Recharge your mind with country and western
By Glenn Capelli
Country music has always been an interesting area. Consider the following real song titles from the country & Western genre:
• How Can I Miss You, If You Wont Go Away?
• She Got The Ring and I Got the Finger and
• You’re The Reason Our Kids Are So Ugly (a duet!)
However, there is also some wisdom to be found in a Country & Western Greatest Hits CD. Consider The Kenny Rogers 1978 hit written by Don Schlitz – The Gambler.
You got to know when to hold ‘em
Know when to fold ‘em
Know when to walk away and
Know when to run
Sound advice.
In the best selling Leadership book Good To Great author Jim Collins says leadership needs to get the right people in the right seats on the bus. You can extend this and suggest that thinking is about using the right strategies in the right situations. Know when to fold ‘em, know when to hold ‘em…
Psychologist and researcher Robert Sternberg has a view of Intelligence where he says successfully intelligent people:
1. Know their own strengths
2. Know their weaknesses
3. Don’t allow ego to block the fact that they have weaknesses
4. Learn to teamwork with people who have other strengths
I also think successfully intelligent people know how and when to utilise different thinking strategies.
1. Know when to be Analytical
2. Know when to be Creative
3. Know when to be Practical
And do all of this with a good baseline of Emotional Smarts as well.
I often think the best answer to most questions is ‘It depends’. Good thinkers are able to consider the context of what is going on and what approach will work best given the context.
Good thinkers also sometimes realise that there may not be one single answer or response to a complex issue but that the best answer or response requires a mix of partial answers and responses. A little bit of this mixed with a little bit of that and a dash of something else thrown in for good measure.
Don Schlitz wrote many C&W hits including On The Other Hand recorded by Randy Travis. This song reminds us that most situations have a variety of ways at looking at them: more good advice from Country & Western wisdom.
Happy trails to you…
Glenn Capelli is the author of Thinking Caps book and radio pieces as well as being a top Keynote Speaker. www.glenncapelli.com. You can contact Glenn at glenn@glenncapelli.com