to become a better big-picture thinker then become a good listener big picture thinkers look expensively human beings are in the habit of seeing their own world first big picture thinkers realize there is a world out there besides their own and they make an effort to get outside of themselves and see other people's worlds through their eyes to see how others see you must first find out how they think becoming a good listener certainly helps with that so does getting over your personal agenda and trying to take the other person's perspective big picture thinkers live completely becoming a big picture thinker can help you to live with wholeness to live a very fulfilling life people who see the big picture expand their experience because they expand their world as a result they are able to accomplish more than narrow minded people and they experience fewer unwanted surprises too because in any given situation they are more likely to see the many components involved issues people relationships timing and values they're also therefore usually more tolerant of other people in their thinking intuitively you probably know that big-picture thinking is beneficial after all few people want to be closed-minded no one sets out to be that way but just in case you're not completely convinced here are several specific reasons why you should make the effort to become a better thinker when it comes to the big picture number one big-picture thinking allows you to lead a few years ago in leadership journal lynn anderson described an incident from american history as an illustration of limited thinking more than three centuries ago the Pilgrims landed on the shores of the American continent with great courage and vision in their first year a small group of settlers established a town the next year they elected a town council in their third year that council proposed building a road five miles into the wilderness for westward expansion put the following year the people criticize the proposal as a waste of public funds evidently they couldn't see the big picture as Anderson pointed out the pilgrims had once been able to see across the oceans they now could not look five miles into the wilderness you can find many big picture thinkers who aren't leaders but you will find few leaders who are not big picture thinkers leaders must be able to see the vision before their people do in fact leaders not only see the big picture before others do they also see more of it this allows them to size up situations taking into account many variables leaders who see the big picture discern potential possibilities as well as problems as max Dupree says the first responsibility of leaders is to define reality doing that allows them to form a foundation to build the vision once they have done that leaders can sketch a picture of where the team is going - often when people present the big picture it is drawn up as a bright image without any challenges or obstacles that false portrait only leads to discouragement when people act Willie take the journey the goal of leaders shouldn't be to merely make their people feel good but to help them be good and accomplish the dream the vision shown accurately will allow leaders to show how the future connects with the past to make the journey more meaningful most people want to touch their past before they are willing to reach out to their future when they can do that moving forward seems natural and right when leaders recognize this need for connection and Bridgette then they can seize the moment when the timing is right in leadership window move is as important as what you do number two big-picture thinking keeps you on target to get things done you need focus however to get the right things done you need also to consider the big picture only by putting your daily activities in the context of the big picture will you be able to stay on target number three big-picture thinking allows you to see what others see in human relations one of the most important skills you can develop is the ability to see things from the other person's point of view it's one of the keys to working with clients satisfying customers maintaining a marriage raising children helping those who are less fortunate etc all interactions with people are enhanced by the ability to put yourself in another person's shoes how do you get outside of yourself and look at things from another perspective you look beyond yourself your own interest and your own world if you look at the big picture when you work to consider an issue from every possible angle examine it in the light of other people's history discover other people's interests and concerns and try to set your own agenda you begin to see what others see and that is a powerful thing when it comes to working with people number four big-picture thinking promotes teamwork if you participate in any kind of team activity then you know how important it is that team members see the whole picture not just their own part anytime a person doesn't know how his work fits with that of his teammates then the whole team is in trouble the better the grass team members have of the big picture the greater their potential to work together as a team number five big-picture thinking keeps you from being caught up in the mundane let's face it there are aspects of everyday life that are absolutely necessary but thoroughly dis interesting big picture thinkers don't let the grind get to them because they don't lose sight of the all-important overview they know that the person who forgets the ultimate is a slave to the immediate I begin each day with a big-picture mindset to accomplish this I look at my written agenda for the day it allows me to see the whole day at a glance out of my schedule I pick out the main event this is the one event that is most important for me to do well the thing that will make or break my day in preparation for the day I focus on that main event and ask myself in order to make the main event a good event what must I know what must I do what must I see and what must I eliminate once I answer these questions I am able to approach my day with a big-picture perspective some things will be fun some things won't but with preparation the most important thing will be done well number six big-picture thinking helps you to chart uncharted territory have you ever heard the expression we'll cross that bridge when we come to it that phrase was undoubtedly coined by someone who had trouble seeing the big picture the only way to break new ground or move into uncharted territory is to look beyond the immediate and see the big picture if your desire is to seize new opportunities and open new horizons then you need to add big-picture thinking to your abilities to become a good thinker who is better able to see the big picture keep in mind the following suggestions don't strive for certainty one of the hallmarks of big picture thinkers is that they are comfortable with ambiguity they don't try to force every observation or piece of data into pre-formulated mental cubbyholes their thinking is broad and they can juggle a lot of seemingly contradictory thoughts in their minds learn from every experience big picture thinkers broaden their outlook by striving to learn from every experience they don't rest on their successes they learn from them more importantly they learn from their failures they're able to do that because they remain teachable in my book failing forward I described the teachable spirit this way teachability is an attitude a mindset that says no matter how much I know or think I know I can learn from this situation the kind of thinking can help you turn adversity into advantage it can make you a winner even during the most difficult circumstances if you desire to be a big-picture thinker then get out there and try a lot of things take a lot of chances and take time to learn after every victory or defeat gain insight from a variety of people big picture thinkers learn from their experiences but they also learn a lot by receiving insight from other people from customers employees colleagues and leaders if you desire to broaden your thinking and see more of the big picture then you will need to seek out wise counselors to help you along the way but be wise in who you ask for advice talk to people who know and care about you know they're filled and bring experience deeper and broader than your own give yourself permission to expand your world if you want to be a big-picture thinker you're going to have to go against the flow of the world Society wants to keep people in boxes most people are mentally married to the status quo they want what was not what can be they seek safety and simple answers to thank big-picture you need to give yourself permission to go a different way to break new ground to find new worlds to conquer and when your world does get bigger you need to celebrate never forget there's more out there in the world than what you've experienced putting big-picture thinking into action on a scale of one to ten with one being narrow and ten being expansive how are you when it comes to big-picture thinking do you see the whole picture or are you more likely to focus in on just one aspect if your number is lower than eight then you need to give yourself permission to expand your world and then tenaciously work at becoming a better big-picture thinker pick a past problem or current project that you would like to use big-picture thinking to improve then use the following two exercises to expand your thinking first find the opposites what is the obvious solution for success concerning this issue write it down now what is an opposite solution something that would resolve the issue but seems to contradict the first idea write it down okay how can you make those seemingly contradictory ideas work together second gain insight from others take that same issue problem or project to three to five people who can give you insight on it be sure to pick good people using the criteria in the chapter they must know and care about you know their field and bring experience deeper and broader than your own and before you meet with each of them spend adequate time formulating the questions you want to ask that process will help you clarify the issues and it will show that people you meet with how much you respect their time finally make learning from your experiences a regular part of your daily routine set aside a few minutes at the end of each day or first thing the next morning to review what you learn each day capture those thoughts in writing and file them so that you can retrieve and use them sometime in the future chapter 5 unleash the potential of focus thinking most people spend lots of time drawing and coloring with crayons when they were kids unless you were born under a rock you are probably familiar with the name Crayola it is the most popular recognized brand in the world when it comes to crayons every year by nan Smith the company that makes Crayola products manufactures nearly 3 billion crayons at a rate of 12 million a day the company was founded in 1864 up to the turn of the century the company's main products were items such as red pigments for barn paint and carbon black used in making lamp black or automobile tires their primary method of product development was simple ask their customers what their needs were and then develop products in the laboratory to meet those needs in 1900 the company began making slate pencils for the educational market and they found that teachers were happy to tell company representatives what they desired when teachers complained about poor chalk by nian Smith produced a superior dustless variety when they complained that they couldn't buy a decent American crayon the best wording ported from Europe and very expensive they developed the Crayola the product was introduced to the market in 1903 is a box of eight colors that cost a nickel today they dominate that market even in the face of the electronic revolution in the five phases of genius Annette Moser Wellman assessed the company by saying the biggest threat to Crayolas business has been the entry of computer games for kids instead of drawing and coloring kids are tempted by interactive CDs and more instead of trying to die computer games Crayola has chosen to flourish within their limitations they do children's art products better than anyone fighting and Smith could have lost focus in an attempt to chase new markets and diversify themselves that's what toy manufacturer calico did the company started out in leather goods in the 1950s and then switched to plastics in the late 1960s they were the world's largest manufacturer of above ground swimming pools they had found their niche yet in the 1970s and 80s they chased after the computer game market and then low in computers you may remember ColecoVision then they tried to capitalize on Cabbage Patch dolls it ultimately drove them into bankruptcy it would have been easy for biting and Smith to chase after others successes but they didn't do that the company has remained focused and as long as it does it will continue to excel and to sell more crayons and children's art supplies than any other company in the world just as focus is important to developing products for a company it is also important for developing ideas for an individual focus thinking can do several things for you focused thinking harnesses energy toward a desired goal focus can bring energy and power to almost anything whether it's physical or mental if you're learning how to pitch a baseball and you want to develop a good curve ball then focus thinking while practicing will improve your technique if you need to refine the manufacturing process of your product focus thinking will help you develop the best method if you want to solve a difficult mathematics problem sustaining focused thinking helps you break through to the solution that's why philosopher Bertrand Russell asserted to be able to concentrate for a considerable time is essential to difficult achievement the greater the difficulty of a problem or issue the more focused thinking time will be necessary to solve it focus thinking gives ideas time to develop I often bring my creative team together for brainstorming and creative thinking when we first get together we try to be exhaustive in our thinking in order to generate as many ideas as possible that has great value because the birthing of a potential breakthrough is often the result of sharing a lot of good ideas but to take ideas to the next level you need to shift from being expansive in your thinking to being selective over the years I have discovered that a good idea can become a great idea when it is given focused time it's true that focusing on an idea for a long time can be very frustrating I've often spent days focusing on a thought and trying to develop it only to find that I could not improve the idea but sometimes my perseverance in focus thinking pays off focused thinking brings clarity to the target sociologist Robert Lee and observed that knowledge is power only if a man knows what facts are not to bother about focus thinking removes distractions and mental clutter so that you can concentrate on an issue and think with clarity that's crucial because if you don't know what the target is how will you ever hit it focus thinking will take you to the next level no one achieves greatness by becoming a generalist you don't hone a skill by diluting your attention to its development the only way to get to the next level is to focus no matter whether your goal is to increase your level of play sharpen your business plan and prove your bottom line develop your subordinates or solve personal problems you need to focus where should you focus your thinking does every area of your life deserve dedicated focus thinking time of course the answer is no when it comes to focus thinking it's better to be selective rather than exhausted for me that means dedicating in-depth thinking time to four areas leadership creativity communication and intentional networking your choices will probably be different here are a few suggestions to help you figure them out identify your priorities the first thing you must take into account are your priorities for yourself your family and your team there are many ways to determine priorities if you know yourself well then begin by focusing on your strengths the things that make best use of your skills in god-given talents another way is to focus on what brings the highest return and reward do what you enjoy most and do best you could use the 80/20 rule give 80% of your effort to the top 20% most important activities another way is to focus on exceptional opportunities that promise a huge return the main thing is that you give your attention to the areas that bear fruit discover your gifts not all people are self-aware and have a good handle on their own skills gifts and talents if you are someone with that kind of background then you need to work extra hard now to figure out what your gifts