ix I've studied successful people for forty years, and though the diversity you find among
them is astounding, I've found that they are all alike in one way: how they think!
p.2 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 are
often able to connect the unconnected. They are lifelong learners.
p.6 Thomas Fuller, chaplain to Charles II of England, observed, "He that is everywhere is nowhere." To
get things done, you need to 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."
p.11 Sociologist Robert Lynd observed that "knowledge is power only if a man knows what facts are
not to bother about."
p.18-19 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.
p.23 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... Despite the importance of a person's ability to think with creativity, few people seem to possess
the skill in abundance."
p.28 Creativity is intelligence having fun.
p.31 Creativity is largely a matter of asking the right questions.
p.35-36 Spend Time with Other Creative People... 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.
p.36 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... Read
broadly.
p.54 To become a better strategic thinker able to formulate and implement plans that will achieve the desired
objective, take the following guidelines to heart:
1. 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.
p.55 2. 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 to immediately to figure out how to accomplish it. Instead of
asking how, they should first ask why... Asking why helps you to open your mind to possibilities
and opportunities.
p.55-56 3. 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... Begin asking,
What else could be the real issue?
p.56 4. Review Your Resources... A strategy that doesn't take into account resources is
doomed to failure.
p.56 5. 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
p.57 6. Put the Right People in the Right Place... 7. Keep Repeating the Process
p.65 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.
p.69 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.
p.81 Economist John Maynard Keynes, whose ideas profoundly influenced economic theory and practices in the
twentieth century, asserted, "The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from the old
ones."
p.86 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 anything. We must stop
assuming that a thing which has never been done before cannot be done at all." ... The bottom line? Popular thinking
brings mediocre results... We limit our success when we adopt popular thinking... You must reject common thinking
if you want to accomplish uncommon results." [JLJ - from Wikipedia, Donald Marr Nelson (1888-1959) was the executive
vice president of Sears Roebuck before accepting the position of director of priorities of the United States Office of Production
Management (1941-1942), and chairman of the War Production Board (1942-1944). He then served for two years (1945-47) as president
of the Society of Independent Motion Picture Producers (SIMPP). Nelson died of a stroke in 1959. ]
