This Book Will Change Your Mindset 💲🎧 | Audiobooks Full Length

i've studied successful people for 40 years and though the diversity you find among them is astounding i found that they are all alike in one way how they think that is the one thing that separates successful people from unsuccessful ones and here's the good news how successful people think can be learned if you change your thinking you can change your life why you should change your thinking 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 consider some things you need to know about changing your thinking one changed thinking is not automatic sadly a change in thinking doesn't happen on its own good ideas rarely go out and find someone if you want to find a good idea you must search for it if you want to become a better thinker you need to work at it and once you begin to become a better thinker the good ideas keep coming in fact the amount of good thinking you can do at any time depends primarily on the amount of good thinking you are already doing two changed thinking is difficult when you hear someone say now this is just off the top of my head expect dandruff the only people who believe thinking is easy are those who don't habitually engage in it nobel prize winning physicist albert einstein one of the best thinkers who ever lived asserted thinking is hard work that's why so few do it because thinking is so difficult you want to use anything you can to help you improve the process three changed thinking is worth the investment author napoleon hill observed more gold has been mined from the thoughts of man than has ever been taken from the earth when you take the time to learn how to change your thinking and become a better thinker you are investing in yourself gold mines tap out stock markets crash real estate investments can go sour but a human mind with the ability to think well is like a diamond mine that never runs out it's priceless how to become a better thinker do you want to master the process of good thinking do you want to be a better thinker tomorrow than you are today then you need to engage in an ongoing process that improves your thinking i recommend you do the following one expose yourself to good input good thinkers always prime the pump of ideas they always look for things to get the thinking process started because what you put in always impacts what comes out 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 or the seat of an idea that you've come up with yourself keep it in front of you put it in writing and keep it somewhere in your favorite thinking place to stimulate your thinking to expose yourself to good thinkers spend time with the right people as i worked on this section and bounce my ideas off of some key people so that my thoughts would be stretched i realized something about myself all of the people in my life whom i consider to be close friends or colleagues are thinkers now i love all people i try to be kind to everyone i meet and i desire to add value to as many people as i can through conferences books audio lessons etc but the people i seek out and choose to spend time with all challenge me with their thinking and their actions they are constantly trying to grow and learn that's true of my wife margaret my close friends and the executives who run my companies every one of them is a good thinker the writer of proverbs observed that sharp people sharpen one another just as iron sharpens iron if you want to be a sharp thinker be around sharp people three choose to think good thoughts to become a good thinker you must become intentional about the 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 headquartered in the atlanta area i told him that i was working on this book and i asked him if he made thinking time a high priority 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 intentional thinking dan says he sets aside time just to think for half a day every two weeks for one whole day every month and for two or three full days every year dan explains this helps me keep the main thing the main thing since i'm so easily distracted you may want to do something similar or you can develop a schedule and 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 four act on your good thoughts ideas have a short shelf life you must act on them before the expiration date world war one flying ace eddie rickenbacker said it all when he remarked i can give you a six word formula for success think things through then follow through five allow your emotions to create another good thought to start the thinking process you cannot rely on your feelings in failing forward i wrote that you can act your way into feeling long before you can feel your way into action 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 discipline process of thinking and enjoy some success allow yourself to savor the moment and try riding the mental energy of that success if you're like me it's likely to spur additional thoughts and productive ideas six repeat the process one good thought does not make a good life the people who have one good thought and try to ride 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 try to live on it for fifty years to become someone who can mine a lot of gold you need to keep repeating the process of good thinking putting yourself in the right place to think becoming a good thinker isn't overly complicated it's a discipline if you do the six things i have outlined you will set yourself up for a lifestyle of better thinking but what do you do to come up with specific ideas on a day-to-day basis 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 worked well for me one find a place to think your thoughts if you go to your designated place to think expecting to generate good thoughts then eventually you will come up with some where is the best place to think everybody's different 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 and in the spa ideas come to me in other places as well such as when i'm in bed i keep a special lighted writing pad on my nightstand for such times i believe i often get thoughts because i make it a habit to frequently go to my thinking places if you want to consistently generate ideas you need to do the same thing find a place where you can think and plan to capture your thoughts on paper so that you don't lose them when i found a place to think my thoughts my thoughts found a place in me two find a place to 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 as my friend dan ryland says they have to stand the test of clarity and questioning during the shaping time you want to hold an idea up to strong scrutiny many times a 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 professor college president and u s senator s i hayakawa wrote learning to write is learning to think you don't know anything clearly unless you can state it in writing as you shape your thoughts you find out whether an idea has potential you learn what you have you also learn some things about yourself the shaping time thrills me because it embodies humor the thoughts that don't work often provide comic relief humility the moments when i connect with god all me excitement i love to play out an idea mentally i call it futuring it creativity in these moments i am unhampered by reality fulfillment god made me for this process it uses my greatest gifts and gives me joy honesty as i turn over an idea in my mind i discover my true motives passion when you shape a thought you find out what you believe and what really counts change most of the changes i have made in my life resulted from thorough thinking on a subject you can shape your thoughts almost anywhere just find a place that works for you where you will be able to write things down focus your attention without interruptions and ask questions about your ideas three find a place to 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 thinking process you miss bringing others in and expanding ideas to their greatest potential earlier in my life i have to admit i was often guilty of this error i wanted to take an idea from seed thought to solution before sharing it with anyone even the people it would most impact i did this both at work and at home but over the years i have learned that you can go much farther with a team than you can go alone i've found 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 this combination is hard to beat like every person every thought has the potential to become something great when you find a place to stretch your thoughts you find that potential for find a place to land your thoughts author c d jackson observes that great ideas need landing gear as well as wings any idea that remains only an idea doesn't make a great impact the real power of an idea comes when it goes from abstraction to application think about einstein's theory of relativity when he published his theories in 1905 and 1916 they were merely profound ideas their real power came with the development of the nuclear reactor in 1942 and the nuclear bomb in 1945 when scientists developed and implemented einstein's ideas the whole world changed likewise if you want your thoughts to make an impact you need to land them with others 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 before teaching any lesson i ask myself three questions do i believe it do i live it do i believe others should live it if i can't answer yes to all three questions then i haven't landed it key players let's face it no idea will fly if the influencers don't embrace it after all they are the people who carry thoughts from idea to implementation 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 can give you a reality read and that's important because sometimes even when you've diligently completed the process of creating a thought shaping it and stretching it with other good thinkers you can still miss the mark 5. find a place to fly your thoughts french philosopher henri louis bergson who won the nobel prize in literature in 1927 asserted that a person should think like a man of action act like a man of thought what good is thinking if it has no application in real life thinking divorced from actions cannot be productive learning how to master the process of thinking well leads you to productive thinking if you can develop the discipline of good thinking and turn it into a lifetime habit then you will be successful and productive all of your life once you've created shaped stretched and landed your thoughts then flying them can be fun and easy portrait of a good thinker you often hear someone say that a colleague or friend is a good thinker but that phrase means something different to everyone to one person it may mean having a high iq while to another it could mean knowing a bunch of trivia or being able to figure out who done it when reading a mystery novel 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 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 must do is be willing to engage in the process every day in built to last jim collins and jerry porus describe what it means to be a visionary company the kind of company that epitomizes the pinnacle of american business they describe those 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 his statue of david think of a great and enduring novel like huckleberry finn or crime and punishment think of beethoven's ninth symphony or shakespeare's henry v think of a beautifully designed building like the masterpieces of frank lloyd wright or ludwig mies van der rohe 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 11 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 enjoying the return of bottom line thinking as you read the chapters dedicated to each kind of thinking you will discover that they do not try to tell you what to think they attempt to teach you how to think as you become acquainted with each skill you will find that some you do well others you don't learn to develop each of those kinds of thinking and you will become a better thinker master all that you can including the process of shared thinking which helps you compensate for your weak areas and your life will change how successful people think chapter one cultivate big picture thinking where success is concerned people are not measured in inches or pounds or college degrees or family background they are measured by the size of their thinking david schwartz big picture thinking can benefit any person in any profession when somebody like jack welch tells a ge employee that the ongoing relationship with a customer is more important than the sale of an individual product he's reminding them of the big picture when two parents are fed up with potty training poor grades or fender benders and one reminds the other that the current difficult time is only a temporary season then they benefit from thinking big picture real estate developer donald trump quipped you have to think anyway so why not think big big picture thinking brings wholeness and maturity to a person's thinking it brings perspective it's like making the frame of a picture bigger in the process expanding not only what you can see but what you are able to do spend time with big picture thinkers and you will find that they 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 often are able to connect the unconnected they are lifelong learners help me maintain a learner's attitude i spend a few moments every morning thinking about my learning opportunities for the day as i review my calendar and to-do list knowing whom i will meet that day what i will read which meetings i will attend i note where i am most likely to learn something then i mentally cue myself to look attentively for something that will improve me in that situation if you desire to keep learning i want to encourage you to examine your day and look for opportunities to learn listen intentionally an excellent way to broaden your experience is to listen to someone who has expertise in an area where you don't i search for such opportunities one year i spoke to about nine hundred coaches and scouts at the senior bowl where graduating football players participate in their last college game i had the opportunity along with my son-in-law steve miller to have dinner with nfl head coaches dave wanstead and butch davis it's not often that you get such an opportunity so i asked them questions about teamwork and spent a lot of time listening to them at the end of the evening as steve and i were walking to our car he said to me john i bet you asked those coaches a hundred questions tonight if i'm going to learn and grow i replied i must know what questions to ask and know how to apply the answers to my life listening has taught me a lot more than talking 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 recognize that they don't know lots of things they frequently ask penetrating questions to enlarge their understanding and thinking if you want to become a better big picture thinker then become a good listener look expansively writer henry david thoreau wrote many an object is not seen though it falls within the range of our visual ray because it does not come within the range of our intellectual ray human beings habitually see their own world first for example when people arrive at a leadership conference put on by my company enjoy they want to know where they're going to park whether they will be able to get a good and comfortable seat whether the speaker will be on and if the brakes will be spaced right when i arrive to speak at the same conference i want to know that the lighting is good the sound equipment is operating effectively whether the speaker's platform will be close enough to the people etcetera who you are determines what you see and how you think 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 it's hard to see the picture while inside the frame 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 live completely french essayist michela came to montaigne wrote the value of life lies not in the length of days but in the use we make of them a man may live long yet live very little the truth is that you can spend your life any way you want but you can spend it only once 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 accomplish more than narrow-minded people and they experience fewer unwanted surprises too because they are more likely to see the many components involved in any given situation issues people relationships timing and values they are also therefore usually more tolerant of other people in their thinking why you should receive the wisdom of big picture thinking intuitively