How To Become a Better Leader: Linear Thinking vs Quantum Thinking

We don't like to make the quote unquote wrong decision, but ultimately, if we can flip that in our mind is to not necessarily be failing, but more about experimentation. And if it doesn't work, then we've got the other way we can turn around. Every single thing that we do say and think has a ripple effect.

If we think through these decisions in that context, instantly we can move forward quicker and with more confidence and with more. Clarity. What if you could build a business in the modern world as big or as small as you want without having to compromise the things that were the most important to you in the very beginning?

This is the Wealthy Consultant Talks podcast with Taylor Welch and Mike Walker as they share with you today, their learning lessons from stories in their experiences over the past 10 to 15 years. And share with you right here, right now. Let's get into it. What is going on? My friends Mike Walker here.

Welcome to another episode of The Wealthy Podcast. Uh, today I wanna share with you a concept. We're gonna dive in a little bit deeper on a topic that I shared pretty extensively in my latest book, the System's Thinking Visionary. You know, as I'm working with our clients from a variety of different industries and backgrounds and experience levels.

It is, uh, without fail that we notice that there is a spectrum of decision making, and that is specifically around the topic of linear decision making and quantum decision making. And quantum decision making is something that not a whole lot of people necessarily come up with unless they are exposed to it directly, because it's a little bit abstract.

But stick with me. I know you're gonna dig it once we dig in here. And in fact, even around this video, depending on what format you're listening to, this audio or video, um, there is likely a link to some resources that are going to help you as you deploy this thought process and this methodology. Into your decision making.

So stick with me, it's worth it, and it can absolutely impact your entire life because guess what? Your life and the results you see are of course correlated directly to your thoughts and thinking. And of course the application of those, uh, hopefully really phenomenal thoughts, right? So better questions beget better clarity and better results.

So therefore. Let's dig right in. And so again, the concept is quantum decision making. You know, typically you'll notice and may, I'm sure you've probably experienced this on some level, most everybody has, where you are faced with what they call that crossroads moment, right? Like, man, what do I do? I could go left or I could go right?

I could say yes or I could say no, right? And that's fine that there is very much these types of crossroad moments. But what I typically find is that a lot of people get stuck at the crossroads and then what happens? Analysis paralysis, right? We've all been there too. So what is that doing? Well, it is our brain's ability to forecast forward and think through the different scenarios.

Most often, especially with our type of audience, you're probably thinking in second and third order consequences, right? Well, if I do this, then this could happen. And then if that happens, then this could result from that, right? And so you're kind of playing like three dimensional, uh, you know, chess, if you will, right?

And that's good. And you certainly want to think of those second and third order consequences. That's kind of just the, uh, ability of a, an experienced entrepreneur founder, CEO, anybody that's in charge of leading really needs to think through those multiple orders of magnitude that can happen from, uh, the ripple effect or that butterfly effect of decision making that we all are, you know, of course, assigned to do as a leader.

One of the things that I find is, is that people spend so much time in that analysis phase that they get stuck and they, they honestly would've been better off just making the wrong decision faster, turning around and going the the, the other way. And that's the first thing I wanna share with you today about this is that.

You know, very few decisions out there are permanent. Now, obviously, the more permanent or irreversible they are, then naturally you wanna spend more time on those. So just as a at, as a, as a categorization method or a filtering method for your decision making processes. One of the first things I want you to think about is not just the decision itself and the variables that are presented to you, but what is the permanence of this decision, meaning.

If I make this decision, is it like lights out on all other things and it, it's going to have, you know, a pretty, pretty direct result or direct impact on everything else and all my other variables or all my other options? Or is it more like, Hey look, let's try this out. But if it doesn't work, we still do have the ability to pivot, or we could actually go back to scenario B, C, or D, right?

So just immediately take the pressure off you, your brain just a little bit by simply asking like, Hey, how permanent is this? Like, yeah, we don't like to make the quote unquote wrong decision, but ultimately, if we can flip that in our mind is to not necessarily be failing, but more about experimentation, right?

Let's experiment with this concept. Let's try it. And if it doesn't work, then we've got the other way we can turn around. See, I'd much rather make a decision, get down the road, 30 days, collect a lot of data along the way, whether it be good, bad, or indifferent or otherwise. And then go, okay, this isn't actually the right path.

I think we should try the other way. Great. Make the move. See, I'd rather do that than still be sitting at the, the, the crossroads, the proverbial crossroads 30 days later spinning wondering like, man, is this what I should be doing? Or I could be that. Right. And what, what happens when we do that? We're just kinda like tiptoeing our, our, our feet into the waters and just trying to like test it out, but not commit too much.

Right. And you're just kind of wobbling on the fence instead of committing. And going. And so the first thing is, of course, lesson number one, make the decision, but make it through the lenses of how permanent is this? And can I actually just pivot if needed, really takes the pressure off. The second thing though, and the bigger, the more, uh, you know, compounding opportunity here is the fact that in most cases there's actually more than just left or right.