are take a personality profile such as disk or myers-briggs interview positive friends and family to see where they think you shine spend some time reflecting on past successes if you're going to focus your thinking in your areas of strength then you need to know what they are develop your dream if you want to achieve great things then you need to have a great dream if you're not sure what your dream is use your focus thinking time to help you to discover it in the past if your thinking has gone back to a particular area time after time then you may be able to discover your dream there give it more focused time and see what happens and once you find your dream move forward without second-guessing the younger you are the more likely you will give your attention to many things that's good because you're still getting to know yourself your strengths and your weaknesses after all if you focus your thinking only on one thing and your aspirations change then you've wasted your best mental energy as you get older and more experienced the need to focus becomes more critical the farther and higher you go the more focus you can be and need to be once you have a handle on what you should focus your thinking on the next issue you must resolve is how to go about doing it here are five suggestions to help you with the process number one remove distractions removing distractions is no small matter in our current culture but it's critical because as author and positive mental attitude advocate debbie Clement stone says you can keep your mind off the things you don't want by keeping it on the things that you do want how do you do it first by maintaining the discipline of practicing your priorities don't do easy things first or hard things first or urgent things first do first things first the activities that give you the highest return in that way you can keep the distractions to a minimum another thing you can do is insulate yourself from distractions I found that I need blocks of time to think without interruptions I've mastered the art of making myself unavailable from people and distractions when necessary and going off to my thinking place so that I can work without interruptions number two make time for focus thinking once you have a place to think then you need to have time to think because of the fast pace of our culture people tend to multitask but that's not always a good idea switching from task to task can lose you up to 40% efficiency number three keep items a focus before you to help me concentrate on the things that matter I work to keep items that are important before me I also keep items of focus before me in other ways for example if I'm working on a lesson for a conference or an outline for a book I'll keep a file or a page on my desk so that I can see it every day as I work that strategy has been successful for me for 30 years to stimulate and sharpen ideas if you've never done it before I recommend that you try it number four set goals as a kid growing up I didn't have any goals I just wanted to have a good time and play ball it wasn't until college that I became more focused it was good that I was finally becoming more intentional about my life but when I look back at those goals today I laugh the lifetime goals that I set worse small if I had worked only until I achieved those goals I would have fallen far short of where I am today I believe goals are important but the purpose of goals is to focus your attention and give you direction not to identify a final destination as you think about your goals note that they should be clear enough to be kept in focus close enough to be achieved and helpful enough to change lives those guidelines will get you going and be sure to write down your goals if they're not written I could almost guarantee you that they're not focused enough number five question your progress ask yourself am I seeing a return for my investment of focus thinking time is what I'm doing getting me closer to my goals am i heading in a direction that is helping me to fulfill my commitments maintain my priorities and realize my dreams here's your thinking question for this chapter am I dedicated to removing distractions and metal clutter so that I can concentrate with clarity on the real issue putting focus thinking into action rate yourself a scale of one to ten with one being scattered and ten being focused how are you when it comes to being a focused thinker to lower your number the more time you need to carve out for focus thinking time now go get your calendar and figure out how to schedule thinking time ideally you should schedule some time daily as well as a good block of time once a week remember that to be effective you must remove yourself from distractions prevent unwanted interruptions and be able to focus pick the best place and your most productive time of day for your focus thinking time then put it on your calendar and treat it as you would any important appointment our lives are most affected for good and bad by just a few events and decisions focus thinking can provide the arena to significantly impact those decisions and events determine which decisions currently on your plate are most important and then schedule some of your thinking time during the week to address them if you don't have goals or your goals don't align with your dreams then your focus time will be off track dedicate a large block of this week's thinking time to just thinking about and writing down your current goals chapter six discover the joy of creative thinking when I went off to college is an eighteen year old one of my first classes was psychology 101 the teacher wanted us to learn as much about ourselves as others so we were constantly taking tests filling out personality profiles and self-assessment questionnaires I vividly remember completing a profile a few weeks into the course that measured various natural talents I don't recall in what area I recorded my highest score but my lowest score was in creativity that crushed me not only did I value creativity and desire it but I knew I required it in order to pursue my chosen profession I was studying to go into the ministry that meant that I would be spending hours and hours every week of my life writing and I would speak to an audience at least two or three times a week for the next four decades if I don't have the innate ability to come up with the creative thoughts myself I thought that I'll mine the creative thoughts of others I knew that I could become a collector of thoughts more easily than I could become a creator of thoughts every day during the three and a half decades since then I have read great books gathered great thoughts and filed them away by subject for future use for years as I've written lessons and books when I need a quote story or article on a topic I need only to look at my files to find several excellent pieces of material that I had filed away just for such an occasion by becoming a person who was always on the lookout for creative ideas by others I learned to become a creative thinker myself you can change your way of thinking just as I did creative thinking isn't necessarily original thinking most often creative thinking is a composite of other thoughts a person discovers along the way even the great artist whom we consider to be highly original learn from the Masters before them modeled their work on that of others and brought together a host of ideas and styles to create their own work in the form of something new do you consider yourself to be highly creative perhaps you're not even sure what I mean when I begin to ask about whether you are a creative thinker let me explain a few of my observations these are characteristics that creative thinkers have in common creative thinkers value ideas creativity is about having ideas lots of them you will have ideas only if you value ideas people most often explore ideas in their own areas of interest for example that's what my wife Margaret does she has a great love for design and interior decoration often when we're out together looking for antiques or decor items I am amazed at how quickly she can find exactly what she's looking for Margaret gets dozens of catalogs and magazines and she regularly reviews them to see new items and trends because she values ideas she always has lots of them creative thinkers explore options I've yet to meet a creative thinker who didn't love options exploring a multitude of possibilities helps to stimulate the imagination and when it comes to creativity imagination is crucial people who know me well will tell you that I place a very high value on options why because they provide the key to finding the best answer not the only answer for example whenever team members come to me with a problem I insist that they also supply three possible ways to solve them as well anyone can point out a problem only people who think well can present possible solutions creative thinkers embrace and Bhagwati creative people don't feel the need to stamp out uncertainty they see all kinds of inconsistencies and gaps in life and they often take delight in exploring those gaps or in using their imagination to fill them in themselves creative thinkers celebrate the offbeat creativity by its very nature often explorers off the beaten path and goes against the grain diplomat and longtime president of Yale University Kingman Brewster said there's a correlation between the creative and the screwball so we must suffer the screwball gladly to foster creativity in yourself or others be willing to tolerate a little oddness creative thinkers connect the unconnected because a major aspect of creativity is based on utilizing other's ideas there's great value in being able to connect one idea to another especially two seemingly unrelated ideas years ago when I began learning how to connect seemingly unconnected thoughts I realized that it could often create something special when you were a kid did you ever play connect the dots when you first looked at the page it was just a jumble of dots as you connected the dots the picture of the creator had envisioned emerged at the end of your pencil it's easy to connect the dots if you know where you're going likewise it's easy to connect ideas when you have a plan once you begin to think you are free to collect you ask yourself what material relates to this thought once you have the material you ask what ideas can make the thought better after that you can correct or refine it by asking what changes can make these ideas better finally you connect the ideas by positioning them in the right context to make the thought complete and powerful creative thinkers don't fear failure I firmly believe that overcoming failure is a key to a success in life in fact I wrote a book based on the belief entitled failing forward the thesis of the book is that the difference between average people and achieving people is their perception of and response to failure but when it comes to creativity the ability to be unafraid of failure is even more important why is that so crucial because creativity equals failure creativity requires a willingness to look stupid it means getting out on a limb knowing that the limb often breaks creative people know these things and still keep searching for new ideas they just don't let the ideas that don't work prevent them from coming up with more ideas that do work I believe creativity can improve a person's quality of life here are five specific things creative thinking has the potential to do for you creative thinking adds value to everything wouldn't you enjoy having a limitless reservoir of ideas that you could draw upon at anytime that's what creative thinking gives you for that reason no matter what you are currently able to do creativity can make you capable of more creativity is being able to see what everybody else has seen and think what nobody else has thought so that you can do what nobody else has done sometimes creative thinking lies along the lines of invention where you break new ground other times it moves along the lines of innovation which helps you to do old things in a new way but either way it's seen the world through sufficiently new eyes so that new solutions appear creative thinking compounds 25 years ago I became passionate about wanting to write books that would add value to people with great zeal I started working on my first book then the cold water of reality began to douse my flames of passion for writing I discovered that writing was difficult I stuck with it and kept working on becoming more creative today I've written over 30 books and I have at least seven more that I want to write a young would-be author recently asked me how do you write 30 books my answer was simple one word at a time over the years I found the following to be true creative thinking is hard work but creative thinking compounds given enough time and focus creative thinking draws people to you and your ideas why do people continue to be fascinated by Leonardo da Vinci creativity is intelligence having fun people admire intelligence than they are always attracted to fund so the combination is fantastic if anyone could be said to have fun with his intelligence it was da Vinci the diversity of his ideas and expertise is incredible he was a painter architect sculptor anatomist musician inventor and engineer the term Renaissance man was coined because of him just as people were drawn to da Vinci and his ideas during his lifetime and for centuries afterward they are drawn to creative people today if you cultivate creativity you will become more attractive to other people and they will be drawn to you creative thinking helps you learn more it almost seems too obvious to say but if you are always actively seeking new ideas you will learn creativity is teach ability it's seen more solutions than problems and the greater the quantity of thoughts the greater the chance for learning something new finally creative thinking challenges the status quo if you desire to improve your world or even your own situation then creativity will help you the status quo and creativity are incompatible creativity and innovation always walk hand in hand a good illustration of how someone challenged the status quo through creativity can be seen in the story of Elvis Presley's estate after his death Elvis left everything in a trust for lisa-marie his young daughter in 1979 Lisa Marie's mother Priscilla became a Co executor of the trust and found that if something wasn't done and quickly the estate was on the road to ruin throughout his career Elvis had received less than half of what he earned Colonel Tom Parker his manager had a contract that took 50% of everything Elvis made right off the top that and a lifestyle of free spending meant that Elvis was often strapped for cash several years before he died Elvis sold off the rights to most of his recordings to raise money consequently his estate received no royalty income from his music add to that situation a huge inheritance tax imposed by the government and an empty mansion Graceland gobbling up money through taxes and upkeep and you can see that the situation looked bleak Priscilla Presley started to think creatively first she took the little remaining cash from the estate and invested it into Graceland rather than selling it she opened it up to the public as a tourist attraction just 38 days after it opened in 1982 it earned back its investment the next thing she did was sever ties with Tom Parker so that 50% of the estate's earnings would not continue being funneled to him finally Priscilla began to treat Elvis as a brand she even promoted legislation in Tennessee to make his likeness intellectual property which would belong to his estate by using creative thinking Priscilla Presley turned what looked like an impossible situation into a business empire that earns tens of millions of dollars a year at this point you may be saying okay I'm convinced the creative thinking is important but how do I find the latent creativity within me how do I discover the joy of creative thought here are five ways to do it number one remove creativity killers take a listen to the following phrases they're almost guaranteed to kill creative thinking anytime you hear or think of them I'm not a creative person follow the rules don't ask questions don't be different say within the lines there is only one way don't be foolish be practical be serious think of your image that's not logical it's not practical it's never been done it can't be done it didn't work for them we tried that before it's too much work we can't afford to make a mistake it will be too hard to administer we don't have the time we don't have the money yes but play is frivolous failure is final if you think you have a great idea don't let anyone talk you out of it even if it sounds foolish don't let yourself or anyone else subject you to creativity killers after all you can't do something new and exciting if you force yourself to stay in the same old rut number two think creatively by asking