February 6, 2025 • 27 mins
Unlock the secrets of effective leadership and transform your decision-making skills with insights from industry giants like Jeff Bezos and Mary Barra. This episode promises to equip you with the critical thinking tools vital for navigating complex business landscapes and fostering a culture of innovation and accountability. We'll explore how leaders can evolve from rescuers to mentors, empowering their teams to take ownership of their decisions and build a foundation of trust that drives success.
Discover the powerful dynamics of dual-system thinking and how it plays out in both sports and business environments. We'll dissect the fast, intuitive reactions of System One compared to the slow, deliberate reasoning of System Two, using vivid examples like a high-stakes tennis match. Drawing from the work of Paul and Elder, we dive into enhancing your thinking through structured analysis and evaluation. Listen as we highlight the practices of visionary leaders like Peter Drucker and Warren Buffett, who thrive on embracing diverse perspectives and adapting to change with agility and an open mind.
Presented by John Wandolowski and Greg Powell
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
I'm your host, john Wondolowski, and I'm here with
my friend Greg Powell.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Hey everybody, yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
So today our subject is kind of an interesting
subject.
It's critical thinking and forme, I think critical thinking
has different applications.
I sometimes refer to it likeleadership and, as it relates to
something like tennis, somedecisions are like a lob that's
(00:52):
over the net.
They're day-to-day kind ofrequirements that are no big
deal, and some decisions, likein tennis, take a lot of
planning and testing and beforeyou start to move forward you
have to make decisions in termsof your skills and how to be
recruited and what does aDivision I team need versus a
Division II team?
In an NCAA kind of environmentthere's a lot more to try to
(01:14):
look for a scholarship.
My point is that you need tounderstand the scope of the
problem or the opportunity toseek advice and to understand
the skills that you have to giveand the skills that you're
looking for, that the person iscapable.
Critical thinking has beendescribed as the ability to
(01:36):
question, to acknowledge or testprevious assumptions, to
examine, to interpret, toevaluate, to reason, to reflect,
examine, to interpret, toevaluate, to reason, to reflect,
to make informed judgments anddecisions, to clarify, to
articulate and to justifypositions, and that description
(01:56):
came from the University ofLouisville.
Thank goodness they were ableto put that together, because
that's a pretty well-defineddescription of what it is that
you need to understand when theyuse the term critical thinking,
because it's like a dump zonefor ideas.
It isn't really a simpleconcept.
There's a lot to it and tounderstand how to do that
(02:16):
naturally takes a lot of time.
So, from the article LinkedInarticle from February 22nd of
2003, why is critical thinkingan important skill for managers?
The best leaders are criticalthinkers because critical
thinking allows them to analyzecomplex situations, to consider
(02:39):
multiple perspectives, toevaluate information thoroughly
and to make informed decisionsbased on the evidence rather
than assumptions, which iscritical to navigate challenges
and to understand what is thecurrent leading activities in
any environment.
Critical thinking enablesemployees to consider multiple
(03:03):
perspectives and the potentialof outcomes of different
decisions.
They lead to better choicesthat are made in order to help
you succeed.
The ability to evaluate theinformation in the data and the
facts is important as making thefinal decision, the formal
decision, making the finaldecision, the formal decision.
(03:25):
So critical thinking in the 21stcentury leaders is an article
from again 2023 by Dr SylviaLaFleur, and she goes on to talk
about leaders who are rescuersdo not help their teams to grow.
It's the role of a mentor, andwe've talked about leadership
(03:49):
roles and rescuers and mentorsin the past, and they are roles
that sometimes we fall intobecause it's what we are geared
to as leaders, and we're tryingto bring up the point that
critical thinking is importantfor a leader to understand.
She goes on to say I want youto know how they handle problems
and how they would come to herlooking for three solutions.
(04:13):
As a result, she can move froma rescuer to a mentor, which
means that she can ask questionsthat can lead to helping them
to figure out their next steps.
Here is where she takes thatinput and, instead of giving
answers, she's challenging theindividuals to get involved with
(04:34):
making that critical decision.
She goes on to say criticalthinking is so much more than
merely thinking.
Leaders skilled in criticalthinking are better equipped for
solving problems.
They are informed, they makedecisions and communicate their
ideas effectively.
For example, consider JeffBezos, the founder of Amazon.
