Anyone who is interested in thinking, regardless of ability or preference, is welcome in the SOT. Some of the different types of thinkers are listed to indicate the plurality of SOT membership:
– The logician
– The analyst
– The information compiler
– The idea generator
– The lateral thinker
– The detective
– The researcher
– The synthesiser
– The evaluator
– The critic
– The describer
– The clarifier
– The explainer
– The communicator
– The sales person
– The diplomat
– The leader
– The doer
– The observer
– The problem solver
– The problem finder
– The designer
– The explorer
– The organiser
– The system designer
– The group organiser
There is an obvious difference between the researcher who likes to ferret out information in a defined area and the diplomat who is sensitive to changes in people and situations.
There is an obvious difference between the critic who looks at what is and the lateral thinker who looks at what might be.
There is an obvious difference between the problem solver and the problem finder.
It is not just a matter of being better at one type than another–it is a matter of enjoyment.
Which types of thinking do you enjoy most?
DFQ #08:
Choose three from this list and post your thoughts.
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Curious & Open Minded:
Whilst there are many examples of my being curious and open minded in nature, through my life, one sticks in my brain from when I was a little child. I am a country boy living all my early life on a farm. I vividly remember going out one cold saturday morning “rabbiting” with my father. My father was a keen hunter of rabbits which we ate regularly (not being able to afford much red meat in those days as we were a large family). He showed me one technique of how to capture rabbits who are hiding in a tussock of grass. I was very curious (and disbelieving) at the time as to how this could be done. He proceeded to show me by running around the tussock where the rabbit was hiding, in a clockwise direction from about 2 metres away from the tussock, going around and around and at the same time making the circle smaller and smaller. Apparently this confuses the rabbit and they are unsure what to do (so they just freeze and do nothing). After about 6-8 circles dad was close enough to just pounce on the tussock and capture the rabbit….true story….. This little thing, of which I was disbelieving at first, has stuck with me for over 40 years…and I think was one of the events in my life that led to me becoming curious and open minded and always wondering and being appreciative about things in the world. [On reflection I know that the story is somewhat gruesome, but in those days we knew no better and we had to eat. Apologies to all the greenies in this group.]
Fairness:
Initially I hated the noise and chaos of London and as I had come to study was badly in need of stable digs. I had met a West Indian family on their holiday in Torquay where I was doing vacation work , and was offered a room in their home. Perhaps then, I should have found life comfortable, myself being the brown skinned offspring of an African father and an English mother. But everyone and everything was so noisy I often could not work. Instead I began to notice how life around me was lived outside text books and lecture timetables. And I began to notice where I was. But until one bright mid afternoon in November 1986 I did not realise what I was. I had now been in London 3 months. I crossed the street outside Balham underground station, returning from University. Mid way I was almost run over by a swiftly accelerating police van which sirens burst into cadence mere metres from me. The van halted abruptly where I had stood a moment in shock. I blurtled an expletive protest ‘You stupid bastard – you could have killed me!’ then too late thought to moderate my tongue, as I was addressing a police officer. He got out of the van, approached me menacingly and to my horror feigned being pushed, whereupon his helmet came unseated. Despite my protestations I was manhandled into the back of the police van, where a plain clothed officer punched me in the nose, causing my blood to stain the gaudy yellow Queen Mary College sweatshirt I had bought only days earlier. I was then locked up in cell for two hours. A strange creature name of Solicitor appeared, and explained to me that in due course all would be well .. provided I pleaded guilty to assaulting the officer.
And that this was the way matters of this type are conducted.
And that nothing but ill could come of maintaining my innocence in the matter. However being in my own mind, when I faced the Magistrate I recounted the entire matter, beginning to end. Whereupon the matter was concluded without further damage to myself – although there was never at any point later any redress for the assault upon me.
Love of Learning
One week ago I found myself in a team meeting in which I could see a new way of measure information that had been collected about a clients situation. I didn’t know how to get the result, but could imagine in when it was complete. I then share that with the team, then really enjoyed going back and forth using software until we finally got the result I wanted. Quite often I find myself in situations where I don’t know how to do something, but can see and end result that I want to produce and just believe that there is a way to achieve that.
Love of learning
I am very keen to learn anything coming my way and after learning try to practice which is in the good of my higher self.
When I was in school I wanted to become a scientist and for that i had to opt for science major, but the day selections were made i got very sick and could not go to school, when i went to school after my recovery i learnt that all slots were taken and only commerce major was left but my heart could not agreee for this, I wrote applications to all my teachers, who knew me and had noticed my love for science as we use to go for science excursions and they knew my willingness to help explore new things even off time staying up with my teachers. This helped me in return and i was given a special slot and hence could finish my post graduation in Cytology.
I am very keen to learn still and hence i got into this training and my learning continues………
Thanks.
Whilst doing the strength test I scored poorly on question 10 – how often I express love. I did well on the creativity etc, but this implies to me that even though my mind aoccasionally catches fire, my heart is cold.