you probably recognize big picture thinking is beneficial few people want to be closed-minded no one sets out to be that way but just in case you're not completely convinced consider several specific reasons why you should make the effort to become a better big picture thinker one big picture thinking allows you to lead 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 do many important things for their people see the vision before their people 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 possibilities as well as problems to form a foundation to build the vision once leaders have done that they can sketch a picture of where the team is going including any potential challenges or obstacles the goal of leaders shouldn't be merely to 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 when leaders recognize this need for connection and bridge it then they can seize the moment when the timing is right in leadership when to move is as important as what you do as winston churchill said there comes a special moment in everyone's life a moment for which that person was born when he seizes it it is his finest hour whether building roads planning a trip or moving in leadership big picture thinking allows you to enjoy more success people who are constantly looking at the whole picture have the best chance of succeeding in any endeavor 2. big picture thinking keeps you on target thomas fuller chaplain to charles ii of england observed he that is everywhere is nowhere to get things done you need focus however to get the right things done you also need 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 as alvin toffler says you've got to think about big things while you're doing small things so that all the small things go in the right direction three big picture thinking allows you to see what others see one of the most important skills you can develop in human relations 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 rearing children helping those who are less fortunate etcetera all human interactions are enhanced by the ability to put yourself in another person's shoes how look beyond yourself your own interests in your own world when you work to consider an issue from every possible angle examine it in the light of another's history discover the interests and concerns of others and try to set aside your own agenda you begin to see what others see and that is a powerful thing for 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 grasp team members have of the big picture the greater their potential to work together as a team five big picture thinking keeps you from being caught up in the mundane let's face it some aspects of everyday life are absolutely necessary but thoroughly uninteresting 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 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 undoubtedly was coined by someone who had trouble seeing the big picture the world was built by people who crossed bridges in their minds long before anyone else did the only way to break new ground or move into uncharted territory is to look beyond the immediate and see the big picture how to acquire the wisdom of big picture thinking if you desire to seize new opportunities and open new horizons then you need to add big picture thinking to your abilities to become a good thinker better able to see the big picture keep in mind the following suggestions one don't strive for certainty big picture thinkers are comfortable with ambiguity they don't try to force every observation or piece of data into pre-formulated mental cubby holes they think broadly and can juggle many seemingly contradictory thoughts in their minds if you want to cultivate the ability to think big picture then you must get used to embracing and dealing with complex and diverse ideas 2. 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 can do that because they remain teachable varied experiences both positive and negative help you see the big picture the greater the variety of experience and success the more potential to learn you have 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 three gain insight from a variety of people big picture thinkers learn from their experiences but they also learn from experiences they don't have that is they learn by receiving insight from others from customers employees colleagues and leaders if you desire to broaden your thinking and see more of the big picture then seek out counselors to help you but be wise in whom you ask for advice gaining insight from a variety of people doesn't mean stopping anyone and everyone in hallways and grocery store lines and asking what they think about a given subject be selective talk to people who know and care about you who know their field and who bring experience deeper and broader than your own for give yourself permission to expand your world if you want to be a big picture thinker you will have to go against the flow of the world society wants to keep people in boxes most people are married mentally to the status quo they want what was not what can be they seek safety and simple answers to think 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 is more out there in the world than what you've experienced keep learning keep growing and keep looking at the big picture if you desire to be a good thinker that's what you need to do thinking question am i thinking beyond myself in my world so that i process ideas with a holistic perspective chapter two engage in focused thinking he did each thing as if he did nothing else spoken of novelist charles dickens philosopher bertrand russell once asserted to be able to concentrate for a considerable time is essential to difficult achievement sociologist robert lind observed that knowledge is power only if a man knows what facts are not to bother about focused thinking removes distractions and mental clutter so that you can concentrate on an issue and think with clarity focused thinking can do several things for you one focused thinking harnesses energy toward a desired goal focus can bring energy and power to almost anything whether physical or mental if you're learning how to pitch a baseball and you want to develop a good curveball then focused thinking while practicing will improve your technique if you need to refine the manufacturing process of your product focused thinking will help you develop the best method if you want to solve a difficult mathematics problem focused thinking helps you break through to the solution the greater the difficulty of a problem or issue the more focused thinking time is necessary to solve it two focused thinking gives ideas time to develop i love to discover and develop ideas 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 the birthing of a potential breakthrough often results from sharing many good ideas but to take ideas to the next level you must shift from being expansive in your thinking to being selective i have discovered that a good idea can become a great idea when it is given focus time it's true that focusing on a single 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 focused thinking pays off that brings me great joy and when focused thinking is at its best not only does the idea grow but so do i three focused thinking brings clarity to the target i consider golf one of my favorite hobbies it's a wonderfully challenging game i like it because the objectives are so clear professor william mobley of the university of south carolina made the following observation about golf one of the most important things about golf is the presence of clear goals you see the pins you know the par it's neither too easy nor unattainable you know your average score and there are competitive goals competitive with par with yourself and others these goals give you something to shoot at in work as in golf goals motivate one time on the golf course i followed a golfer who neglected to put the pin back in the hole after he putted because i could not see my target i couldn't focus properly my focus quickly turned to frustration and to poor play to be a good golfer a person needs to focus on a clear target the same is true in thinking focus helps you to know the goal and to achieve it four focused thinking will take you to the next level no one achieves greatness by becoming a generalist you don't own 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 improve your bottom line develop your subordinates or solve personal problems you need to focus author harry a overstreet observed the immature mind hops from one thing to another the mature mind seeks to follow through where should you focus your thinking does every area of your life deserve dedicated focused thinking time of course the answer is no be selective not exhaustive in your focused thinking for me that means dedicating in-depth thinking time to four areas leadership creativity communication and intentional networking your choices will probably differ from mine here are a few suggestions to help you figure them out identify your priorities first take into account your priorities for yourself your family and your team author consultant and award-winning thinker edward de bono quipped a conclusion is the place where you get tired of thinking unfortunately many people land on priorities based on where they run out of steam you certainly don't want to do that nor do you want to let others set your agenda there are many ways to determine priorities if you know yourself well begin by focusing on your strengths the things that make best use of your skills and god-given talents you might also 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 percent of your effort to the top twenty percent most important activities another way is to focus on exceptional opportunities that promise a huge return it comes down to this 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 they are a little like the comic strip character charlie brown one day after striking out in a baseball game he says rats i'll never be a big league player i just don't have it all my life i've dreamed of playing in the big leagues but i'll never make it to which lucy replies charlie brown you're thinking too far ahead what you need to do is set more immediate goals for yourself for a moment charlie brown sees a ray of hope immediate goals he says yes answers lucy start with the next inning when you go out to pitch see if you can walk out to the mound without falling down i've met many individuals who grew up in a household full of lucy's they received little encouragement or affirmation and as a result seem at a loss for direction if you have that kind of background you need to work extra hard to figure out what your gifts are take a personality profile such as disc or myers-briggs interview positive friends and family members 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 you need to know what they are develop your dream if you want to achieve great things you need to have a great dream if you're not sure of your dream use your focused thinking time to help you discover it if your thinking has returned to a particular area time after time you may be able to discover your dream there give it more focused time and see what happens once you find your dream move forward without second guessing take the advice of satchel page don't look back something might be gaining on you the younger you are the more likely you will give your attention to many things that's good because if you're young you're still getting to know yourself your strengths and weaknesses if you focus your thinking on only 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 focused you can be and need to be how can you stay focused once you have a handle on what you should think about you must decide how to better focus on it here are five suggestions to help you with the process one remove distractions removing distractions is no small matter in our current culture but it's critical 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 keep the distractions to a minimum second insulate yourself from distractions i've found that i need blocks of time to think without interruptions i've mastered the art of making myself unavailable when necessary and going off to my thinking place so that i can work without interruptions because of my responsibilities as founder of three companies however i am always aware of the tension between my need to remain accessible to others as a leader and my need to withdraw from them to think the best way to resolve the tension is to understand the value of both activities walking slowly through the crowd allows me to connect with people and know their needs withdrawing from the crowd allows me to think of ways to add value to them my advice to you is to place value on and give attention to both if you naturally withdraw then make sure to get out among people more often if you're always on the go and rarely withdraw for thinking time then remove yourself periodically so that you can unleash the potential of focused thinking and wherever you are be there two make time for focused thinking once you have a place to think you need the 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 cost you up to 40 efficiency according to researchers if you're trying to accomplish many things at the same time you'll get more done by focusing on one task at a time not by switching constantly from one task to another years ago i realized that my best thinking time occurs in the morning whenever possible i reserve my mornings for thinking and writing one way to gain time for focused thinking is to impose upon yourself a role that one company implemented don't allow yourself to look at email until after 10 am instead focus your energies on your number one priority put non-productive time wasters on hold so that you can create thinking time for yourself three keep items of focus before you ralph waldo emerson the great transcendental thinker believed concentration is the secret of strength in politics in war in trade in short in all management of human affairs to help me concentrate on the things that matter i work to keep important items before me one way is to ask my assistant linda eggers to keep bringing it up asking me about it giving me additional information in reference to it i'll also keep a file or page on my desk so that i see it every day as i work that strategy has successfully helped me for thirty years to stimulate and sharpen ideas if you've never done it i recommend that you try it i'll tell you more about it in the section on reflective thinking four set goals i believe goals are important the mind will not focus until it has clear objectives 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 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 can almost guarantee that they're not focused enough and if you really want to make sure they're focused take the advice of david belasco who says if you can't write your idea on the back of my business card you don't have a clear idea even if you look back years from now and think your goals were too small they will have served their purpose if they provide you with direction five question your progress take a good look at yourself from time to time to see whether you are actually making progress that is the most accurate measure of whether you're making the best use of focused thinking ask yourself am i seeing a return for my investment of focused thinking time is what i am doing getting me closer to my goals am i headed in a direction that helps me to fulfill my commitments maintain my priorities and realize my dreams what are you giving up to go up no one can go to the highest level and remain a generalist my dad used to say find the one thing you do well and don't do anything else i've found that to do well at a few things i've had to give up many things as i worked on this chapter i spent some time reflecting on the kinds of things i've given up here are the main ones i can't know everyone i love people and i'm outgoing put me into a room full of people and i feel energized so it goes against my grain to restrict myself from spending time with lots of people to compensate for that i've done a couple of things first i've chosen a strong inner circle of people they not only provide tremendous professional help but they also make life's journey much more pleasant second i ask certain friends to catch me up on what's happening in the lives of other friends i usually do that when i'm traveling and can't block out the time i would need for focused thinking i can't do everything there are only a few