(04:55):
Bezos has been widely creditedfor transforming the retail
industry through his innovativeideas and business strategies.
As an illustration, one of thekeys to his success is his
ability for critical thinking.
Critical thinkers are rebelswho become community builders,
(05:17):
and everyone contributes.
She goes on to say that theinstances where Bezos first
started Amazon.
He was recognized that thetraditional retail model was not
working.
He saw it as an opportunity toleverage the power of the
Internet.
He created a new retailexperience that would be more
convenient and more accessibleto customers.
(05:38):
Consequently, he required himto think creatively to develop a
business model that wascustomer-centered, innovative
and had long-term growth.
Critical thinkers helped changethe work culture to be more
productive.
When Mary Barra took over as CEOof GM in 2014, the company
(06:02):
faced several challenges.
This included a significantsafety crisis related to faulty
ignition switches.
She recognized that the companyneeded to change the culture
and problem-solving approach.
She emphasized the importanceof transparency, accountability
and cooperation.
Just as a side note,transparency, accountability and
(06:25):
cooperation is really the mostimportant elements that you can
see with critical thinkingprofiles.
You know they're.
The most important word out ofthose three for me is
accountability, responsibility.
If they own their decisions,they own the information, they
own the data, the people thatare being involved in the
critical thinkers' decisions,you'll see that there's that
(06:48):
trust that kicks in.
At the same time, she goes onto say she's also encouraging
employees to speak at all levels, to speak up and to share their
ideas To help GM address thesafety crisis.
She restored trust with thecustomers and improved the
overall performance.
(07:10):
So critical thinking isimportant To understand.
Critical thinking is vital forsuccess in today's competitive
work environment is anunderstatement.
Critical thinking objectivesanalyze and evaluate information
that makes decisions andproblem solving a bit easier.
It is essential for making thesound judgments in complex and
(07:32):
rapidly changing environments.
To be an effective leader is tounderstand the ability to
change in these environments,because the one thing that is a
constant in business is change.
The definition of criticalthinking includes system
thinking.
(07:52):
The definition of criticalthinking includes system
thinking.
Critical thinking is analyzingand evaluating information
objectively, without bias orprejudice.
It involves the logic and thereason of identifying the
(08:15):
strengths and the weaknesses ofan argument, the knowledge and
the evidence.
You have to step back andactually make clear decisions
and understand when somebodywho's been in the middle of the
fight has been trying to fix theproblem, like this GM issue
with safety, and they are soknee deep in it that they can't
see the other data.
That's where someone who is acritical thinker and is a leader
is trying to pull a person backin saying it didn't work.
We have to start over thatability to have the ability to
(08:39):
stand back and help withself-awareness, not only for
themselves, but for the peoplethey're working with.
That's the core of criticalthinking.
Greg, I think you have anotherway of defining the critical
thinking concept.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
Thanks, john.
Let's take that trip down thepath a little bit further, a
little deeper.
Critical thinking andleadership increases
collaboration.
We have certainly talked abouthow important it is for managers
and their employees to be ableto collaborate.
Managers to collaborate withothers.
Influential leaders need to beable to make decisions quickly
and confidently, and they alsoneed to be able to evaluate
(09:16):
information carefully.
Then they ensure that thedecisions are based on sound
evidence, not gut reaction.
Learning the key components ofcritical thinking gives leaders
a cutting edge in business.
Now take it a little deeperhere.
A gentleman by the name ofScriven and Paul came up with an
article defining criticalthinking at the eighth annual
(09:38):
international conference oncritical thinking and education
reform.
Paul and Scriven suggested thatcritical thinking is based on
universal intellectual valuesthat transcend subject matter
divisions.
That's a mouthful right.
Let's take this part slowly.
Clarity, accuracy, precision,consistency, relevance, sound
(10:01):
evidence, good reasons, depth,breadth and fairness Lots of
things to look at when you'rereally critically thinking about
a topic or an issue.
It entails the examination ofthose structures or elements of
thought implicit in all types ofreasoning purpose, problem
question at an issue,assumptions, concepts, empirical
(10:22):
grounding, reasons that lead toconclusions, implication and
consequences, objectives fromalternative viewpoints and frame
of reference.
So 360-degree way of looking atissues and items, completely
comprehensive approach.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Do you think they could come up with any more
terms if they tried?
I mean that's a wonderful.