Courage would be another strength. I was working, over 40 years ago, on a church in a small village called Ballinagare in Co. Roscommon (West of Ireland) as a blocklayer. It was a Monday morning and i was finishing off the gable.I lifted a block to place on the wall when suddenly the wall seemed to rise up(the scaffolding was starting to collapse).
I dropped the block and just managed to grab the top of the wall with two fingers of each hand. I looked down as the scaffolding collapsed in a heap below me. I was clinging to a wall with four fingers and was about fiveteen meters up. I realized that if i let go i would be either badly hurted or more likely, killed.
I shouted to my colleagues to get an extension ladder from a pub across the road . ( our extension ladder was under the pile of blocks and twisted scaffolding poles)
I knew that if i panicked ,i would fall. I remember saying to myself, ”
Keep perfectly still. they will come back with the ladder in time”.I looked around, and noticed how beautiful the countryside was.My senses seemed to expand. I felt at one with the Universe, and crazy as it might seem, i trusted my colleagues to come back before my strength gave out, and i fell from the wall.
And they did come back in time , but with literally a few seconds to spare. Afterwards, the foreman said he glanced at his watch when he heard the scaffolding collapse, and then when they shoved the ladder under my feet. He said that i had been hanging for over ten minutes!
The moral of the story is,when you are faced with death or serious injury,life becomes very precious, and all your senses becomes fully activated.
A sense of Perspective to look at this world “as it is”, can be a gift and curse. Knowing why people behave the way they do and seeing them on action-response really makes me wonder. If we all are just playing our parts as we should, then what difference does my existence make?
I know the basic rules of life, to survive you have to work. At work you have to get ahead. are we all just players in an economic game? were our actions/thoughts from things we like, to things we own are driven by some marketing plan.
I read some thing beautiful. People define themselves by- what they own, what they do and increasingly by who they are.
Integrity
This week, at work, I have had negative feedback from two colleagues. The first is a lady who has been working with us as a teacher for a year, but who we interviewed and decided not to appoint. We were right to do so, but now she thinks I am the wicked witch of the west. My other colleagues have arranged to go out to lunch with her next week, to say farewell, and feel that it would be better for me not to go. This makes me feel a bit sad, but my job is not to make decisions to make myself popular, but in the best interest of our students.
A similar thing happened with another colleague, who is really hard to live with, but an excellent teacher. She asked for feedback, so I tried hard to prepare positive, but honest feedback, to help her with future job applications. I had Perssonnel and another colleague read my comments to check for any insensitivity I might have missed, and we sent off my feedback. The response was overwhelmingly negative and bitter. I am beginning to fell as though I am destined to upset everbody with whom I come into contact. My integrity is not in question, though!
It was the first parent teacher interview after I had moved from primary school to secondary school. I was anxious as to what report my mother would receive and my stomach was full of butterflies, my palms sweaty and I couldn’t sit still as I waited in the car – peering out the window towards the gate of the school. The window was fogged up and I had opened it an inch or two to let fresh air in, but I had to keep wiping the residue off so I could see out. All of my school reports throughout primary school had been good and I thought I had done OK in my transition to the “big school”. As soon as I saw my mum’s face, the grip she had on her handbag and the pace of her steps I knew all was not well. My Mum was told that I talked too much, asked too many questions and often consumed class time with my constant questioning and challenging. Mum had become angry with the teacher giving the report and it had come out that my final report from primary school stated that I was over curious – often to the point of disruption. Mum felt that I had been labelled (unfarily) and that this was influencing the opinion of my teachers – who had all seen the primary school report. I was gutted and also felt that I had let mum down – although she did not say this and openly stated that I should be myself and never hold back if I thought it important to speak up. But deep down in side I was devastated, demotivated, sad, upset, worried and bitterly diappointed. Lucky for me and with the support of my mum -another strength – persitence kicked in. Within a week or two I was back to my old self. In the years to come mum was often called to the school as my strong mind and persistence often led to differences – but as I grew and matured I learned to better manage by curiousity and balance my approach. I always had the support of my mum and even when I was feeling down she would continue to support me and encourage me to be who I was and not who those around me wanted me to be – I am grateful that in early times of vulnerabiltiy I had this support as it has enabled me to become who I am today.
From a position of perspective, my story is of putting myself in someone elses shoes. What would I want someone to do? On numerous occasions being able to help elderly perple with shoopping carts cross roads, one gentleman of about 90 years old, who was fiercly independant had walked with his walking frame to the shops about 1 klm from home, on his way back he had fallen as his walking frame had sunk into a sof patch on the ground. I saw him raising his hand on the corner of a busy intersection so I stopped to pick him up. He was vey confused and upset,as you can imagine. It was then he told me he had been there for over 10 mins. when I dropped him home his very worried wife was so happy she started nagging him imediately about going out alone! I think he was happy to hear the nagging (something comforting about alovedones voice) I must say I shed a little tear as i was driving away, It was nice to help someone in need without expecting any reward, and also feeling sad for the old mans fear and confusion as to not being able to gethis body to follow his heads commands or having someone help earlier. I felt better for the rest of the dayfor that opportunity.