exceptional opportunities in any person's lifetime that's why i strive for excellence in a few things rather than a good performance in many that's cost me because of my workload i also have to skip doing many things that i would love to do for example every week i hand off projects that i think would be fun to do myself i practice the 10 80 10 principle with the people to whom i'm delegating a task help with the first ten percent by casting vision laying down parameters providing resources and giving encouragement then once they've done the middle eighty percent i come alongside them again and help them take whatever it is the rest of the way if i can i call it putting the cherry on top i can't go everywhere every conference speaker and author has to travel a lot before i began doing much speaking that seemed like a glamorous life but after logging several million miles i know what kind of a toll it can take ironically i still love traveling for pleasure with my wife margaret it's one of our great joys she and i could take ten vacations a year and enjoy every one of them yet we can't because so much of my time is consumed doing what i was called to do help people to grow personally and to develop as leaders i can't be well-rounded being focused also keeps me from being well-rounded i tell people 99 of everything in life i don't need to know about i try to focus on the one percent that gives me the highest return and of the remaining 99 margaret keeps me aware of whatever i need to know it's one of the ways i keep from getting totally out of balance in my life being willing to give up some of the things you love in order to focus on what has the greatest impact isn't an easy lesson to learn but the earlier you embrace it the sooner you can dedicate yourself to excellence in what matters most thinking question i dedicated to removing distractions and mental clutter so that i can concentrate with clarity on the real issue chapter 3 harness creative thinking the joy is in creating not maintaining vince lombardi nfl hall of fame coach creativity is pure gold no matter what you do for a living annette moser wellman author of the five faces of genius asserts the most valuable resource you bring to your work and to your firm is your creativity more than what you get done more than the role you play more than your title more than your output it's your ideas that matter despite the importance of a person's ability to think with creativity few people seem to possess the skill in abundance if you're not as creative as you would like to be you can change your way of thinking creative thinking isn't necessarily original thinking in fact i think people mythologize original thought most often creative thinking is a composite of other thoughts discovered along the way even the great artists whom we consider highly original learn from their masters modeled their work on that of others and brought together a host of ideas and styles to create their own work study art and you will see threads that run through the work of all artists and artistic movements connecting them to other artists who went before them characteristics of creative thinkers perhaps you're not even sure what i mean when i ask whether you are a creative thinker consider some characteristics that creative thinkers have in common creative thinkers value ideas annette moser wellman observes highly creative people are dedicated to ideas they don't rely on their talent alone they rely on their discipline their imagination is like a second skin they know how to manipulate it to its fullest creativity is about having ideas lots of them you will have ideas only if you value ideas 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 imagination is crucial to creativity as albert einstein put it imagination is more important than knowledge 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 good thinkers come up with the best answers they create backup plans that provide them with alternatives they enjoy freedom that others do not possess and they will influence and lead others creative thinkers embrace ambiguity writer h l menken said it is the dull man who is always sure and the sure man who is always dull 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 creative thinkers celebrate the offbeat creativity by its very nature often explores off the beaten path and goes against the grain diplomat and long-time president of yale university kingman brewster said there is a correlation between the creative and the screw ball 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 creativity utilizes the ideas of others there's great value in being able to connect one idea to another especially to seemingly unrelated ideas graphic designer tim hanson says creativity is especially expressed in the ability to make connections to make associations to turn things around and express them in a new way creating additional thoughts is like taking a trip in your car you may know where you're going but only as you move toward your destination can you see and experience things in a way not possible before you started creative thinking works something like this think then collect then create then correct then connect 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 that can start to take an idea to the next level 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 creativity demands the ability to be unafraid of failure because creativity equals failure you may be surprised to hear such a statement but it's true charles frankel asserts that anxiety is the essential condition of intellectual and artistic creation 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 why you should discover the joy of creative thinking creativity can improve a person's quality of life here are five specific things creative thinking has the potential to do for you one creative thinking adds value to everything wouldn't you enjoy a limitless reservoir of ideas that you could draw upon at any time that's what creative thinking gives you for that reason no matter what you're currently able to do creativity can increase your capabilities 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 seeing the world through sufficiently new eyes so that new solutions appear that always adds value two creative thinking compounds over the years i've found that creative thinking is hard work but creative thinking compounds given enough time and focus perhaps more than any other kind of thinking creative thinking builds on itself and increases the creativity of the thinker poet maya angelou observed you can't use up creativity the more you use the more you have sadly too often creativity is smothered rather than nurtured there has to be a climate in which new ways of thinking perceiving questioning or encouraged if you cultivate creative thinking in an environment that nurtures creativity there's no telling what kind of ideas you can come up with i'll talk more on that later three creative thinking draws people to you and your ideas creativity is intelligence having fun people admire intelligence and they are always attracted to fun so the combination is fantastic if anyone could be said to have fun with his intelligence it was leonardo da vinci the diversity of his ideas and expertise staggers the mind 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 the renaissance 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 4. creative thinking helps you learn more author and creativity expert ernie zielinski says creativity is the joy of not knowing it all the joy of not knowing it all refers to the realization that we seldom if ever have all the answers we always have the ability to generate more solutions to just about any problem being creative is being able to see or imagine a great deal of opportunity to life's problems creativity is having options it almost seems too obvious to say but if you are always actively seeking new ideas you will learn creativity is teachability it's seeing more solutions than problems and the greater the quantity of thoughts the greater the chance for learning something new five 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 how to discover the joy of creative thinking at this point you may be saying okay i'm convinced that creative thinking is important but how do i find the creativity within me how do i discover the joy of creative thought here are five ways to do it one remove creativity killers economics professor and humor author stephen licock said personally i would sooner have written alice in wonderland than the whole encyclopedia britannica he valued the warmth of creativity over cold facts if you do too then you need to eliminate attitudes that devalue creative thinking take a look at the following phrases they are almost guaranteed to kill creative thinking anytime you hear or think them i'm not a creative person follow the rules don't ask questions don't be different stay 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 don't just work harder at the same old thing make a change two think creatively by asking the right questions creativity is largely a matter of asking the right questions management trainer sir anthony j said the uncreative mind can spot wrong answers but it takes a creative mind to spot wrong 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 physicist tom hirschfield observed if you don't ask why this often enough somebody will ask why you if you want to think creatively you must ask good questions you must challenge the process three develop a creative environment charlie brower said a new idea is delicate it can be killed by a sneer or a yawn it can be stabbed to death by a quip and worried to death by a frown on the right man's brow negative environments kill thousands of great ideas every minute a creative environment on the other hand becomes like a greenhouse where ideas get seeded sprout up and flourish a creative environment encourages creativity david hills says studies of creativity suggest that the biggest single variable of whether or not employees will be creative is whether they perceive they have permission 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 people working together from knowing that people on the team have experience launching successful creative ideas and from the assurance that creative ideas won't go to waste because they will be implemented a creative environment embraces those who are creative creative people celebrate the offbeat how should creative people be treated i take the advice of tom peters weed out the dullards nurture the nuts i do that by spending time with them which i enjoy anyway i especially like to pull people into brainstorming sessions people look forward to an invitation to such meetings because the time will be filled with energy ideas and laughter and the odds are high that a new project seminar or business strategy will result when that happens they also know a party's coming a creative environment focuses on innovation not just invention sam weston creator of the popular action figure gi joe said truly groundbreaking ideas are rare but you don't necessarily need one to make a career out of creativity my definition of creativity is the logical combination of two or more existing elements that result in a new concept the best way to make a living with your imagination is to develop innovative applications not imagine completely new concepts creative people say give me a good idea and i'll give you a better idea a creative environment is willing to let people go outside the lines most people automatically stay within lines even if those lines have been arbitrarily drawn or are terribly out of date remember most limitations we face are not imposed on us by others we place them on ourselves lack of creativity often falls into that category if you want to be more creative challenge boundaries inventor charles kettering said all human development no matter what form it takes must be outside the rules otherwise we would never have anything new a creative environment takes that into account a creative environment appreciates the power of a dream a creative environment promotes the freedom of a dream a 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 that look like a creative environment allowed martin luther king jr to speak with passion and declare to millions i have a dream not i have a goal goals may give focus but dreams give power dreams expand the world that is why james allen suggested that dreamers are the saviors of the world the more creativity friendly you can make your environment the more potential it has to become creative for spend time with other creative people what if the place you work has an environment hostile to creativity and you possess little ability to change it one possibility is 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 i have a strong group of creative individuals in my life i make sure to spend regular time with them when i leave them i always feel energized i'm full of ideas and i see things differently they truly are indispensable to my life it's a fact that you begin to think like the people you spend a lot of time with the more time you can spend with creative people engaging in creative activities the more creative you will become five get out of your box actress catherine 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 i'm naturally curious and love to learn but i still have a tendency to read books only on my favorite subjects such as leadership i sometimes have to force myself to read books that broaden my thinking because i know it's worth it 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 they will never be creative but you can see from the many strategies and examples i've given that creativity can be cultivated in the right supportive environment thinking question am i working to break out of my box of limitations so that i explore ideas and options to experience creative breakthroughs chapter 4 employ realistic thinking the first responsibility of a leader is to define reality max dupree chairman of the board of hermann miller incorporated as anyone knows who's been out of school for a few years there's usually a huge gap between a college education and the reality of the working world honestly early in my career i went out of my way to avoid too much realistic thinking because i thought it would interfere with my creative thinking but as i've grown i've come to realize that realistic thinking adds to my life reality check reality is the difference between what we wish and what is it took some time for me to evolve into a realistic thinker the process went in phases first i did not engage in realistic thinking at all after a while i realized that it was necessary so i began to engage in it occasionally but i didn't like it because i thought it was too negative and anytime i could delegate it i did eventually i found that i had to engage in realistic thinking 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 we make realistic thinking the foundation of our business because we derive certainty and security from it why you should recognize the importance of realistic thinking if you're a naturally optimistic person as i am you may not possess great desire to become a more realistic thinker but 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 other ways one 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 consequences can you plan for them if you plan for the worst case scenario you can minimize the downside risk two realistic thinking gives you a target and a game plan i've known business people who are 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 face reality they begin to define their target and develop a game plan to hit it when people engage in realistic thinking they also begin to simplify practices and procedures which results in better efficiency truthfully in business only a few decisions are important realistic thinkers understand the difference between the important decisions and those that are merely necessary in the normal course of business the decisions that matter relate directly to your purpose james allen was right when he wrote until thought is linked with purpose there is no intelligent accomplishment three realistic thinking is a catalyst for change people who rely on hope for their success rarely make change a high priority if you have only 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 wrong 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 four realistic thinking provides security anytime you have thought through the worst that can happen