# Thinking Productively By:: [[Ross Jackson]] 2024-11-10 People are always thinking. Thoughts are rolling around the old noggin all the time. The mind will be perpetually grappling with something. Whereas one will always be thinking, it is not the case that one will always be thinking productively. A case could be made that one’s thinking is seldom productive. Daydreaming or catastrophizing are largely unproductive thinking. Productive thinking deals with situation assessment and problem solutions. Determining what is going on is essential for adding value to an organization. Understanding what is needed is also beneficial. Figuring out a way to efficiently produce what is needed, given what is going on in an organization, is the last essential step in the process. In short, productive thinking within an organization can be boiled down to determining the context, decide what is needed, figure out how to do it efficiently. Organizations are complex. Focusing on the type of thinking that will add value within organizations is not. Of course, there is a difference between knowing what is needed, and being about to do it. Any deficit in this is not likely due to the quality of one’s thinking. Complex theories, deep philosophical understandings, or cutting-edge technical acumen are seldom needed. Esoteric solutions, even when correct, are rarely adopted. One will likely discover this insight when thinking productively about what is going on within the organization. If this is so simple, why don’t more people do it? The short answer is that organizations enact situations that quickly convince people to stop thinking. In short, if people overthink the irrationality of what gets enacted at work, they will lose their minds. So, they stop thinking to protect their sanity. People have an innate capacity to think. Organizations would benefit from these thoughts. Smart executives focus on figuring out how to avoid disincentivizing what people do naturally. #### Related Items [[Thinking]] [[Productivity]] [[Organization]] [[Complexity]] [[Value]] [[Essential]] [[Incentives]]