How Successful People Think: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life

by John C. Maxwell

Good thinkers solve problems, they never lack ideas that can build an organization,

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.”3 Despite the importance of a person’s ability to think with creativity, few people seem to possess the skill in abundance.

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 are currently able to do, creativity can increase your capabilities.

Sadly, too often creativity is smothered rather than nurtured.

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.

“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.”5 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.

Take a look at the following phrases. They are almost guaranteed to kill creative thinking any time 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 ...

Sir Antony Jay 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?