No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. What is the difference? Why you should know about it? Let's explore.

Logic confines you to the box while thinking liberates you from the box.

The story below illustrates the point.

The Indian government was focused on reducing the gender gap in secondary school enrolment in rural India.

Logical policy:

The government constructed more schools with infrastructure thereby reducing the distance and barriers to attending the school.

There was a positive impact on the enrolment but the outcome was neither great nor cost effective.

Why?

There is a trade-off between school access and scale, which may be particularly relevant to secondary schools because they need qualified teachers for more subjects, competitive peers, and fixed infrastructure like laboratories, which require a minimum scale to be cost-effective.

Thinking:

The “Cycle Program” introduced by the Government of the Indian state of Bihar in 2006 improved school access and outcomes without additional school construction.

How?

The “Cycle Program” provided all girls enrolled in Year 9 with funds to buy bicycles thereby reducing the barriers.

The group of girls bicycling 5-10 km to nearest well established school every day not only shattered patriarchal norms but also filled them with confidence and a sense of future possibilities in the broader world.

The program has proven to be politically popular and has been replicated across the developing world.

Logical conclusions might not solve the problem all the time.

How do we cultivate original thinking?

Original thinking is more likely to surface when you are fearless and wandering than when you are busy and overscheduled.

Logic has limitations but thinking and imagination are off limits.

“No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical.”- was apparently told by Neils Bohr to Einstein whilst debating Quantum Physics.

Ironically, Einstein's special theory of relativity was a direct result of original thinking as he refused to be confined to the prevailing Newtonian logic.

Credit:

Bicycle policy - Karthik Muralidharan - Professor of Economics at University of California San Diego.

Photograph - me ( #iamnoguru) wandering along the Thames with an iPhone, the photo of the GMT - a beam of light is an intentional reference to Einstein.

Laugh, and Learn every day.

You can read my writings at view all blogs.