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Benefit from Shared Thinking

“None of us is as smart as all of us.”

—KEN BLANCHARD

Good thinkers, especially those who are also good leaders, understand the power of shared thinking. They

know that when they value the thoughts and ideas of others, they receive the compounding results of shared
thinking and accomplish more than they ever could on their own.
Those who participate in shared thinking understand the following:

1. Shared Thinking Is Faster than Solo Thinking

We live in a truly fast-paced world. To function at its current rate of speed, we can’t go it alone. I think the
generation of young men and women just entering the workforce sense that very strongly. Perhaps that is why
they value community so highly and are more likely to work for a company they like than one that pays them
well. Working with others is like giving yourself a shortcut.
If you want to learn a new skill quickly, how do you do it? Do you go off by yourself and figure it out, or do you
get someone to show you how? You can always learn more quickly from someone with experience—whether
you’re trying to learn how to use a new software package, develop your golf swing, or cook a new dish.

2. Shared Thinking Is More Innovative than Solo Thinking

We tend to think of great thinkers and innovators as soloists, but the truth is that the greatest innovative
thinking doesn’t occur in a vacuum. Innovation results from collaboration. Albert Einstein once remarked, “Many
times a day I realize how much my own outer and inner life is built upon the labors of my fellow men, both living
and dead, and how earnestly I must exert myself in order to give in return as much as I have received.”
Shared thinking leads to greater innovation, whether you look at the work of researchers Marie and Pierre
Curie, surrealists Luis Brunel and Salvador Dali, or songwriters John Lennon and Paul McCartney. If you
combine your thoughts with the thoughts of others, you will come up with thoughts you’ve never had!

3. Shared Thinking Brings More Maturity than Solo Thinking

As much as we would like to think that we know it all, each of us is probably painfully aware of our blind
spots and areas of inexperience. When I first started out as a pastor, I had dreams and energy, but little
experience. To try to overcome that, I attempted to get several high-profile pastors of growing churches to share
their thinking with me. In the early 1970s, I wrote letters to the ten most successful pastors in the country, offering
them what was a huge amount of money to me at the time ($100) to meet me for an hour, so that I could ask
them questions. When one said yes, I’d visit him. I didn’t talk much, except to ask a few questions. I wasn’t
there to impress anyone or satisfy my ego. I was there to learn. I listened to everything he said, took careful
notes, and absorbed everything I could. Those experiences changed my life.
You’ve had experiences I haven’t, and I’ve had experiences you haven’t. Put us together and we bring a
broader range of personal history—and therefore maturity—to the table. If you don’t have the experience you
need, hook up with someone who does.

4. Shared Thinking Is Stronger than Solo Thinking

Philosopher-poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said, “To accept good advice is but to increase one’s own