Are you mistaking deep thinking for clear thinking.

The purpose of thinking is to understand. Understanding that leads to clarity, conviction, and right actions. Deep thinking may or may not lead to understanding. Clear thinking leads to understanding.

Deep thinking can lead to digging a deep hole in search of water while clear thinking keeps asking ‘what is really important to keep in mind’ while laying out all the options.

Deep thinking, feels heavy. Clear thinking clears up your mind – even if you don’t get answers to all the questions.

Clear thinking is not bound by any constraints including the need to be simple or deep. Clear thinking is about applying curiosity, openness, intuition, logic, and know-how to get to the truth.

Specialists are often labelled as deep thinkers. I hazard a guess, entrepreneurs, the ‘common man on the road’ and ‘grandparents who have seen it all’ like to be seen as clear thinkers.

This is not about putting down deep thinking. This is about why our thinking must be clear, deep or otherwise, if we wish to progress and impact – be it at an individual level or as a society, organization or country.

One thing that I find always helpful to clear my thinking – I keep asking myself ‘what is this all about’.