preview

How Successful People Think

Better Essays

BUSINESS BOOK SUMMARIES
Stay on Top of Best in Business Knowledge
SM

®

March 3, 2011

How Successful People Think
John C. Maxwell

Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life

Summarized by permission of the publisher, Center Street, New York, New York. All rights reserved. ©2009 by John C. Maxwell ISBN: 978-1-59995-168-3

Introduction
In all aspects of life, from the professional world to family interactions, good thinkers help solve problems. For 40 years, John C. Maxwell has studied and analyzed successful people and how they think. He has concluded that the way successful people approach the thought process is a key differentiator. In How Successful People Think, Maxwell discusses the 11 skills that good thinkers exhibit …show more content…

6. Repeating the process. To continuously generate good thoughts, it is necessary to repeat the thinking process over and over again. Maxwell has found that it is useful to have a designated place to think, shape, stretch, and land one’s thoughts. To shape a thought, a person must scrutinize it and fine tune it. Landing a thought occurs when it moves from abstraction to application. This requires buy-in from key influencers in an organization, as well as those people who will be most affected.

Key Concepts
In How Successful People Think, John C. Maxwell discusses the thought processes used by successful individuals and describes how these techniques can be learned. He outlines the 11 types of thinking and the important skills attributed to each. People succeed by: 1. Seeing the wisdom of big-picture thinking 2. Unleashing the potential of focused thinking 3. Discovering the joy of creative thinking 4. Recognizing the importance of realistic thinking 5. Releasing the power of strategic thinking 6. Feeling the energy of possibility thinking 7. Embracing the lessons of reflective thinking 8. Questioning the acceptance of popular thinking 9. Encouraging the participation of shared thinking 10. Experiencing the satisfaction of unselfish thinking 11. Enjoying the returns associated with bottom-line thinking

Big Picture Thinking
A big picture perspective brings a level of maturity to an individual’s thinking.

Get Access