American novelist James Lane Allen had long been impressed by the ancient philosophy that a man becomes what he thinks; that a man's character is the outward expression of his inward thoughts.

He had traced it back to the Upanishads, sacred literature of the Hindus: “Man becomes that of which he thinks” -- as well as in the meditations of Marcus Aurelius: “Our life is what our thoughts make it.”

Or another favorite from Descartes: “I think, therefore I am.”

The same fundamental ideas are found in the writings of Confucius, Muhammad, Aristotle, Socrates and scores of others.

These scholars understood that such a seemingly basic function as thinking was one of the most significant activities that controlled their being. Thinking about thinking is a pretty abstract concept. Do great minds really think alike? Where do our thoughts really originate?

But you don’t need to be a philosopher to appreciate the value of thinking.

When I speak to corporate audiences, my first lesson is about how some of the best people spend their most productive time looking out the window. Every organization has people who can see the big picture. They don’t get bogged down with a lot of meaningless meetings and paper shuffling. They’re thinking. It’s the hardest, most valuable task any person performs, without question.

Henry Ford once hired an efficiency expert to go through his plant. Ford directed him to find the nonproductive employees and, he said, “I will fire them!”

When the expert finished his evaluation, he reported to Ford that he was particularly concerned with one of his administrators. “Every time I walked by, he was sitting with his feet propped up on the desk. The man never does a thing. I definitely think you should consider getting rid of him!”

Ford was curious to know who was using company time that way. Then the expert identified him, and Ford shook his head. “I can't fire him. I pay that man to do nothing BUT think, and that's what he's doing.”

In other words, he was doing the thinking for others. When you think about it, that’s a pretty daunting task!

A quote often attributed to Thomas Edison has it: “Five percent of the people think; 10% of the people think they think; and the other 85% would rather die than think.”

That sounds extreme -- but I can detect an element of truth to it. Sometimes it’s just easier to let others do the thinking and follow their lead.

If you are starting to wonder which category you fall in, remember, it’s not too late to adjust your thinking. Now is a perfect time to do a little spring cleaning and sweep out the clutter in your mind. Try these ideas:

-- Turn off the television. Limit your TV-watching to better concentrate on what’s going on around you. Spend time with friends or just enjoy the quiet.

-- Immerse yourself in something new. Read a wide variety of books and magazines, learn new words and use them, practice listening and find ways to stimulate your creativity, whether it’s crafts or painting or writing.

-- Follow a regular routine. Just like any exercise program, you need to build mental exercises into your weekly or daily schedule to fully reap the benefits. Give yourself memorization challenges. Change your daily habits to get out of mental ruts (take a new route to work, for example). Learn new music.

-- Let go of anger. Complaining or venting anger to a sympathetic friend can sometimes make things worse. Don’t repress your emotions, but concentrate on constructive responses.

-- De-stress. Find a time every day to back away from stress. For example, use the time when brushing your teeth at night to acknowledge anything negative experienced that day. Then focus on relaxation and peace.

-- Check your attitude. We spend lots of time in the morning primping to look good for the day. But few of us take time to mentally prepare for the day. Ask yourself one question as you get ready to meet the world: What kind of employee, or parent, or friend, do I plan to be today?

-- Don’t neglect your body. The brain benefits from physical exercise -- improved blood flow, increased oxygen and endorphins that keep your spirits high. Jump rope, stretch and meditate.

Mackay’s Moral: You don’t have to be a genius to think great thoughts.

The Titanic was state-of-the-art. No expense had been spared to make sure that it would be unsinkable. The officers were unconcerned by their inability to get accurate information on possible hazards that might lie in its course.

The ship had two lookouts on its masts, but they had no binoculars. The crew could see far enough ahead to react to danger, but, unbelievably, they had no way to get that information to the captain if they did see a problem approaching.

And we all know what happened. The unsinkable ocean liner went to her doom, along with most of her passengers on her maiden voyage -- the victim of a disastrous collision with an iceberg.

Disasters like this can happen in business also if we aren’t careful to make sure vital intelligence doesn’t get swallowed up by internal bureaucracy and inattention to detail.

Most of you have probably heard of the Peter Principle, a management concept developed by Dr. Laurence Peter. It observes that people in a hierarchy “rise to a level of incompetence.” They don’t start out as incompetent, but rather are promoted until they reach a level of respective incompetence.

An obvious solution to the Peter Principle is for companies to provide training for employees before they receive a promotion to ensure they are qualified for the job to which they are being promoted.

For example, I’ve seen many outstanding sales representatives promoted to sales manager when they don’t have any experience developing business plans, setting sales quotas and sales plans, analyzing data, mentoring a sales force, hiring and firing and so on.

Besides a lack of training, there are numerous other factors resulting in incompetence in the workplace, such as sheer laziness, poor communication and lack of people skills.