There's usually a, a variety of options. And that's where I want to introduce this concept of quantum decision making. Because if you actually play out these scenarios, multiple scenarios, all at the same time. Two things will happen. Number one, either you're gonna become extremely clear on the one action you do wanna take, or the one decision that you do wanna grasp onto.

Or you're gonna realize, wow, there are multiple good outcomes that could come from this. And now you're kind of presented with a variety of options. Now someone says, okay, well that's cool, but that's kind of my problem, Mike, is I have so many different options. I don't know which one to do. Well, when you present them to your brain in a very.

Systemized way, it's going to ele eliminate that, that back and forth, that spiraling that we typically will, will have with ourselves. And one of the best things you can do is get that decision making process out of your mind and put it down on paper. And I know old school right down on paper, but I'm telling you like if you actually use the tool that I'm gonna be sharing with you today.

This template of thinking. It's amazing what happens when you, when you pull it from the ether of thought and you distill it down into its physical form on paper, you immediately realize, wow, these things, or these variables are actually much more in my control. But when you're just letting those, those data points and those ideas bounce around in your head, it's really hard to formulate what's going on, right?

It's just like a lot of noise. It's a lot of static, and it's hard to find the signal amongst that noise. And so that's what I wanna share with you today, is this very simple, straightforward, uh, process. Ironically, in a, in a somewhat linear way, going through a quantum decision making process. And that's what I, I wanted to do is make the complex feel more simple, make it feel more applicable and actionable.

And that's exactly what this, uh, template is that the quantum decision making framework, so. Now, obviously if you're just listening to this, then you're, this is gonna be a little bit harder to follow along, so I'm not gonna go through the entire thing. You're gonna have to kind of, you know, reach out to us or use the links below or anywhere where you can to grab yourself this, uh, tool that I'm sharing today.

But I, I'll just walk you through the, the ideas, the concepts, and even if you just. Guide, you know, walk with me here. Uh, mentally you'll kind of get a feel for, for where we're going. So part one is all about the current state assessment. We can't get somewhere new if we don't know where we are now, right?

It's like looking at a map. The map does you no good if you act, don't actually. Know specifically where you are right now. We have to triangulate on that. And so we walk through in part one, just some very simple questions that will prompt your mind towards getting really clear and specific. Where am I today?

Where am I at right now? And rating that. And then what you wanna do is you want to. Address specifically, what key decisions are you currently stuck on or analyzing? We need to get really clear. We gotta kind of name the dragon, we gotta kind of like give it a name so we understand, okay, what am I actually dealing with here?

Well, I could do this, I could do that. I've got this idea, I've got this opportunity. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That there's too much static there. Let's get really, really clear. Remember what I set the top of the, of the call here? Higher quality questions are gonna generate higher quality answers. So we need to be very specific with what is it that we are prompting our brain.

I'm sure everybody here listening to me now is, is, is actively using AI and chat GBT and the other tools out there on a pretty regular basis by now. Right. Well, bad data in bad prompting in gets what? Bad data back. It's bad information. So we need to feed our brain with clean thinking and one of the best ways to get clean thinking is by writing.

It's one. I know guys, it's so simple, right? Like, oh, okay, my like writing big revelation here. But I promise you it's pretty amazing how few people will actually do this. You know, I spend 30 to 45 minutes a day, minimum, minimum, every single day, six days a week, at least, sometimes even seven days a week.

Just writing, writing out my thoughts. And this is why that the process of journaling is, is, is really popular. I've always kind of struggled with that concept of journaling 'cause I sit there and go, I don't really know what to write. But when you just. Pull out your thoughts. What are you thinking about?

What's the quality of that thought? Why are you thinking it? Right? You start to draw in and you realize that your thinking muscle very much is a muscle. If you work it out, it gets stronger, it gets better, and that's why I think a lot of people don't like to do this because they're, they're stuck in the dopamine feasting mode of just scrolling their social media.

And getting that instant hit of gratification that comes from just looking at imagery without having to think to earn that dopamine. And here I'm presenting you with a much more strenuous activity of actually putting away your social media and. Pulling out a piece of paper and pulling out your thoughts in your mind and distilling them down on a piece of paper so that you can physically look at it, physically hold that piece of paper.

And now no longer is that bouncing thought, you know, ping pong in between your ears. It is now represented in black and white form on paper that you can now address in a much more clear, clean thinking method. Alright, so there was a little bit of a long diatribe there, but I wanted to share with you, like we've gotta get clean thinking to get good results.

Plain and simple. Alright, part two, mapping multiple futures. And this is kind of where we start to embrace the quantum thinking process because there are multiple outcomes, there are multiple opportunities. Sometimes we don't even realize it, but when you filter through the lens I'm gonna give you right now, you realize, whoa, actually there are multiple paths forward.