I mean it's trying to be asthorough as possible to
understand all the elements thatare associated with it.
Incredible description anyway.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
You are exactly right , john.
A super deep dive is beingresponsible to variable subject
matter, issues and purposes, andyou're trying to incorporate
all this information, weave ittogether into a common kind of
mode of thinking.
So some of the things thatyou're thinking about with
critical thinking you'rethinking about scientific
thinking, you're thinking aboutmathematical thinking, you're
(11:17):
taking a look at the history,the background, the backdrop,
historical thinking and, evendeeper than that,
anthropological thinking,throwing in the economic side,
economical thinking, and we'vetalked a lot about moral
thinking and the moral compass,and then, just for discussion's
sake, philosophical think.
Now, developing criticalthinking skills, saw an article
(11:41):
from a company called asana.
They're a software companybased in san francisco and they
came up with seven skills in2008 by mr moskovitz and
rosenstein that they thinkreally kind of nails.
What are those skills that needto be developed?
So the first one, pretty simpleright Identify the problem or
question at hand.
Second, do the detective work,gather relevant information.
(12:05):
Third, now you're going toanalyze and evaluate the data
that you have.
Fourth, consider alternativepoints of view.
Five, start to draw somelogical conclusions of what
you've reviewed.
Six, develop and communicatethe solutions that are in your
head.
And then seven, which is reallyimportant reflect and learn
(12:28):
from the process, because it isjust that it is a process.
Now, john, are there any goodbooks on critical thinking?
Speaker 2 (12:35):
There are a ton of books that are associated with
critical thinking.
The one that we kind of likedwas from a psychologist, daniel
Kinnaman, from 2011.
And he did a book calledThinking Fast and Slow and it
really, you know, rang the bellof what we're trying to get
across in terms of discussingcritical thinking as being the
(12:57):
key component of leadership.
The description is trying totalk about two different modes.
System one is a fast, automatic, intuitive, emotional.
This is a default system thatour brains basically run on.
For me, it's like a tennisapplication it's when you're
playing close to the net, you'rejust doing it, you're not
(13:22):
thinking about it.
System two slow, effortful,logical, deliberate.
You have to have the intent andto activate the system, you
have to have a lot of effortsthat you can make it, to use it
as a default approach.
So there's system two.
Actually takes a little bit oftraining, or at least the
(13:45):
ability to be aware, since yousee which one of the two that
you're actually utilizing, andas they were trying to
illustrate it, I'm going to gothrough the characteristics of
FAST.
It's defining uncharacteristic,unconscious, effortless,
automatic, withoutself-awareness, which is, I
(14:06):
think, the key here or control.
Okay, what you see is all thatthere is.
So the role is to make anassessment and deliver updates,
or deliver results, dependingupon its application System.
Two, slow is definingcharacteristics are deliberate,
conscious, effortful, controlledmental process with
(14:28):
self-awareness or control.
Those words are kind of likeinterchangeable in my mind.
Self-awareness or control thosewords are kind of like
interchangeable in my mind,logical, skeptical, and in my
world I would add the wordanalytical at the same time,
kind of all into the samecontext To seek new information
and to make defined and wellthought out decisions, not
(14:51):
getting better results.
That really is a very good wayof trying to force people to
think through the problem, tounderstand what is fast isn't,
as I think, effective as doingit slow.
Sometimes you don't have thatoption, greg.
I think you can talk aboutcritical thinking in another
(15:12):
application.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
Thank you, john.
A couple of gentlemen, paul andElder, came up with their own
critical thinking model.
This conceptualization ofcritical thinking has been
refined and developed further bythese two gentlemen and their
framework of critical thinking.
Currently this approach is oneof the most widely published and
cited frameworks in thecritical thinking literature.
So according to Paul, elder andtheir framework, critical
(15:37):
thinking is something like thisanalysis of thinking by focusing
on the parts of structures orthinking, the elements of
thought, the second piece,evaluation of thinking by
focusing on quality, the kind ofuniversal intellectual
standards, and then, finally,improvement of thinking by using
what you learn, applying thatto those intellectual traits.
(15:59):
And so they put together one oftheir little models that looks
pretty good.
You start off on the left withintellectual standards, move
into intellectual traits andthen over into elements of
reasoning.
And it's a model.
It's almost circular in thesense of how it works.
But when you think aboutintellectual standards, you
think about accuracy, you thinkabout logical, you think about
(16:20):
significance and fairness.
