From Tunnel Vision to Holistic Living: How Parallel Thinking Can Transform Your Life

During one of my travels, I had a conversation with a friend about the remarkable accomplishments we were able to achieve in just five days. We successfully tested a new business idea, created numerous networking opportunities, mentored and trained people in becoming disciples, and developed strong leaders within our community.

Most of the time we view life sequentially and not in parallel. Life is placed in boxes and sequences. First we need to pray, then prepare and after that, we can share the good news of Jesus. We first need to do research and after that, ONLY after that, we can start our business.

This way of sequential thinking is good for some situations. Especially when we need to analyze and solve problems, but in other cases it can be harmful.

In this newsletter I will:

1. Show you the difference between sequential and parallel thinking
2. 3 problems and pitfalls of sequential thinking
3. One example how I used parallel thinking to help me achieve 7 goals at once
4. 4 ways of applying parallel thinking in your own life

What are sequential and parallel thinking?

Sequential thinking is a linear thought process that focuses on identifying a problem, analyzing it, and coming up with a solution in a step-by-step fashion. Sequential thinking comes from our Greek way of thinking/learning (logical way of thinking). The Greek thinking originated in Plato’s philosophy. He believed that reality happened in the realm of ideas and not in the physical world. To experience the world through our senses was for him only a shadow of reality. Reality was found in our mind. This way of thinking created a dualistic mindset.

On the other hand, parallel thinking is a non-linear thought process that involves looking at life from multiple perspectives simultaneously. Instead of breaking down life into smaller parts, parallel thinkers analyze multiple aspects simultaneously. This way of thinking is more associated with the Hebrew way of thinking. The Hebrew way of thinking is more unified. “The created universe, which consists of both visible and invisible realms, is a unified whole. Reality exists in both realms, and one is not better than the other. When God created the world in which we live, He declared that it was good, and so the physical world is not innately evil or somehow inferior to the immaterial world.” (Tim Hegg, https://torahresource.com/big-fat-greek-mindset/).

Our Greek way of thinking has influenced us in many ways and has led us astray. For example, many people have been thinking that business and church cannot go together. Business is secular and church is sacred. This created a divide between sacred and the secular, between church and business. When we look at the Bible, we see that of all 132 public appearances of Jesus, 122 were in the marketplace. Jesus didn’t have a dualistic, Greek worldview. He was a Jew. He merged business and church together.

3 problems with sequential thinking

Although sequential thinking has its value and can be very important. There are some problems with it:

1. It Slows Things Down: Sequential thinking limits doing multiple things at once. This will slow down the process. If people ONLY can make disciples once they have been baptized, it slows down the pace and speed of the work. If people cannot start their business BEFORE they have done ALL the research, it slows the process down. Our 5 day business training was very effective and fast, as we achieved multiple goals at once.
2. Narrow Focus: Sequential thinking tends to focus on one aspect of a problem at a time, which can lead to a tunnel vision that prevents us from seeing the bigger picture. Our business training helped people to think broader.
3. Lack of Creativity: Sequential thinking can be very structured and linear, which can limit creativity. Through brainstorming of business ideas in groups in the business training, creativity was sparked.

Let me give you example how I used parallel thinking to help achieve 7 goals at once

In our 4 day Pioneer Business Planting training we achieved in one week of training 40 people for 5 days all these:

1. Building partnership/friendships - People in the room got to know each other, learned about their respective works and became friends.
2. Discipleship - People learned how to love and obey Jesus.
3. Leadership development - People learned about leadership through the classroom teaching, but also through the exercises and games we did.
4. Developing trainers - The training was led by trainers who did this for the first time. They learned to plan, teach, manage time, content and how to interact with the participants.
5. Translation - Some people grew in their ability to speak English and Arabic through translating.
6. Testing a business idea - A family cooked for us delicious food during the training. They want to start a restaurant and we used their business idea in our business training as an example.
7. Casting vision - We casted vision on how to plant businesses and churches in other places. People want to multiply this training now in 3-4 other places.

That’s a lot of things. All at the same time. All with the same people.

How to apply parallel thinking in your own life?

1. Realize we live in a culture that is predominantly Greek: Realize that most of our thinking is done in a sequential and Greek way. Our Western culture is wired like this. If you realize this, you will notice it more in your own thinking and acting.
2. Start seeing life holistically: You can talk about business with your friends. You can share about business in your church. You can talk about Jesus in your business. Life is holistic.
3. Goal setting: Think about multiple goals you can achieve at the same time. For example, the meeting that you want to have with a potential client, can become fruitful as this person will become your client, but he or she can also become a partner or recommend you to other people.
4. Brainstorming: Parallel thinking can be used during brainstorming sessions to generate multiple ideas and perspectives simultaneously. Instead of focusing on one idea at a time, participants can use parallel thinking to consider a wide range of options.
5. Decision Making: Parallel thinking can be a useful approach when making important decisions. Instead of relying on one perspective or viewpoint, entrepreneurs can use parallel thinking to consider different perspectives simultaneously. This can help to identify potential risks and opportunities associated with each option and make more informed decisions.

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