On the first day of class in my business strategy course, I open the morning with a quote from George Carlin. While that’s probably not a common path, the quote is essential to the principal objective of the course: spur critical thinking.
“Don’t just teach your children to read. Teach them to question what they read. Teach them to question everything.”
It’s fairly common practice for older generations to bemoan the decline of critical thinking in society. And a disproportionate amount of that criticism falls at the feet of younger generations. Truth be told, it affects more than just our youth. A recent Cato Institute survey revealed that nearly half of Americans – a swath that crossed all demographics – didn’t know what the country’s 250th anniversary commemorated. was hardly the crime of the century.
Somewhere, Thomas Jefferson rolled over in his grave.
While I can’t do much to affect the critical thinking skills of those who don’t spend a semester with me, I do my best to light that spark among those who do. Whether the focus is on assignments intended to cultivate critical thinking or class activities that weave deductive reasoning into the fabric of the exercise, everything we do is aimed at one target: critical thinking.
And it all starts with some inspiration from the dean of stand-up comedy, George Carlin.
Seven Dirty Words
Over forty years ago, on July 21, 1972, Carlin was arrested in Milwaukee at Summerfest for performing his classic routine, “Seven Dirty Words You Can Never Say on Television.” He was subsequently charged with violating obscenity laws, but the case was eventually thrown out. The judge in the case ruled that while his language was colorful and clearly indecent, it wasn’t obscene.
My father had a sailor’s sense of humor, which only makes sense due to his service in the Navy. While my mother pushed a more puritanical view on us growing up, my father and his friends could be found around the turntable on a Saturday night, drinking a cold beer and listening to the latest comedy albums. I still remember the summer night in 1972 when I first heard Cheech and Chong doing their “Sister Mary Elephant” routine – I ended up grounded for sneaking into the living room after my bedtime.
But she drew the line on George Carlin. She had very strong, typically uniformed, opinions about any performer who didn’t fit the mold of Fred Rogers. And George Carlin definitely fell into that category.
Fortunately – and perhaps unsurprisingly – the more she objected to someone, the more interested I became. It turned out that listening to Led Zeppelin didn’t turn me into a Satanist. My love of Johnny Cash didn’t land me in prison. And laughing along with George Carlin didn’t make me a pervert.
Leadership from the Cheap Seats
Over time, I listened to the words of George Carlin again and again. Each time, I heard something different. He was consistently hilarious, but there was much more to his comedy below the surface.
Carlin spent the better part of five decades on stage, but beneath the punchlines and profanity was one of the sharpest critical thinkers in American culture. Along the way, he modeled a kind of leadership that had nothing to do with rank or title. He was willing to say the uncomfortable things that polite society avoided. He didn’t just entertain; he taught millions of people to question authority, think independently, and voice their opinions.
1. “Never argue with an idiot.”
Pick your battles. A fool just drags you to their level, where their persistence wins. Leaders waste time and effort engaging every provocation instead of choosing which battles actually matter.
2. “If you have selfish, ignorant citizens, you’re gonna get selfish, ignorant leaders.”
Culture is a mirror. Organizations – and countries – get the leadership their culture selects. Leaders set the example and build the culture they want reflected back.
3. “We can’t be afraid to change the way we think.”
Stay cognitively flexible. Leaders who cling to outdated mental models fall behind the moment the environment shifts.
4. “I have as much authority as the Pope. I just don’t have as many people who believe it.”
Substance over symbols. Titles, insignia, and ceremony can’t substitute for competence and results. You don’t need a corner office or a distinguished title to lead with influence.
5. “Those who dance are considered insane by those who cannot hear the music.”
Vision outruns consensus. Leaders acting on a vision others don’t yet see might seem a little reckless — until the music catches up. When consensus catches up to the vision, anything is possible.
6. “There is an ‘I’ in independence, individuality, and integrity.”
There really is an ‘I’ in ‘Team.” The cohesion of team building shouldn’t erase the individual contributions and personal accountability every team member still owns.
7. “By and large, language is a tool for concealing the truth.”
Say what you mean but mean what you say. Leaders who hide behind jargon and euphemisms lose trust faster than those who speak plainly, even when the news is bad.
8. “Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.”
Guard against groupthink. Crowds can amplify bad judgment; leaders must build in dissent and independent thinking, not just consensus.
9. “Most people work just hard enough not to get fired.”
Minimum-effort cultures are a warning sign. Some people work just hard enough not to get fired. That’s a culture problem, not a people problem — compliance isn’t commitment, and leaders have to learn the difference.
10. “I talk to myself because I’m the only one whose answers I accept.”
Own your judgment. Own your decisions. Ultimately, leaders are accountable to themselves – and their values and principles – first. You can’t outsource the final call.
Those words are arguably Carlin’s deepest and most enduring legacy — not the jokes themselves, but the habit of mind they left behind. His humor functioned as a leadership tool of its own: clarifying thought, challenging comfortable assumptions, and giving people the courage to notice what they’d been taught to ignore. Carlin never set out to write a leadership book, but his refusal to accept comfortable lies about people, institutions, and himself made his humor an unusually sharp mirror for anyone leading others.
