Think Tank

Think Tank

 

Much development and advancement comes about because certain groups of people sit down and wrestle with ideas and issues to map out what lead to successful plans and change all around us. We like to call this group of thinkers "think tanks". Think tanks are especially useful when the matter is original, unique or has never happened before. This amazing group of people have the power to think. They analyze their situation and use ideas and general knowledge to create new approaches to matters they face.

 

These people are not experts in many of the matters they work through, but they are willing to contribute their thoughts to help address the situations they are facing. They offer their thoughts to others to argue and criticize. They are willing to challenge their brains to create initiative and direction for everyone. Think tanks can be found everywhere. Some are more successful than others. Some are able to go into a meeting and come out with earth shaking resolutions while others go to the meeting, take minutes and waste many hours. The Web is a think tank.

 

A think tank is an amazing machine. Everyone has one, though many do not use it as often as they could. After many years of schooling, personal think tanks are shut down like dangerous nuclear reactors that have to be closed because of the environmental danger they pose. It may be safer for some not think. Using a disused nuclear reactor can be terrible.

 

The tank has one purpose – to think. Thinking is about views, understanding, exposure, learning and creativity. Thinking itself is often triggered by ever changing circumstances. With time, practicing thinkers get better as they exercise their thinking. Those who have a poor record of thinking tend to worrying more than think. Worry is an energy sapping exercise that does not change anything. Since thinking takes place behind the eyes, it is difficult to give a standard formula of how to go about it. It probably cannot be taught, but it can be applied, developed through exercise and success measured in the results of the effort.

 

We tend to (start to) think when we face difficult personal challenges. When the danger is passed we stop thinking. Many of the issues we face in life are not original to others, but they are always original to us. This means we should be thinking regularly. For example, people build houses, but you may not have built a house? Maybe you have not built a house because you have never thought about it. The sooner you start thinking about something, the sooner you can begin doing something about it.

 

How much have you been able to accomplish around you. How successful have you been at resolving issues you face? When was the last time you were called to be part of a think tank? If you have not been called upon to think, is it because you have forgotten how to think or is it because the tank is empty? 

 

Allan Bukusi

Veteran 5

A thought, a seminar, a challenge.