the right questions creativity is largely a matter of asking the right questions wrong questions shut down the process of creative thinking they direct thinkers down the same old path or they chide them into believing that thinking isn't necessary at all to stimulate creative thinking ask yourself questions such as why must it be done this way what is the root problem what are the underlying issues what does this remind me of what is the opposite what metaphor or symbol helps to explain it why is it important what's the hardest or most expensive way to do it who has a different perspective on this what happens if we don't do it at all you get the idea and you can probably come up with better questions yourself number 3 develop a creative environment negative environments are responsible for the death of thousands of great ideas every minute a creative environment on the other hand becomes like a greenhouse where ideas are seeded sprout up and flourish a creative environment encourages creativity when innovation and good thinking are openly encouraged and rewarded then people see that they have permission to be creative a creative environment places a high value on trust among team members and individuality creativity always risks failure that's why Trust is so important to creative people in the creative process trust comes from the fact that the people working together want what's best for the organization and each other it comes from knowing that people on the team have experienced launching successful creative ideas and it comes from the assurance that the time coming up with creative ideas won't go to waste because the ideas will be implemented a creative environment embraces those who are creative creative people are sometimes off-center when it comes to how creative people should be treated I take the advice of Tom Peters who says weed out the dollard's nurture the nuts a creative environment focuses on innovation not just invention creative people say give me a good idea and I'll give you a better idea fortunately I learned this lesson early often I take an idea that someone else gives me and raise it to a higher level for example when I speak at one of my conferences I frequently share with the audience the book idea I'm currently working on then I invite audience members to share their thoughts ideas and illustrations with me to make the book better I tell them I'll take what you give me make it better and give you the credit and then I smile and second then I'll sell you the book a creative environment places a high value on options creative people are always thinking about and looking for other ways of doing things because they know that options bring opportunities when anyone in my inner circle brings me an item required a decision I asked for three things the best information possible three possible options and their reasoning behind the option they would choose I found that this kind of optional thinking often produces the best results a creative environment is willing to let people go outside the lines most people automatically stay within the lines even if they have been arbitrarily drawn or are terribly out of date remember most limitations we face in life are not imposed on us by others we've placed them there ourselves lack of creativity often falls into that category if you want to be more creative challenge boundaries a creative environment appreciates the power of a dream the creative environment encourages the use of a blank sheet of paper and the question if we could draw a picture of what we want to accomplish what would it look like a creative environment allowed Martin Luther King jr. to speak with passion to millions of people I have a dream not I have a goal goals may give people focus but dreams give them power dreams expand people's world number four spend time with other creative people what if the place you work has an environment that is hostile to creativity and you possess little ability to change it one possibility would be to change jobs but what if you desire to keep working there despite the negative environment your best option is to find a way to spend time with other creative people creativity is contagious have you ever noticed what happens during a good brainstorming session one person throws out an idea another person uses it as a springboard to discover another idea someone else takes it in yet another even better direction then somebody grabs hold of it and takes it to a whole new level the interplay of ideas can be electric the more time you can spend with creative people engaging in creative activities the more creative you will become number five get out of your box actress Katharine Hepburn remarked if you obey all the rules you will miss all the fun while I don't think it's necessary to break all the rules many are in place to protect us I do think it's unwise to allow self-imposed limitations to hinder us creative thinkers know that they must repeatedly break out of the box of their own history and personal limitations in order to experience creative breakthroughs the most effective way to help yourself get out of the box is to expose yourself to new paradigms one way you can do that is by traveling to new places explore other cultures countries and traditions find out how people very different from you live and think another is to read on new subjects if you want to break out of your own box get into somebody else's read broadly many people mistakenly believe that if individuals aren't born with creativity then they will never be creative but you can see from the many strategies and examples I've given you that creativity can be cultivated here's a thinking question for you ask yourself am i working to break out of my box of limitations so that I can explore ideas and options to experience creative breakthroughs putting creative thinking into action if you've been using some method of capturing your ideas in a notebook computer or filing system I want you to take time and look through some of the ideas that you've recorded if you haven't been capturing your ideas on paper you're missing an opportunity to take them to the next level I want you to begin capturing ideas on paper for the next tiny days look through your ideas and find one that you believe has great potential if you give it more thinking time now ask yourself the following questions to stretch that idea why do I like this idea what are the underlying issues involved with it what does this remind me of what is the option what metaphor or symbol helps explain it what is the value of the idea what's the hardest or most expensive way to carry it out who has a different perspective on this what happens if I don't do it at all in my wildest dreams what can this idea lead to now I want to encourage you to add other questions on your own the idea is to get outside of your box and let your ideas take you anywhere they want you to the only rules are number one you're not allowed to shut down your thinking process with self-editing criticism or other creativity killers and two you must try to capture as many of your ideas as possible on paper now think about your working environment does it naturally foster creativity or tend to shut it down if it promotes creative thought count your blessings if it doesn't figure out if you can make it friendlier to creativity if you're the boss then changing the culture is your responsibility praise and reward creative thinking and innovation introduce play get people time to go recharge their mental batteries hire a consultant to teach people how to think out of the box do whatever is necessary and if you have the resources to go to another country where you can be exposed to a different culture you may want to plan your next vacation around it if you don't then plan to read three books that take you out of your area of expertise don't pick something that will bore you or that will go way over your head just expose yourself to something that makes you stretch your mind Chapter seven recognize the importance of realistic thinking when I started my career fresh out of school I was an idealistic thinker not a realistic one some of my misconceptions were that I could make everyone happy people like change if it was done properly the leader taking care of people is enough good leadership makes tough calls unnecessary the reality was that there will be conflict among people people resist change regardless people must be developed to be effective and tough calls must always be made over the years misconceptions fell one by one and in time I evolved into a more realistic thinker that process went in phases for me first I did not engage in realistic thinking at all after a while I realized it was necessary so I began to engage in it occasionally but I didn't like it because I thought it was too negative eventually I found that I had to engage in realistic thinking after I got in any kind of trouble if I was going to solve problems and learn from my mistakes and in time I became willing to think realistically before I got in trouble and make it a continual part of my life today I encourage my key leaders to think realistically and we make realistic thinking the foundation of our business because we derive certainty and security from it cultivating the ability to be realistic in your thinking will not undermine your faith in people nor will it lessen your ability to see and seize opportunities instead it will add value to you in the following ways realistic thinking minimizes downside risk actions always have consequences realistic thinking helps you to determine what those consequences could be and that's crucial because only by recognizing and considering the consequences can you plan for them if you plan for the worst-case scenario you can minimize the downside risk realistic thinking gives you a target and a gameplan I've known business people who were not realistic thinkers here's the good news they were very positive and had a high degree of hope for their business here's the bad news hope is not a strategy realistic thinking leads to excellence in leadership and management because it requires people to define their target and develop a game plan to hit it when people engage in realistic thinking they also began to simplify practices and procedures which results in better efficiency realistic thinking is a catalyst for change people who rely on hope for their success rarely make change a high priority in their lives if you only have hope you imply that achievement and success are out of your hands it's a matter of luck or chance why bother changing realistic thinking can dispel that kind of an attitude there's nothing like staring reality in the face to make a person recognize the need for change change alone doesn't bring growth but you cannot have growth without change realistic thinking provides security any time you have fought through the worst that can happen in a situation and you have a contingency plan to meet it you become more confident and secure realistic thinking gives you credibility if you're a leader you will find that realistic thinking helps people to buy into your vision leaders who are continually surprised by the unexpected soon lose credibility with their followers on the other hand leaders who think realistically and plan accordingly position their organizations to win and that gives their people confidence in them the best leaders ask realistic questions before casting vision to others they ask themselves things like is it possible does this dream include everyone or just a few have I identified and articulated the areas that will make this dream difficult to achieve realistic thinking provides a foundation to build on Thomas Edison once observed the value of a good idea is in using it the bottom line on realistic thinking is that it helps you to make an idea usable by taking away the wish factor most ideas and efforts don't accomplish their intended results because they rely too much on what we wish rather than what is realistic thinking is a friend to those in trouble if creativity is what you would do if you were not afraid of the possibility of failure then reality is dealing with failure if it does happen realistic thinking gives you something concrete to fall back on during times of trouble certainty in the midst of uncertainty brings stability realistic thinking brings the dream to fruition if you don't get close enough to a problem you can't tackle it if you don't take a realistic look at your dream and what it will take to achieve it you will never achieve it realistic thinking helps to pave the way for bringing any dream to fruition because I'm naturally optimistic rather than realistic I've had to take concrete steps to improve my thinking in this area here are five things I do to improve my realistic thinking number one develop an appreciation for truth President Harry as Truman said I never give them hell I just tell them the truth and they think it's happened that's the way many people react to truth however if you want to become a realistic thinker you need to get comfortable dealing with the truth number two do your homework when dealing with an issue you must first get the facts it doesn't matter how sound your thinking is if you're basing it on faulty data or assumptions another kind of homework you can do is to find out what others have done in similar circumstances remember your thinking doesn't necessarily have to be original it just has to be solid why not learn all that you can from good thinkers who have faced similar situations in the past number three think through the pros and cons there is nothing like taking the time to really exam the pros and cons of an issue to give you a strong dose of reality it rarely comes down to a matter of simply choosing the course of action with the greatest number of pros because all pros and cons do not care equal wait but that's not the value of the exercise anyway the value is that it helps you dig into the facts examine an issue from all angles and really count the cost of a possible course of action number four picture the worst case scenario the essence of realistic thinking is discovering picturing and examining the worst case scenario ask yourself questions such as what if sales fall short of projections what if revenue hits rock bottom not an optimist rock bottom but real rock bottom what if we don't win the account what if the clients don't pay us what if we have to do a job short-handed what if our best player gets sick what if all the colleges reject my application what if the market goes belly-up what if the volunteers quit what if nobody shows up you get the idea the point is that you need to think about worst-case possibilities whether you are running a business leading department pastoring the church coaching a team or planning your personal finances your goal isn't to be negative or expect the worst just to be ready for it in case it happens and number five align your thinking with your resources one of the keys to maximizing realistic thinking is aligning your resources with your objectives looking at pros and cons and examining worst-case scenarios will make you aware of any gaps between what you desire and what really exists once you know what those gaps are you can use your resources to fill them after all that's what resources are for here's a thinking question for you ask yourself am i building a solid mental foundation on facts so that I can think with certainty putting realistic thinking into action ask yourself what is your natural bent is it toward optimism or realism listen to the following phrases describing what I went through in my evolution to a more realistic thinker plus one more level I have not yet achieved and see which statement best describes where you are number one I do not engage in realistic thinking number two I do not like realistic thinking number three I will let someone else do realistic thinking number four I will do realistic thinking only after I am in trouble number five I will do realistic thinking before I am in trouble six I will continually make realistic thinking part of my life number seven I will encourage my key leaders to do the same the break I will make realistic thinking the foundation of our business 9 I will derive certainty and security from realistic thinking and number 10 I rely heavily on facts and often make judgments according to the worst case scenario you can base your need for progress in the area of realistic thinking on your answer the lower your number the more you need to grow now if your ability to think realistically isn't highly developed then maybe you need a strong dose of truth ask five perceptive people friends co-workers your spouse your supervisor etc to talk to you about your three greatest strengths and your three greatest weaknesses ideally they should write their observations and explain them to you as they talk you are not allowed to defend yourself you are only allowed to ask questions that help you to understand their