The Thinking Effect: Rethinking Thinking to Create Great Leaders and the New Value Worker

by Michael Vaughan

In a changing world, what makes the difference between struggling to keep up or being ready and able to navigate whatever comes along? The answer is quite simple: the modern world requires the core thinking abilities of critical, creative and systems thinking. However, despite the increasing need for refined, multifaceted thinking most people are still getting by on the what to think approach of reciting facts, abiding by the status quo and following protocol. This way of thinking may have been ingrained since childhood but we have to rethink traditional thinking itself. The Thinking Effect by Mike Vaughan addresses the fundamental need in effective learning – teaching how to think by a process of learning, trying, reflecting and trying again. It is the type of thinking that helps an individual understand cause and effect, short- and long-term delay effects, unintended consequences and interdependencies of systems. The Thinking Effect moves beyond the concept of how to think to its development and delivery. The book explains how to evolve and improve thinking, how to create learning solutions, individual practices and real-world applications and how to resist complacency and sustain the thinking effect.

311 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 16, 2013

About the author

Michael Paul Vaughan OBE is a retired cricketer who represented Yorkshire and England. A classically elegant right-handed batsman and occasional off-spinner, Vaughan was ranked the best batsman in the world following the 2002/3 Ashes, in which he scored 633 runs, including three centuries. Vaughan was an opening batsman and forged a successful England opening partnership with Marcus Trescothick, although he had often batted in the middle order for England. He was the captain of the England team when it regained the Ashes in 2005, eighteen years after having last won the trophy.

Reviews

[Dane Cobain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disclaimer: While I aim to be unbiased, I received a copy of this for free to review.

The Thinking Effect is yet another excellent publication by Nicholas Brealey, one which is of immense value to business leaders and their subordinates alike. In it, Vaughan tackles the age-old problem that’s plagued managers since they first invested in training – too many courses try to teach people what to think. Vaughan believes that those courses should focus on how to think instead, and I think that’s a noble idea.

Instead of teaching people using stale methods, Michael Vaughan is a proponent of systems thinking and in-depth simulations as a way of deciding how best to act in any situation. Vaughan and his team at The Regis Company found that when people are taught using traditional methods, they revert to their old ways of thinking because reality doesn’t often correspond to what they’re taught in the classroom.

It’s an intriguing concept, and Vaughan does a great job of explaining it – he backs his argument with convincing research that will have you on-side by the end of the book. Now you just have to get management buy-in and get him in to your office!