When you think about elementsof reasoning which is really
important in this purposefulquestions, points of view,
things that are inferred,implications, and finally, what
are those traits thatintellectual?
This model needs Humility,perseverance, john and I've
talked about this many timesEmpathy and confidence in
reading.
All right, john, anything onsome really good, well-regarded
(16:45):
leaders.
On critical thinking Sure.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
So the best leaders are critical thinkers, and it
makes sense that they wouldstand out from the rest, and it
has to do with their ability tothink decisively.
The best critical thinkersweigh in on their alternatives,
connect the dots and look forthe potential in order to make
informed decisions, decisions.
(17:18):
Let's take a couple right offthe top Peter Drucker,
considered the father of modernmanagement.
Warren Buffett, renownedinvestor, known for his
analytical approach.
Elon Musk, entrepreneur andfocused on innovation and
problem solving.
Mary Barra, ceo of GM,recognized for her data-driven
decision making.
I mean, those are all goodexamples of people who are
(17:41):
capable of doing the job ofthinking and stepping back and
being able to look at solutions.
Here are some other greatcritical thinkers that make a
habit of.
What is it that you do in orderto be a critical thinker?
What are those characteristics?
And this one I am guilty of.
(18:02):
I probably have about a dozenpeople right now saying yes, oh,
my God.
Leading with questions.
I have done that throughout mycareer Because it's an
open-ended question to try topull the person into the
conversation.
It helps to get to the heart ofthe matter, the why, the how,
but mostly to get the voice ofthe people who are in the room.
(18:23):
It's the wonderful icebreakerEmbrace the different points of
view.
As a leader, embracingdifferent points of view is
taking advantage of diversity ofyour team and to help you see
different perspectives.
Sometimes you'll notice thatyou're stuck with your team and
all of a sudden you're justrepeating the same things that
you know.
Broaden your team, add otherpeople in from the other part of
(18:45):
the company, other part ofdivision, whomever, and have
those different voices.
Those are keys to help you beproductive.
The best leaders see this andfind the insights of what other
people have to offer.
Leading with agility the oldsaying goes that only constant
(19:07):
is change.
The variables are alwaysshifting and adjusting.
We've said that a couple timesalready in this conversation.
Leading through change requiresan open mind and to be able to
see the opportunity in everysituation.
I always use the example whenpeople ask me why we're so good
at doing this.
Sometimes, in an engineeringperspective, it's kind of like
(19:28):
NASCAR is always looking at someway to make that car go faster,
whether it's by the rules orkind of like by the rules.
But the agility and that openmind to see where the creativity
comes in is some of the magicthat happens with car racing.
Keep an open mind.
In a complex world, leaders haveto have an open mind in order
(19:50):
to see the potential answers itmay not be from something that
you understand, but your teammay understand it and to
understand diverse opinions andto take the different variables
to see what you can see.
Try to clear the image of whatyou're trying to accomplish.
(20:10):
Leaders who think criticallyhave the ability to manage the
undefined or the ambiguity thatwould normally lead people to
areas where they can't get ananswer.
They're just stuck.
These managers have the abilityto plow through and get results
.
And then the last concept interms of habits is leading from
(20:32):
within.
And then the last concept interms of habits is leading from
within.
Be a leader who knows nothing asit seems.
Be open to ideas, listen andunderstand and minimize the
uncertainty by helping people,size up the problems, connect
the dots and find the potential.
That's really the idea of aleader is to handle the
(20:57):
diversity when no one else can.
And those are the people thatyou see rising to the top,
because change and conflict andcritical thinking skills are the
mandatory requirements forexecutive leadership.
You start to see people havethose strongest traits, move
ahead of others because theyhave the ability to do just that
(21:17):
critical thinking.
So, greg, I think you have alittle bit of a twist on
critical thinking.
Why don't you help us out withthat?
Speaker 1 (21:25):
one I will.
We from time to time bring upfables or stories to help
support some of the conceptswe're talking about, and we came
up with this one that I thinkmost of you've heard before, but
I think it really drives thepoint home.
It's called the Emperor's NewClothes yes, hans Christian
Andersen, back in 1837.
So it goes something like thisthe Emperor's New Clothes is a
(21:49):
classic fairy tale where a vainemperor obsessed with new
clothes is tricked by two conartists who claim to weave a
magical fabric only visible tointelligent people.
