Introduction to Metathinking, Cognition and Thinking Management. Their Links to Performance, Results, Success, Achievement, Wellbeing, Relationship.

The Thinking Crisis

Here is what I think;

The world is creating more crises than it is creating solutions to prevent or solve them because, driven by academia with the primary objective to prepare people for the world of work, people have mixed up things big time by putting subject matter knowledge ahead of thinking and emotions. Right from the word go, young innocent humans are thrust into the rivers of learning without any attention whatsoever on making them think at their best. The goal of the teachers is to pump knowledge and facts and input stories in the hands of these innocent souls; not serious programs focussed directly at thinking, emotions, creativity, imagination and other aspects related to the brain, cognition, emotions, thinking, behaviours and actions. But the world can be forgiven for not focussing on these areas on the toddlers and innocent souls for reasons of their ability to comprehend it; the pattern continues right through the education of humans tight to the highest levels of education including, ironically to levels of Doctorates of Philosophy and even professorship. People leave formal education drilled into respecting education and being knowledgeable and leaving as if knowledge is all that there is in terms of performance, results and career success. Thinking is almost ignored and even today, when you talk about thinking, you get much less attention than if you talk about knowledge and academic qualifications and technical qualifications.

A World That Lacks of Training Education and Development in Thinking

Some of the things that humans do are weird but still go unnoticed. One of the weirdest things is this almost non-existent training education and development in areas that are central to the core of human life such as thinking, emotions, life management, relationships, success, happiness, the self, and wellbeing.

Psychology is the only formal education domain close to thinking found in the formal education system. Sadly, this program is available to a few who choose psychology as a course or degree program or some aspects of the medical education and this is because the subject is taught largely in terms personality maladies and not in terms of helping improve human performance, success, happiness, achievement and wellbeing. The term psychologists, as a result, evokes pictures of some people whose mind is not working properly and needs attention. Few people can think about psychology without thinking about abnormal human behaviours and psychiatry. In addition, psychology is predominantly thought about in terms of other beings and not the self. Many psychologists, I can reasonably predict, know more about psychology in general and in terms of other people and not about themselves. If psychologists used psychology on themselves; they would be at the top in terms of success, happiness, achievement, wellbeing; they will be statistically the best and the happiest and the cognitive and emotionally healthiest humans around.

Knowledge and Thinking

There is still huge misunderstanding and confusion between knowledge and thoughts and between knowing and thinking. In the minds of most humans, even the most educated, knowledge outshines thinking in the ratio of the sun outshining the dullest star. In reality, thinking is the sun and knowledge are the stars.

This putting knowledge ahead of thinking is ironical because,

1.??????In reality, thinking is the sun and knowledge is the dullest start. Knowledge is a product of thinking; is there any knowledge produced without thinking?

2.??????Knowledge is not usable without thinking but thinking works and happens even without knowledge. Thinking is primary, knowledge is secondary

3.??????The purpose of knowledge is to help thinking and not to replace it.

4.??????There are many problems and situations that cannot be solved by knowledge but by thinking; All problems that can be solved by knowledge can also be solved by thinking

5.??????Knowledge is passive; thinking is active.

6.??????Knowledge can become obsolete and lose its ability to solve problems or achieve goals. Thinking is active and is timeless.

7.??????They confuse thinking and knowing; in many situations we can think that we are thinking when in fact we are knowing or guessing or regurgitating old stuff and old answers.

Thinking Versus Not Thinking

It is important to study thinking because unless we know about thinking, we will fail to achieve many people and improve human conditions and wellbeing. This is because range of problems that are solved by knowledge without serious thinking are limited and the greatest power to achieve big things, solve problems and improve wellbeing, health, success and achievement is the power of thinking.

This power is often not available because;

1.??????Humans are never taught, educated, developed and equipped in the area subject of thinking.

2.??????Humans, for the most part, think that they are thinking when what they are doing is elementary remembering or recalling of knowledge, memories and pre-programmed unconscious stuff.

3.??????The human brain, when in automatic mode, is a short-cuts machine, it loves using emotions, assumptions, memories and experiences, beliefs and preprogramed answers to make decisions and generate solutions, leading to many flawed decisions and answers.

4.??????Most of the thinking takes place unconsciously and therefore without conscious deliberate control of the processes involved, we make many bad, suboptimal and incomplete solutions.

Thinking Management

I develop and deliver different training, education and development programs in different areas of life including business, organisations, environment and economy. So sometimes I get chief executive officers and other business leaders who from time to time ask what training I can provide for their times. When I suggest courses related to things like thinking, mindsets, emotions, decision-making, innovation and creativity, most look at me with this

“Come on! Let’s me serious Simon.”

This is surprising to me because there is not another area of training that brings higher returns in terms of performance and results than investing in thinking management.

Most people get surprised when I talk about thinking management yet this is one critical area that is ignored not only in business and organisations but also in society. There is very thinking management that takes place and this is a major reason for underperformance and many bad and serious things that happen to us humans.

Poor thinking management is more common that you can think. It is present even in areas at organisational and societal levels where you do not expect it to be present. The problem is that some of the consequences and results of poor thinking management are silent killers while others are apportioned to passive targets such as “the environment”, other people or natural events.

This is why training, education, development and equipment in thinking management and thinking are critical for everyone at all levels in companies, organisations, businesses, economies and society.

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?Simon Bere Associates, 2023