Daniel Patrick Forrester founded THRUUE, Inc., an expert consultancy that supports leaders and boards bridge the gap between strategy and culture. With the explosion of data and hyperconnectivity, Daniel’s curiosity led him to research how leaders responded to the onslaught of available data and to publish his first book, “Consider: Harnessing the Power of Reflective Thinking in Your Organization.” It centers around the role reflection can play in dramatically improving corporate outcomes. As a top nonfiction leadership book, it has impacted the lives and work habits of small and large organizations from around the world. (Amazon, 2024)

“Consider: Harnessing the Power of Reflective Thinking in Your Organization”

“STOP, THINK, AND DON’T DO SOMETHING STUPID!” This is the warning Dr. Robert Bea drills into his Civil and Environmental Engineering students at the University of California in Berkeley. Bea wants to dramatize what he terms the inevitable “oh shit” moments that present themselves—before an actual engineering calamity like the Deepwater Horizon/BP disaster happens.

There’s an intangible and invisible marketplace within our lives today where the products traded are four fold: attention, distraction, data and meaning.

The stories and examples within “Consider” demonstrate that the best decisions, insights, ideas and outcomes result when we take sufficient time to think and reflect. While technology allows us to act and react more quickly than ever before, we are taking increasingly less time to consider our decisions before we make them. Reflection supplies an arsenal of ideas and solutions to the right problems. Including interviews with leaders such as General David Petraeus, attorney Brooksley Born and global investor Kyle Bass, Forrester shows us that taking time and giving ourselves the mental space for reflection can mean the difference between total success and total failure.

Review:
This book is an insightful exploration into how reflective thinking can revolutionize organizational dynamics and decision-making. Forrester suggests that the ability to pause, reflect, and engage in deep thinking is essential for encouraging innovation and strategic clarity in today’s fast-paced business environments.

It is organized around practical strategies and real-world examples, demonstrating how reflective practices can be systematically integrated into organizational cultures. He explains that reflection is not necessarily a passive activity but an active, intentional process that can lead to more informed and creative decision-making. By introducing concepts such as “reflective leadership” and “strategic pauses,” Forrester provides actionable tools for leaders seeking to cultivate a reflective culture within their teams. One term that stands out is “plastic time,” what people are now experiencing when they are in “a constant state of interruption and movement between many different tasks.”

It is divided as follows:

Introduction: The Space between Data and Meaning
1. The Human Need for Think Time
2. Forcing Think Time
3. Thinking Out Loud
4. Promoting Think Time
5. Taking a Step Back
6. Too Big to Think?
7. Rapid Contemplation
8 .Outside the Day-to-Day
9 .Reflection and Extreme Situations
10. The Future of Think Time and Reflection

By combining theoretical insights and practical advice, the information is accessible to both senior executives and mid-level managers. Forrester’s writing is clear and engaging, with a focus on real-world applications rather than abstract theories.

Overall, “Consider” is a valuable resource for leaders looking to harness the power of reflection to drive organizational growth and resilience. It is recommended for readers interested in books on workplace culture and leadership/motivation.

“I do not wish to suggest that being alone and thinking always leads the mind to positive and beneficial outcomes… Alone time and reflection when one’s mental model of the world is perverse can give rise to the unimaginable.”

*The author received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. The views and opinions expressed here belong solely to her.