Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Opposable Mind

Well, we're moving into the next section of this book, in which the author says he can show us ways in which we can to begin thinking integratively... rather than conventionally! I have to admit, that when he is giving his examples from the business world, of business leaders who have faced either-or solutions, it seemed fairly clear to me the direction that they could go... combining something of each into something new... But that's because he presents the situation in fairly simple terms and in reality they are very complex situations... So there is more to it than this... In our own lives, we have very complex situations, and it isn't always easy to pick out the features that are important, nor to see the way forward.

In the next few chapters, he's going to go over our stance, tools and experience... and how the three relate together. What I get from the book overall is that conventional thinkers, think inside the box... And integrative thinkers, think outside the box... They think bigger, wider, broader, deeper than conventional thinkers. They aren't limited by the "wisdom" of the day... they look farther ahead than others... They see things that conventional thinkers can't see... because they aren't look for it! We only see what we look for... If we don't see something, and others do see it... it's because it's not part of our worldview... not something we deem to be important... not something that we are looking for. We might even just ignore it or sweep it under the rug. Integrative thinkers, see things that others might dismiss as unimportant....

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