and you have developed contingency plans to meet it you become more confident and secure it's reassuring to know that you are unlikely to be surprised disappointment is the difference between expectations and reality realistic thinking minimizes the difference between the two five realistic thinking gives you credibility realistic thinking helps people to buy into the leader and his or her vision leaders 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 that gives their people confidence in them the best leaders ask realistic questions before casting vision 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 six realistic thinking provides a foundation to build on thomas edison 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 you can't build a house in midair it needs a solid foundation ideas and plans are the same they need something concrete on which to build realistic thinking provides that solid foundation seven realistic thinking is a friend to those in trouble if creativity is what you would do if you were unafraid 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 which can be very reassuring certainty in the midst of uncertainty brings stability eight realistic thinking brings the dream to fruition british novelist john gallsworthy wrote idealism increases in direct proportion to one's distance from the problem 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 accomplish it you will never achieve it realistic thinking helps to pave the way for bringing any dream to fruition how to recognize the importance of realistic thinking 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 one develop an appreciation for truth i could not develop as a realistic thinker until i gained an appreciation for realistic thinking and that means learning to look at and enjoy truth president harry s truman said i never give him hell i just tell the truth and they think it is hell that's the way many people react to truth people tend to exaggerate their success and minimize their failures or deficiencies they live according to rucker's law believing there is nothing so small that it can't be blown out of proportion unfortunately many people today could be described by a quote from winston churchill men occasionally stumble over the truth but most pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing has happened more recently television journalist ted koppel observed our society finds truth too strong a medicine to digest undiluted in its purest form truth is not a polite tap on the shoulder it is a howling reproach in other words the truth will set you free but first it will make you angry if you want to become a realistic thinker however you need to get comfortable dealing with the truth and face up to it two do your homework the process of realistic thinking begins with doing your homework you must first get the facts former governor congressman and ambassador chester bowles said when you approach a problem strip yourself of preconceived opinions and prejudice assemble and learn the facts of the situation make the decision which seems to you to be the most honest and then stick to it it doesn't matter how sound your thinking is if it's based on faulty data or assumptions you can't think well in the absence of facts or in the presence of poor information you can also 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 you can from good thinkers who have faced similar situations in the past some of my best thinking has been done by others three think through the pros and cons there's nothing like taking the time to really examine the pros and cons of an issue to give you a strong dose of reality it rarely comes down to simply choosing the course of action with the greatest number of pros because all pros and cons do not carry equal weight but that's not the value of the exercise anyway rather it helps you to dig into the facts examine an issue from many angles and really count the cost of a possible course of action 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's rock bottom but real rock bottom what if we don't win the account what if the client doesn't pay us what if we have to do the job shorthanded 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're running a business leading a department pastoring a church coaching a team or planning your personal finances your goal isn't to be negative or to expect the worst just to be ready for it in case it happens that way you give yourself the best chance for a positive result no matter what if you picture the worst case and examine it honestly then you really have experienced a reality check you're ready for anything as you do that take the advice of charles whole who advised deliberate with caution but act with decision and yield with graciousness or oppose with firmness 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 is once you know what those gaps are you can use your resources to fill them after all that's what resources are for super bowl superdome super security our country received lessons in realistic thinking following the tragedy of september 11 2001 the destruction of the world trade center buildings in new york city far surpassed any worst case scenarios that anyone might have envisioned in the wake of that event we now find that we don't have the luxury of avoiding or neglecting realistic thinking i was reminded of that on sunday february 3rd 2002 when i attended the super bowl in new orleans louisiana i had been to the big game twice before to root for the home team first san diego and later atlanta and had seen both teams lose but i had never been to a game like this the occasion had been designated a national security special event that meant that the us secret service would be overseeing it military personnel would work with local law enforcement and security would be of the highest caliber the secret service brought in several hundred agents that secured the area in preparation for the game access to the superdome was highly restricted with intensified screening officials blocked off roads closed the nearby interstate and designated the area a no-fly zone we arrived early at the dome officials suggested fans arrive up to five hours ahead of game time and we immediately saw evidence of the precautionary measures eight-foot fences surrounded the whole area and concrete barriers prevented unauthorized vehicles from getting close to the building we could see sharpshooters positioned at various locations including on the roof of some adjacent buildings when we reached a gate police officers and security personnel patted us down and examined everyone's belongings after that they directed us to go through metal detectors only then did they allow us into the stadium that's all well and good you may be saying but what would have happened had there been a terrorist attack the secret service had that covered too because they had prepared for the worst case scenario evacuation plans had been put into place and personnel at the superdome had been drilled to make sure everyone knew what to do in case of an emergency new orleans mayor mark morial said the day before the super bowl we want to send a message to all visitors that new orleans is going to be the safest place in america we got the message we didn't feel the least bit worried that's what happens when leaders recognize the importance of realistic thinking thinking question am i building a solid mental foundation on facts so that i can think with certainty chapter five utilize strategic thinking most people spend more time planning their summer vacation than planning their lives source unknown when you hear the words strategic thinking what comes to mind do visions of business plans dance in your head 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 perhaps but strategy doesn't have to be restricted to military action or even to business strategic thinking can make a positive impact on any area of life plan your life live your plan i've observed that most people try to plan their lives one day at a time they wake up make up their to-do list and dive into action although some people aren't even that strategic fewer individuals plan their lives one 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 daily planning colleagues i try to take planning one step further at the beginning of every month i spend 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 and don't get surprised i begin by reviewing my travel schedule and planning 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 times for thinking writing working meeting with people etcetera 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 to compensate 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 much why you should release the power of strategic thinking strategic thinking helps me to plan to become more efficient to maximize my strengths and to find the most direct path toward achieving any objective the benefits of strategic thinking are numerous here are a few of the reasons you should adopt it as one of your thinking tools one strategic thinking simplifies the difficult strategic thinking is really nothing more than planning on steroids spanish novelist miguel de cervantes said the man who is prepared has his battle have fought strategic thinking takes complex issues and long-term objectives which can be very difficult to address and breaks them down into manageable sizes anything becomes simpler when it has a plan strategic thinking can also help you simplify the management of everyday life i do that by using systems which are nothing more than good strategies repeated i am well known among pastors and other speakers for my filing system writing a lesson or speech can be difficult but because i use my system to file quotes stories and articles when i need something to flesh out or illustrate a point i simply go to one of my twelve hundred files and find a good piece of material that works just about any difficult task can be made simpler with strategic thinking two strategic thinking prompts you to ask the right questions do you want to break down complex or difficult issues then ask questions strategic thinking forces you through this process take a look at the following questions developed by my friend bob beal the author of master planning direction what should we do next 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 income expense net 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 move 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 three strategic thinking prompts customization general george s patton observed successful generals make plans to fit circumstances but do not try to create circumstances to fit plans all good strategic thinkers are precise in their thinking they try to match the strategy to the problem because strategy isn't a one-size-fits-all proposition sloppy or generalized thinking is an enemy of achievement the intention to customize in 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 strategic thinking is the bridge that links where you are to where you want to be it gives direction and credibility today and increases your potential for success tomorrow it is as mary webb suggests like saddling your dreams before you ride them five 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 it's like a golfer stepping up to a golf ball and hitting it before lining up the shot misaligning a shot by just a few degrees can send the ball a hundred yards off target strategic thinking however greatly reduces that margin for error it lines up your actions with your objectives just as lining up a shot in golf helps you to put the ball closer to the pin the better aligned you are with your target the better the odds that you will be going in the right direction six strategic thinking gives you influence with others one executive confided in another our company has a short range plan and a long range plan our short range plan is to stay afloat long enough to make it to our long range plan that's hardly a strategy yet that's the position where some business leaders put themselves there's more than one problem with neglecting strategic thinking in that way not only does it fail to build the business but it also loses the respect of everyone involved with the business the one with the plan is the one with the power it doesn't matter in what kind of activity you're involved employees want to follow the business leader with a good business plan volunteers want to join the pastor with 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 if you possess a position of leadership in an organization strategic thinking is essential how to release the power of strategic thinking to become a better strategic thinker able to formulate and implement plans that will achieve the desired objective take the following guidelines to heart one break down the issue 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 you might break an issue down by function that's what automotive innovator henry ford did when he created the assembly line and 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 head and think strategically to create solid viable plans 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 all the issues eugene g grace says thousands of engineers can design bridges calculate strains and stresses and draw up specifications for machines but the great engineer is the man who can tell whether the bridge or the machine should be built at all where it should be built and when asking why helps you to think about all the reasons for decisions it helps you to open your mind to possibilities and opportunities the size of an opportunity often determines the level of resources and effort that you must invest big opportunities allow for big decisions if you jump to how too quickly you might miss that three identify the real issues and objectives william feather author of the business of life said before it can be solved a problem must be clearly defined too many people rush to solutions and as a result they end up solving the wrong problem to avoid that ask probing questions to expose the real issues challenge all of your assumptions collect 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 information to begin identifying the real issue begin by asking what else could be the real issue you should also remove any personal agenda more than almost anything else that can cloud your judgment discovering your real situation and objectives is a major part of the battle once the real issues are identified the solutions are often simple four review your resources i already mentioned how important it is to be aware of your resources but it bears repeating a strategy that doesn't take into account resources is doomed to failure take an inventory how much time do you have how much money what kinds of materials supplies or inventory do you have what are your 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 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 to recommend many specifics however 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 everyone sees those things obvious elements build mental momentum and initiate creativity and intensity the best way to create a road to the complex is to build on the fundamentals 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 if you don't take into account the people part of the equation look what happens if you miscalculate wrong person problems instead of potential wrong place frustration instead of fulfillment wrong plan grief instead of growth everything comes together however when you put together all three elements the right person the right place and the right plan seven keep repeating the process my friend olin hendrix remarked strategic thinking is like showering you have to keep doing it if you expect to solve any major problem once you're in for disappointment little things such as filing or shopping systematically can be won easily through systems and personal discipline but major issues need major strategic thinking time what thane yost said is really true the will to win is worthless if you do not have the will to prepare if you want to be an effective strategic thinker then you need to become a continuous strategic thinker as i was working on this chapter i came across an article in my local paper on the celebration of the jewish passover and how millions of american jews read the order of service for their seder or passover meal from a small booklet produced by maxwell house coffee for more than 70 years the coffee company has produced the booklet called a haggadah and during those years it has