Customer Reviews

How Successful People Think: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life

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"How Successful People Think" by John Maxwell is a great little book and a timely read, particularly in a day where media and others encourage us to follow our feelings almost to the exclusion of thinking.

The book covers thinking in several areas:

1. Focused thinking.
2. Creative thinking.
3. Realistic thinking.
4. Strategic thinking.
5. Possibility thinking.
6. Reflective thinking.
7. Question Popular Thinking.
8. Shared thinking.
9. Unselfish thinking (get outside yourself!).
10. Bottom-Line thinking.

Each chapter is around 10 pages and usually contains the following that applies to the area of thinking being discussed:

1. Sayings by famous people.
2. Benefits of the particular type of thinking.
3. Principles to apply to improve your thinking in that area.

This is not one of those "touchy-feely" books designed to make you feel good about yourself. If that is what you are looking for, then do not bother to read.

Instead, if you want to improve your thinking in any of several areas, then this book is for you. The narrative flows freely and contains great information to inspire and challenge you.

Read, enjoy, and be challenged. Highly recommended!

In today's competitive global marketplace, to win we must outwit, out maneuver and out think the competition. The world changes daily and new thinking is critical to success in both one's personal and professional life. Dr. Maxwell reminds us of a statement made by Albert Einstein, "Thinking is hard work; that's why so few do it."

What Dr. Maxwell does is show us how to make successful critical thinking a daily habit. That, of course, isn't going to happen just by reading this book. It is going to happen because one uses this book daily as a "hand book." It is the right size to easily keep with you in your computer case, keep on your desk and to grab and thumb through revisiting ideas and points on a consistent basis.

I bought a copy for every member of my team. We have been going over a chapter a week in our sales meetings. I recommend it for all sales professionals, managers, entrepreneurs...anyone who wants to up their game!

This is a short book that will really turn your head.

John C. Maxwell has delivered countless books on personal development, leadership and growth. Millions of people have found his books and works to be stimulating and I have personally read several of his most recent work.

This book is a recommended read. I highlighted so much of this book! In fact I found myself referring back to several chapters for a more in-depth look at more strategic thinking.

I own several John Maxwell books on leadership. Years ago I came to the healthy conclusion that I was buying the same book over and over again. I purchased this latest Maxwell tome and discovered that yes, some things never change.

This book contains too many pithy comments wrapped around quotes obtained from quote.com or some other website. In the end, there is nothing new or radical in the book. Books from the hand of Maxwell as well as a plethora of other business authors have repeated these themes and "lessons" ad nausea.

Still, if you have never read Maxwell and are a beginner or need reminding, this is good book to start with. While it does not reveal any great truths, it also does not tell any lies. It is good, basic reading for the neophyte.

High Altitude Leadership: What the World's Most Forbidding Peaks Teach Us About Success (J-B US non-Franchise Leadership) and Don't Bring It to Work: Breaking the Family Patterns That Limit Success are two books that are worth the price.

I hope you find this review helpful.

Michael L. Gooch

A significant addition to the `must read' library of any aspiring business manager or entrepreneur, whether ceding small or larger scales, Maxell's How Successful People Think outlines exactly what the title suggests. Not only does he do this, however, he also advices his readers how they might also learn to think about their business (albeit clinical, corporate, commercial, personal, even spiritual), in such a way as to enhance the likelihood of success. This text would certainly make a great gift for anyone thought by others to not yet have achieved their much sought after `success' ! Although the current reviewer has not seen the print version, the content of this audiobook presentation covers territory that will be familiar to the reader of `how to xxx' and other `tips for business development without tears'-type books, organised by Maxwell as readily digestible `lists' of whys and hows with respect to 11 categories of thinking expertise.

Presented as 42 parts over 3 audio CDs, each part lasts 4-5 minutes, and covers an introductory section (Why Change Thinking, and How to Become a Better Thinker) followed by the 11 thinking style chapters. Each `thinking' chapter then uses the same format (why do this kind of thinking, thereafter, how to do that of thinking), reminiscent of Tom Peter's `Essentials Series', with its lists of key points to think about, and remember. Such a format lends the listener (if not the reader ?) to require considerable concentration and note taking, but with easy replay/review as each part is relatively short. Maxwell's key thinking categories for success include Big Picture Thinking, Focused Thinking, Creative Thinking, Realistic Thinking, Strategic Thinking, Possibility Thinking, Reflective Thinking, Popular Thinking, Shared Thinking, Unselfish Thinking, and Bottom-line Thinking. The why section of each chapter lists 4-8 reasons for developing better thinking skills of the sort being explored, followed by 4-6 ways to actually become better able to think in that way. Such an organisation of his material affords the listener easy access to Maxwell's information/advice once realised, but the current reviewer would have preferred to hear more examples of `success' following their implementation (and admittedly at the expense of generating a much longer text). The reading thus appears to sound a little `preachy' at times (and noticing the unusually large number of biblical references, we later discover that the Maxwell is indeed a Christian pastor), though well intentioned, respectful and presented with significant humility.