observations make notes if necessary take all of the comments you receive along with your notes and plan to spend a whole day examining yourself in light of what you were told think about how their comments can help you and how you can change to improve in your areas of weakness and capitalize on your strengths the first step in gaining an appreciation for the true is learning to deal with the truth about yourself finally the next time you have a problem to solve or a project to complete use the guidelines from this chapter to help you cultivate a more realistic view of the issues be sure to do your homework work through the pros and cons find the worst case scenario align your thinking and your resources and go through all four steps before you take action chapter 8 release the power of strategic thinking when you hear the words strategic thinking what comes to mind do you conjure up marketing plans the kind that can turn a company around perhaps you contemplate global politics or you recall some of history's greatest military campaigns Hannibal crossing the Alps to surprise the Roman army Charlemagne's conquest of Western Europe or the Allies d-day invasion of Normandy strategic thinking is often associated with war in fact a common dictionary defines it as the science of planning and directing large-scale military operations specifically as distinguished from tactics of maneuvering forces into the most advantageous position prior to actual engagement with the enemy even the most basic definition uses a military application and distinguishes tactics from strategic thinking tactics are actions taken in battle while strategies are plans prior to it but strategy doesn't have to be restricted to military action or even to business strategic thinking can make a positive impact in any area of life I am very strategic in the area of time management I have observed that most people try to plan their lives one day at a time some people plan their lives a week at a time they review their calendar for the week check their appointments review their goals and then get to work they generally out achieve most of their colleagues I try to take that one step further at the beginning of every month I spent half a day working on my calendar for the next 40 days 40 days works for me rather than just 30 that way I get a jump on the next month I began by reviewing my travel schedule and planning my activities with my family then I review what projects lessons and other objectives I want to accomplish during those five to six weeks then I start blocking out days and tines for thinking writing working meeting with people etc I set times to do fun things such as seeing a show watching a ball game or playing golf I also set aside small blocks of time for the unexpected by the time I'm done I can tell you nearly everything I'll be doing almost hour by hour during the coming weeks this strategy is one of the reasons I have been able to accomplish so much the benefits of strategic thinking are numerous here are a few of the reasons you should adopt it as one of your thinking tools strategic thinking simplifies the difficult strategic thinking takes complex issues and long-term objectives which can be very difficult to address and breaks them down into manageable sizes strategic thinking can also help you simplify the management of everyday life one of the ways I do that is by using systems which are nothing more than good strategies repeated writing a lesson or a speech can be difficult but because I use my system to file quote stories and articles when I need something to flesh out or illustrate a point I simply go to one of my 1,200 files and find a good piece of material that works I use systems for everything I have a system for getting in and out of airports quickly and efficiently when I go to meetings I take people with me who will need to carry the ball afterwards so that I never have to repeat information or instructions to them I take projects with me on airplanes and books into waiting rooms my wife Margaret and I even have a system for how we shop so that if we get separated or have to meet each other we can find each other in five minutes just about any difficult task can be made simpler with strategic thinking strategic thinking prompts you to ask the right one of the ways to break down complex or difficult issues is to ask questions strategic thinking forces you through this process for example listen to the following questions developed by my friend Bob bill the author of master planning direction what should we do next and why organization who is responsible for what who is responsible for whom do we have the right people in the right places cash what is our projected expense can we afford it how can we afford it tracking are we on target overall evaluation are we achieving the quality we expect and demand of ourselves refinement how can we be more effective and more efficient moving toward the ideal these may not be the only questions you need to ask to begin formulating a strategic plan but they are certainly a good start strategic thinking prompts customization General George S Patton once observed successful generals make plans to fit circumstances but do not try to create circumstances to fit plans an excellent illustration of Patton's believe can be seen in the circumstances surrounding the Battle of the Bulge the last major German offensive of World War 2 on December 19 1945 Patton commanding general Dwight D Eisenhower and generals Bradley endeavors met in Verdun to discuss how to combat the German counter-offensive the one hundred and first Airborne Division was trapped and the more time that passed before an attempt was made to rescue them the worse off they would be it was decided that Patton should attack the southern flank of the Bulge with his Third Army Patton had three divisions at his disposal and had calculated that he would be ready to stage his offensive in four days Patton recalled General Eisenhower stated that I should wait until I got at least six divisions I told him that in my opinion a prompt attack with three was better than waiting for six particularly when I did not know where I could get the other three Eisenhower agreed to allow Patton to attack which he did one day ahead as a result the German forces were contained their counter-offensive was defeated and the war came to an end earlier than it would have otherwise all good strategic thinkers try to match the strategy specifically with the problem because strategy isn't a one-size-fits-all proposition the intention to customize and strategic thinking forces a person to go beyond vague ideas and engage in specific ways to go after a task or problem it sharpens the mind strategic thinking prepares you today for an uncertain tomorrow Peter Drucker the father modern management explains the importance of strategic thinking he says strategic planning is necessary precisely because we cannot forecast strategic planning does not deal with future decisions it deals with the Futurity of present decisions decisions exist only in the present the question that faces the strategic decision maker is not what his organization should do tomorrow it is what do we have to do today to be ready for an uncertain tomorrow strategic thinking is the bridge that links where you are to where you want to be it gives direction in credibility today and increases your potential for success tomorrow strategic thinking reduces the margin of error anytime you shoot from the hip or go into a totally reactive mode you increase your margin for error however strategic thinking greatly reduces that margin for error it aligns your actions up with your objectives the better aligned you are with your target the better the odds that you will be going into the right direction strategic thinking gives you influence with others the one with a plan is the one with the power employees want to follow the business leader who has a good business plan volunteers want to join up with the pastor who has a good ministry plan children want to be with the adult who has the well-thought-out vacation plan if you practice strategic thinking others will listen to you and they will want to follow you and if you possess a position of leadership in an organization strategic thinking is essential to become a better strategic thinker who is able to formulate and implement plans that will achieve the desired objective take the following seven guidelines to heart number one break down the issue my friend Robert Schuller founder of the Crystal Cathedral says yard by yard life is hard but inch by inch it's a cinch the first step in strategic thinking is to break down an issue into smaller more manageable parts so that you can focus on them more effectively how you do it is not as important as just doing it for example one way to break an issue down is by function that's what automotive innovator Henry Ford did when he created the assembly line that's why he said nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs how you break down an issue is up to you whether it's by function timetable responsibility purpose or some other method the point is that you need to break it down only one person in a million can juggle the whole thing in his mind and thanks strategically to create solid viable plants number two ask why before how when most people begin using strategic thinking to solve a problem or plan a way to meet an objective they often make the mistake of jumping the gun and trying immediately to figure out how to accomplish it instead of asking how they should first ask why if you jump right into problem-solving mode how are you going to know what all the issues are number three identify the real issues and objectives William feather the author of the business of life said before it can be solved a problem must be clearly defined I think many people rush to solutions and as a result they end up solving the wrong problem how do you avoid that by asking probing questions in an effort to expose the real issues by challenging all of your assumptions by collecting information even after you think you've identified the issue you may still have to act with incomplete data but you don't want to jump to a conclusion before you gather enough to be and identifying the real issue begin by asking what else could be the real issue you should also remove any personal agenda more than anything else that can cloud your judgment while trying to do strategic thinking once the real issues are identified the solutions are often simple number four review your resources a strategy that doesn't take into account available resources is doomed to failure take an inventory how much time do you have how much money what kind of material supplies or inventory do you have what are the other assets what liabilities or obligations will come into play which people on the team can make an impact you know your own organization and profession figure out what resources you have at your disposal number five develop your plan how you approach the planning process depends greatly on your profession and the size of the challenge that you're planning to tackle so it's difficult for me to recommend many specifics however Ross Smith the author of the seven levels of change the guide to innovation in the world's largest corporations has some good advice that I think can help you as the title of his book suggests he outlines seven kinds of change which may prompt you in your planning process they are level one effectiveness doing the right things level two efficiency doing the right things right level three improving doing things better level four cutting doing away with things level five adapting doing things other people are doing level six different doing things no one else is doing and then level seven impossible doing things that can't be done no matter how you go about planning take this advice start with the obvious when you tackle an issue or plan that way it brings unity and consensus to the team because those things are every one those obvious elements build mental momentum and initiate creativity and intensity building on the fundamentals is the best way to lay down the road to the complex number six put the right people in the right place it's critical that you include your team as part of your strategic thinking before you can implement your plan you must make sure that you have the right people in place even the best strategic thinking won't help you if you don't take into account the people part of the equation number seven keep repeating the process if you expect to solve any major problem once you're in for disappointment major issues need major strategic thinking time if you want to be an effective strategic thinker then you need to be a continuous strategic thinker here's a thinking question that I want you to ask ask yourself am i implementing strategic plans that give me direction for today and increase my potential for tomorrow putting strategic thinking into action ask yourself might you be missing opportunities because you have been too quick to ask how instead of why think about a major objective that you are currently planning for set aside one hour a day for a week to ask nothing but why questions concerning your objective you can invite people to brainstorm with you at some point but spend the majority of the time just thinking alone be particularly alert for any opportunities that might be present that you had not yet seen then ask yourself what are you currently doing that is not strategic for you you may be spending more hours than you should working in areas of weakness take some time to create an inventory of your personal strengths and then match it against your calendar and to-do lists or a log tracking your activities over a month if your talents and resources don't match up with your activities then you need to dedicate some strategic thinking time to figure out how you can make a transition now if you have a track record of miss diagnosing problems and applying the wrong kinds of solutions to them then you need to spend some time with a strategic thinker find people whose wisdom and discernment you admire who have a history of successful problem-solving and spend some time with them asked to sit in on problem solving meetings as an observer take problems to them for brainstorming sessions the idea is to learn how they think so you can begin developing similar thinking strategies lastly create a thinking schedule dedicate specific blocks of time to specific issues don't forget to break them down so that you can really focus chapter 9 feel the energy of possibility thinking in 1975 filmmaker George Lucas went to see Doug tremble the man with the best reputation for special effects in Hollywood Trumbull was the expert who had worked on 2001 a Space Odyssey the first film that gave space travel a realistic feel and look Lucas was young and relatively inexperienced he'd made only two feature films for theatrical release but he had proven himself in the business by writing and directing American Graffiti Lucas had a vision for the new film that he wanted to make it was to be a story in a science fiction setting that would be a swashbuckling adventure Athar Ian quest and western-style showdown all rolled into one Lucas wanted to create scenes with fast-moving ships zooming through space similar to the way airplanes are filmed in a dogfight it was something that had never been done in his book Industrial Light and Magic the art of special-effects author and filmmaker Thomas G Smith says the experienced vision effects people didn't take George seriously they told him such rapid movement would cause a strobing effect on screen Lucas believed it could be done John Dykstra young filmmaker who had worked with Trumbull believed in Lucas's vision too lucas hired him and created his own special effects company in order to create the images he wanted he called it Industrial Light and Magic Dijkstra started gathering together a team of technicians together they designed and built a studio and began inventing and assembling the technology needed to make the impossible possible they work for almost two years to create what Lucas wanted the result was the movie star wars Industrial Light and Magic that company that he had founded just to make the special effects for Star Wars possible has set the standard for special effects for over two-and-a-half decades it has gone on to provide special effects for eight of the ten highest grossing movies of all time and in the process it has won twelve Academy Awards but first and foremost it is George Lucas's tool to help him realize his vision people who embrace possibility thinking are capable of doing even seemingly impossible tasks when they believe in solutions here are several reasons why you should become a possibility thinker possibility thinking increases your possibilities when you believe you can do something difficult and you succeed it opens many doors for you when George Lucas found his Industrial Light and