distributed more than 40 million copies of it i remember using them all my life said regina witt who is in her 50s so does her mother who is almost 90. it's our tradition i think it would be very strange not to use them so how did maxwell house come to supply the booklets it was the result of strategic thinking eighty years ago marketing man joseph jacobs advised that the company could sell coffee during passover if the product were certified kosher by a rabbi since 1923 maxwell house coffee has been certified kosher for passover and then jacob suggested that if they gave away the haggadah booklets they could increase sales they've been creating the booklets and selling coffee during passover ever since that's what can happen when you unleash the power of strategic thinking thinking question am i implementing strategic plans that give me direction for today and increase my potential for tomorrow chapter six explore possibility thinking nothing is so embarrassing as watching someone do something that you said could not be done sam ewing people who embrace possibility thinking are capable of accomplishing tasks that seem impossible because they believe in solutions here are several reasons why you should become a possibility thinker one possibility thinking increases your possibilities when you believe you can do something difficult and you succeed many doors open for you when george lucas succeeded in making star wars despite those who said the special effects he wanted hadn't ever been done and couldn't be done many other possibilities opened up to him industrial light and magic the company he created to produce those impossible special effects became a source of revenue to help underwrite his other projects he was able to produce merchandising tie-ins to his movies thus bringing in another revenue stream to fund his movie making but his confidence in doing the difficult has also made a huge impact on other movie makers and a whole new generation of moviegoers popular culture writer chris sailowicz asserts at first directly through his own work and then via the unparalleled influence of ilm industrial light and magic george lucas has dictated for two decades the essential broad notion of what is cinema if you open yourself up to possibility thinking you open yourself up to many other possibilities two possibility thinking draws opportunities and people to you the case of george lucas helps you to see how being a possibility thinker can create new opportunities and attract people people who think big attract big people to them if you want to achieve big things you need to become a possibility thinker three possibility thinking increases others 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 four possibility thinking allows you to dream big dreams no matter what your profession possibility thinking can help you to broaden your horizons and dream bigger dreams professor david j schwartz believes big thinkers are specialists in creating positive forward-looking optimistic pictures in their own minds and in the minds of others if you embrace possibility thinking your dreams will go from mole hill to mountain size and because you believe in possibilities you put yourself in position to achieve them five possibility thinking makes it possible to rise above average during the 1970s when oil prices went through the roof automobile makers were ordered to make their cars more fuel efficient one manufacturer asked a group of senior engineers to drastically reduce the weight of cars they were designing they worked on the problem and searched for solutions but they finally concluded that making lighter cars couldn't be done would be too expensive and would present too many safety concerns they couldn't get out of the rut of their average thinking 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 every time you remove the label of impossible from a task you raise your potential from average to off the charts six possibility thinking gives you energy a direct correlation exists between possibility thinking and the level of a person's energy who gets energized by the prospect of 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 in what you believe can succeed when you embrace possibility thinking you believe in what you're doing and that gives you energy seven possibility thinking keeps you from giving up above all possibility thinkers believe they can succeed dennis waitley author of the psychology of winning says the winners in life think constantly in terms of i can i will and i am losers on the other hand concentrate their waking thoughts on what they should have done or what they don't do if you believe you can't do something then it doesn't matter how hard you try because you've already lost if you believe you can do something you have already won much of the battle one of the people who showed himself to be a great possibility thinker in 2001 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 the disaster but he instilled confidence in everyone he touched afterward he gave some insight and perspective on his experience 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 about how to handle it so i started thinking about churchill 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 in nineteen forty who had to keep up their spirit during this sustained bombing it was a comforting thought sixteen hours after the plane struck the buildings in new york city when giuliani finally returned at 2 30 a.m to his apartment for a rest instead of sleeping he read the world war two chapters of churchill a biography by roy jenkins learned how winston churchill helped his people to see the possibilities and kept his people going inspired giuliani did the same for his own people six decades later how to feel the energy of possibility thinking if you are a naturally positive person who already embraces possibility thinking then you're already tracking with me however some people rather than being optimistic are naturally negative or cynical they believe that possibility thinkers are naive or foolish if your 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 an it can't be done mindset have two choices they can expect the worst and continually experience it or they can change their thinking that's what george lucas did believe it or not even though he is a possibility thinker he is not a naturally positive person he says i'm very cynical and as a result i think the defense i have against it is to be optimistic in other words he chooses to think positively he sums it up this way as corny as it sounds the power of positive thinking goes a long way so determination and positive thinking combined with talent combined with knowing your craft that may sound like a naive point of view but at the same time it's worked for me and it's worked for all my friends so i have come to believe it if you want possibility thinking to work for you then begin by following these suggestions one stop focusing on the impossibilities the first step in becoming a possibility thinker is to stop yourself from searching for and dwelling on what's wrong with any given situation sports psychologist bob rotella recounts i tell people if you don't want to get into positive thinking that's okay just eliminate all the negative thoughts from your mind and whatever's left will be fine 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 listing all the things that can go wrong or 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 to get you started and if negativity is a really big problem for you and pessimistic things come out of your mouth before you've 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 two stay away from the experts so-called experts do more to shoot down people's dreams than just about anybody else possibility thinkers are very reluctant to dismiss anything as impossible rocket pioneer werner von braun said i have learned to use the word impossible with the greatest of caution and napoleon bonaparte declared the word impossible is not in my dictionary if you feel you must take the advice of an expert however then heed the words of john andrew holmes who asserted never tell a young person that something cannot be done god may have been waiting centuries for somebody ignorant enough of the impossible to do that thing if you want to achieve something give yourself permission to believe it is possible no matter what experts might say three look for possibilities in every situation becoming a possibility thinker is more than just refusing to let yourself be negative it's something more it's looking for positive possibilities despite the circumstances i recently heard don 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 there walton suggested they visit the competition here's what soderquist said happened we went into one store and i have to tell you that it was the worst store i have ever seen in my life it was terrible there were no customers there was no help on the floor the aisles were cluttered with merchandise empty shelves dirty it was absolutely terrible he walton walked one way and i'd walked the other way and we'd kind of meet out on the sidewalk he said what'd you think don i said sam that is the absolutely worst store i've ever seen in my life i mean did you see the aisles he said don did you see the pantyhose rack i said no i didn't sam i must have gone on a different aisle than you i didn't see that he said that was the best pantyhose rack i've ever seen don and he said 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 in and visit with our fixture people i want to put that rack in our stores it's absolutely the best i've ever seen and he said next did you see the ethnic cosmetics i said sam that must have been right next to the patios rack because i absolutely missed that he said don do you realize that in our stores we have four feet of ethnic cosmetics these people had 12 feet of it we are absolutely missing the boat i wrote down the distributor of some of those products when we get back i want you to get a hold of our cosmetic buyer and get these people in we absolutely need to expand our ethnic cosmetics now sam walton didn't hit me on the head and say don now what lesson did you learn from this he had already hit me on the head by looking for the good looking how to improve striving for excellence it's so easy to go and look at what other people do badly but one of the leadership characteristics of vision that he showed me and i'll never forget it is look for the good in what other people are doing and apply it 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 four dream one size bigger one of the best ways to cultivate a possibility mindset is to prompt yourself to dream one size bigger than you normally do let's face it most people dream too small they don't think big enough henry curtis advises make your plans as fantastic as you like because 25 years from now they will see mediocre make your plans ten times as great as you first planned and 25 years from now you will wonder why you did not make them fifty times as great 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 five question the status quo most people want their lives to keep improving yet they value peace and stability at the same time people often forget 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 when you become a possibility thinker you will face many people who will want you to give up your dreams and embrace the status quo achievers refuse to accept the status quo as you begin to explore greater possibilities for yourself your organization or your family and others challenge you for it take comfort in knowing that right now as you read this other possibility thinkers across the country and around the world are thinking about curing cancer developing new energy sources feeding hungry people and improving quality of life they are challenging the status quo against the odds and you should too six find inspiration from great achievers you can learn a lot about possibility thinking by studying great achievers i mentioned george lucas in this chapter perhaps he doesn't appeal to you or you don't like the movie industry personally i'm not a big science fiction fan but i admire lucas as a thinker creative visionary and business person find some achievers you admire and study them look for people with the attitude of robert f kennedy who popularized george bernard shaw's stirring statement some men see things as they are and say why i dream of things that never were and say why not i know possibility thinking isn't in style with many people so call it what you like the will to succeed belief in yourself confidence in your ability faith it's really true people who believe that they can't don't but if you believe you can you can that's the power of possibility thinking thinking question am i unleashing the enthusiasm of possibility thinking to find solutions for even seemingly impossible situations chapter seven learn from reflective thinking to doubt everything or to believe everything are two equally convenient solutions both dispense with the necessity of reflection jewel henri puankare the pace of our society does not encourage reflective thinking most people would rather act than think now don't get me wrong i'm a person of action i have very high energy and i like to see things accomplished but i'm also a reflective thinker reflective thinking is like the crock pot of the mind it encourages your thoughts to simmer until they're done as i go through this process my goal is to reflect so that i might learn from my successes and mistakes discover what i should try to repeat and determine what i should change it is always a valuable exercise by mentally visiting past situations you can think with greater understanding one reflective thinking gives you true perspective when our children were young and still lived at home we used to take them on wonderful vacations every 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 it didn't matter whether we went to walt disney world or washington dc i always asked those questions why because i wanted them to reflect on their experiences children don't naturally grasp the value or cost of an experience unless prompted they take things for granted i wanted my children to appreciate our trips and to learn from them when you reflect you are able to put an experience into perspective you are able to evaluate its timing and you are able to gain a new appreciation for things that before went unnoticed most people are able to recognize the sacrifices of their parents or other people only when they become parents themselves that's the kind of perspective that comes with reflection two reflective thinking gives emotional integrity to your thought life few people have good perspective in the heat of an emotional moment most individuals who enjoy the thrill of an experience try to go back and recapture it without first trying to evaluate it it's one of the reasons our culture produces so many thrill seekers likewise those who survive a traumatic experience usually avoid similar situations at all costs which sometimes ties them 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 you can see the thrills of the past in the light of emotional maturity and examine tragedies in the light of truth and logic that process can help a person to stop carrying around a bunch of negative emotional baggage president george washington observed we ought not to look back unless it is to derive useful lessons from past errors and for the purpose of profiting by dearly bought experience any feeling that can stand up to the light of truth and can be sustained over time has emotional integrity and is therefore worthy of your mind and heart three reflective thinking increases your confidence in decision making have you ever made a snap judgment and later wondered if you did the right thing everybody has reflective thinking can help to diffuse that doubt it also gives you confidence for the next decision once you've reflected on an issue you don't have to repeat every step of the thinking process when you're faced with it again you've got mental road markers from having been there before that compresses and speeds up thinking time and it gives you confidence and over time it can also strengthen your intuition four reflective thinking clarifies the big picture when you engage in reflective thinking you can put ideas and experiences into a more accurate context reflective thinking encourages us to go back and spend time pondering what we have done and what we have seen if a person who loses his job reflects