Levels of Thought: There is always a better way

Sunsets in Zimbabwe come in three types: spectacular, incredible and amazing. There is no getting away from the fact that we are blessed with a truly beautiful evening sky. If you are stuck in Harare though you may not fully experience the magnificence of the experience due to trees and buildings that get in your way. In order to appreciate it you need to seek higher ground. Domboshava, just outside of Harare, allows you a short climb to obtain a spectacular view of the surrounding area. If you wish to be truly wowed then a little further on is Ngomokurira, higher, harder to climb but the elevation allows access to a panorama that will amaze. This is not an article on tourist attractions around Harare though, it is about levels.

There are different levels of thought that a person can operate at (that is one of the reasons we have different levels of degree program at universities). These levels impact their behaviour in life and in business and how they interact with others. There is always a better way available to do things, low level thinking limits you to a less than efficient way of operating.

Let us imagine for a moment that you have access to vegetables that you wish to sell. You can choose to set up a self made stall and wait for someone to pass by and see your wares. This makes you a vendor. The problem with waiting for people is that they may not come, or they may go elsewhere or pick the vegetables that the person next to you is selling. The next option is to start going door to door in a neighbourhood and offering your goods to people answering the door. This makes you a salesman. You could however go door to door with a sample of your best goods and tell people that for a monthly fee you will supply them twice a week with similar produce. Now you are a distributer and make sure that you consistently supply only the best possible product that people rave about and tell their friends. Level of thought matters, how you see yourself matters.

How do we learn to operate at a higher level of thought when everything in the world is consistently striving to keep us a little dumber? Higher thinking, having better ideas takes effort. It often takes effort to implement the actions that follow. Our natural, lazy tendency is to avoid the hard work and take the lower path. Be prepared to do the hard work.

Firstly expose yourself to ideas, not just openly but with an analytical mind and a slightly sceptical filter. Be sure of your morals and values so you do not compromise them. I have an old friend, Stan, who I follow on social media who consistently annoys me with his writing. The annoyance comes because I just do not agree with a lot of what he says. He writes well, operates at a high level of thought but his world view is different to mine. I could switch off his posts, stop following his newsfeed, but I don’t. I choose to continue engaging with him because he challenges me to think. There is a mistruth being perpetrated around the globe today that because I disagree with someone’s behaviour that I should hate them. We have forgotten what dialogue looks like, the sort where it is okay to not agree with someone but still be able to find a way to go forward.

Read, learn, discuss. Technology has made learning and exposure easier than ever. Udemy offer courses, some of which are excellent. Podcasts, blogs and even books are plastered across the internet for free. This should not be sponge type learning though do not just soak everything in as some of it is not the best level possible. Seek out the better way; ask what would work in your business. Figure out how you can apply an idea to your specific brand and industry.

Finally be careful about making high emotion, reaction type decisions. High emotion tends to lower the level of thought. That is why the guys in the car park offering you a ‘lucky day deal’ start their pitch with the chance of you having won something-it heightens your emotion and stops you thinking. While some reactionary decisions can be good ‘spur of the moment’ stuff, it is better to calm down, re-examine the process and then proceed. There is always a better way.