In James Allen’s classic book As a Man Thinketh, he compares life to a garden and the business of choosing the thoughts we think as something like the process of planting. What shows up in our lives is the result of what we plant in our minds, hence his title which of course come from the famous Bible verse from the book of Proverbs, “as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.”
Does the title of James Allen’s book sound a bit sexist? At the time he wrote it, nobody would have given his use of the word ‘man’ in the title a second thought. In these days of political correctness, the word may, however, seem a little exclusive. But the Bible reference from Proverbs actually means ‘mankind’ so we should recognise that it really is meant to encompass both male and female gender.
Years ago, when I was a youth leader at the local church, I remember that one Christmas, the youth group was doing a little spot at one of the services. It consisted of some music and a few readings that had been specially written for the event. One of the girls was a bit concerned about the use of male language in some of the readings and as a consequence changed some of the references to be more encompassing.
But when the Bible talks about becoming ‘sons of God’ for example, that is meant to include females too even if it sounds a bit odd to us today. Just as when it speaks of becoming the ‘bride of Christ’, that includes males. When we see the word ‘sons’ being used, we should understand that it is used deliberately because, at the time the text was written, it was sons and not daughters who were due an inheritance. Biblical use of the word ‘sons’ in some passages is definitely meant to reflect that idea.
That said, the objection has often caused me to think about the title of this book and wonder if I should consider writing a book entitled, ‘As a Woman Thinketh.’ Now, after a bit of Googling, I see a number of people have actually published versions of James Allen‘s book with all the language femininised. That, I think is a shame. Are they allowed to do it? Yes, because the book is in the public domain. That’s not what I had in mind for my book.
Women, as we all know, don’t think like men and there have been some great books on this very topic including Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus and Why Men Tell Lies and Women Can’t Read Maps. In my workshops, if the sexes are roughly equal in terms of numbers, I will sometimes get the males to compete against the females in some task. Most people find it a bit of fun, but, more importantly, it is always very interesting to contrast male thinking with female thinking.
Many organisations are essentially male-dominated hierarchies and they would do well to promote more females into senior management roles. Why? In order to break away from a particular style of organisational thinking. There is nothing essentially wrong with male thinking, but the kind of thinking (whatever it is) that got the organisation to where it is right now is the same kind of thinking that is holding it there.
One simple way (not the only way) to get fresh thinking into the organisation’s strategic and tactical decision-making processes is to get more females involved. Will they produce better ideas? I don’t think so, but will they produce different ideas? You had better believe it, and with more ideas on the table, so to speak, you can benefit from a richer discussion and you may be able to make a real breakthrough.
It is a simple idea that I wholeheartedly recommend to all male-dominated management teams, but often the management reaction is that they don’t feel that females are better thinkers or that they are underrepresented in management positions with the company. That kind of reaction will definitely ensure that the status quo is not upset and that no uncomfortable changes will need to be made. That’s just fine if you like where you are and you don’t need to find a route forward that you have been searching for and can’t seem to find. Females are not better thinkers; that’s not the point but they do think differently to males and that’s a very important consideration.
When you consider that in order to make a breakthrough, in any field, you typically need to think differently, then you begin to understand why this suggestion could provide your organisation with an important key. It was Einstein, I believe, who said that, “you can’t solve a problem with the same kind of thinking that created it.” That’s something to think about.