on what happened he may see a pattern of events that led to his dismissal he will better understand what happened why it happened and what things were his responsibility if he also looks at the incidents that occurred afterward he may realize that in a larger scheme of things he's better off in his new position because it better fits his skills and desires without reflection it can be very difficult to see that big picture five 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 at the same time could you see people who had been on their jobs twenty years who yet did their work poorly if so that probably frustrated you playwright william shakespeare wrote experience is a jewel and it had need be so for it is often purchased at an infinite rate yet experience alone does not add value to a life it's not necessarily experience that is valuable it's the insight people gain because of their experience reflective thinking turns experience into insight mark twain said we should be careful to get out of an experience all the wisdom that is in it not like the cat that sits down on a hot stove lid she will never sit down on a hot stove lid again and that is well but also she will never sit down on a cold one anymore an experience becomes valuable when it informs or equips us to meet new experiences reflective thinking helps to do that how to embrace the lessons of reflective thinking if you are like most people in our culture today you probably do very little reflective thinking if that's the case it may be holding you back more than you think take to heart the following suggestions to increase your ability to think reflectively one set aside time for reflection greek philosopher socrates observed the unexamined life is not worth living for most people however 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 dull 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 to 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 one of the reasons i've been able to accomplish much and keep growing personally is that i've not only set aside time to reflect but i've separated myself from distractions for short blocks of time 30 minutes in the spa an hour outside on a rock in my backyard or a few hours in a comfortable chair in my office the place doesn't matter as long as you remove yourself from distractions and interruptions three regularly review your calendar or journal most people use their calendar as a planning tool which it is but few people use it as a reflective thinking tool what could be better however for helping you to review where you have been and what you have done except maybe a journal i'm not a journaler in the regular sense i don't use writing to figure out what i'm thinking and feeling instead i figure out what i'm thinking and feeling and then i write down significant thoughts into action points i file the thoughts so that i can quickly put my hands on them again i immediately execute the action points or delegate them to someone else calendars and journals remind you of how you've spent your time show you whether your activities match your priorities and help you 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 you needed four ask the right questions the value you receive from reflecting will depend on the kinds of questions you ask yourself the better the questions the more gold you will mine from your thinking when i reflect i think in terms of my values relationships and experiences here are some sample questions 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 i added value to that person can i follow up and compound the positive benefit he or she received leadership did i lead by example today did i lift my people and organization to a higher level what did i do and how did i do it personal faith did i represent god well today did i practice the golden rule have i walked the second mile with someone marriage and family did i communicate love to my family today how did i show that love did they feel it did they return it inner 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 discoveries what did i encounter today to which i need to give more thinking time are there lessons to be learned are there things to be done how you organize your reflection time is up to you you may want to adapt my pattern to your own values or you can try a system that my friend dick biggs uses he creates three columns on a sheet of paper year turning point impact this system is good for reflecting on the bigger picture dick used it to see patterns in his life such as when he moved to atlanta and was encouraged by a new teacher to write you could just as easily write event significance and action point on a page to help you benefit from reflective thinking the main thing is to create questions that work for you and write down any significant thoughts that come to you during the reflection time five cement your learning through action writing down the good thoughts that come out of your reflective thinking has value but nothing helps you to grow like putting your thoughts into action to do that you must be intentional when you read a good book for example 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 the book when i listen to a message i record the takeaways so that i can file them for future use when i go to a seminar i take good notes and i use a system of symbols to cue me to do certain things an arrow pointing to the right means to look at this material again an asterisk next to the marked section means to file it according to the subject noted an open bracket means that i want to use what's marked in a lecture or book an arrow pointing up means this idea will take off if i work at it when most people go to a conference or seminar they enjoy the experience listen to the speakers and sometimes even take notes but nothing happens after they go home they like many of the concepts they hear but when they close their notebooks they don't think about them again when that happens they receive little more than a temporary surge of motivation when you go to a conference revisit what you heard reflect on it and then put it into action it can change your life ultimately reflective thinking has three main values it gives me perspective within context it allows me to continually connect with my journey and it provides counsel and direction concerning my future it is an invaluable tool to my personal growth few things in life can help me learn and improve the way reflective thinking can thinking question am i regularly revisiting the past to gain a true perspective and think with understanding chapter eight question popular thinking i'm not an answering machine i'm a questioning machine if we have all the answers how come we're in such a mess cardinal economist john maynard keynes whose ideas profoundly influenced economic theory and practices in the 20th century asserted the difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from the old ones going against popular thinking can be difficult whether you're a business person bugging company tradition a pastor introducing new types of music to his church a new mother rejecting old wives tales handed down from her parents or a teenager ignoring currently popular styles many of the ideas in this book go against popular thinking if you value popularity over good thinking then you will severely limit your potential to learn the types of thinking encouraged by this book popular thinking is too average to understand the value of good thinking too inflexible to realize the impact of changed thinking too lazy to master the process of intentional thinking too small to see the wisdom of big picture thinking too satisfied to unleash the potential of focused thinking too traditional to discover the joy of creative thinking too naive to recognize the importance of realistic thinking too undisciplined to release the power of strategic thinking too limiting to feel the energy of possibility thinking too trendy to embrace the lessons of reflective thinking too shallow to question the acceptance of popular thinking too proud to encourage the participation of shared thinking too self-absorbed to experience the satisfaction of unselfish thinking and too uncommitted to enjoy the return of bottom line thinking if you want to become a good thinker then start preparing yourself for the possibility of becoming unpopular why you should question the acceptance of popular thinking i've given you some broad reasons for questioning the acceptance of popular thinking now allow me to be more specific one popular thinking sometimes means not thinking my friend kevin myers sums up the idea of popular thinking by saying the problem with popular thinking is that it doesn't require you to think at all good thinking is hard work if it were easy everybody would be a good thinker unfortunately many people try to live life the easy way they don't want to do the hard work of thinking or pay the price of success it's easier to do what other people do and hope that they thought it out look at the stock market recommendations of some experts by the time they publish their picks most are following a trend not creating one or even writing its crest 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 when people blindly follow a trend they're not doing their own thinking 2. popular thinking offers false hope benno muller-hill a professor in the university of cologne genetics department tells how one morning in high school he stood last in a line of 40 students in the school yard his physics teacher had set up a telescope so that his students could view a planet and its moons the first student stepped up to the telescope he looked through it but when the teacher asked if he could see anything the boy said no his near-sightedness hampered his view the teacher showed him how to adjust the focus and the boy finally said he could see the planet and moons one by one the students stepped up to the telescope and saw what they were supposed to see finally the second to last student looked into the telescope and announced that he could not see anything you idiot shouted the teacher you have to adjust the lenses the student tried but he finally said i still can't see anything it is all black the teacher disgusted looked through the telescope himself and then looked up with a strange expression the lens cap still covered the telescope none of the students had been able to see anything many people look for safety and security in popular thinking they figure that if a lot of people are doing something then it must be right it must be a good idea if most people accept it 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 and proved 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 saved lives popular thinking said that women shouldn't have the right to vote yet people like emmeline pankhurst and susan b anthony fought for and won that right popular thinking put the nazis into power in germany yet hitler's regime murdered millions and nearly destroyed europe we must always remember there is a huge difference between acceptance and intelligence people may say that there's safety in numbers but that's not always true sometimes it's painfully obvious that popular thinking isn't good and right other times it's less evident for example consider the staggering number of people in the united states who have run up large amounts of debt on their credit cards anyone who is financially astute will tell you that's a bad idea yet millions follow right along with the popular thinking of buy now pay later and so they pay and pay and pay many promises of popular thinking ring hollow don't let them fool you three 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 on to it with all its might as a result it resists change and dampens innovation donald m nelson former president of the society of independent motion picture producers criticized popular thinking when he asserted we must discard the idea that past routine past ways of doing things are probably the best ways on the contrary we must assume that there is probably a better way to do almost everything we must stop assuming that a thing which never has been done before probably cannot be done at all 4. popular thinking brings only average results the bottom line popular thinking brings mediocre results here is popular thinking in a nutshell popular equals normal equals average it's the least of the best and the best of the least we limit our success when we adopt popular thinking it represents putting in the least energy to just get by you must reject common thinking if you want to accomplish uncommon results how to question the acceptance of popular thinking popular thinking has often proved to be wrong and limiting questioning it isn't necessarily hard once you cultivate the habit of doing so the difficulty is in getting started begin by doing the following things one think before you follow many individuals 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 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 challenging popular thinking requires a willingness to be unpopular and go outside of the norm following the tragedy of september 11 2001 for example few people willingly chose to travel by plane but that was the best time to travel crowds were down security was up and airlines were cutting prices about a month after the tragedy my wife margaret and i heard that broadway shows had lots of seats and many new york hotel rooms remained empty popular thinking said stay away from new york we used that as an opportunity we got cheap plane tickets to the city booked a room in a great hotel for about half price and got tickets to the most sought after show the producers as we took our seats in the theater we sat next to a woman beside herself with excitement i can't believe i'm finally here she said to us i've waited so long this is the best show on broadway and the hardest to get tickets to then she turned to look me in the eye and said i've had my tickets for a year and a half waiting to see this show how long ago did you get yours you won't like my answer i replied oh come on she said how long i got mine five days ago i answered she looked at us in horror by the way she was right it's one of the best shows we've seen in a while and we got to see it only because we were willing to go against popular thinking when everyone else was staying at home as you begin to think against the grain of popular thinking remind yourself that unpopular thinking even when resulting in success is largely underrated unrecognized and misunderstood unpopular thinking contains the seeds of vision and opportunity unpopular thinking is required for all progress the next time you feel 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 certainly don't want to blindly follow just because you haven't thought about what's best 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 different from yourself my brother larry maxwell a good businessman and an innovative thinker continually challenges popular thinking by thinking differently he says most of our people in sales and middle management come from businesses with products and services different from ours that constantly exposes us to new ways of thinking we also discourage our people from active participation in formal business and trade associations and fraternities because their thinking is quite common they don't need to spend a lot of time thinking the way everyone else in the industry does 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 with whom you spend the most time if you spend time with people who think out of the box you're more likely to challenge popular thinking and break new ground three continually question your own thinking let's face it anytime we find a way of thinking that works one of our greatest temptations is to go back to it repeatedly even if it no longer works well the greatest enemy to tomorrow's success is sometimes today's success my friend andy stanley recently taught a leadership lesson at injoy's catalyst conference called challenging the process he described how progress must be preceded by change and he pointed out many of the dynamics involved in questioning popular thinking in an organization he said we should remember that every tradition was originally a good idea and perhaps even revolutionary but every tradition may not be a good idea for the future in your organization if you were involved in putting into place what currently exists then it's likely that you will resist change even change for the better that's why it's important to challenge your own thinking if you're