Everyone in the court pretendsto see the fabric out of fear of
looking incompetent.
Then a brave young childbravely points out that the
(22:09):
emperor is actually naked,exposing the deception and the
emperor's vanity.
The story highlights a theme ofspeaking truth to power and the
dangers of conformity.
So let's talk a little bitabout some of those points out
of that story.
First thing questioningauthority.
This brave child askedquestions that were against the
(22:29):
consensus, demonstrating a keyaspect of what we're talking
about critical thinking.
Not accepting just becauseeveryone else does it.
That's not being a verycritical thinker.
The next thing that this youngman did observation and analysis
.
The child carefully observedthe situation and he used logic
right, just plain logic toconclude that the emperor is not
(22:53):
wearing any clothes.
No-transcript.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
Yeah, I always get a business application of critical
thinking, and probably morerelates to the fast and slow
concept.
There's an accident and there'smultiple injuries that are
associated with an accident andyou're having problems with the
(23:31):
water system that's out in theemergency room and you have to
come up with some plan to handlethe water requirements and the
isolation and the emergency atthe same time.
I'm trying to give you a littlebit of a detail of an emergency
, and a hospital can be a myriadof different things, but the
fast and the slow of an incidentcommand event is there are
things that are going on thatneed immediate attention.
(23:53):
So like stop the water fromleaking, get people out of the
area where there's harm, talkabout where entrance or access
can be maintained and where ithas to be isolated.
Those are the nuts and bolts ofthe details.
Now you need to step back in.
What's wrong with the watersystem?
(24:13):
What are the requirements thatwe need for the patients?
What is the impact of theemergency room's capacity?
Those are long-term.
That's sitting out there.
There are different teams thatanswer different questions and
you have to have the wherewithalto be able to step back and
talk about staffing needs,material needs time requirements
in order to be productive, oryou have to make a decision on
(24:35):
being on something called bypassbecause the actual effect on
the hospital is so bad that youcan't accept any more emergency
room activity and you go onbypass.
All those things are going onat the same time and you have to
be able to step back as acritical thinker and have people
that are working on the shortterm and people working on the
(24:56):
long term and knowing what yourresources are in the critical
incident command team to be ableto say I'm available to help or
I'm overwhelmed and I need yourhelp.
So it's the ability to be ableto stand back, be self-aware and
be able to think on your feetand move quickly.
Those are those elements thatyou're looking for in critical
(25:17):
thinking.
So let's just step back and do aquick summary of who's
responsible for criticalthinking.
Everybody's responsible forcritical thinking.
It is whether it's thecompany's a sort of approach in
terms of having people that areprepared, people that are
trained, whether it's yourmanager that should help you to
(25:41):
demonstrate critical thinkingexamples before you actually get
into it, to train you, to giveyou that observation possibility
where you can see somethingactually going on and bring
other people in for learning.
It might be from otherhospitals.
I've done that myself and youare responsible as a leader to
(26:10):
take on the responsibility oflearning what critical thinking
means to be self-aware of yourlimitations and build on your
strengths and it's importantthat I'm saying build on your
strengths, because everybody hasweaknesses we need to work on.
But you can take advantage andbe more effective if you play
with your strengths to help youmake yourself a better critical
thinker.
So we've talked a lot aboutcritical thinking today.
I hope you understand we aretrying to give you different
(26:32):
points of view that can help youout and give you an idea of
what this concept really means.
So, if you like what you'veheard, yeah, I wrote a book.
It's called Building theLeadership Toolbox.
It's about this very subject,about critical thinking.
The book's available on Amazonand Barnes Noble.
The book is now an ink book.
(26:54):
It's an audio book.
You can use a card to cover thebook.
It's awesome.
Get an opportunity to read thebook.
The podcast is what you listento and what form that you're on.
It's also available on thethings like Google's book.
A lot of what Greg and I talkabout is really Dr Dury's and
(27:15):
his MBR program.
Now that information and hisprogram is available through
successgrowthacademycom, Nowthat information and its program
is available throughsuccessgrowthacademycom.
And if you want to talk to us,please send a message to
wwwauthorjawcom and you can sendus a message.
Music is brought to you by mygrandson, so we want to hear
(27:39):
from you.
Have an opportunity, drop us aline.