Magic he had another source of revenue to help underwrite his own projects possibility thinking draws opportunities and people to you people who think big attract big people to them if you want to achieve big things you need to become a possibility thinker possibility thinking increases other's possibilities big thinkers who make things happen also create possibilities for others that happens in part because it's contagious you can't help but become more confident and think bigger when you're around possibility thinkers the possibility thinking also impacts others in more direct ways look at what happened in Atlanta Georgia in 1987 a real estate attorney named Billy Payne thought it would be possible to bring the Olympics to Atlanta people told him it couldn't be done but Payne kept believing and working at it and of course in 1996 the Summer Olympics were held in Atlanta possibility thinking allows you to dream big dreams no matter what your profession is possibility thinking can help you to broaden your horizons and dream bigger dreams in 1970 when I was a 23 year old I read a book called move ahead with possibility thinking by Robert Schuler as a young pastor in my first church I was thrilled to read about how Schuler overcame seemingly impossible circumstances to build a huge church in Garden Grove California if you embrace possibility thinking your dreams will go from molehill to mountain size and because you believe in possibilities you put yourself in position to achieve them possibility thinking makes it possible to rise above average during the 1970s when oil prices went through the roof automobile makers were directed to make their cars more fuel efficient one manufacturer asked a group of senior engineers to drastically reduce the weight of the cars they were designing they concluded that making lighter cars couldn't be done would be too expensive and would present too many safety concerns what was the automaker's solution they gave the problem to a group of less experienced engineers the new group found ways to reduce the weight of the company's automobiles by hundreds of pounds because they thought that solving the problem was possible it was possibility thinking gives you energy there is a direct correlation between possibility thinking and the level of a person's energy who gets energized by losing if you know something can't succeed how much time and energy are you willing to give it nobody goes looking for a lost cause you invest yourself and what you believe can't succeed when you embrace possibility thinking you believe in what you're doing and that gives you energy possibility thinking keeps you from giving up above all possibility thinkers believe they can succeed if you believe you can do something you have already won much of the battle if you believe you can't then it doesn't matter how hard you try because you have already lost one of the people who showed himself to be a great possibility thinker into one was New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani in the hours following the World Trade Center tragedy Giuliani not only led the city through the chaos of disaster but he instilled confidence in everyone he touched afterward he gave some insight and perspective on it I was so proud of the people I saw on the street no chaos but they were frightened and confused and it seemed to me that they needed to hear from my heart where I thought we were going I was trying to think where can I go for some comparison to this some lessons on how to handle this so I started thinking about church you started thinking that we're going to have to rebuild the spirit of the city and what better example than Churchill and the people of London during the Blitz of 1940 who had to keep up their spirit during this sustained bombing it was a comforting thought some people are naturally negative or cynical they believe that possibility thinkers are naive or foolish if you're thinking runs toward pessimism let me ask you a question how many highly successful people do you know who are continually negative how many impossibility thinkers are you acquainted with who achieve big things none people with and it can't be done minds that have two choices they can expect the worst and continually experience it or they can change their thinking if you want possibility thinking to work for you then begin by following these six suggestions number one stop focusing on the impossibility the first step in becoming a possibility thinker is to stop yourself from searching for and dwelling on what's wrong with any given issue if possibility thinking is new to you you're going to have to give yourself a lot of coaching to eliminate some of the negative self-talk you may hear in your head when you automatically start mentally listing all the things that can go wrong for all the reasons something can't be done stop yourself and say don't go there then ask what's right about this that will help you get started and if negativity is a really big problem for you and pessimistic things come out of your mouth before you even thought them through you may need to enlist the aid of a friend or family member to alert you every time you utter negative ideas aloud number two stay away from the experts so-called experts do more to shoot down people's dreams than just about anybody else in the book future edge joel barker recounts a few statements made by experts that seem comical now those remarks highlight that expertise in an area doesn't prevent someone from selling a dream short here are the comments along with when they were said the phonograph is of no commercial value Thomas Edison said that concerning his own invention in 1880 there is no likelihood man can ever tap the power of the atom Robert Millikan Nobel Prize winner in physics in 1920 it is an idle dream to imagine that automobiles will take the place of Railways in the long-distance movement of passengers the American Road Congress said that in 1913 I think there is a world market for about five computers Thomas Watson the chairman of IBM said that in 1943 possibly thinkers are very reluctant to dismiss anything as impossible if you want to achieve something give yourself permission to believe it is possible no matter what experts might say number three look for possibilities in every situation becoming a possibility thinker is more than just refusing to let yourself be negative it's looking for positive possibilities despite the circumstances every situation can be seen as potentially better than it is in the present moment I recently heard on Soderquist former president of Walmart tell a wonderful story that illustrates how a person can find positive possibilities in any situation Soderquist had gone with Sam Walton to Huntsville Alabama to open several new stores while they were there Walton suggested they go and visit the competition here's what Salta Quiz said happened we went into one and I have to tell you that it was the worst store I've ever seen in my life there were no customers there was no help on the floor the aisles were cluttered with merchandise empty shelves dirty he walked one way and I'd walk another way and we'd meet out on the sidewalk he said what did you think Don I said Sam that is absolutely the worst store I've ever seen in my life I mean did you see the aisles he said Don did you see the penny hose rack I said no I didn't Sam he said that was the best pantyhose rack I've ever seen I pulled the fixture out and on the back was the name of the manufacturer when we get back I want you to call that manufacturer and have him come and visit with our fixture people I want to put that rack in our stores and he said next did you see the ethnic cosmetics do you realize that in our stores we have four feet of ethnic cosmetics these people had 12 feet in theirs we are absolutely missing the boat I wrote down the distributor of some of those products and when we get back I want you to get hold of our cosmetic buyer and get these people in we absolutely need to expand our ethnic cosmetics it doesn't take a genius IQ or 20 years of experience to find the possibility in every situation all it takes is the right attitude and anybody can cultivate that number four dream one size bigger one of the best ways to cultivate a possibilty mindset is to prompt yourself to dream one size bigger than you normally do if you push yourself to dream more expansively to imagine your organization one size bigger to make your goals at least a step beyond what makes you comfortable you will be forced to grow and it will set you up to believe in greater possibilities number five question the status quo most people want their life to keep improving yet they value peace and stability at the same time people often lose sight of the fact that you can't improve and still stay the same growth means change change requires challenging the status quo if you want greater possibilities you can't settle for what you have now number six find inspiration from great achievers you can learn a lot about possibility thinking by studying great achievers so find some achievers you admire and study them look for people with the attitude of Robert F Kennedy who popularized George Bernard Shaw stirring statement some men see things as they are and say why I dream of things that never were and say why not here's a thinking question for you am i unleashing the enthusiasm of possibility thinking to find solutions for even seemingly impossible situations now how do you put possibility thinking into action everyone has dreams and many times those dreams are shot down by others if you've had your possibility thinking put down in the past then you need to try to recapture those dreams think back to a time when you were more likely to imagine yourself doing great things what did you dream about what was the thing in your heart that you really wanted to do recapture that thought explore it and do some dreaming with it now the dream you had earlier in life may not be possible for you now although many are if you're willing and able to pay the price so what do you really want to do now what is your dream if you didn't fear failure or being laughed at what would you do today take time to write that down then think about what would be necessary to accomplish it the best way to do that is to look down the road 10 years and 90 days looking ahead 10 years will help you to set the direction in terms of the big picture looking ahead 90 days will help you identify specific steps to get the process started now this week read a biography of someone you admire if you have the time and energy read two or three about the same person make notes concerning how that person harnessed the energy of possibility thinking in his or her life then find three to five principles or practices from that person's life that you can apply to your own chapter ten embrace the lessons of reflective thinking I like to think of my desk as being like a stove it's always got a lot of things cooking on it each item has its place and at any given moment I might take a pot from a back burner and move it to the front burner so that I can actively work on it or even finish it off I got into the habit of thinking reflectively when I was a pastor because churches function on a weekly cycle I used to spend time every Sunday night reviewing the previous week reflecting on the effectiveness of the weekends activities and evaluating everything in order to prepare for the coming week as I experienced the value of that kind of reflection I began to spend at least a few minutes every day reflecting each time I asked myself three questions what did I learn today what should I share what must I do I found that asking myself these questions helps me to stay disciplined and accountable for how I spend my time every year at the end of December I spend time reflecting on the past year first I gather together my calendar for the year and review how I spent my time then I capture some thoughts on paper here are the kinds of things I thought about concerning the year 2001 highlights with Margaret my personal highlights the low points of my year the major events of the year the number one personal highlight in the last 12 months the number one business highlight what I did as far as speaking internationally in conferences and personal reflections of significance my goal is to reflect on how I spent a year of my life learn from my successes and mistakes discover what I should try to repeat and determine what I should change in the coming year it is always a valuable process by visiting past situations in your mind you can think with greater understanding reflective thinking is like the crockpot of the mind it encourages your thoughts to simmer until they're done the pace of our society does not encourage reflective thinking for most people if they're going to do something they would rather act then think now don't get me wrong I'm a person of action but I'm also a reflective thinker I know how valuable it is reflective thinking gives you true perspective when our children are young and still lived at home we used to take them on wonderful vacations each year when we got home they always knew that I was going to ask them two questions what did you like best and what did you learn children don't naturally grasp the value or the cost of an experience unless they are prompted they take things for granted I wanted my children to appreciate our trips and to learn from them when you reflect you're able to put an experience into perspective and you are able to gain a new appreciation for things that went unnoticed by you before for example for most people only when they become parents are they able to recognize the sacrifices their parents or other people made for them that's the kind of perspective that comes from reflection reflective thinking gives emotional integrity to your thought life in the heat of an emotional moment few people have good perspective most people who enjoy the thrill of an experience try to go back and recapture it again without trying to evaluate it first it's one of the reasons there are so many thrill seekers in our culture likewise people who survived a traumatic experience avoid similar situations at all costs which sometimes causes them to be tied into emotional knots reflective thinking enables you to distance yourself from the intense emotions of particularly good or bad experiences and see them with fresh eyes thrills of the past can be seen in the light of emotional maturity tragedies can also be examined in the light of truth and logic that process can help a person stop carrying around a bunch of negative emotional baggage reflective thinking increases your confidence in decision making how different times when you made a snap judgment and later wondered if you did the right thing everybody has experienced that reflective thinking can help to defuse that doubt it also gives you confidence for the next decision anytime you've reflected on an issue when you're faced with it again you don't have to repeat every step of the thinking process you've got Road markers from having been there before mentally that compresses and speeds up thinking time and gives you confidence and over time it can also strengthen your intuition reflective thinking clarifies the big picture when you engage in reflective thinking one of the things you're able to do is put ideas and experiences into a more accurate context for example when a person loses his job if he reflects on it he may see a pattern of events that led to that occurrence he will better understand what happened why it happened and which things were his responsibility if he also looks at the incidents that occurred afterward he may realized that in the larger scheme of things he's better off in his new position because it's a better fit for his skills and desires without reflection it can be very difficult to see the big picture reflective thinking takes a good experience and makes it a valuable experience when you were just starting out in your career did it seem that few people were willing to give someone without experience an opportunity however at the same time you could see people who had been on their job 20 years who did their work poorly if so that probably frustrated you it's not necessarily experience that is valuable is the insight people gain because of their experience reflective thinking is what turns experience and insight an experience becomes valuable when it informs or equips us to meet new experiences reflective thinking helps to do that if you're like most people in our culture today you probably do very little reflective thinking take the following five suggestions to heart to increase your ability to think reflectively number one set aside time for reflection for most people reflection and self-examination doesn't come naturally it can be a fairly uncomfortable activity for a variety of reasons they have a hard time staying focused they find the process doll or they don't like spending a lot of time