Faith Venture

I learned something this morning. When I learn something before 7 AM, then I’m good for the day, right?

We have been taught Benjamin Franklin’s decision making method. Draw a vertical line down the middle of a sheet of paper. Write all the reasons for the decision on one side; write all the reasons against the decision on the other. Total, and there you have it.

Except, you don’t. There’s more. Franklin continued…after making the lists, let it sit over night. Revisit the list the next day and look at your thoughts again. You will see more things one way or the other.

Give it time to percolate in your subconscious. More ideas will come to you.

Company CEOs, marketing directors, and product managers brief me on their new developments. Then they’ll ask for my feedback. Do I agree that this is really a revolutionary advancement? I give an initial impression, but I tell them that I must digest the information and let ideas fester for a time.

This is often what happens when we study. For example, we may read a sentence in one of Paul’s writings. We think, wow, what a great command. I think he is completely correct.

Except…perhaps we continue reading and see that Paul expands on that thought. Perhaps what Paul meant in total is quite different from what we thought from the one sentence. Then we leave the passage for a time and revisit it the next day. And now we have more ideas, more understanding, more questions.

Many times in many conversations and things we read it is optimal if we give it time. This will save us much misunderstanding and embarrassment.

This entry was posted on October 21, 2021 at 10:16 am and is filed under Disciplines, Waiting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.