How Critical Is Your Critical Thinking?
“Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think.” Albert Einstein
Over the years, I have come to appreciate the attribute of critical thinking in the people around me. I have learned that critical thinking is a lot like our choices – it can determine a lot about our future.
This month we explore critical thinking as it relates to the business world. Increasingly, I hear and see a demand for this skill. I also see the results when critical thinking is not very good, including my own ability in this area. In my case, I have to work at it, because I tend to be more trusting of people and information than is beneficial at times. I have to question more – and have others question more – to insure better decisions.
Hopefully, you will find what we talk about here to be useful in your own endeavor to improve your critical thinking. If you miss any of our writing, you can find it at www.ldrshipvision.com under the “Resource” section.
Do your best work and be well.
Jim
How Critical Is Your Critical Thinking?
We were in the middle of executing a project for our largest client. The project had a deadline in the form of a federal mandate. Things were going along in typical fashion. I say “typical” because most projects, depending on their level of complexity, have surprises along the way. For example, every time we thought we had our bases covered and were ready to print, the client made another change … typical. Then our client gave us the wrong data file. Still typical.
When our deadline was less than two days away, our subcontractor informed us that they were having trouble with one of their machines and were unsure whether they could meet our deadline. Wait … What?!? Not typical. Upon hearing this news, my boss asked the project manager, “What is our Plan B?” After a long pause, the PM replied, “We don’t have one.” It was a fitting time for the famous quote from the Apollo 13 mission, “Houston, we have a problem.”
Critical thinking has always been a prized attribute of leadership. Historically, however, it seems more attention has been paid to quantitative skills versus qualitative ones. Now, as the problems we face in business become more complex, the need for solid critical thinking is in greater demand.
We make decisions every day, and, like the choices we make, our decisions heavily influence our future. While simple decisions require a fairly straightforward decision-making process, complex decisions usually require more effort to properly deal with challenges such as uncertainty, risk, alternatives, and consequences. Such was the case in our ‘typical’ project that I mentioned earlier.
I believe that many people believe that critical thinking is a mysterious, complex set of interwoven skills that require a great deal of training. While I think the ‘interwoven’ part is true, my experience is that, actually, foundational behavior significantly contributes to critical thinking.
Don’t make assumptions. The other way to say it is, “Question Assumptions.” Good critical thinkers are inquisitive about the what and the why behind every situation. Crisis often brings out the best critical thinking because it forces us to question how and why we ended up in trouble. Do we accept things on face value, or do we ask, “How do we know this is true?”
Adopt Different Perspectives. I remember the IBM commercial where a group of people were lying on the floor. When asked what they were doing, the response was “We’re ‘ideating.’” For me, it was a clever way of illustrating a non-traditional way of generating ideas.
In today’s environment, we have a lot of diversity, from gender, to age, to experience. One rule of critical thinking that I try to ask myself is, “Is there another right answer?” This is my reminder that too often I stop at the first ‘right answer’ or ‘solution.’ With the speed that is necessary to react to the unexpected things that happen every day, it is important to take a moment to ensure that the path we want to take is the best one. And, in these demanding situations, collaboration is often the best way to explore different perspectives in the shortest amount of time.
See potential. Analyzing assumptions and considering multiple perspectives are deductive skills. More difficult to learn, but every bit as critical, is the ability to see opportunities where others see obstacles. The best critical thinkers excel in creativity and curiosity, two traits that allow us to open ourselves to the potential of a situation, to see things in a broader and deeper sense. We often associate creativity and curiosity with strategically forward thinking, but they are also indispensable when we are making decisions and solving problems.
Manage change. Perhaps a better way to say this is “manage ambiguity,” or chaos. There are a lot of moving parts in today’s business. For quite some time, many of the partners in our supply change can be anywhere in the world, creating a level of complexity that virtually guarantees that we will never know all the variables involved (i.e., what happens when something breaks down at the last minute, and…). This means that we need to be not only comfortable operating in an environment where change is constant and rapid decisions are required, but also skilled at doing so.
There was no Plan B for our project because we didn’t think we needed it. That was a mistake. Fortunately, two things happened. One, we convened a group of people who collectively had the knowledge to solve the problem. They came up with a plan. Two, our supplier/partner also came up with a plan to solve for the problem and meet the deadline. As a result, a potential disaster was averted.
The lesson? Crisis may bring out the best thinking, but it also creates a chaos of its own. I recommend solutions be developed and decisions made earlier in the process. Thank you, Mr. Obvious.
It is incumbent that we plan for as many variables and build as many contingencies into our workflow. This approach requires more of everything – time, effort, thought, discipline – but in a world that often demands greater speed, it can be the one thing that saves you time, money, and your ability to compete.
To a better you…
Jim