thinking about emotionally difficult issues but if you don't carve out the time for it you are unlikely to do any reflective thinking number two remove yourself from distractions as much as any other kind of thinking reflection requires solitude distraction and reflection simply don't mix it's not the kind of thing you can do well near a television in a cubicle while the phone is ringing or with children in the same room number three regularly review your calendar or journal most people use their calendars of planning - which of course it is but few people use it as a reflective thinking tool but what could be better for helping you to review where you have been and what you have done except maybe a journal calendars and journals remind you of how you spend your time show you whether your activities match your priorities and help you to see whether you are making progress they also offer you an opportunity to recall activities that you might not have had the time to reflect on previously some of the most valuable thoughts you've ever had may have been lost because you didn't give yourself the reflection time that you needed number four ask the right questions as you spend time reflecting the value you receive from it will depend on the kind of questions you ask yourself the better the questions the more gold you will mind from your thinking when I reflect I think in terms of my values relationships and experiences here are some sample questions from each area thinking related to values personal growth what have I learned today that will help me grow how can I apply it to my life when should I apply it adding value to whom did I add value today how do I know that I added value to that person can I follow up and compound the positive benefit that he or she received teamwork what did I do with someone else that made both of us better would the other person agree that it was a win-win can we do something else together to continue our mutual success leadership did I lead by example today did I lift my people in my organization to a higher level what did I do and how did I do it physical health did I exercise at my optimal heart rate for 35 minutes today have I exercised at least five times in the last seven days and did I stay on my low-fat diet today personal faith did I represent God well today did I practice the golden rule have I walked the second mile with someone thinking related to relationships marriage and family did I communicate love to Margaret the children and the grandchildren today how did I show that love do they feel it did they return it friends have I been a good friend this week what did I do is there something else I need to do is there another friend who needs me in a circle have I spent enough time with my key players what can I do to help them be more successful in what areas can I mentor them God have I spent time with God what is he teaching me now am i learning am i obeying have I continually talked with him today thinking related to experiences discoveries what did I encounter today that I need to give more thinking time to are there lessons to be learned are there things to be done memories did I create a good memory for someone today was it because of a comment an action or a shared experience difficulties what went wrong could I have changed it what do I need to do differently next time successes what went right did I create it is there a principle I can learn from this experience people who did I meet what were my impressions conclusions have I closed my day appropriately have I expressed gratitude have I learned something loved someone have I enjoyed and live the day to the fullest and number five cement your learning through action nothing helps you to grow like putting your thoughts into action to do that you must be intentional let me give you a few examples of how I do that when you read a good book there are always good thoughts quotes or lessons that you can take away from it and use yourself I always mark the takeaways in a book and then reread them when I'm done with this book when I listen to a message I record the takeaway so that I can file them for future use when I go to a seminar I take good notes if you go to a conference revisit what you've heard the lessons that can be learned through reflective thinking don't always have to come from your own experience I was reminded of that in January of 2002 I had the honor and the privilege of being asked by the King family to speak on the leadership of Martin Luther King jr. at Ebenezer Baptist Church in downtown Atlanta for Martin Luther King Day as I prepared for my brief message and reviewed his accomplishments I was struck by how reflective thinking shaped his approach to racism and civil rights issues as a young man growing up in the South King had suffered under Jim Crow laws and segregation his experience burnt the desire to change the situation of African American people in the United States to solve the problems of the present and secure a better future for his people he reflected on the past to learn its lessons in college he read Henry David Thoreau's essay civil disobedience Kane was impressed by Feroze assertion that citizens had the right to disobey laws that were unjust in fact Thoreau had gone to jail rather than pay his taxes which he felt were being used to support slavery undoubtedly King continued to reflect on throws ideas as he wrestled with the problems of segregation and racism in the United States then in 1948 when he was at Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania studying for the ministry he heard a J musty and Mordechai a W Johnson teach about Mohandas Gandhi who was so strongly influenced by Thoreau's writings he found that while throws philosophy promoted the idea of individual civil disobedience Gandhi had made it a vehicle of the masses using it Gandhi had liberated the people of India from British rule Keene decided to use similar tactics at home in the United States in the 1950s and 60s King was the dominant figure of the civil rights movement more than anyone else he made white America wake up to problems of racism and segregation and influenced black America concerning how to fight the inherently corrupt and oppressive system the Montgomery bus boycott of 1955 the lunch counter sit-ins to desegregate restaurants in the south the Freedom Rides of 1961 the fight to desegregate schools the march from Selma to Montgomery Alabama the march on Washington and many other events during the civil rights movement were strongly influenced by the leadership of King and every one of them displays the influence of his reflective thinking concerning Gandhi reflective thinking was a great tool in the hands of Martin Luther King jr. and it radically transformed American life if you embrace it as King did you may not be able to change the rule but you can certainly change your life here is a thinking question for you am i regularly revisiting the past to gain a true perspective and think with understanding putting reflective thinking into action create a daily reflection time to help you learn from the events of your day and to capture your ideas set aside a regular time and a place to do your reflecting practice the discipline of reflective thinking daily for 21 days one of the most important things you can do is figure out what questions to ask yourself during your reflective thinking times begin by creating general questions to be used after any event or meeting then create more specific questions related to your values and relationships at the end of this month set aside a block of two to four hours to do a review of your calendar from the past month review your appointments check your to-do list figure out where you spent your time and whether you did it wisely as you look at individual entries ask yourself what went right what went wrong what did I learn what can I do differently next time don't forget to write down insights to be filed and action points to be completed the next time you go to a conference schedule an hour long reflection time for a few days after the conference when you attend the event take good notes then when you're scheduled reflection time rolls around review your notes for each good idea either file it share it with someone or create an action point from it [Music] Chapter eleven question the acceptance of popular thinking up until December 18 1998 I took my health almost for granted I was 51 years old my energy level was still very high and I never experienced any kind of medical problem but on the night of my organisation's Christmas party I suffered a serious heart attack now I watch my diet I exercise every day and I'm even more intentional in expressing my love to the important people in my life it has also made me much more aware of issues related to health that's how I came to read about Paul Ridd Kurt a cardiologist the win against popular thinking and who is changing the way doctors think about patients risk of heart attacks Ricker became interested in medicine because as a child he suffered from a rare immune disorder after receiving his undergraduate degree from Brown University he went to Harvard Medical School where he received his medical degree and then went for a Master of Public Health degree today he is an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School in the director of the Center for cardiovascular disease prevention at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston in recent years popular thinking among physicians said that the best predictor of potential heart attacks was the presence of high cholesterol in patient's blood but Richard discovered that about half of all heart attacks occur in people with normal cholesterol levels in fact my cholesterol levels were in the normal range before I had my heart attack Bricker study indicated that inflammation of the arteries might be responsible so he began a large-scale study to begin gathering data for his theory what his research found was that a substance called c-reactive protein CRP is present in the blood of people with a high risk of suffering a heart attack tracking a substance is as reliable and inexpensive as checking cholesterol and in fact it's a better predictor of heart problems than elevated LDL the bad cholesterol because he was willing to question popular thinking and go in another fewer people are likely to die of heart disease in coming years I've given you some broad reasons for questioning the acceptance of popular thinking now allow me to be more specific popular thinking sometimes means not thinking good thinking is hard work if it were easy everybody would be a good thinker unfortunately many people don't want to do the hard work of thinking or pay the price of success it's easier to just do what other people do and hope that they thought it out for example look at the stock market recommendations of some experts by the time they publish their picks they are following a trend not creating it or even writing its crest instead it's old news the people who are going to make money on the stocks they recommend have already done so by the time the general public hears about it any time people are following a trend they're not doing their own thinking popular thinking offers false hope many people look for safety and security and popular thinking they figure that if a lot of people are doing something then it must be right if it's accepted by most people then it probably represents fairness equality compassion and sensitivity right not necessarily popular thinking said the earth was the center of the universe yet Copernicus studied the stars and planets improved mathematically that the earth and the other planets in our solar system revolved around the Sun popular thinking said surgery didn't require clean instruments yet Joseph Lister studied the high death rates in hospitals and introduced antiseptic practices that immediately save lives popular thinking said that women shouldn't have the right to vote he had people like Emmeline Pankhurst and susan b anthony fought for and won that right popular thinking put the Nazis into power in Germany but they murdered millions of people and nearly destroyed Europe many of the promises of popular thinking are hollow don't be fooled by them popular thinking is slow to embrace change popular thinking loves the status quo it puts its confidence in the idea of the moment and holds onto with all its might as a result they resist change and dampens innovation a few years ago I saw the movie October sky it's based on the true story of Homer Hickam a boy who grew up in coal wood a company owned coal mining town in West Virginia everyone in the town except perhaps the best athletes seemed destined to work in the mines and few people were willing to fight that common faith however Homer desired something different following the soviet union's launch of Sputnik Homer wanted to build rockets and become an astronaut Homer eventually fought his way out of coal wood received his education from Virginia Tech and became an engineer at NASA training astronauts he has since retired and works as a consultant to NASA but he still hasn't given up his dream of going into space if you desire to fight popular thinking as Homer Hickam did then realize that it may be a slow process but it is a worthwhile one popular thinking brings only average results the bottom line is that popular thinking brings mediocre results we limit our success when we adhere to pod your thinking it represents putting in the least energy to just get by you must reject common thinking if you want to accomplish uncommon results popular thinking has often proved to be wrong and limiting questioning it isn't necessarily hard once you've cultivate the habit of doing so begin by doing the following five things number one think before you follow many people follow others almost automatically sometimes they do so because they desire to take the path of least resistance other times they fear rejection or they believe that there's wisdom in doing what everyone else does but if you want to succeed you need to think about what's best not what's popular the next time you are ready to conform to popular thinking on an issue stop and think you may not want to create change for its own sake but you don't want to blindly follow just because you have a given an issue the time to think about what's best number to appreciate thinking different from your own one of the ways to embrace innovation and change is to learn to appreciate how others think to do that you must continually expose yourself to people who are different as you strive to challenge popular thinking spend time with people with different backgrounds education levels professional experiences personal interests etc you will think like the people you spend the most time with if you spend time with lots of people who think differently you're more likely to challenge popular thinking and break new ground number 3 continually question your own thinking any time we find a way of thinking that works one of the greatest temptations is to go back to it over and over again even if it no longer works well that's why the greatest enemy to tomorrow success is sometimes today's success my friend Andy Stanley recently taught a leadership lesson at enjoys catalyst conference called challenging the process in it he described how progress must be preceded by change his insights included the observations that in an organization every tradition that was put into place was originally a good idea and perhaps even revolutionary every tradition that was put into place may not be a good idea for the future in your organization if you were involved in the process of putting what currently exists into place then it's likely that you will resist change even change for the better that's why it's important for you to challenge your own thinking number four try new things in new ways when was the last time you did something for the first time do you avoid taking risks or trying new things one of the best ways to get out of the rut of your own thinking is to innovate you can do that in little everyday ways drive to work a different way from the normal order a different dish at your favorite restaurant ask a different colleague to help you with a familiar project unpopular thinking asked questions and seeks options how you go about doing new things in new ways is not as important as making sure that you do it get out there and do something different today number five get used to being uncomfortable when it comes right down to it popular thinking is comfortable it's like the old recliner in many people's homes there's adjusted to all of their idiosyncrasies they've gotten used to it but have you looked at that chair lately for most people it's time to get a new one if you want to reject popular thinking in order to embrace achievement you're going to need to get used to being uncomfortable if you reject popular thinking and make decisions based upon what works best and what is right rather