Many How to xxx texts organized in this way in the past have tended to offer much repetition (even contradiction) across their different chapters, but somewhat refreshingly, this is not the case here. And although the 11 types of thinking explored by Maxwell will seem arbitrary to some listeners/readers (most of us could propose several other `types' of thinking one might also include), repetition of specific advice list items were minimal - notable repeats involved the need to check/recheck one's assumptions, `removing oneself from distractions' and `asking the right questions'. Possible contradictions were also largely absent, though some listeners may rightly be concerned with reconciling the advice concerned with not spending time with people of the same mind set as yourself (Avoiding Popular Thinking chapter), yet at the same time trying to follow the suggestion to think with others `thinking in the same direction' (Benefitting from Shared Thinking chapter). Without any references to the many quotes or other resources reviewed, Maxwell's text cannot be easily checked or followed up (as with most audiobook presentations), so it is difficult to be sure of the factual validity of examples that are given (e.g., the nuclear bomb was not built and tested in 1945 as the author suggests, but at a much later date).

Also available in print and already a NY Times listed best seller, the current reviewer enjoyed the audio version presentation very much (as read by Chris Sorensen), the whole text manageable within a single afternoon session walking in the hills. In using the 11 thinking style typology as proposed, Maxwell does not, however, offer his typology of thinking-style assessment to be used with candidate application screening (recommending the use of standardized professional personality tests such as DISC or the ARL-MBTI+ to do that), instead proposing that any person may (indeed, should), change their thinking in a number of distinct ways (by following his advice), in order to more efficiently achieve their goals and dreams. In preparing for this review, I found that I eventually needed to write continuous notes whilst listening a second time, and only then discovered the organisation of the text, once noting that I had essentially produced written four pages of itemised lists - each referencing a different kind of thinking skill, why I should wish to develop them, and then how to set about doing such, in order to achieve greater success.

Dr. Tony Dickinson.
Academic Research Laboratory, Worldwide Psychometric Solutions

Nothing new here.

Also no credible evidence that "successful" people (never defined) owe their success to the approaches that Maxwell likes. He only gives us anecdotes, and we can all think of counter-examples. Sure, successful people may think in ways that he lists. So do unsuccessful people.

This book might be food for thought for some people. It's definitely a money-maker that didn't involve much thought.

The whole premise of the book is that good thinkers are successful. Maxwell challenges the reader to learn how to think from different angles such as: Big Picture, Focused, Reflective, Creative, Strategic, and Possibility thinking. In addition, Maxwell demonstrates the value of each type of thinking and how to cultivate each. There are some sections that confirm what I already know, but there are others that challenged my thought process and showed me new ways to think about a matter. My favorite quote from the book is: "A person who knows How may always have a job, but the person who knows Why will always be his boss."

Having a successful financial company, reading is important. Changing the way you think as you move in life is critical to keep your business successful and being around the people that are where you want to be in life is also key. You can't go wrong with any of Maxwell's books, they all are great. 20 min. a day of reading before going to bed or before starting your day is key. I have a good day and a good nights sleep when reading.

Another great work from John Maxwell! Although some of the material overlaps with his previous works, this book is very encouraging and an excellent tool to keep you cut through the clutter to focus on the things that count. The audio version of this book is nice - about 3 hours start to finish, but equally easy to listen to all at once or in small chunks when you need a little motivation.

I've never read anything by this author I didn't find beneficial, and strongly recommend his works.

John Maxwell has done it again. He seems to be able to take a challenging topic and make it appear simple. He's done that time and again. The idea of "challenging the status quo" is one NOT to be missed. His anecdotes and personalized stories make his points come alive. I would encourage leaders AND followers everywhere to read this book and THEN put the ideas into action. Your organization (be it a school, a small or large business, church, or even a marriage/family) will be better for your efforts. The challenge is to move beyond thinking and on to action. What are you waiting for ?