I THINK SO

"Many people would sooner die than think. In fact they do."

Bertrand Russell, 20th century British logician/philosopher.

Something to think about, no?

THINKING ABOUT MACHINES THINKING

"The real problem is not whether machines think but whether men do."

B. F. Skinner, 20th century American psychologist/social philosopher

The next time you find yourself thinking about machines thinking, think about this.

YOU HAVE WINGS FOR A REASON

"If there was one life skill everyone on the planet needed, it was the ability to think with critical objectivity."

Josh Lanyon, American author

from his book "Come Unto These Yellow Sands"

And the problem has nothing to do with one's level of education; many and probably most college grads are content to simply follow a path prescribed for them by someone else.

But the best are the few ready to go a different way, one they select.

Which are you? 

Which will you be?  

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS?

"To reflect is to disturb one's thoughts."

Jean Rostand (1894-1977) French biologist and philosopher.

Which you might see as a problem if you feel your thoughts are always valid.

They're not, particularly the ones you have without the benefit of personal reflection and validation from others that what you think is right.

HERE'S AN ORIGINAL THOUGHT

"It is difficult, if not impossible, for most people to think otherwise than in the fashion of their own period."

George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) Irish writer.

By "period" Mr. Shaw means thinking, doing, and saying what everyone you know is thinking, doing, and saying, only because that is what they are thinking, doing, and saying.

If you find yourself doing that you're little more than just one of many sheep in the flock, mindlessly following many other sheep.

It's ok, to a point, to follow, just make sure you do so thoughtfully, because you've decided that is what you should do.

YOUR MIND, NOT EASILY MADE UP NOR CHANGED

"Reason is a very light rider, and easily shook off."

Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) Irish-born English satirist.

Do not easily be dissuaded.

Believe what you believe for good reason, only, and always, allowing your mind to change for even better reason.

ONE (CAN BE) THE LONELIEST NUMBER THAT YOU'LL EVER DO

"To be no part of any body, is to be nothing."

John Donne (1572-1632) English poet

This figures to come from the "No man is an island" man, however don't let that diminish his message.

It's good to be independent, just not to the point of failing to recognize when it's not.

I THOUGHT I HAD SOMETHING TO SAY ABOUT THIS

"Far more numerous are those as such; who think too little and talk too much."

John Dryden (1631-1700) British poet/dramatist/critic

A nice thing to say to someone who has much to say while not saying very much.

For better or worse, you did it!

"Everyone is a self-made person but only the successful admit it."

Unknown

The first step to improving yourself is to own the fact that you made you.

If you can't do that much you have little chance of becoming something better.

Let Me Tell You Something

"To talk without thinking is to shoot without aiming."

English proverb

How much of what you say is poorly aimed?

Think (But Not Too Much) Before You Act!

"Reflection makes men cowards."

William Hazlitt

18th century British essayist

You need to reflect before taking action but too much thinking about what might happen and you may not act at all.

How do you balance the two?

Well Thought Out?

"Thought is the parent of the deed."

Thomas Carlyle

19th century British historian

But do we think enough?

How many of your company's decisions are based on sufficient thought?  

Planning?

How about yours?

I'm Not Like You

"I may not be better than other people but at least I'm different."

Jean Jacques Rousseau

18th century Swiss political philosopher

We focus a lot on experience and iconic indications of education in business, without saying much about the value of our differences.

What if we all were top 10% in our Harvard MBA class? 

If we were, how would we set ourselves apart from each other?

Power To The Thinker

"To find yourself, think for yourself."

Socrates

Advice about "finding" one's self has a decidedly hippy feel to it but Socrates wasn't talking flower power when he said that 400 years before the birth of Christ.

In business, substitute being a successful leader for "finding yourself", and to do that you must assimilate all the quality input you can prior to reaching decisions as to not only what it means, but what you should do as a result.

Thinking for yourself, what do you think?

Thinking Your Way to Success

"You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts have taken you."

James Allen
Late 19th century author

The point being, what we think is largely responsible for what has and will happen to us.

Any doubt then about the importance of what we think about?

I don't think so.

Open Minded: Seeing Both Sides at Once

"The test of a first rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function."

F. Scott Fitzgerald

This seems simple enough but in practice it's not for many. Emotion takes over and we tend to do whatever it was we were predisposed to do in the first place.

But can you think of any other management trait more desirable than the ability to challenge one's own preconceived notions?

Do you?

Authority: Giving Versus Taking Orders

"There are two kinds of people who never amount to much: Those who cannot do what they are told and those who can do nothing else."

Cyrus H. Curtis
Early 20th century American publisher

This is one of the best quotes regarding reaction to authority I've seen.

How do you strike balance between being a too independent thinker versus not enough so?

I likely strayed too far to the former in my career.

Thinking on Hold

"An amazing invention-but who would ever want to use one."

US President Rutherford B. Hayes
Comment just after making call on Alexander Graham Bell's new telephone

I can think of a few things I initially thought were useless if not worse, later changing my mind to the point of buying them.

Sometimes being closed minded does not just mean not listening. It could be not thinking.

What do you think?

Independence in Groups: All For One and One For All?

"Follow the path of the unsafe, independent thinker. Expose your ideas to the dangers of controversy. Speak your mind and fear less the label of 'crackpot' than the stigma of conformity. And on issues that seem important to you, stand up and be counted at any cost."

Thomas J. Watson, Senior
First IBM CEO

Always easier for the boss to say than it is for the people who work for him to do. And doesn't it seem like there is often an inverse relationship between a CEO's calls for independent thinking and how much independence the staff actually exhibits?

There can only be two reasons for that. One, staff does not think independently or two, they could but fear showing their independence.

How do we encourage cohesive group action (see previous posts) while at the same time encouraging independent thinking?