Status Updates From How Successful People Think...

The Afterthought includes a self-assessment quiz on the 14 chapters which include the 11 thinking skills. Then advice is offered based on the low, medium and high score for each chapter / skill. For example, for a skill that scored low, bring someone onto the team who is proficient and scores high on that skill. The author encourages you to think well, making it your greatest tool for creating the world you desire.

Skill 11: Bottom‑line thinking brings clarity, sharpens decisions, boosts morale, and secures the future, as shown in Frances Hesselbein’s leadership. Identify the true bottom line and make it your focus, build a strategic plan to reach it, align people with it, and create a consistent system to monitor progress so you gain maximum return and unlock your full potential.

Skill 10: Unselfish thinking focuses on others’ journeys and collaborates for shared growth, modeled by George Washington Carver. It brings fulfillment, adds value, strengthens character, and creates lasting impact. Practice servant leadership, notice others’ needs, give quietly, check your motives, act now, and build a legacy that lifts people higher and inspires those who follow.

Skill 9: Shared thinking lifts you beyond solo limits by combining strengths, because none of us is as smart as all of us. It accelerates progress, strengthens ideas, sparks innovation, and multiplies value. Value others’ insights, shift from competition to cooperation, set clear agendas, involve the right people, reward good thinkers, and cultivate a culture where ideas grow together.

Skill 8: Questioning popular thinking frees you from old ideas, conventional wisdom, and groupthink. Popular thinking can discourage real thought, offer false hope, resist change, and produce only average results. How? Think before you follow, value different perspectives, question your own assumptions & successes, try new approaches, and get comfortable with discomfort to achieve uncommon results.

Skill 7: Reflective thinking asks daily what you learned, what to share, & what to do. It puts experiences in perspective, adds emotional distance from on experience, strengthens decision‑making, clarifies the big picture, and turns good moments into valuable ones. Set time aside, remove distractions, review your day, ask deep questions about values, relationships & experiences, and cement learning through action.

Skill 6: Possibility thinking expands what you believe can be achieved, as George Lucas did with Star Wars. It opens options, attracts opportunities, fuels big dreams, lifts you above average, energizes commitment, & keeps you from quitting. Stop focusing on impossibilities, ignore limiting voices, look for potential in every situation, dream bigger, challenge the status quo, & draw inspiration from great achievers.

Skill 5: Strategic thinking gives direction today and expands tomorrow’s potential. Planning your life and living your plan simplifies challenges, prompts the right questions, prepares you for uncertainty, reduces errors, and builds influence. Break issues down, ask Why before How, identify real obstacles and resources, develop a plan, place people well, and repeat the process to drive lasting progress.

Realistic thinking grounds you in truth without limiting creativity. It helps leaders define reality, manage risks, set achievable targets, and build credibility. It minimizes disappointment, supports wise planning, and turns dreams into action. Do your homework, weigh pros and cons, consider worst‑case outcomes, align plans with real resources, stay anchored in facts, and think with clarity.

Skill 3: Creative thinking thrives when you value ideas, explore options, embrace ambiguity, connect the unconnected, and don’t fear failure. It adds value, attracts others, and challenges the status quo. Remove creativity killers, ask bold questions, build a creative environment, spend time with creative people, and stretch beyond your comfort zone.

Skill 2: Focused thinking unlocks potential. Like Crayola staying true to children's art supplies, focus channels energy, matures ideas, and brings clarity. Prioritize what matters, remove distractions, set goals, track progress, and adjust. Doing a few things well requires giving up many. Choose impact over breadth and stay committed to what matters most.

Skill 1: Big‑picture thinking expands what’s possible. Eratosthenes proved it by estimating Earth’s size with shadows, assuming it was round not flat. This mindset means learning continually, listening well, and seeing beyond the obvious. It helps leaders spot vision early, size up situations, guide teams, avoid the mundane, and explore new ground. Keep learning, growing, and looking wide.

In Chap 3 Maxwell relates skills and practices on mastering intentional thinking. His formula is The Right Thought plus the Right People in the Right Environment at the Right Time for the Right Reason = the Right Result. He elaborates: act to find a thinking place for good thoughts, stretch thoughts, expose yourself to good thinkers and sources, have a good sounding board, and learn, improve, repeat the process.

Chapter 2 illustrates the positive impact of changed thinking through case studies and examples. People are limited by their own thinking, often boxed in by rules, regulations, and programs instead of issues and ideas. Changed thinking is not automatic, is difficult, it's worth it, and the best gift you can give to others. It changes beliefs, expectations, attitudrs, behaviors, performance, and your life.

Chap 1 explains the importance of great thinking and gives several reasons why success in life or a profession is caused by great thinking. Too many people are taught facts or what to think, not how to think, and how to think well. The latter causes people to distinguish their lives and careers from mediocre thinkers. 11 specific thinking skills will be explained and illustrated with examples by Maxwell.