Critical Reasoning and Using Ones Brain is a big part of Entrepreneurship as I have already explored in my coming book! You got to have your own thoughts and mind to carve out your own niche and stay out of trouble! (Thank you to Vault Boy from Fallout Series!)
I am so enjoying writing my Small Business Marketing book so far and I am at my favourite part – Critical and Independent Thinking. My thoughts are to write a book with 101 Tips on Small Business Marketing Success – so let’s see how it goes!
2. Using your own Awesome Brain and Exercising Free-Will
Before I started my own business I was as Corporate Marketing Manager for many years. It gave me some amazing skills and credibility to start my own business. As I started out, I realized a great deficiency in my skill set (which I am ironically strong at now) was understanding the Small Business Landscape and how to work with people in a 1-on-1 Consultative type of relationship.
I remember once great con that was played on me which I spotted quite early on was part of this Private Life Coaching College which I signed up too. Although they taught some great Technical Skills in working with people 1-on-1, they were very zealous in always trying to “Up-Sell” my items that I rarely needed. The Life Coaching course was great in helping me understand people on a deeper level and part of the challenge of studying there was figuring out the truth vs the bias advice they were giving me to try and get deeper into my rather shallow wallet at the time.
In a negative / painful way – they taught me some powerhouse lessons which have enriched my life to this day.
Unfortunately it was more from how they were trying to sell to me, rather than from what they taught me directly. I remember in one of their early courses, they would work hard at “Disarming” one’s own independent and critical thinking.
The reasoning was quite obvious and I didn’t fall for it at all, but I saw people in droves buying products that they simply just didn’t need that would come to haunt them financially down the track. As I write this article, a group formed together to take a Class Action against this Private College and I can understand why. They told us some quite disarming lines which I think isn’t too nice down the track:
• “Smart Business People make quick decisions when they need too” (Sure – but they would always say this when they are selling something).
• “True Entrepreneurs always just say YES and then figure out the how afterwards” (Sure – but they would always say this when they are selling something).
• “You are just cynical Edward and you aren’t open minded” (Sure – but they would always say this when they are selling something).
As I write this page, many of my friends today have been intertwined with this Life Coaching College and are serving out contracts for courses that they can barely afford, let alone are deriving any form of reasonable commercial benefit from.
The other side this debate is the people themselves are making the choices. YES, the Life Coaching College didn’t hold a gun to anyone’s head and one can argue “Buyer Beware”. The people in the room are adults who can make their own decisions. In addition too, although I disagree with their methods and question some of their ethics around Marketing – the knowledge and training they had was second to none. To this day it has served me well and I love it! If anything, I don’t agree with everything they do – but they have my thanks.
With those who made the decision to purchase in my view made it and they need to take responsibility for it. Sure, if you aren’t getting what you paid for then complain and deal with it – BUT I think many decided to disable their own critical reasoning skills to their own demise. This is when you need to go back to the main proponent which I am arguing and suggesting to be a critical factor of Entrepreneurship and Critical Reasoning:
Crazy Persian’s Small Business Marketing Tip #2:
“You need to be an Intelligent, Critical and Independent Thinker”.
In fact I am going to put my money where my mouth is. You may totally disagree with my writing and think I totally suck and you have all these great reasons to justify it. AWESOME! That is the desired impact of what I do. Create a dialogue to encourage a great level of thinking which is good for everyone.
That is one of the purposes of my book, not to tell you “How the World Works” but more share my own personal stories and insights. I have found personally that beyond myself – the more we share our own personal experiences, the deeper we can drive our understanding and thinking to achieve more and more.
As you go forth, may I encourage you to tap into one of the strengths of today’s Generation Y Species – question everything!
4 Responses
Great article Edward!
You are too kind and thank you Emma! I hope you enjoyed the fine read and love your work. Keep up the fine burning the mid-night oil now! 🙂
Agree Ed. I find that the more widely I read, the better my critical thinking becomes. So for someone looking to develop their own critical thinking abilities, get reading, and read widely to develop your mind. Then most of all as Ed says listen to that little voice inside your head.
Thank you Simon for the great feedback and comment. Yes, it’s very true developing that independent sense of critical reasoning and understanding. I think too many issues occur when we stop thinking and just do as we are told – often to our own detriment which sucks!