than what is accepted know this in your early years you won't be as wrong as people think you are in your later years you won't be as right as people think you are and all through the years you will be better than you thought that you could be here's the thinking question for you am i consciously rejecting the limitations of common thinking in order to accomplish uncommon results putting unpopular thinking into action appreciate how other people think by getting into the head of an innovative thinker go to the bookstore or get on amazon.com and browse biographies take a book written about someone you ordinarily would not relate to or be attracted to take your mind where it doesn't ordinarily go and try to appreciate how the subject of the biography thought increase your ability to be uncomfortable do something every day in a way different than what you're used to drive to the office or grocery store a different way every day this week arrange your day and an order different from how you usually do go to a concert featuring music different from what you generally like in other words shake up your mind we all have things in our lives that are overdue for change ideas processes or objects that were great and revolutionary when they were new but really need to be changed now find something of that nature and change it if you're having trouble discovering something in need of change ask friends a colleague or your spouse to help you chapter 12 encourage the participation of shared thinking in early 2002 I was invited to meet and spend time with one of the greatest basketball coaches of all time Pat Summitt of the University of Tennessee she's received more honors than any other coach except John Wooden I had the chance to spend a few minutes with Pat in her office talking about leadership and teamwork she said that each year of the thousand players who are coming out of high school to play college ball eight or nine of them have what it takes to bring a team a championship every year her goal is to recruit one of those players obviously she's been very successful there are a number of things that struck me about Pat first she's very warm but extremely intense she's known for her competitiveness she says it comes in part from having a demanding father and three very competitive older brothers second she's a leader through and through she's very strategic in her communication with each player she watches them and listens carefully to them to make sure they're tracking with her before she coaches them too many coaches she says try to give instruction to players when there's no foundation of understanding that has been established but I'll tell you the thing that struck me the most about her as strong as her personality and leadership ability are she chooses to practice shared thinking let me give you an example during halftime she has the players interact together by themselves and do their own review and diagnosis of how the game is going they share their observations and solutions with one another without any coaches input she's very strategic about cultivating this ability in them she engages a psychologist to teach her players how to interact productively without the involvement of coaches while the players are talking Pat meets with her coaches to hear their observations after about 10 minutes she the coaches and the players all get together the players review their findings and planned Corrections for Pat and she and the other coaches make corrections to their plans if needed it's a model of shared thinking good thinkers especially those who are also good leaders like Pat Summitt understand the power of shared thinking they know that when they value the thoughts and ideas of others they receive the compounding results of shared thinking and accomplished more than they ever could on their own people who participate in shared thinking understand the following shared thinking is faster than solo thinking working with others is like giving yourself a shortcut you can always learn more quickly when you have the help of someone with experience whether you're trying to learn how to use a new software package develop your golf swing or cook a new dish in the kitchen share thinking is more innovative than solo thinking shared thinking leads to greater innovation whether you are looking at the work of researchers Marie and Pierre Curie or songwriters such as John Lennon and Paul McCartney if you combine the thoughts you have and the thoughts that others have you will come up with thoughts that you never had shared thinking brings more maturity than solo thinking as much as we would like to think that we know it all each of us is probably painfully aware of our blind spots and areas of inexperience when I first started out as a pastor I had little experience to try to overcome that I attempted to get several high-profile pastors of growing churches to share their thinking with me when one said yes I'd go to visit him I didn't talk much except to ask a few questions I was there to learn I listened to everything he said took careful notes and absorbed everything I could the bottom line is that you've had experiences I haven't and I've had experiences that you have it put us together and we bring a broader range of personal history and therefore maturity to the table shared thinking is stronger than solo thinking two heads are better than one when they are thinking in the same direction it's like harnessing two horses together to pull a wagon as you might guess pulling together they are stronger than each is individually but did you know that when they pull together the weight they can move is more than the sum of what they can do individually there's a synergy that comes from working together that same kind of energy comes into play when people are thinking together shared thinking returns greater value than solo thinking because shared thinking is stronger it's obvious that it yields a higher return that happens because of the compounding action of shared thinking but it also offers other benefits the personal return you receive from shared thinking and experiences can be great shared thinking is the only way to have great thinking I believe that every great idea begins with three or four good ideas and most good ideas come from shared thinking a great thought is seldom birthed from a good thought usually great thoughts are the result of several good thoughts if we each have one thought and together we have two thoughts then we always have the potential for a great thought some people are naturally good at participating in shared thinking any time they see a problem their first thought is who are the people I know who can help with this use the following five steps to help you improve your ability to harness shared thinking in your life number one value the ideas of others the first key to shared thinking is believing that the ideas of other people have value how do you know if you truly want input from others ask yourself these questions am i emotionally secure people who lack confidence and are worried about their status position or power tend to reject the ideas of others protect their turf and keep people at bay it takes a secure person to be open to others ideas do I place value on people you won't value the ideas of a person if you don't value and respect the person himself have you ever considered your conduct around people you value versus those you don't look at the differences if I value people I want to spend time with them I listen to them I want to help them I am influenced by them I respect them if I don't value people I don't want to be around them I neglect to listen I don't offer them help I ignore them I am indifferent do I value the interactive process for many years my tendency was to withdraw when I wanted to develop ideas I was reluctant to work on ideas with others when a colleague challenged me on this I started to analyze why I was so hesitant I realized that it went back to my college experience there were days in the classroom when I could tell a teacher was unprepared to lecture and instead spent the class time asking us students to give our uninformed opinions on a subject most of the time students opinions were no better than mine I had come to class so that the professor could teach me shared thinking is only as good as the people doing the sharing since learning that lesson I have embraced the interactive process and now I believe it's one of my strengths however I am always thoughtful about who I bring around the tape for a shared thinking session number two move from competition to cooperation a person who values cooperation desires to complete the ideas of others not compete with them if you are asked to engage in the sharing of ideas put your focus on helping the team not getting ahead personally and if you are the one who brings people together to share their thoughts praise the idea more than the source of the idea if the best idea always wins rather than the person who offered it then everyone will be willing to share their thoughts with greater enthusiasm number three have an agenda when you meet when I meeting with someone I'm mentoring I let the person ask the questions but I expect to do most of the talking when I meet with someone who mentors me I mostly keep my mouth shut in other relationships the give-and-take is more even but no matter who I'm meeting with I have a reason for getting together with the person or people and I am an expectation for what I'll get out of it number four get the right people around the table the greatest secret to winning shared thinking is having the right people around the table to get anything of value out of shared thinking you need to have people around the table who bring something to the table as you prepare to bring people into a situation where they will be asked to participate in shared thinking use the following criteria for the selection process choose people whose greatest desire is the success of the ideas people who can add value to another person's thoughts choose people who can emotionally handle quick changes in the conversation and people who appreciate the strengths of others in areas where they are weak choose people who understand their place of value at the table and people who place what is best for the team before themselves choose people who can bring out the best thinking and the people around them and choose people who possess maturity experience and success in the issue being discussed people should be chosen who take ownership and responsibility for the decisions that are made and finally choose people who will leave the table with a wee attitude not a me attitude number 5 compensate good thinkers and collaborators well successful organisations practice shared thinking if you lead an organization Department or team then you can't afford to be without people who are good at shared thinking as you recruit and hire people look for good thinkers who value others have experience with the collaborative process and are emotionally secure then pay them well and challenge them to use their thinking skills and share them often here's a thinking question for you am I consistently including the heads of others to think over my head and achieve compounding results putting shared thinking into action how are you when it comes to shared thinking are you naturally likely or unlikely to include other people in the thinking process when you face a difficult challenge or troublesome problem break yourself on a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 indicating that you never include others and a 10 indicating that you nearly always invite others to share ideas with you if you gave yourself anything lower than a 7 then you need to do some soul-searching figure out why you have been reluctant to include others in the process is it that you don't place a high value on people or you don't value the interactive thinking process or maybe you are not a very secure person or is there another reason for suit changes that will help you address this issue if you don't already have one created list of good thinkers and their areas of expertise then the next time you have a worthwhile problem to solve or task to tackle look over your list and bring together people who can add value according to the criteria given in the chapter on who should be brought to the table finally review your calendar for the coming week examine every appointment or activity you have listed and think about the agenda for each take some time to clarify what you want to get out of an interaction with each person or what you expect to give to him or her write down questions or ideas in your planner or on an index card if necessary then when you meet make sure to touch on your agenda items during your time afterward jot down any ideas that may come as a result you may be surprised by how much more productive your time will become chapter 13 experience the satisfaction of unselfish thinking in 1885 a young man named George used every penny he had to travel to Highland Kansas he was excited because he had been granted admission to Highland College as a youngster he and his brother had walked nine miles each way to school in order to start their education at age 12 he left home for good to attend high school having supported himself doing chores and housework at age 20 he was ready to start college however when he got to Highland College when school officials discovered that he was black they turned him away in 1890 he once again attempted to enroll in school this time he was accepted by Simpson College he opened a laundry to support himself and he studied painting and piano George excelled in the arts one of his works was awarded a first prize at the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago he wrote poetry and saw it published in newspapers he was musically talented in 1891 when he transferred to Iowa State College he continued working in the arts but he also pursued other interests he became a trainer for the athletic teams he joined the campus military regiment where he rose to the group's highest rank of captain any led the YMCA and the debate club but George changed his major from art to agriculture why would he do such a thing especially when he loved art so much George summed up the change in his studies simply by saying art would not do my people as much good George Washington Carver went on to receive his degree in agriculture from Iowa State his excellence in the fields of botany and horticulture prompted two professors to encourage him to stay on as a graduate student and earn his master's degree he did and in the process he worked as the assistant botanist for the college Experiment Station developed expertise in plant pathology and my ecology and became the first African American faculty member at Iowa State College in April of 1896 Carver received an unusual offer from dr. Booker T Washington of the Tuskegee Institute it was to take a teaching position there and become the school's director of agriculture Carver could have lived a comfortable life in Iowa he was respected professionally he was an accepted member of the community and he had built relationships there yet all of these things he now gave up to move to Alabama in the heart of the deep south where he would be regarded as a second-class citizen and he did it because he was a practitioner of unselfish thinking who wanted to help people who were in more difficult circumstances than himself the irony of unselfish thinking is that in the end its return can often be greater than that of any other kind of thinking listen to some of its benefits unselfish thinking brings personal fulfillment few things in life are as personally rewarding as helping other people when you spend your day unselfishly serving others at night you can lay your head down with no regrets and sleep soundly even if you have spent much of your life in pursuit of selfish gain it's never too late to have a change of heart and finish differently that's what Alfred Nobel did when he saw his own obituary in the newspaper his brother had died and the editor had mistakenly published a retrospective of the wrong Nobel saying that the explosives his company produced had killed many people Nobel vowed to promote peace and acknowledge contributions to humanity that is how the Nobel Prizes came the beam unselfish thinking adds value to others in 1904 Bessie Anderson Stanley both the following definition of success in brown book magazine he has achieved success who has lived well laughed often and loved much who has enjoyed the trust of pure women the respect of intelligent men and the love of little children who has filled his niche and accomplished his task who has left the world better than he found it whether by an improved poppy a perfect poem or rescued soul who has never lacked appreciation of Earth's beauties or failed to express it who has always looked for the best in others and given them the best he had his life was an inspiration whose