If thinking is categorized practically, it can be broadly split into ‘volitional thinking’ and ‘instrumental thinking.’ Volitional thinking involves the belief that to succeed, a person must have a strong will to overcome hardships and obstacles. Self-improvement falls under this category. However, to actually overcome hardships and obstacles, it is instrumental thinking that drives us to consider that we need ‘tools’ to get past them. In other words, it’s like how carpenters build houses: they construct the structure, but tools are what make it possible. There is no carpenter without tools. Both are essential for success, but if I had to emphasize one, focusing on instrumental thinking is more advantageous. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”
The Japan Airlines that no one thought would ever recover. It was the biggest corporate bankruptcy in Japan. When Kyocera Group Chairman Emeritus Kazuo Inamori took the helm to save Japan Airlines, his priority was to reform the mindset of the employees. Whenever he could, he gathered all employees for lectures on mental reform, and executives were required to attend a separate lecture on mental reform given by Kazuo Inamori every Thursday without exception. The employees' frustration was palpable, but the company returned to the stock market after two years and eight months. There is no magic in running a company. Attitude and mindset are everything. - Joseph's "just my thoughts"