We love hearing from theaudience and it has always
helped us with our program.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
So thanks Greg, thanks John, as always.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
Next time yeah.
I'm your host, john Wondolowski, and I'm here with
my friend Greg Powell.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Hey everybody, yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
So today our subject is kind of an interesting
subject.
It's critical thinking and forme, I think critical thinking
has different applications.
I sometimes refer to it likeleadership and, as it relates to
something like tennis, somedecisions are like a lob that's
(00:52):
over the net.
They're day-to-day kind ofrequirements that are no big
deal, and some decisions, likein tennis, take a lot of
planning and testing and beforeyou start to move forward you
have to make decisions in termsof your skills and how to be
recruited and what does aDivision I team need versus a
Division II team?
In an NCAA kind of environmentthere's a lot more to try to
(01:14):
look for a scholarship.
My point is that you need tounderstand the scope of the
problem or the opportunity toseek advice and to understand
the skills that you have to giveand the skills that you're
looking for, that the person iscapable.
Critical thinking has beendescribed as the ability to
(01:36):
question, to acknowledge or testprevious assumptions, to
examine, to interpret, toevaluate, to reason, to reflect,
examine, to interpret, toevaluate, to reason, to reflect,
to make informed judgments anddecisions, to clarify, to
articulate and to justifypositions, and that description
(01:56):
came from the University ofLouisville.
Thank goodness they were ableto put that together, because
that's a pretty well-defineddescription of what it is that
you need to understand when theyuse the term critical thinking,
because it's like a dump zonefor ideas.
It isn't really a simpleconcept.
There's a lot to it and tounderstand how to do that
(02:16):
naturally takes a lot of time.
So, from the article LinkedInarticle from February 22nd of
2003, why is critical thinkingan important skill for managers?
The best leaders are criticalthinkers because critical
thinking allows them to analyzecomplex situations, to consider
(02:39):
multiple perspectives, toevaluate information thoroughly
and to make informed decisionsbased on the evidence rather
than assumptions, which iscritical to navigate challenges
and to understand what is thecurrent leading activities in
any environment.
Critical thinking enablesemployees to consider multiple
(03:03):
perspectives and the potentialof outcomes of different
decisions.
They lead to better choicesthat are made in order to help
you succeed.
The ability to evaluate theinformation in the data and the
facts is important as making thefinal decision, the formal
decision, making the finaldecision, the formal decision.
(03:25):
So critical thinking in the 21stcentury leaders is an article
from again 2023 by Dr SylviaLaFleur, and she goes on to talk
about leaders who are rescuersdo not help their teams to grow.
It's the role of a mentor, andwe've talked about leadership
(03:49):
roles and rescuers and mentorsin the past, and they are roles
that sometimes we fall intobecause it's what we are geared
to as leaders, and we're tryingto bring up the point that
critical thinking is importantfor a leader to understand.
She goes on to say I want youto know how they handle problems
and how they would come to herlooking for three solutions.
(04:13):
As a result, she can move froma rescuer to a mentor, which
means that she can ask questionsthat can lead to helping them
to figure out their next steps.
Here is where she takes thatinput and, instead of giving
answers, she's challenging theindividuals to get involved with
(04:34):
making that critical decision.
She goes on to say criticalthinking is so much more than
merely thinking.
Leaders skilled in criticalthinking are better equipped for
solving problems.
They are informed, they makedecisions and communicate their
ideas effectively.
For example, consider JeffBezos, the founder of Amazon.
(04:55):
Bezos has been widely creditedfor transforming the retail
industry through his innovativeideas and business strategies.
As an illustration, one of thekeys to his success is his
ability for critical thinking.
Critical thinkers are rebelswho become community builders,
(05:17):
and everyone contributes.
She goes on to say that theinstances where Bezos first
started Amazon.
He was recognized that thetraditional retail model was not
working.
He saw it as an opportunity toleverage the power of the
Internet.
He created a new retailexperience that would be more
convenient and more accessibleto customers.
(05:38):
Consequently, he required himto think creatively to develop a
business model that wascustomer-centered, innovative
and had long-term growth.
Critical thinkers helped changethe work culture to be more
productive.
When Mary Barra took over as CEOof GM in 2014, the company
(06:02):
faced several challenges.
This included a significantsafety crisis related to faulty
ignition switches.
She recognized that the companyneeded to change the culture
and problem-solving approach.
