T H / I N K I N G

TH/INKING is a new word I coined, to capture two incredibly important activities:

1. thinking
2. inking (or writing down one's thoughts)

One without the other is not worth much. For example, a lot of people "think" but never put down on paper what they're thinking about. So they keep having the same thoughts over and over again (and, of course, this kind of thinking quickly becomes "worrying").

On the other hand, there are 20 million bloggers who write and write and write, without ever thinking strategically about the value of their writing.

Perhaps the best teacher of thinking is Dr Edward de Bono. One of his recurring ideas is that in our culture, we usually do not think. We merely argue against one another. Who's right? Who's wrong? Who's to blame?

In other words, we focus on explaining the past. We don't focus on designing the future.

This is probably why "thinking" has such a bad reputation. Most people would prefer "action."

We often hear the following pieces of popular pseudo-wisdom: "Ah, don't think too much" ... "Just do it!" ... "We need results-oriented people!" ... "You have to try it! Or you'll never know!"

The main reason why people prefer action to thinking, is that they have never been trained to think logically or strategically. So because they are not good thinkers, they prefer not to think. Watching TV or going to the movies is so much easier: all the "thinking" has been done by the writer, director and actors. One only has to "enjoy" the experience without thinking much (unless, of course, you happen to watch a foreign movie, where sometimes nothing seems logical!).

Yet, the truth is that it is the thinkers who create wealth and rule society.

And as in any important discipline, you have to be bad at something before you can become good at it.

The key is to start now. The success secret is to start thinking systematically (by, for example, using de Bono's six thinking hats), and start inking your thoughts onto paper (or on a blog).

As a person becomes a better thinker, he/she will be able to create MORE value. Inevitably, he/she will earn more.