In his book, “Practical Thinking”, thinking guru Edward deBono talks about 5 thinking mistakes we often make that cause us to make faulty assumptions and draw incomplete conclusions. In order to become more receptive, we’ve got to adjust our thinking so we think with the mind of Christ (2 Corinthians 2:16b).
1. The Monorail Mistake- You repeat what’s already been done in the past without considering other options or alternatives.
2. The Magnitude Mistake- You fail to take into account the size and magnitude of your situation. You see only your perspective and don’t acknowledge how the situation affects others around you.
3. The Misfit Mistake- You jump to conclusions about a situation and apply a solution or judgment that seems right on the surface, but turns out to have a completely different root cause so the conclusion you apply doesn’t fit.
4. The Must-Be Mistake- You are so invested in your own way of thinking that you fail to consider others’ points of view.
5. The Miss-Out Mistake- You assume your context is the same as others’ context. You think because something is reality for you, it’s reality for them.
While Edward deBono did not link these thinking mistakes directly to scripture, I believe these are the kind of mistakes believers are called to watch out for in their thinking.
Spend time meditating on the following scriptures and consider how they address each thinking mistake and help us learn to think with the mind of Christ.
1. The Monorail Mistake- Isaiah 43:18-19
2. The Magnitude Mistake- Colossians 3:1-2, Isaiah 55:8-9
3. The Misfit Mistake- Proverbs 15:28, Proverbs 14:15
4. The Must-Be Mistake- Proverbs 28:26, Romans 12:16
5. The Miss-Out Mistake- James 1:26
What thinking mistakes do you often make? How do those mistakes prevent you from having the mind of Christ?