Flexible Thinking Forum

It is rather appropriate that ‘Stupid Aid Day’ is on Thursday April 1^st- – and offers all of us the chance stupidity in the world at large.

By stupidity we don’t mean low intelligence but rather the bureaucratic, ‘the Computer says No’ moments and other examples of stupidity in the world – whether it is the global financial crisis or the latest example of ‘healthandsafetyitus’.

If you have an example of stupid thinking please let us know at our special campaign web site, www.stupidaid.com.

This is not about making fun of people (although some may deserve it) rather it is about providing practical help to tackle the pressures of modern life.

My book ’Overcoming Stupidity’ contains advice to help anyone wanting to stand up to unhelpful telephone call centres, bureaucracy gone mad, or when confronted with unhelpful ‘jobsworths’.

By using its practical tips, ideas and inspiration, I hope each of us can play a part in promoting common sense responses in world where, despite massive technological advances to make us act ‘smarter’, the opposite seems to happen.

The campaign is part of my work for the Flexible Thinking Forum, a not-for-profit social enterprise, which promotes improving creative thinking skills.

Tips in the book include how to respond when told ‘Sorry, it’s our rules’, through to avoid being fobbed off with excuses like, ‘It’s health and safety’ or ‘data protection’.

A key point is that stupidity is not about low intelligence but is caused by inflexible thinking. Leading banking figures are good examples of intelligent people who do stupid things.

Ultimately, we are all capable of stupidity. Each day, all of us can experience the ‘’Doh’ factor’, when we recognize we have done something stupid.

I have created a new stupid thinking rating scale – with different types of stupid thinking rated between 1 star and 5 star.

Most of us are guilty each day of what can be called ‘1 star stupidity’ – making wrong decisions based on inadequate information. The ultimate 5 star stupidity is where you knowingly repeat an earlier stupid act. [The 5 star Stupid Thinking Guide is detailed below]

I believe the modern world is more stupid as a result of:

Greater complexity around us

Faster pace of life, development and communications

Negative word-of-mouth traveling faster than positive, so urban myths are created for example around the risk of being sued, being politically incorrect or facing physical threat.

Lower cost of logical technology making it easier to introduce inflexible systems

Inherent laziness of people’s thinking, preferring to opt for superficially attractive, easy, quick -fix solutions rather than addressing the real problems.

April 1^st seems a good day to mark Stupid Aid Day which has a serious message – we want people to fight back against stupidity wherever they come across it. I hope it will not be a losing battle.