It’s actually thinking about thinking. Or, it’s being aware that one is aware. Metacognition is being aware of one’s thinking and directing one’s thinking in a deliberate and strategic way. It’s choosing which way to think.
Since 1979, School of Thinking has been the leading program in the world for teaching metacognition. The three ascending thought bubbles in the School of Thinking logo are there to represent the process of metacognition … from cvs to bvs to bvs …
Nothing has changed the business environment more than the WWW, in the last 20 years. Now, with the Apple platform and its glittering array of devices supporting Facebook, Twitter and Google the customer is not only right … the customer rules!
Customers today, in their own right, are global publishers, broadcasters, niche marketers, content-providers, network producers and political revolutionaries … and they are well aware of the fact.
The problem is that sales and businesspeople have been very slow in adapting to this new environment. Just ask Gerry Harvey!
To help salespeople and businesspeople solve this problem I’ve written WOMBAT Selling: How to sell by Word of Mouth.
• A WOMBAT is a satisfied customer who replicates another satisfied customer.
• W.O.M.B.A.T. = Word Of Mouth Buy And Tell.
• A WOMBAT is a customer who is so satisfied about your offer or your business communication that she/he passes it on to those in his/her business or social network. Pass it on. Pass it on. Pass it on.
CASE STUDY #1: www.willitblend.com Here’s a nice example of WOMBAT selling in action. I recently sourced it in this article in HBR. This case study is a businessman in Utah who is selling blenders. He claims they are “the world’s best” … of course.
But, notice how many wombats this businessman has created who, like me, are now passing on his clever viral videos. More than 10 million on just this one, and there’s more …
CASE STUDY #2:Dollarization. The universal business language is dollars. When you talk dollars you are talking the Esperanto of business. Every businessperson across every business faculty, from CEO to CFO to CMO to CIO, understands dollars. Yet we still find salespeople spending most of their time talking about “features and benefits”. Yada. Yada. Yada.
When I’m selling to businesspeople, business to business, I move quickly beyond a brief discussion of features and benefits to translate my offer or my proposition into dollars. I talk about their ROI. Dollars they’ll get in increased revenue. Dollars they’ll save that go straight to the bottom line. This is what they want. This is what they understand.
Today, few CEOs make decisions without consulting their colleagues. They usually have to “pass-on” my offer or proposal to their colleagues. If it’s translated into dollars then everyone understands. Pass it on. Pass it on. Pass it on.
Once you see this, you will be blown away. If you have never seen this before, you are in for a treat. Some of us wonder what the best computer is in the world. It has to be … a human brain!!
This is lesson #22 of the Advanced Leadership course …
The Awakening …
(Author Unknown)
A time comes in your life when you finally get it… when, in the midst of all your fears and insanity, you stop dead in your tracks and somewhere the voice inside your head cries out – ENOUGH!
Enough fighting and crying or struggling to hold on. And, like a child quieting down after a blind tantrum, your sobs begin to subside, you shudder once or twice, you blink back your tears and begin to look at the world through new eyes. This is your awakening. You realize it’s time to stop hoping and waiting for something to change… or for happiness, safety and security to come galloping over the next horizon. You come to terms with the fact that neither of you is Prince Charming or Cinderella and that in the real world there aren’t always fairy tale endings (or beginnings for that matter) and that any guarantee of “happily ever after” must begin with you… and in the process a sense of serenity is born of acceptance.
You awaken to the fact that you are not perfect and that not everyone will always love, appreciate or approve of who or what you are… and that’s OK. They are entitled to their own views and opinions. And you learn the importance of loving and championing yourself… and in the process a sense of new found confidence is born of self-approval.
You stop complaining and blaming other people for the things they did to you (or didn’t do for you) and you learn that the only thing you can really count on is the unexpected.
You learn that people don’t always say what they mean or mean what they say and that not everyone will always be there for you and that it’s not always about you. So, you learn to stand on your own and to take care of yourself… and in the process a sense of safety and security is born of self-reliance. You stop judging and pointing fingers and you begin to accept people as they are and to overlook their shortcomings and human frailties… and in the process a sense of peace and contentment is born of forgiveness.
Cognitive dissonance is an uncomfortable feeling caused by holding two contradictory ideas simultaneously.
Cognitive dissonance theory is one of the most influential and extensively studied theories in social psychology.
Dissonance normally occurs when a person perceives a logical inconsistency among his or her cognitions. This happens when one idea implies the opposite of another.
Wikipedia: Cognitive dissonance is a psychological state that describes the uncomfortable feeling between what one holds to be true and what one knows to be true. Cognitive dissonance theory is one of the most influential and extensively studied theories in social psychology.