too attached to your own thinking and how everything is done now then nothing will change for the better 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 normal order an unfamiliar dish at your favorite restaurant ask a different colleague to help you with a familiar project take yourself off of autopilot unpopular thinking asks questions and seeks options in 1997 my three companies moved to atlanta georgia it's a great city but traffic at peak times can get crazy immediately after moving here i began looking for and testing alternative routes to desired destinations so that i would not be caught in traffic from my house to the airport for example i have discovered and used nine routes within eight miles and twelve minutes from one another often i am amazed to see people sitting on the freeway when they could be moving forward on an alternative route what is the problem too many people have not tried new things in new ways it is true most people are more satisfied with old problems than committed to finding new solutions how you go about doing new things in new ways is not as important as making sure you do it besides if you try to do new things in the same way that everyone else does are you really going against popular thinking get out there and do something different today five get used to being uncomfortable when it comes right down to it popular thinking is comfortable it's like an old recliner adjusted to all the owners idiosyncrasies the problem with most old recliners is that no one has looked at them lately if so they'd agree that it's time to get a new one if you want to reject popular thinking in order to embrace achievement you'll have to get used to being uncomfortable if you embrace unpopular thinking and make decisions based on what works best and what is right rather than what is commonly 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 you could be thinking question am i consciously rejecting the limitations of common thinking in order to accomplish uncommon results chapter nine benefit from shared thinking none of us is as smart as all of us ken blanchard good thinkers especially those who are also good leaders 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 accomplish more than they ever could on their own those who participate in shared thinking understand the following one shared thinking is faster than solo thinking we live in a truly fast-paced world to function at its current rate of speed we can't go it alone i think the generation of young men and women just entering the workforce since that very strongly perhaps that is why they value community so highly and are more likely to work for a company they like than one that pays them well working with others is like giving yourself a shortcut if you want to learn a new skill quickly how do you do it do you go off by yourself and figure it out or do you get someone to show you how you can always learn more quickly from 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 two shared thinking is more innovative than solo thinking we tend to think of great thinkers and innovators as soloists but the truth is that the greatest innovative thinking doesn't occur in a vacuum innovation results from collaboration albert einstein once remarked many times a day i realize how much my own outer and inner life is built upon the labors of my fellow men both living and dead and how earnestly i must exert myself in order to give in return as much as i have received shared thinking leads to greater innovation whether you look at the work of researchers marie and pierre curie surrealists luis buniel and salvador dali or songwriters john lennon and paul mccartney if you combine your thoughts with the thoughts of others you will come up with thoughts you've never had three 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 dreams and energy but little experience to try to overcome that i attempted to get several high-profile pastors of growing churches to share their thinking with me in the early 1970s i wrote letters to the 10 most successful pastors in the country offering them what was a huge amount of money to me at the time one hundred dollars to meet me for an hour so that i could ask them questions when one said yes i'd visit him i didn't talk much except to ask a few questions i wasn't there to impress anyone or satisfy my ego i was there to learn i listened to everything he said took careful notes and absorbed everything i could those experiences changed my life you've had experiences i haven't and i've had experiences you haven't put us together and we bring a broader range of personal history and therefore maturity to the table if you don't have the experience you need hook up with someone who does 4. shared thinking is stronger than solo thinking philosopher poet johann wolfgang von goethe said to accept good advice is but to increase one's own ability two heads are better than one when they are thinking in the same direction it's like harnessing two horses to pull a wagon they are stronger pulling together than either is individually but did you know that when they pull together they can move more weight than the sum of what they can move individually a synergy comes from working together that same kind of energy comes into play when people think together five shared thinking returns greater value than solo thinking because shared thinking is stronger than solo thinking 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 clarence francis sums up the benefits in the following observation i sincerely believe that the word relationships is the key to the prospect of a decent world it seems abundantly clear that every problem you will have in your family in your work in our nation or in this world is essentially a matter of relationships of interdependence six 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 playwright ben johnson said he that is taught only by himself has a fool for a master when i was in school teachers put the emphasis on being right and on doing better than the other students rarely on working together to come up with good answers yet all the answers improve when they make the best use of everyone's thinking if we each have one thought and together we have two thoughts then we always have the potential for a great thought how to encourage the participation of shared thinking some people naturally participate in shared thinking anytime they see a problem they think who do i know who can help with this leaders tend to be that way so do extroverts however you don't have to be either of those to benefit from shared thinking use the following steps to help you improve your ability to harness shared thinking one value the ideas of others first believe that the ideas of other people have value if you don't your hands will be tied how do you know if you truly want input from others ask yourself these questions am i emotionally secure people who lack confidence and worry 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 consider others ideas years ago an emotionally insecure person took a key position on my board of directors after a couple of meetings it became obvious to the other board members that this individual would not positively contribute to the organization i asked a seasoned leader on the board why does this person always do and say things that hinder our progress i'll never forget his reply hurting people hurt people do i place a value on people you won't value the ideas of a person if you don't value and respect the person himself or herself 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 if i don't value people i don't want to be around them if i value people i listen to them if i don't value people i neglect to listen if i value people i want to help them if i don't value people i don't offer them help if i value people i am influenced by them if i don't value people i ignore them if i value people i respect them if i don't value people i am indifferent do i value the interactive process a wonderful synergy often occurs as the result of shared thinking it can take you places you've never been publisher malcolm forbes asserted listening to advice often accomplishes far more than heeding it i must say i didn't always value shared thinking for many years i tended to withdraw when i wanted to develop ideas only reluctantly did i work on ideas with others when a colleague challenged me on this i started to analyze my hesitancy i realized that it went back to my college experience some days in the classroom i could tell that a teacher was unprepared to lecture and instead spent the class time asking us to give our uninformed opinions on a subject most of the time the opinion seemed no better than mine i had come to class so that the professor could teach me i realized that the process of shared ideas wasn't the problem it was who was doing the talking 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 is one of my strengths still i always think about whom i bring around the table for a shared thinking session i'll tell you my guidelines for whom i invite later in this chapter you must open yourself up to the idea of sharing ideas before you will engage in the process of shared thinking two move from competition to cooperation jeffrey j fox author of how to become ceo says always be on the lookout for ideas be completely indiscriminate as to the source get ideas from customers children competitors other industries or cab drivers it doesn't matter who thought of an idea a person who values cooperation desires to complete the ideas of others not compete with them if someone asks you to share ideas 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 all will share their thoughts with greater enthusiasm three have an agenda when you meet i enjoy spending time with certain people whether we discuss ideas or not my wife margaret my children my grandchildren my parents though we often do discuss ideas it doesn't bother me if we don't we are family when i spend time with nearly anyone else in my life however i have an agenda i know what i want to accomplish the more i respect the wisdom of the person the more i listen for example when i meet 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 like bill bright i mostly keep my mouth shut in other relationships the give and take is more even but no matter with whom i meet i have a reason for getting together and i have an expectation for what i'll give to it and get from it that's true whether it's for business or pleasure four get 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 ask people 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's thoughts people who can emotionally handle quick changes in the conversation people who appreciate the strengths of others in areas where they are weak people who understand their place of value at the table people who place what is best for the team before themselves people who can bring out the best thinking in the people around them people who possess maturity experience and success in the issue under discussion people who will take ownership and responsibility for decisions people who will leave the table with a we attitude not a me attitude too often we choose our brainstorming partners based on feelings of friendship or circumstances or convenience but that doesn't help us to discover and create the ideas of the highest order who we invite to the table makes all the difference five compensate good thinkers and collaborators well successful organizations 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 look for good thinkers who value others have experience with a collaborative process and are emotionally secure then pay them well and challenge them to use their thinking skills and share their ideas often nothing adds value like a lot of good thinkers putting their minds together no matter what you're trying to accomplish you can do it better with shared thinking that is why i spend much of my life teaching leadership good leadership helps to put together the right people at the right time for the right purpose so that everybody wins all it takes is the right people and a willingness to participate in shared thinking thinking question am i consistently including the heads of others to think over my head and achieve compounding results chapter 10 practice unselfish thinking we cannot hold a torch to light another's path without brightening our own ben sweetland so far in this book we've discussed many kinds of thinking that can help you to achieve more each of them has the potential to make you more successful now i want to acquaint you with a kind of thinking with the potential to change your life in another way it might even redefine how you view success unselfish thinking can often deliver a return greater than any other kind of thinking take a look at some of its benefits one unselfish thinking brings personal fulfillment few things in life bring greater personal rewards than helping others charles h burr believed getters generally don't get happiness givers get it helping people brings great satisfaction when you spend your day unselfishly serving others at night you can lay down your head with no regrets and sleep soundly in bringing out the best in people alan loy mcginnis remarked there is no more noble occupation in the world than to assist another human being to help someone succeed even if you have spent much of your life pursuing selfish gain it's never too late to have a change of heart even the most miserable person like charles dickens scrooge can turn his life around and make a difference for others that's what alfred nobel did when he saw his own obituary in the newspaper his brother had died and the editor had written about 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 into being 2. unselfish thinking adds value to others in 1904 bessie anderson stanley wrote 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 a rescued soul who has never lacked appreciation of earth's beauty or failed to express it who has always looked for the best in others and given them the best he had whose 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 three unselfish thinking encourages other virtues when you see a four-year-old you expect to observe selfishness but when you see it in a forty-year-old it's not very attractive is it 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 four unselfish thinking increases quality of life the spirit of generosity created by unselfish thinking gives people an appreciation for life and an understanding of its higher values seeing those in need and giving to meet that need puts a lot of things into perspective it increases the quality of life of the giver and the receiver that's why i believe that there is no life as empty as the self-centered life there is no life as centered as the self empty life if you want to improve your world then focus your attention on helping others five unselfish thinking makes you part of something greater than yourself merck and company the global pharmaceutical corporation has always seen itself as doing more than just producing products and making a profit it desires 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 while it was a good product potential customers couldn't afford to buy it so what did merck do it developed the drug anyway and in 1987 announced that it would give the medicine free to anyone who needed it as of 1998 the company had given more than 250 million tablets away george w merc says we try never to forget that medicine is for the people it is not for the prophets the prophets follow and if we have remembered that they have never failed to appear the lesson to be learned simple instead of trying to be great be part of something greater than yourself six unselfish thinking creates a legacy jack balasek president and chief operating officer of true north communications says learn earn return these are the three phases of life the first third should be devoted to education the second third to building a career and making a living and the last third to giving back to others returning something in gratitude each state seems to be a preparation for the next one 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 how to experience the satisfaction of unselfish thinking i think most people recognize the value of unselfish thinking and most would even agree that it's an ability they would like to develop many people however are at a loss concerning how to change their thinking to begin cultivating the ability to think unselfishly i recommend that you do the following one put