People are lazy for a variety of reasons. People become sloppy in checking their work and thus make multiple mistakes. They show up late for work and often don’t look professional when they do. Waiting until the last minute to get assignments done can also be a sign of laziness.

The most basic yet crucial leadership skill is communication, yet many people struggle with giving clear instructions. To make communication really work, we have to make sure the people we’re talking with understand what we are saying as well as we do. Communication requires both effective sending and receiving. To avoid a breakdown in communications, break down your message so that everyone can understand it.

From time to time, it’s a good idea to reevaluate your performance in these fundamental areas: speaking, listening, writing, leading meetings and resolving conflict. Talk is cheap, but misunderstandings can be costly.

Communication ranks high among top people skills, but incompetent people also lack social skills like patience, politeness, sympathy and teamwork. They are often rude, overbearing, hot-headed, tactless and have trouble getting along with others.

Many companies have had to reduce costs, which puts a heavy burden on otherwise competent employees by spreading them too thin. Where possible, managers should consider outsourcing or hiring contractors to take away some of the burden. Those costs will be money well-spent.

Other companies hire people and expect too much, too soon. Hiring is much more than filling an open position. Not everyone hits the ground running. People grow at various speeds. Help them prove their competence by setting clear, achievable goals. If they fail, the fault may lie more in the hiring process than in the employee’s lack of skills.

Incompetence in one area doesn’t necessarily carry over. We all have strengths and weaknesses. The balance between the two often determines the perception of competence. Build on your strengths, but don’t ignore your weaknesses.

Let’s face it, everyone has had an incompetent moment or two or three in their lifetime. That includes me. When I was starting my envelope manufacturing company many years ago, I worked many long, long days. One night, when I got home late again, my very pregnant wife, Carol Ann, told me that the light in the hallway wasn’t working. I flipped the switch and sure enough, no light. I thought there was a short in the switch or something, so I called our electrician.

He fixed the problem early the next morning, handed me the bill and said, “This is the first time I’ve ever made a house call to change a light bulb!”

Mackay’s Moral: The time to right the ship is before incompetence becomes impossible.

In a research experiment, a marine biologist placed a shark into a large holding tank and then released several small bait fish into the tank. The shark quickly swam around the tank, attacked and ate the smaller fish.

The marine biologist then inserted a strong piece of clear plexiglass into the tank, with the shark on one side and a new set of bait fish on the other. The shark attacked, slamming into the plexiglass divider over and over. The fish swam around unharmed in their section. After about an hour, the shark gave up, according to this story from Bits & Pieces.

Over the next few weeks, the shark made fewer attempts to attack the fish, until it stopped attacking altogether. When the marine biologist removed the divider, the shark didn’t attack. It believed a barrier existed between it and the bait fish, so the fish swam wherever they wished, free from harm.

I love shark stories; is it any wonder why? But how many imaginary barriers do you see separating you from what you really want?

Many of us create barriers for a variety of reasons. Maybe we were trained a certain way and need to reprogram ourselves. We don’t think we have options. We don’t want to take chances or rock the boat. Or it could be that we simply don’t want to do something, so we create doubt.

If we try something and fail, is that a reason not to try it again later? Things change. We change. That’s not an excuse to give up on something.

I wrote a column years ago about the late Randy Pausch, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University who learned he had pancreatic cancer. He gave a final upbeat speech, eventually viewed by millions, titled “The Last Lecture.”

In it he said: “The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how bad we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it bad enough. They’re there to stop the other people.”

But brick walls get knocked down every day. When you know that what you want is on the other side, and you want it more than you want anything else, you go looking for a sledgehammer.

I think of the challenging times when I was starting my company, or when the envelope business seemed to be on the brink of extinction, or when a civic project I was heading up hit a roadblock. It would have been easier to give up. But then I would have to live with my decision to quit rather than persevere. Could I overcome that disappointment?

In the wise words of Sir Edmund Hillary, who, along with Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, was the first person confirmed to reach the summit of Mount Everest: “It is not the mountains we conquer, but ourselves.”

So who says that you can’t accomplish your goals? Who says that you’re not tougher, better, smarter, harder-working and more able than your competition? It doesn’t matter if they say you can’t do it. The only thing that matters is if you say you can't do it. As we all know, if we believe in ourselves, there’s hardly anything that we can’t accomplish.

The shark from my opening story would have been wiser had it heeded the words of Oprah Winfrey, whose career had plenty of bumps as she started in television: “Do the one thing you think you cannot do. Fail at it. Try again. Do better the second time. The only people who never tumble are those who never mount the high wire. This is your moment. Own it.”

Surviving a setback is more tolerable if you step back and review your goal. Get some perspective on the direction you need to take when you recover from this stumble.

When I have doubts, I always remember the famous words of Thomas Edison, perhaps the greatest American inventor, who said, “I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.”