Quotes and Excerpts
-
Management
Excerpts from
Thinking for a Change
11 Ways Highly Successful People Approach Life
and Work
by
John Maxwell,
Injoy, GPN
(Warner Books, 2003)
"...the time will come
when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own
desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for
themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the
truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all
things..." 2
Timothy 4:2-5
Endorsement (back cover): "If you want to go places you've never
been before--you have to think in ways you've never thought before. This
book by Hohn Maxwell will teach you how to do that!"
Ken Blanchard,
coauthor of the One Minute Manager
Skill 6: Why you should
feel the energy of possibility thinking. (158)
People who embrace possibility thinking are
capable of accomplishing tasks that seem impossible because they
believe in solutions. Here are several reasons why you should become
a possibility thinker:
1. Possibility Thinking
Increases your Possibilities
When you believe you can do
something difficult --and you succeed -- many doors open for you.....
3. Possibility Thinking
Increases Others' possibilities
Big thinkers who make things happen also
create possibilities for others. That happens, in part, because it's
contagious. You can't help but become more confident and think bigger when
you're around possibility thinkers. But possibility thinking also impacts
others in more direct ways....
4. Possibility Thinking Allows
you to Dream Big Dreams
No matter what your profession, possibility
thinking can help you to broaden your horizon
(160) and
dream bigger dreams.
Professor David J. Schwartz
[one of the foremost experts on
motivation]
believes, "Big thinkers are specialists in creating positive
forward-looking, optimistic pictures in their own minds and in the minds
of others."
In 1970, when I was twenty-three years old, I
read a book that made a major impact on how I dream. It was called
Move Ahead with Possibility Thinking, by
Robert
Schuller. As a young pastor in the my
first church, it thrilled me to read about how Schuller overcame seemingly
impossible circumstances to build a huge church in Garden Grove, California.
When I read the following words, my world changed: "The greatest churches
have yet to be organized."
160
... because you believe in possibilities, you put yourself in
position to achieve them.
5. Possibility Thinking Makes it
Possible to Rise Above Average
One
manufacturer asked a group of senior engineers to drastically reduce the
weight of cars they were designing.... They couldn't get out of the rut of
their average thinking.
What was the auto maker's solution? They gave the problem to a group of less
experienced engineers. The new group found ways
[161]
to reduce the weight.... Because they thought that solving the problem was
possible, it was!
62
6. Positive Thinking
Gives you Energy
A direct correlation exists between Positive
Thinking and the level of a person's energy. ... You invest yourself in what
you believe can succeed. When you embrace Possibility Thinking, you
believe in what you're doing, and that gives you energy.
7. Positive Thinking
Keeps you from Giving Up
Above all, positive thinkers believe they
can succeed. Denis Waitley, author of The Psychology of
Winning, says, "The winners in life think constantly in terms of 'I
can, I will and I am.'... If you believe you can do something, you have
already won much of the battle..
162
How to Feel the Energy of
Positive Thinking
163
If you want Possibility Thinking to work for
you, then begin by following these suggestions:
1. Stop Focusing on the Impossibilities.
...if negativity is a really big problem for you and pessimistic things come
out of your mouth before you've even thought them through, you may need to
enlist the aid of a friend or family member to alert you every time you
utter negative ideas. 165
[Since Maxwell is a
pastor and a leader in the Church Growth Movement, how does he deal with
man's sin and rebellion or with God's wrath and judgment? Would such
"negative thoughts" be banned?] 165
2. Stay away from
the "Experts"
If
you feel you must take the advice of an expert,
hover, then heed the words of John Andrew Holmes, who asserted, "Never tell
a young person that t something cannot be done. God may have been waiting
centuries for somebody ignorant enough of the impossible to do that
thing."166
[While God warns against new
believers in positions of leadership, the CGM prefers the young, whose minds
are not rooted in God's timeless Biblical truths. Change is better
accomplished through postmoderns who have embraced the key notions of
continual change and social evolution]
3. Look for
Possibilities in Every Situation
I recently heard don Soderquist, former
president of Wal-Mart, tell a wonderful story that illustrates how a person
can find positive possibilities in any situation.. ...[166]
5. Question the Status Quo. Growth
means change. Change requires challenging the status quo. If you want
greater possibilities, you can't settle for what you have now.
When you become a possibility thinker, you will face many people who will
want you to give up your dreams and embrace the status quo. ...
Achievers refuse to accept the status quo.
6. Find Inspiration
from Great Achievers. You
can learn a lot about possibility thinking by studying great achievers. I
began this chapter telling you about George Lucas.... 169
Chapter 1. Understand the
value of Good Thinking [3]
2. Good Thinking Increases Your
Potential. In The 21
Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, I wrote about the Law of the Lid, which
states, "Leadership ability determines a person's level of effectiveness."
In other words, in any endeavor with people, your leadership is the lid....
Your thinking is the lid for your potential. If
you're an excellent thinker, then you have excellent potential and the words
of Emerson ring true; "Beware when the great God lets loose a great thinker
on the planet."11
[Notice that his statement clashes
with Biblical truth -- God's wisdom]
I had committed myself to being a pastor: one
who does not turn his back on what he believes to be God's work. If I don't
have the innate ability to come up with creative thoughts myself, I thought,
then I'll mine the creative thoughts of others. I knew I could become a
collector of thoughts more easily than I could become a creator of
thoughts. After all, wasn't it the great inventor Thomas Edison who stated,
"Originality is the art of concealing your source'?
[But God's tells
us to proclaim the Source of our wisdom and strength -- It's all from Him!]
Discover the Joy of Creative Thinking
writer
Rosabeth
Moss Kanter says, "To
stay ahead, you must have your next idea waiting in the wings." 99
Creative Thinkers Embrace Ambiguity.
"It is the dull man who is always sure,
and the sure man who is always dull." 102
[Though John Maxwell committed himself to serving God, he never mentions
the Holy Spirit, Jesus, repentance, conversion, the Bible or the cross ...
He mentions faith 4 times, but not
Biblical faith:
"... faith in people..."
124 [See
John 2:24-25]
" ...call it what you like:
the will to succeed, belief in yourself, confidence in your
ability, faith. It's really true: people who believe they
can't, don't. But if you believe you can, you
can! That's the power ..." 170 [
"...stands between a man and what he
wants from life is often merely the will to try it and the
faith to believe that it is possible." A belief the will to try it and the faith to
believe that it is possible." 29
Back cover: endorsements 1 and 3 out
of 6 - "Praise for
Thinking for a Change"
1. "If you want to go places you've never
been before--you have to think in ways you've never thought before. This
book by Hohn Maxwell will teach you how to do that!" Ken Blanchard,
coauthor of the One Minute Manager (1s5)
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