To Think is Smart
Time Spent on Social Media?
Do you know how much time you spend on social media?
On average, here are some answers (per day):
- Globally: 2 hours and 21 minutes.
- Kenya: 4 hours and 13 minutes (highest).
- South Africa: 3 hours and 36 minutes (second highest).
- China: 3 hours.
- Japan: 46 minutes (lowest).
- Gen Z (16 – 24 years old): 4 hours.
- Vietnam: 6 hours on their smartphones!
Time Invested in Thinking?
This question is rather difficult to put data to, so I rely on three qualitative observation, starting with Henry Ford who said:
- ‘Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why so few engage in it.’
Thinking is difficult to see but easy to observe in the outcomes it produces. I suggest that this is what Henry Ford was alluding to.
The strong causative correlation between sound, solid and bountiful thinking and smart outcomes is offered by one of the most financially successful investors, Warren Buffett, who is said to have spent 10 hours a day thinking.
Furthermore, Napoleon Hill wrote Think and Grow Rich, a book that suggests success begins in the mind. He argued that our thoughts shape our reality, and that by cultivating a clear goal with a plan, and being persistent, individuals can achieve their goals—whether financial wealth or personal meaning and fulfilment.
So, let us agree on a ‘rule of thumb’:
- More ‘smarter’ thinking results in better outcomes.
What is Thinking?
I opened the Note with data on social media usage to offer a comparison with the time we spend thinking—not only might we spend too little time thinking, not all thinking is the same. More on that matter next time.
Leadership Note 2125 is the first in a series on THINKING.
To get the series going I set up the context for thinking as an essential architectural element in the Influential Leadership System (iLS).
The existence of ‘some kind of thinking’ permeates the iLS, including:
- The Philosophy that assumes deep thinking about the big questions of humanity, how we fit, live and lead.
- The Systems Theory Approach that recognises systems thinking—cause and effect in multiple dimensions, as opposed to linear or silo thinking.
- Social Agency—the way in which we lead—with its three elements, the first of which is critical thinking.
- Two of our Behavioural Attributes are directly associated with thinking too, namely, questioning and thoughtful.
Thinking Improves Lives—Ours and Others
Albert Einstein was a spectacular technical thinker, as evidenced by his work in physics and mathematics. However, he also thought deeply about the big issues of humanity, including the importance of thinking itself, as demonstrated in his maxim that:
‘We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.’
Next week we’ll begin to consider the types and nature of thinking in Influential Leadership, and why and how it improves our lives.
Here is a challenge for each of us.
Let us respect our time and ourselves by spending the equivalent effort on ‘focused’ thinking about the opportunities, issues and challenges in our lives, as we do on social media. I venture that the investment returns will be higher from the former.
Think and grow smart!
Regards,
Colin Donian
Karoo Founder & CEO
Think to be Better!
Leadership Note # 2125 | 26.05.25
e: colind@karoo.world
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