And so the template will walk you through the bold approach. You know, if resources, time, and fear were not factors, what would your most ambitious approach look like? And then there's the cautious approach. If minimizing risk and building on proven foundations were your priority, how would you proceed on this?

See what we're doing, we're looking at the same problem, the same challenge, the same opportunity, the same question mark, but through different lenses, different paradigms. And when you do that, what do you, what happens? You get a different output. And these different outputs are gonna allow you to much more, uh, you know, clearly understand what is it that's gonna resonate the most.

Alternative path could be the innovative approach if you completely reimagined your approach, perhaps using methods unconventional in your industry. What might that look like? See what we're doing. We're stretching our minds. We're pulling out from the linear style of thought of left or right, yes or no, one or zero.

And we are now going quantum. We are looking at it through multiple different paradigms. Path D, the collaborative approach, approach. If you leverage partnerships or delegated aspects of this. Decision, how might that transform your approach? See, so again, same problem, same challenge, but through different lenses.

Part three is connecting the dots, because what will happen is when you start to pull out these different approaches, these different ways of going through or addressing the same problem, you'll notice that there are typically. Uh, commonalities and there are things that have like a string or a thread that you can connect through.

And so what we do is we look at these different paths, these four different paths through different impact points. So thing these could be like the team or the people in your life, the financial elements of this, the time and the energy expense required. Marketing position, if it's business related, personal growth, what does this do for you as a person?

Not just the the title or role that you hold, but the mind, the spirit, the body, the energy, and the frequency that you're operating on. So now we're looking at all four of these different path opportunities, but through these different lenses, see how we're going quantum here, we're now starting to address things at a much deeper level and it makes it not so binary, not so just again, black or white.

Part four then becomes pattern recognition because as soon as you start to do that, you realize, wow, of these four different pathways, here are some commonalities. And that's where your brain is really gonna start to lock in on the fact that, wow, there is actually multiple data points here suggesting that this is the better path, or these two options look stronger than the other two options, and it gives you more confidence.

It gives you more confidence to make this decision, uh, in the first place. And then last part five is leveraging questions. And again, so I, I provide you with these different prompts to, once you think you know what you wanna do, I then prompt you through these high leverage questions. Example of one would be, what if all of these options were actually available to you, simul simultaneously, how might that change your thinking?

Again, what decision would make all other decisions easier moving forward? See where we're going. So now we're just trying to like test the theory we're we have an idea, we have a, a hypothesis, but now we wanna test it. We want to put it up against some weight, some friction, some gravity, and see how it responds.

And then part six here we have commitment and, uh, integration. Like, what are you actually gonna do with this? You're like, yep, this is the path I, I want to take. This is the one that makes most sense right now. It's not irreversible, but it does feel like this is the best, uh, option forward. Great. Then I walk you through the process of stepping through these things and actually applying them into your world.

Now all of this comes down, I'll finish with this guys, is decision velocity. Decision velocity, you know, there's so much, uh, good. There are so many good books and, and YouTube videos and, and speeches that you can talk and, and listen to about, um, you know, leadership and decision making, and that's great.

But what I find is that often the struggle point that people have is not so much the. Uh, the decisions they make as much as it is the, the process of those decisions. Like what was the process of thinking that they got to that end result? Because if you change the process, you'll change the outcome and that outcome usually, like I said earlier, is not irreversible, but most people are stuck in that.

Looping pattern. They're stuck in a cul-de-sac going round and round thinking that they're actually on a freeway because they're moving quickly, but they're not, they're going in circles. And so that's my prompt for you today, is to increase your decision velocity as a leader, as, as somebody that wants to make an impact in the world when you make decisions quicker and with a deeper level of understanding, a quantum level of understanding.

You exponentially increase the potency of your decisions and the impact that you can make because you are looking through it in multiple lenses, in multiple different like fractal patterns to understand that this isn't binary. Every single thing that we do say and think has a ripple effect energetically frequency across all aspects of our life and everybody that we touch.

And so if we think through these decisions. In that context, instantly we can move forward quicker and with more confidence and with more. Clarity. Clarity, my friends, is the key word that comes up in almost 90% of the conversations we have with clients when they onboard with us is, I just want clarity.

Why? What's clarity? Confidence. Got it. What is confidence? It's a sense of, of being anchored to the decisions and the thoughts that you have. Well, how do you do that? You need better thinking. How do you get better thinking? The quantum decision making matrix. I hope this helps guys. Uh, dig around, reach out to us if you don't see it.

But this template, it's free. We put out here for you guys because I know it will absolutely change your life. Why can I say that so confidently? Because it's gonna change your thinking. If you change your thinking, you change your life. Alright guys, have a blessed day. Appreciate you joining me today, and we'll see you on another episode of The Wealthy Consultant Podcast.

Like share, subscribe, all the things 'cause that helps us spread the word about these types of opportunities and resources. All right, take care guys. Thanks for joining me.