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Popular Thinking v Profitable Thinking

Have you ever heard of a cultural trance? This is where a belief becomes so popular it turns into a truth that nearly everyone subscribes to without further questioning.

There are many examples in history of pioneers who did question the popular view, often to their detriment.

For example, when Christopher Columbus argued that the world was a sphere rather than flat many thought he was just a bit crazy. Everyone new the world was flat; you only had to look out at the horizon to see there was an edge.

Furthermore, who could possibly stand on a ball without falling or at least stop the blood from rushing to their head?

Even with todays evidence it’s a fantastic concept.

Yet the popular view hung on well beyond the increasing and ultimately overwhelming evidence. Why?

The great benefit of popular thinking is that it maintains the status quo and it doesn't’t require you to think at all.

Popular thinking is easy. Profitable thinking may be somewhat harder but well worth the effort. So what is the difference between popular and profitable thinking?

Popular thinking: High cholesterol is the best predictor of potential heart attacks

Profitable thinking: Half of all heart attacks occur in people with normal cholesterol levels. An inexpensive test for C-reative protein (CPR) is a more reliable test for finding people at risk.

Popular thinking: During a recession, take every customer sale you can get

Profitable thinking: A study of companies following the 1990-91 recession found, "In the downturn, winning companies walked away from bad business and losers did not."

Economist John Maynard Keynes asserts, "The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from the old ones."

Going against popular thinking can be difficult. However bucking a tradition may mean the difference between life or death for you or your organisation.

Popular thinking often proves to be wrong and limiting. Questioning what's popular isn't necessarily hard once we create the discipline of doing it. John Maxwell, in Thinking for a Change, recommends five activities we can use to question popular thinking

1. Think before you follow.
People in some industries or professions follow decades-old practices without giving much thought. It is profitable to occasionally stop and ask, "Do I really want to be like the person or organization I'm following?"

2. Appreciate thinking different from your own.
As a leader, you might be surprised by the energy unleashed when you adopt the habit of readily asking, What do you think?

According to business coach David Cole ‘Our clients often praise the structure we provide for them to think strategically’.

For example, CEO of Frontline Diagnostics says 'He asks great questions which get me to think about things I hadn't considered before. It causes to think laterally and step out of the existing business paradigms. It's funny how people work within the same paradigms as their competitors and then wonder why they have trouble differentiating within the market.

Don't overlook the value of coaches, as their 'off field' perspective can often be the difference between excellence and the 'also rans'.

3. Continually question your own thinking.
Andy Stanley says, ‘In an organisation, we should remember that every tradition was originally a good idea - and perhaps even revolutionary. But every tradition may not be a good idea for the future.

What traditions have become obstacles in your life or organisation?

Maybe it's your old performance reporting methodology, people management processes or even your marketing approach.

4. Try new things in new ways.
When was the last time you did something for the first time? At age five, first time activities were a common occurrence.

Fifty years later, doing new things in new ways is no less important.

What innovations can you think of that might improve your organisation?

These changes may not be popular but they may well prove profitable.

5. Get used to being uncomfortable.
Making a living in the 21st century will require much thought. Spend time thinking about your own activities, their value and their output.

Now more than ever before we are being measured according to output. In the past busy-ness was rewarded, now the focus is much more on the result rather than the process. Do you have systems in place that encourages results rather than activity? To Visit Rewarding staff article Click Here

Popular thinking limits potential. Prior to Roger Bannister, the running world believed that the human body simply wasn't constructed to run the mile in less than four minutes. Bannister thought that the limit was a lie.

With goal in mind, Bannister ran a 3:59.4 mile on May 6, 1954. Today, there are sixty year olds bettering Olympic gold medal times set by twenty year old runners of years past.

Popular opinion assumes faster times are because of better vitamins, training or nutrition. But that doesn't really explain it, because the same improvement hasn't happened with racehorses, despite controlled breeding and improved nutrition.

It is profitable to recognise that human potential rests in the mind, not the body. This is because humans are learning to expand their minds while the body merely follows.

List those areas you could improve your organisation. Pretend you have no constraints with resources

On your list rank each initiative in terms of its ease to do. If you think the idea would be easy to do mark it 10, if it is hard to do, for example the cost out weighs current resources mark it closer to 0

Look at each initiative again. This time evaluate how well implementation would assist you in growing your business. If it could have a large effect mark it 10 if not mark it closer to 0.

For example a new photocopier might be easy to replace but if its impact on growing the business in overall terms is negligible it will rank closer to zero.

If you would like to know more about how our Newcastle Business consultants can assist you and your business Click Here

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