She emphasized the importanceof transparency, accountability
and cooperation.
Just as a side note,transparency, accountability and
(06:25):
cooperation is really the mostimportant elements that you can
see with critical thinkingprofiles.
You know they're.
The most important word out ofthose three for me is
accountability, responsibility.
If they own their decisions,they own the information, they
own the data, the people thatare being involved in the
critical thinkers' decisions,you'll see that there's that
(06:48):
trust that kicks in.
At the same time, she goes onto say she's also encouraging
employees to speak at all levels, to speak up and to share their
ideas To help GM address thesafety crisis.
She restored trust with thecustomers and improved the
overall performance.
(07:10):
So critical thinking isimportant To understand.
Critical thinking is vital forsuccess in today's competitive
work environment is anunderstatement.
Critical thinking objectivesanalyze and evaluate information
that makes decisions andproblem solving a bit easier.
It is essential for making thesound judgments in complex and
(07:32):
rapidly changing environments.
To be an effective leader is tounderstand the ability to
change in these environments,because the one thing that is a
constant in business is change.
The definition of criticalthinking includes system
thinking.
(07:52):
The definition of criticalthinking includes system
thinking.
Critical thinking is analyzingand evaluating information
objectively, without bias orprejudice.
It involves the logic and thereason of identifying the
(08:15):
strengths and the weaknesses ofan argument, the knowledge and
the evidence.
You have to step back andactually make clear decisions
and understand when somebodywho's been in the middle of the
fight has been trying to fix theproblem, like this GM issue
with safety, and they are soknee deep in it that they can't
see the other data.
That's where someone who is acritical thinker and is a leader
is trying to pull a person backin saying it didn't work.
We have to start over thatability to have the ability to
(08:39):
stand back and help withself-awareness, not only for
themselves, but for the peoplethey're working with.
That's the core of criticalthinking.
Greg, I think you have anotherway of defining the critical
thinking concept.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
Thanks, john.
Let's take that trip down thepath a little bit further, a
little deeper.
Critical thinking andleadership increases
collaboration.
We have certainly talked abouthow important it is for managers
and their employees to be ableto collaborate.
Managers to collaborate withothers.
Influential leaders need to beable to make decisions quickly
and confidently, and they alsoneed to be able to evaluate
(09:16):
information carefully.
Then they ensure that thedecisions are based on sound
evidence, not gut reaction.
Learning the key components ofcritical thinking gives leaders
a cutting edge in business.
Now take it a little deeperhere.
A gentleman by the name ofScriven and Paul came up with an
article defining criticalthinking at the eighth annual
(09:38):
international conference oncritical thinking and education
reform.
Paul and Scriven suggested thatcritical thinking is based on
universal intellectual valuesthat transcend subject matter
divisions.
That's a mouthful right.
Let's take this part slowly.
Clarity, accuracy, precision,consistency, relevance, sound
(10:01):
evidence, good reasons, depth,breadth and fairness Lots of
things to look at when you'rereally critically thinking about
a topic or an issue.
It entails the examination ofthose structures or elements of
thought implicit in all types ofreasoning purpose, problem
question at an issue,assumptions, concepts, empirical
(10:22):
grounding, reasons that lead toconclusions, implication and
consequences, objectives fromalternative viewpoints and frame
of reference.
So 360-degree way of looking atissues and items, completely
comprehensive approach.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Do you think they could come up with any more
terms if they tried?
I mean that's a wonderful.
I mean it's trying to be asthorough as possible to
understand all the elements thatare associated with it.
Incredible description anyway.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
You are exactly right , john.
A super deep dive is beingresponsible to variable subject
matter, issues and purposes, andyou're trying to incorporate
all this information, weave ittogether into a common kind of
mode of thinking.
So some of the things thatyou're thinking about with
critical thinking you'rethinking about scientific
thinking, you're thinking aboutmathematical thinking, you're
(11:17):
taking a look at the history,the background, the backdrop,
historical thinking and, evendeeper than that,
anthropological thinking,throwing in the economic side,
economical thinking, and we'vetalked a lot about moral
thinking and the moral compass,and then, just for discussion's
sake, philosophical think.
Now, developing criticalthinking skills, saw an article
(11:41):
from a company called asana.
They're a software companybased in san francisco and they
came up with seven skills in2008 by mr moskovitz and
rosenstein that they thinkreally kind of nails.
