A case for independent thinking

Companies that squelch thinking can lo longer compete with companies that champion thinking. Nor can you bully a subordinate into becoming a genius.

Since the modern, scientifically conceived corporation was invented in the early half of the twentieth century, thinking has been sacrificed in favour of forwarding the interests of the “team player”.

Fair enough. There was more money into doing it that way; that’s why they did it.

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There’s only one problem. Team players are not very good at creating value on their own. They are not autonomous; they need a team in order to exist.

So now corporations are awash with non-autonomous thinkers.

Developer to Lead – “I don’t know. What do you think ?”

Lead to Manager – “I don’t know. What do you think ?”

Manager to Business Analyst – “I don’t know. What do you think ?”

Analyst to Client – “I don’t know. What do you think ?”

Client back to the Analyst – “I don’t know. What do you think ?”

Analyst back to the Manager – “I don’t know. What do you think ?”

And so on.

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Creating an economically viable entity where lack of original thought is handsomely rewarded creates a rich, fertile environment for parasites to breed. And that’s exactly what’s been happening. So now we have millions upon millions of human tapeworms thriving in the Western world, making love to their PowerPoint presentations, feasting on the thinking of others.

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What happens to an ecology when the parasite level reaches critical mass ?

The ecology dies.

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If you can think, if you can think independently, if you can articulate passion, if you can override the fear of being wrong, then your company needs you more now than it ever did. And now your company can no longer pretend that isn’t the case.

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So dust off your horn and start tooting it.

And if you don’t see yourself as particularly thinker, that’s not reality, that’s a self-imposed limitation. Only you can decide whether you want to carry that around with you forever. Life is short.

 

Hugh Macleod (Ignore everybody and 39 other keys to creativity)

And some added content