Similar to ambivalence, the term cognitive dissonance describes conflicting thoughts or beliefs (cognitions) that occur:
- at the same time, or
- when engaged in behaviors that conflict with one’s beliefs.
In academic literature, the term refers to attempts to reduce the discomfort of conflicting thoughts, by performing actions that are opposite to one’s beliefs.
Example:
Smokers tend to experience cognitive dissonance because it is widely accepted that cigarettes cause lung cancer, yet virtually everyone wants to live a long and healthy life. In terms of the theory, the desire to live a long life is dissonant with the activity of doing something that will most likely shorten one’s life.
The tension produced by these contradictory ideas can be reduced by quitting smoking, denying the evidence of lung cancer, or justifying one’s smoking. For example, a smoker could rationalize his or her behavior by concluding that everyone dies and so cigarettes do not actually change anything. Or a person could believe that smoking keeps one from gaining weight, which would also be unhealthy.
Here, he does one of his inspired presentations of statistics showing the hopeful development of 200 countries in wealth and health over the last 200 years …
What is a slow thinker?
Many people are slow thinkers, not because they are short on brainpower, but because they’re using very sluggish, outdated brain software. The ‘thinking software’ they were taught to think with slows them down.
How fast can you think?
Answer these five questions:
• In any situation can you instantly know how you feel about it?
YES NO
• When criticised can you quickly defend your opinions?
YES NO
• Is it easy for you to see the logical errors in the thinking of others?
YES NO
• Are you good at convincing others when your point-of-view is right?
YES NO
• When faced with a decision can you quickly see the obvious alternatives and choose the best one?
YES NO
If you answered YES to any of these questions then chances are your thinking is much slower than it need be and you can easily double your speed of thought.
What’s the problem here?
It’s the 2500-year-old Greek software – logic – which was spread around the world via the European education system during the second millennium and is so sluggish. Many people are still stuck with logic, based on the right/wrong method, so that’s as fast as they can go.
Why is logic so slow?
Starting from the premise “I-am-right-and-you-are-wrong” logic traps the thinker into defending his viewpoint against any suggestion of change (because “I-am-right!”). It becomes difficult, even impossible, for the thinker to escape from his own point-of-view.
Programmed into your brain by the education system, logic was imported to Australia from Europe, along with rabbits, 200 years ago. Designed to defend ‘truth’ logic is driven by judgment. Once the thinker judges something as either ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ their enormous brainpower is then devoted to defending that opinion. This makes it very difficult for the thinker to escape from his opinion to find a much better one.
Arguments are tedious and drawn-out. Change is slow, protracted and time-consuming. That may have been OK for Europe in the middle ages but it’s not OK for Australia in the new millennium. In today’s world the imperative is velocity. We need to be speed thinkers.
What benefits you can expect from being a Speed Thinker?
Your brain is a powerful machine. Like a Formula One racing car, it’s more efficient at higher speeds. There are many benefits from accelerating your speed of thought. The faster you read, for example, the higher your comprehension because your brain is operating more efficiently at the faster speed. The same applies to your speed of thought. The faster you think, the higher the quality of your decision-making.
Also, by doubling your speed of thought you will:
• Be more open-minded.
• Be able to see more opportunities.
• Be better at solving problems.
• Enjoy making decisions.
• Be more effective at planning.
• Get much better results.
• Find it easier to be creative.
• Be able to take advantage of changes in circumstances.
• Get things done.
• Think more efficiently and worry less.
• Own a basis for a higher communication with others.
• See information in new and more useful ways.
• Learn the skill of Quantum Leaping.
• Generate better and better alternatives.
• Raise the level of every other thought-based skill you possess.
• Apply these new skills to your personal and family life.
• Be more productive with business and work problems and opportunities.
• You will be a Speed Thinker!
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“For today, it is enough to say we are marking a remarkable event for our monarch,” Prime Minister Julia Gillard told reporters in Canberra on Monday. “She is the second person to reach the diamond jubilee anniversary. A truly remarkable event.”
SOT Member Nic uses cvs2bvs to improve his chess game. Nic says:
I have been using cvs2bvs to improve my chess game and as a way of measuring the effectiveness of cvs2bvs. Not only does it help to produce a far higher percentage of successful results it also allows me to notice what my previous strategy was and BVS that too. I have found that by measuring the effectiveness of cvs2bvs builds confidence in it as a tool, and this confidence appears to automatically trigger this switch without conscious effort.
Today, few CEOs make decisions without consulting their colleagues. They usually have to “pass-on” my offer or proposal to their colleagues. If it’s translated into dollars then everyone understands. Pass it on. Pass it on. Pass it on.
Avil Beckford is an experienced online interviewer, writer and researcher.
