gets you thinking
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Look around, and you will see that a lot of people in our society don't think. Our television shows have laugh tracks to tell us when something is supposed to be funny. Our coffee cups now warn us that the contents may be hot. Labels on our hair dryers remind us not to use them underwater. We are so used to having someone else do our thinking. What would happen if we woke up and started...thinking for a change? Right away Maxwell establishes that successful people think differently than unsuccessful people. In Part I, he develops a foundation by explaining the merits of good, changed and intentional thinking. Part II reveals the 11 ways that successful people think -- big-picture instead of small, focused instead of scattered, creative instead of restrictive, realistic instead of fantasy, strategic instead of random, possibility instead of limited, reflective instead of impulsive, innovative instead of popular, shared instead of solo, unselfish instead of selfish, and bottom-line instead of wishful. Each chapter explains one of these facets of thinking and allows you to evaluate yourself in each area. Maxwell then gives you action steps to develop that type of thinking in your life. This is an excellent resource to help you jump-start and expand your thinking beyond where it is today. If you are ready for a change, this book will get you thinking...for a change. Larry Hehn, author of Get the Prize: Nine Keys for a Life of Victory
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Think! Think! Exclaims Maxwell
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Maxwell uses extensive quotes, examples, and lessons from great thinkers and leaders throughout history to prove his point that critical thinking is essential for any person aspiring to assume leadership within an organization, or to gain control of one's personal life. Critical thinking is absent in corporate America today, and Maxwell strives to teach the reader to adopt new mental habits to analyze and resolve situations both within and without the boardroom. Maxwells' book presents a rationale for focused, creative, shared, realistic, strategic, possibility, reflective, popular, and bottom-line thinking. Maxwell devotes a chapter to each of these areas in his highly readable writing style.
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We Already Have All That We Need to Think More Effectively
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By now Maxwell has earned and thus deserves a reputation for some excellent thinking about leadership. In this volume, somewhat of a departure from his usual concerns, he shares some excellent ideas about the thinking process itself. He asserts (and I wholly agree) that successful people think differently than do unsuccessful people. Specifically, he identifies and then carefully examines eleven different types of thinking. "Those who embrace good thinking as a lifestyle," he suggests, "understand the relationship between their level [and quality] of thinking and their level [and degree] of progress. They also realize that to change their lives, they must change their thinking." Agreeing with Abraham Maslow, Maxwell suggests that unsuccessful people focus their thinking almost entirely on survival, average people focus their thinking almost entirely on "maintenance' (i.e. keeping whatever they now have), and successful people focus their thinking entirely on progress. Maxwell devotes a separate chapter to each of the eleven types of thinking: Big Picture, Focussed, Creative, realistic, Strategic, Possibility/Potentiality, Reflective, Popular (thinking which creates agreement, consensus, teamwork, etc.), Shared/Collaborative, Unselfish, and Bottom-line. According to Maxwell, his book "does not try to tell you what to think; it attempts to teach you [in italics] how to think." At the conclusion of each chapter, he thoughtfully includes a brief exercise which requires the reader to apply the key points in the chapter to her or his own circumstances. I have no problem with the fact that there is some redundancy in Maxwell's presentation of material. First of all, the eleven types of thinking are interrelated, interdependent. Strengthening one inevitably helps to strengthen the others. Also, certain key points need to be reiterated for purposes of both review and emphasis. Presumably Maxwell agrees with me that there is a compelling need for new thinking about how to change one's way of thinking. Metaphorically, we need both new wine AND new bottles but also new, better ideas about the process of producing wine. Paradoxically, as the prophet Eccelesiastes asserts, "there is nothing new under the sun." I am not damning with faint praise when suggesting that there is (essentially) nothing new in Maxwell's book. Almost all of the key concepts in this book can be found in the works of Aristotle, Marcus Aurelius, Immanuel Kant, William James, and others. (Maxwell duly acknowledges a wealth of resources.) For me, the great value of this book is not derived from any original insights offered by Maxwell; rather, from his brilliant organization and presentation of essentially fundamental ideas about the process of thinking clearly on so many different levels, from so many different points of view. This may well prove to be his most important contribution to our understanding of what can and should be accomplished by more effective use of the abundant resources which are already available...between our two ears.
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think right = read Thinking Strategically
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subtitled: The Competitive Edge in Business, Politics, and Everyday Life. The moral of this tale is: read specific works that are written by those who are experts in one of these 11 dimensions. Maxwell is superficial. He kinda has to be, as he is in the business of writing many books in the knowledge lite category. He may point out useful directions to follow up on. It's up to YOU to get the hint and follow the trail. Also suggest that you read Don't Jump To Solutions (cognitive psychologists call this problem "rush to structure"), by William B. Rouse, or Games, Strategies & Managers by John Mc Millan and of course, The Logic Of Failure by Dietrich Doerner.... soon enough you get the idea that strategic thinking is A. both a science and an art, and B. one heck of a lot of hard work to do well, and C. inspiration doesn't hurt, but perspiration wins the day.. Still hot to trot ? Bramson and Harrison's work on the dominant thinking styles in western cultures, Analytic, Idealistic, Pragmatic, Synthetic, and Realistic remains better than almost any other typology, perhaps more significant and elegantly simple than the Briggs-Myers system... You've been warned, fellow students. Maxwell is the threshold, not the full structure. Don't make the mistake of thinking that Thinking For A Change is enough. You need more, a lot more.
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Inspirational
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Recently I was promoted to an executive level position and this book could not have come at a better time. The way Mr. Maxwell organized thought process and progression was extremely helpful and his insights and guidance have proven beneficial to my situation. Since reading this book, time is scheduled for thought and it has helped me to focus and relax and become more productive and organized in my daily approach. I am going to recommend this book to my staff and I have since ordered Mr. Maxwells Leadership and Attitude 101, I enjoyed Mr. Maxwells "down to earth" style. This book is worth the purchase.
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