People just don’t think enough today.
I’m a bit biased, ’cause the lack of thinking in the world is a pet peeve of mine. But the truth of the matter is most people don’t think. You like to think you do, but the fact is you don’t.
Thomas Edison said so eloquently;
Five percent of people think, ten percent of people think they think and the other eighty five percent would rather die than think.
Sorry, I believe this to the bottom of my heart. Having run businesses, worked with people at all stages of their careers in Fortune 500 to start-ups, the biggest deficiency I’ve found is people just don’t think. They operate on autopilot, accepting the status quo. Rarely if ever challenging why things are done, wondering if there is a better way or even considering the idea that maybe they could be wasting time, missing an opportunity or losing money.
Thinking is a muscle too few of us exercise, and it costs money, innovation, growth and our careers.
In Chapter 6 of Not Taught I dedicate an entire Chapter to the importance of thinking and why learning how to think critically, constantly and with direction is a critcal key to success in the 21st century. CEO’s and their respective companies are desperate for thinkers to help navigate the challenges and problems being created in today’s rapidly changing world. A 2010 IBM study said CEO’s are fearful they don’t have the leadership on their teams to handle the increasingly complex world of business. They are scared.
In essence, CEO’s of the worlds largest companies are echoing what I’m saying. They can’t find enough people who think at a level required to be successful.
Thinking is code for problem solving. The better we are at thinking the better we are at solving problems and the better we are at solving problems, the greater success we will achieve.
Meet Claudia
Claudia is a goddess of idea generation. She get’s in more than almost anyone. When it comes to success, ideas are what matters.
Every problem we face is solved or made through the ideas we come up to resolve them. Idea creation requires thinking and as Claudia spells out in her book, Become an Idea Machine.
Claudia argues that becoming good at creating ideas is like a muscle and can be trained. She argues that idea generation and thinking can be improved upon, and all it takes is practice, lots of practice. Claudia’s method of practice is to create ten ideas a day on any topic. The premise is that coming up with ten ideas is not that easy, and it takes work to get our brain to think past the first few obvious choices.
Adam Grant argues this same point in his new book, Originals. He argues that “originals” procrastinate to come up with MORE ideas and let their ideas germinate before they jump in. In other words, they create more ideas before they find the best one.
Claudia is a yoga master for your brain.
In addition to her book on thinking and generating ideas, Claudia is a yoga master. She can help you get your mind in the right place to maximize your thinking skills.
Follow Claudia at all these cool places.
Twitter: @claudiayoga
Website: Claudia Yoga
Books:
Facebook: @claudiayoga
Follow Claudia, read her book Becomeand Idea Machine and start learning how to come up with ten ideas for ten different things each day. Start training your brain for higher-level thinking. The 21st-century is desperate for higher-level thinkers, and Claudia is a Taught Leader that can get you there.
————————————————————-
The Taught Leader series is a weekly series highlighting those who exemplify the tools and skills discussed in my new book Not Taught. Each week I highlight a different chapter and share the killer stories of the people who have become experts in the area. I provide readers with all the wonderful goodness these early adopters and 21st-century success stories have to offer. The goal, to help you learn the new rules to success and crush it in the 21st-century.
What, you haven’t read Not Taught?
Then get it here. Hurry up, you’re already late.
You can download a free chapter of Not Taught here;