others first the process begins with realizing that everything is not about you that requires humility and a shift in focus in the power of ethical management ken blanchard and norman vincent peale wrote people with humility don't think less of themselves they just think of themselves less 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 paul the apostle exhorted do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit but in humility consider others better than yourselves each of you should look not only to your own interests but also to the interests of others make a mental and emotional commitment to look out for the interests of others two expose yourself to situations where people have needs 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 the kind of giving you do isn't important at first you can serve at your church make donations to a food bank volunteer professional services or give to a charitable organization point is to learn how to give and to cultivate the habit of thinking like a giver 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 it's almost always easier to give when you receive recognition for it than it is when no one is likely to know about it the people who give in order to receive a lot of fanfare however have already received any reward they will get there are spiritual mental and emotional benefits that come only to those who give anonymously if you've never done it before try it four invest in people intentionally the highest level of unselfish thinking comes when you give of yourself to another person for that person's 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 really 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 if you want to become the kind of person who invests in people then consider others and their journey so that you can collaborate with them each relationship is like a partnership created for mutual benefit as you go into any relationship think about how you can invest in the other person so that it becomes a win-win situation here is how relationships most often play out i win you lose i win only once you win i lose you win only once we both win we win many times we both lose goodbye partnership the best relationships are win-win why don't more people go into relationships with that attitude i'll tell you why most people want to make sure that they win first unselfish thinkers on the other hand go into a relationship and make sure that the other person wins first and that makes all the difference five continually check your motives francois de la rochefoucault said what seems to be generosity is often no more than disguised ambition which overlooks a small interest in order to secure a great one the hardest thing for most people is fighting their natural tendency to put themselves first that's why it's important to continually examine your motives to make sure you're not sliding backward into selfishness do you want to check your motives then 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 give while you live in the fall of 2001 we all witnessed a demonstration of unselfish thinking unlike anything we had seen in the united states for many years who can forget the events of september eleventh two thousand one i had just finished teaching a leadership lesson when my assistant linda eggers came into the studio to announce the tragic news like most americans i remained riveted to the television all day and heard the reports of the firefighters and police officers who raced into the world trade center towers to help others never worrying about their own safety in the days following the tragedy millions of americans expressed a great desire to do something that would help the situation i had the same desire enjoy was scheduled to do a training via simulcast on september 15th the saturday following the tragedy our leadership team decided to add a one and a half hour program titled america praise to the end of the simulcast in it my friend max lucado wrote and read a prayer expressing the heart's cry of millions franklin graham prayed for our national leaders jim and shirley dobson gave advice to parents on how to help their children deal with the event and bruce wilkinson and i asked the simulcast viewers to give financially to the people injured on september 11th amazingly they gave 5.9 million dollars which world vision graciously agreed to distribute to those in need unselfish thinking and giving turned a very dark hour into one of light and hope less than two weeks after the tragedy i was able to travel to ground zero in new york city i went to view the site of the destruction to thank the men and women clearing away the wreckage and to pray for them i can't really do justice to what i saw i've traveled to new york dozens of times it's one of my favorite places in the world my wife and i had been up in the towers with our children many times before and have wonderful memories of that area to look at the place where the buildings had once stood and to see nothing but rubble dust and twisted metal it's simply indescribable what many americans didn't realize is that for many months people worked diligently to clean up the site many were new york city firefighters and other city workers others were volunteers they worked around the clock seven days a week and when they came across the remains of someone in the rubble they called for silence and reverently carried them out since i am a clergyman i was asked to wear a clerical collar upon entering the area as i walked around many workers saw the caller and asked me to pray for them it was a humbling privilege american educator horace mann said be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity according to the standard new york city's firefighters are certainly prepared for death the service they perform is often truly heroic you and i may never be required to lay down our lives for others as they did but we can give to others in different ways we can be unselfish thinkers who put others first and add value to their lives we can work with them so that they go farther than they thought possible thinking question am i continually considering others and their journey in order to think with maximum collaboration chapter 11 rely on bottom line thinking there ain't no rules around here we're trying to accomplish something thomas edison inventor how do you figure out the bottom line for your organization business department team or group in many businesses the bottom line is literally the bottom line profit determines whether you are succeeding but dollar should not always be the primary measure of success would you measure the ultimate success of your family by how much money you had at the end of the month or year and if you run a non-profit or volunteer organization how would you know whether you were performing at your highest potential how do you think bottom line in that situation a non-profit's bottom line francis hesselbein had to ask herself exactly that question in 1976 when she became the national executive director of the girl scouts of america when she first got involved with the girl scouts running the organization was the last thing she expected she and her husband john were partners in hasselbein studios a small family business that filmed television commercials and promotional films she wrote the scripts and he made the films in the early 1950s she was recruited as a volunteer troop leader at the second presbyterian church in johnstown pennsylvania even that was 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 served as executive director of the talus rock girl scout council a full-time paid position by the time she took the job as ceo of the national organization the girl scouts was in trouble the organization lacked direction teenage girls were losing interest in scouting and it was becoming increasingly difficult to recruit adult volunteers especially with greater numbers of women entering the workforce meanwhile the boy scouts was considering opening itself to girls hesselbein desperately needed to bring the organization back to the bottom line we kept asking ourselves very simple questions she says what is our business who is our customer and what does the customer consider value if you're the girl scouts ibm or at t you have to manage for a mission hasselbein's focus on mission enabled her to identify the girl scouts bottom line we really are here for one reason to help a girl reach her highest potential more than any one thing that made the difference because when you are clear about your mission corporate goals and operating objectives flow from it once she figured out her bottom line 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 to be used by each of the 350 regional councils and she introduced management training to the organization hesselbine didn't restrict herself to changes in leadership and organization in the 1960s and 70s the country had changed and so had its girls but the girl scouts hadn't hesselbine tackled that issue too the organization made its 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 households if helping girls reach their highest potential was the group's bottom line then why not be more aggressive helping girls who traditionally have fewer opportunities the strategy worked beautifully minority participation in the girl scouts crippled in 1990 hesselbein left the girl scouts after making it a first class organization she went on to become the founding president and ceo of the peter f drucker foundation for non-profit management and now serves as chairman of its board of governors and in 1998 she was awarded the presidential medal of freedom president clinton said of hesselbine during the ceremony at the white house she has shared her remarkable recipe for inclusion and excellence with countless organizations whose bottom line is measured not in dollars but in changed lives he couldn't have said it better why you should enjoy the return of bottom line thinking if you're accustomed to thinking of the bottom line only as it relates to financial matters then you may be missing some things crucial to you and your organization instead think of the bottom line as the end the take away the desired result every activity has its own unique bottom line if you have a job your work has a bottom line if you serve in your church your activity has a bottom line so does your effort as a parent or spouse if you are one as you explore the concept of bottom line thinking recognize that it can help you in many ways one bottom line thinking provides great clarity what's the difference between bowling and work when bowling it takes only three seconds to know how you've done that's one reason 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 by which to measure activity it can be used as a focused way of ensuring that all your little activities are purposeful and line up to achieve a larger goal two bottom line thinking helps you assess every situation when you know your bottom line it becomes much easier to know how you're doing in any given area when francis hesselbein began running the girl scouts for example she measured everything against the organization's goal of helping a girl reach her highest potential from the organization's management structure which he changed from a hierarchy to a hub down to what badges the girls could earn there's no better measurement tool than the bottom line three bottom line thinking helps you make the best decisions decisions become much easier when you know your bottom line when the girl scouts were struggling in the 1970s outside organizations tried to convince its members to become women's rights activists or door-to-door canvassers but under hasselbein it became easy for the girl scouts to say no it knew its bottom line and it wanted to pursue its goals with focus and fervency four bottom line thinking generates high morale when you know the bottom line and you go after it you greatly increase your odds of winning and nothing generates high morale like winning how do you describe sports teams that win the championship or company divisions that achieve their goals or volunteers who achieve their mission they're excited hitting the target feels exhilarating and you can hit it only if you know what it is 5. bottom line thinking ensures your future if you want to be successful tomorrow you need to think bottom line today that's what francis hesselbein did and she turned the girl scouts around look at any successful lasting company and you'll find leaders who know their bottom line they make their decisions allocate their resources hire their people and structure their organization to achieve that bottom line how to enjoy the return of bottom line thinking it isn't hard to see the value of the bottom line most people would agree that bottom line thinking has a high return but learning how to be a bottom line thinker can be challenging 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 get to the results you're really looking for the true essence of the goal set aside any emotions that may cloud your judgment and remove any politics that may influence your perception what are you really trying to achieve when you strip away all the things that don't really matter what are you compelled to achieve what must occur what is acceptable that is the real bottom line two make the bottom line the point have you ever been in a conversation with someone whose intention seemed other than stated sometimes the situation reflects intentional deception but it can also occur when the person doesn't know his own bottom line the same thing happens in companies sometimes for example an idealistically stated mission and the real bottom line don't jibe purpose and profits compete earlier i quoted george w merc who stated we try never to forget that medicine is for the people it is not for the prophets the prophets follow and if we have remembered that they have never failed to appear he probably made that statement to remind those in his organization that profits serve purpose they don't compete with it if making a profit were the real bottom line and helping people merely provided the means for achieving it then the company would suffer its attention would be divided and it would neither help people as well as it could nor make as much profit as it desired three create a strategic plan to achieve the bottom line bottom line thinking achieves results therefore it naturally follows that any plans that flow out of such thinking must tie directly to the bottom line and there can be only one not two or three once the bottom line has been determined 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 leader's responsibility the important thing is that when the bottom line of each activity is achieved then the bottom line is achieved if the sum of the smaller goals doesn't add up to the real bottom line then either your strategy is flawed or you've not identified your real bottom line four align team members with the bottom line once you have your strategy in place make sure your people line up with your strategy ideally all team members should know the big goal as well as their individual role in achieving it they need to know their personal bottom line and how that works to achieve the organization's bottom line five stick with one system and monitor results continually dave sutherland the president of one of my companies iss believes that some organizations get into trouble by trying to mix systems he maintains that many kinds of systems can be successful but mixing different systems are continually changing from one to another leads to failure dave says bottom line thinking cannot be a one-time thing it has to be built into the system of working and relating and achieving you can't just tune into the desired result every now and then achieving with bottom line thinking must be a way of life or it will send conflicting messages i am a bottom line thinker it is part of my system for achievement i practice it every day no other measurements no wasted efforts dave calls members of his field team every night to ask the bottom line question they expect to hear he continually keeps his eye on the company's bottom line by monitoring it for every core area when it comes right down to it regardless of your bottom line you can improve it with good thinking and bottom line thinking has a great return because it helps 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 thinking question am i staying focused on the bottom line so that i can gain the maximum return and

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