memory a benediction when you get outside of yourself and make a contribution to others you really begin to live unselfish thinking encourages other virtues of all the qualities a person can pursue unselfish thinking seems to make the biggest difference toward cultivating other virtues I think that's because the ability to give unselfishly is so difficult it goes against the grain of human nature but if you can learn to think unselfishly and become a giver then it becomes easier to develop many other virtues gratitude love respect patience discipline etc unselfish thinking increases quality of life when people attain a spirit of generosity created by unselfish thinking it gives them an appreciation for life and an understanding of the higher values of life seeing people in need and giving to meet that need puts a lot of things into perspective unselfish thinking makes you part of something greater than yourself Merkin company the global pharmaceutical corporation has always seen itself as doing more than just producing products and making a profit they desire to serve humanity in the mid-1980s the company developed a drug to cure river blindness a disease that infects and causes blindness in millions of people particularly in developing countries the problem was that the potential customers couldn't afford to buy it Merck developed the drug anyway and in 1987 announced that they would give it free to anyone who needed it as of 1998 they'd given more than 250 million that's away unselfish thinking creates a legacy if you are successful it becomes possible for you to leave an inheritance for others but if you desire to do more to create a legacy then you need to leave that in others when you think unselfishly and invest in others you gain the opportunity to create a legacy that will outlive you to begin cultivating the ability to think unselfishly I recommend that you do the following five things first put others first the process begins with realizing that everything is not about you that requires humility and a shift in focus if you want to become less selfish in your thinking then you need to stop thinking about your wants and begin focusing on others needs make a mental and emotional commitment to look out for the interest of others second expose yourself to situations where people have needs it's one thing to believe you are willing to give unselfishly it's another to actually do it to make the transition you need to put yourself in a position where you can see people's needs and do something about it number three give quietly or anonymously once you have learned to give of yourself then the next step is to learn to give when you cannot receive anything in return there are spiritual mental and emotional benefits that come only to those who give anonymously if you've never done it before try it number four invest in people intentionally the highest level of unselfish thinking comes when you give of yourself to another person for their personal development or well-being if you're married or a parent you know this from personal experience what does your spouse value most highly money in the bank or your time freely given what would small children rather have from you a toy or your undivided attention the people who love you would rather have you than what you can give them number five continually check your motives the hardest thing for most people related to unselfish thinking is fighting their natural tendency to put themselves first that's why it's important to continually examine your motives to make sure that you're not sliding backwards into selfishness one of the things that you can do to check your motives is to follow the modeling of Benjamin Franklin every day he asked himself two questions when he got up in the morning he would ask what good am I going to do today and before he went to bed he would ask what good have I done today if you can answer those questions with selflessness and integrity you can keep yourself on track here's a thinking question for you am I continually considering others and their journey in order to think with maximum collaboration putting unselfish thinking into action one of the things you can do to put others first and to develop and maintain unselfish motives is to set unselfish goals for yourself for example think about some things that you could do to help others that will in no way benefit you other than to give you internal satisfaction set an amount of money to give away this year anonymously if possible decide on a number of hours a week or a month to serve others or find a ministry or cause that you believe in that you will help to succeed many times the most rewarding acts of unselfishness come when you obey an inner sense to meet a need during the coming week turn your intuitive radar to look for needs among people when you perceive a need and feel prompted to help follow through on that inclination an investment in a person ultimately pays the highest return because it can result in change lives think about what you have to invest in another person what skills do you possess that someone would benefit from learning what life experiences have you had that can help another person what resources do you possess that ought to be shared once you have figured out what you have to give then look for someone with need and potential who would be glad to receive it and invest in that person the next time you put together a deal or develop a professional relationship think in terms of win-win if both you and the other person would not benefit then don't go through with the deal and once you've determined that it will be good for both of you make the effort to guarantee that the other person wins first chapter 14 enjoy the return of bottom line thinking how do you figure out the bottom line when it comes to your organization business department team or group in many businesses profit is what determines whether you are succeeding the dollar should not always be the primary measure of success for example is certainly wouldn't measure the ultimate success of your family by how much money you had at the end of the month or a year would you and if you run a non-profit or volunteer organization how do you think bottom line in that situation that's a question Frances Hesselbein had to ask herself in 1976 when she became the national executive director of the Girl Scouts of America in the early 1950s she was recruited as a volunteer troop leader at the Second Presbyterian Church in Johnstown Pennsylvania even that was in itself rather unusual since she had a son and no daughters but she agreed to do it on a temporary basis she must have loved it because she led the troop for nine years in time she became council president and a member of the National Board then she was made executive director of the Tallis Rock Girl Scout Council a full-time paid position but the time she took the job as CEO of the organization it was in trouble the Girl Scouts lacked direction on top of that teenage girls were losing interest in the organization and it was becoming increasingly difficult to recruit adult volunteers especially with greater numbers of women entering into the workforce we kept asking ourselves very simple questions she said what is our business who is our customer and what does the customer consider valuable if you're the Girl Scouts IBM or AT&T you have to manage for a mission Francis's focus on mission enabled her to figure out what the Girl Scouts bottom line truly was we really are here for one reason to help a girl reach her highest potential more than anyone thing that made the difference because when you are clear about your mission corporate goals and operating objectives flow from it once you've figured out what her bottom line was she was able to create a strategy to try to achieve it she started by reorganizing the national staff then she created a planning system that would be used by each of the 350 regional councils and she introduced management training to the organization the organization made the activities more relevant to the current culture giving greater opportunities for use of computers for example rather than hosting a party she also sought out minority participation created bilingual materials and reached out to low-income areas if helping girls reach their highest potential was their bottom line then why not be more aggressive helping girls who traditionally had fewer opportunities to have someone invest in them the strategy worked beautifully minority participation in the Girl Scouts tripled in 1990 Frances left the Girl Scouts having made it a first-class organization she went on to become the founding president and CEO of the Peter F Drucker foundation for nonprofit management and now serves as chairman of its board of governors and in 1998 she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom as you explore the concept of bottom line thinking recognize that it can help you in many ways bottom line thinking provides great clarity what's the difference between bowling and work and bowling it takes only three seconds to know how you've done that's one of the reasons people love sports so much there's no waiting and no guessing about the outcome bottom line thinking makes it possible for you to measure outcomes more quickly and easily it gives you a benchmark to measure activity by it can be used as a focused way of ensuring that all your little activities are purposeful and line up towards achieving a larger goal bottom line thinking helps you assess every situation when you know what your bottom line is then it becomes much easier to know how you're doing in any given area there's no better measurement tool than the bottom line bottom line thinking helps you make the best decisions similarly decisions also become much easier when you know your bottom line when the Girl Scouts were struggling in the 1970s outside organizations approached them to try to convince them to become women's rights activists or door-to-door Canvassers but under Francis it was easy for the Girl Scouts to say no they knew what their bottom line was and they wanted to pursue it with focus and fervency bottom line thinking generates high morale when you know what the bottom line is and you go after it you greatly increase your odds of winning and nothing generates high morale like winning hitting the target is always exhilarating and you can hit it only if you know what it is bottom line thinking ensures your future if you want to be successful tomorrow then you need to think bottom line today look at any successful lasting company and you'll find leaders who know their bottom line and they make their decisions allocate their resources hire their people and structure their organizations to achieve it seeing the value of the bottom line isn't difficult most people would agree that bottom line thinking has a high return learning how to be a bottom line thinker can be more challenging utilize the following five steps to help you improve your ability to harness bottom line thinking in your life number one identify the real bottom line the process of bottom line thinking begins with knowing what you're really going after it can be as lofty as the big picture vision mission or purpose of an organization or it can be as focused as what you want to accomplish on a particular project what's important is that you be as specific as possible if your goal is for something as vague as success you will have a painfully difficult time trying to harness bottom-line thinking to achieve it the first step is to set aside your wants what you really need to do is get to the results you're really looking for the true essence of the goal when it comes right down to it what are you really trying to achieve must occur what is acceptable that is really the bottom line number to make the bottom line the point have you ever been in a conversation with someone and although he's stating that his intentions are one thing you know that he has another agenda sometimes that kind of situation can be the result of intentional deception however I believe it also occurs sometimes when the person is unaware of his own bottom line the same kind of thing happens in companies for example sometimes an idealistic lee stated mission and the real bottom line aren't one and the same purpose and profits compete with each other number three create a strategic plan to achieve the bottom line one of the greatest values of bottom line thinking is that it achieves results therefore it naturally follows that any plans that flow out of that kind of thinking must tie directly back to the bottom line once it is determined what that is a strategy must be created to achieve it in organizations that often means identifying the core elements or functions that must operate properly to achieve the bottom line this is the leaders responsibility the important thing is that when the bottom line of each activity is achieved then the bottom line is achieved if the some of the smaller goals don't add up to achieve the real bottom line then either your strategy is flawed or you've not identified your real bottom line number four align team members with the bottom line once you have your strategy in place you need to make sure your people line up with your strategy ideally not only should all the people on the team know the big goal but they should also know what their individual role is in achieving it number five stick with one system and monitor results continually what I was talking to Dave Sutherland about bottom line thinking he told me that one of the ways organizations get into trouble is they tried to mix systems he believes that many different kinds of systems can be successful but mixing different systems or continually changing from one to another leads to failure when it comes right down to it no matter what your bottom line is you can improve it with good thinking and bottom line thinking has a great return because it helps you to turn your ideas into results like no other kind of mental processing it can help you to reap the full potential of your thinking and achieve whatever you desire to do here's a thinking question for you am i staying focused on the bottom line so that I can gain the maximum return and reap the full potential of my thinking putting bottom-line thinking into action how much have you thought about your own bottom line do you know why you're doing what you're doing in your career have you figured out what you're trying to accomplish in your family life if someone asked would you be able to tell him for what purpose you've been put on this earth your life can be more fulfilling and your thinking can be more fruitful if you know your purpose give some thought to each of the following six areas to determine what your bottom line is for each career marriage parenting Recreation Service or ministry and life purpose don't feel bad if you don't have perfect clarity on all of these issues it takes most people years to figure it all out this exercise is merely a starting point choose a major goal in your life or career that you strongly desire to achieve take time to write that goal down then set aside a block of time this week to determine what the bottom line is for this goal remember to make sure that the bottom line is the point not a substitute for another unstated goal or just a step toward it once you've figured out what the bottom line is write it down also your next step is to develop a strategy for accomplishing the bottom line one of the core elements required to achieve it what are the major objectives break it down to the most fundamental parts now determine what kind of help will be required to achieve the goal can you do it alone well it require the aid of friends or colleagues well you need to start your own organization to do it is there an organization that are exists that you can join to accomplish it your next step will be to align the people with the strategy for achieving the bottom line then you will be ready to move forward I hope you've enjoyed our journey together through the kinds of thinking that make people successful and I hope you have learned more about yourself and how you think your thinking more than anything else shapes the way you live it's really true that if you change your thinking you can change your life this has been a Time Warner audio books production of thinking for a change 11 ways highly successful people approach life and work written and read by John C Maxwell executive producer Maya Thomas produced and directed by Lois Milgram text abridged by Jessica Kay productions supervised by Dennis Kael thinking for a change is also available in hardcover from warner books to listen to samples read more about the authors learn about digital audio and by digital audio books please visit time warner audio books web sites at w WT w bookmark calm and WMI Time Warner audio.com

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Length: 195min 56sec (11756 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 26 2017