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Quotation

John Cleese on open and closed thinking modes

 



AuthorJohn Cleese 
Search Amazon.comJohn Cleese 
Search Amazon.co.ukJohn Cleese 
SourceOpen And Closed Thinking Modes 
CategoriesCreativity; Thinking
OtherQuotations

We all operate in two contrasting modes, which might be called open and closed.

The open mode is more relaxed, more receptive, more exploratory, more democratic, more playful and more humorous.

The closed mode is the tighter, more rigid, more hierarchical, more tunnel-visioned.

Most people, unfortunately spend most of their time in the closed mode. Not that the closed mode cannot be helpful.

If you are leaping a ravine, the moment of takeoff is a bad time for considering alternative strategies.

When you charge the enemy machine-gun post, don’t waste energy trying to see the funny side of it. Do it in the “closed” mode.

But the moment the action is over, try to return to the “open” mode - to open your mind again to all the feedback from our action that enables us to tell whether the action has been successful, or whether further action is need to improve on what we have done. 

In other words, we must return to the open mode, because in that mode we are the most aware, most receptive, most creative, and therefore at our most intelligent.


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Quotations from John Cleese:

 We all operate in two contrasting modes, which might be called open and closed.

The open mode is more relaxed, more receptive, more exploratory, more democratic, more playful and more humorous.

The closed mode is the tighter, more rigid, more hierarchical, more tunnel-visioned.

Most people, unfortunately spend most of their time in the closed mode. Not that the closed mode cannot be helpful.

If you are leaping a ravine, the moment of takeoff is a bad time for considering alternative strategies.

When you charge the enemy machine-gun post, don’t waste energy trying to see the funny side of it. Do it in the “closed” mode.

But the moment the action is over, try to return to the “open” mode - to open your mind again to all the feedback from our action that enables us to tell whether the action has been successful, or whether further action is need to improve on what we have done. 

In other words, we must return to the open mode, because in that mode we are the most aware, most receptive, most creative, and therefore at our most intelligent.

John Cleese 
Open And Closed Thinking Modes 



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Friday 29 March 2024
04:47 AM GMT