What are those skills that needto be developed?
So the first one, pretty simpleright Identify the problem or
question at hand.
Second, do the detective work,gather relevant information.
(12:05):
Third, now you're going toanalyze and evaluate the data
that you have.
Fourth, consider alternativepoints of view.
Five, start to draw somelogical conclusions of what
you've reviewed.
Six, develop and communicatethe solutions that are in your
head.
And then seven, which is reallyimportant reflect and learn
(12:28):
from the process, because it isjust that it is a process.
Now, john, are there any goodbooks on critical thinking?
Speaker 2 (12:35):
There are a ton of books that are associated with
critical thinking.
The one that we kind of likedwas from a psychologist, daniel
Kinnaman, from 2011.
And he did a book calledThinking Fast and Slow and it
really, you know, rang the bellof what we're trying to get
across in terms of discussingcritical thinking as being the
(12:57):
key component of leadership.
The description is trying totalk about two different modes.
System one is a fast, automatic, intuitive, emotional.
This is a default system thatour brains basically run on.
For me, it's like a tennisapplication it's when you're
playing close to the net, you'rejust doing it, you're not
(13:22):
thinking about it.
System two slow, effortful,logical, deliberate.
You have to have the intent andto activate the system, you
have to have a lot of effortsthat you can make it, to use it
as a default approach.
So there's system two.
Actually takes a little bit oftraining, or at least the
(13:45):
ability to be aware, since yousee which one of the two that
you're actually utilizing, andas they were trying to
illustrate it, I'm going to gothrough the characteristics of
FAST.
It's defining uncharacteristic,unconscious, effortless,
automatic, withoutself-awareness, which is, I
(14:06):
think, the key here or control.
Okay, what you see is all thatthere is.
So the role is to make anassessment and deliver updates,
or deliver results, dependingupon its application System.
Two, slow is definingcharacteristics are deliberate,
conscious, effortful, controlledmental process with
(14:28):
self-awareness or control.
Those words are kind of likeinterchangeable in my mind.
Self-awareness or control thosewords are kind of like
interchangeable in my mind,logical, skeptical, and in my
world I would add the wordanalytical at the same time,
kind of all into the samecontext To seek new information
and to make defined and wellthought out decisions, not
(14:51):
getting better results.
That really is a very good wayof trying to force people to
think through the problem, tounderstand what is fast isn't,
as I think, effective as doingit slow.
Sometimes you don't have thatoption, greg.
I think you can talk aboutcritical thinking in another
(15:12):
application.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
Thank you, john.
A couple of gentlemen, paul andElder, came up with their own
critical thinking model.
This conceptualization ofcritical thinking has been
refined and developed further bythese two gentlemen and their
framework of critical thinking.
Currently this approach is oneof the most widely published and
cited frameworks in thecritical thinking literature.
So according to Paul, elder andtheir framework, critical
(15:37):
thinking is something like thisanalysis of thinking by focusing
on the parts of structures orthinking, the elements of
thought, the second piece,evaluation of thinking by
focusing on quality, the kind ofuniversal intellectual
standards, and then, finally,improvement of thinking by using
what you learn, applying thatto those intellectual traits.
(15:59):
And so they put together one oftheir little models that looks
pretty good.
You start off on the left withintellectual standards, move
into intellectual traits andthen over into elements of
reasoning.
And it's a model.
It's almost circular in thesense of how it works.
But when you think aboutintellectual standards, you
think about accuracy, you thinkabout logical, you think about
(16:20):
significance and fairness.
When you think about elementsof reasoning which is really
important in this purposefulquestions, points of view,
things that are inferred,implications, and finally, what
are those traits thatintellectual?
This model needs Humility,perseverance, john and I've
talked about this many timesEmpathy and confidence in
reading.
All right, john, anything onsome really good, well-regarded
(16:45):
leaders.
On critical thinking Sure.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
So the best leaders are critical thinkers, and it
makes sense that they wouldstand out from the rest, and it
has to do with their ability tothink decisively.
The best critical thinkersweigh in on their alternatives,
connect the dots and look forthe potential in order to make
informed decisions, decisions.
(17:18):
Let's take a couple right offthe top Peter Drucker,
considered the father of modernmanagement.
Warren Buffett, renownedinvestor, known for his
analytical approach.
Elon Musk, entrepreneur andfocused on innovation and
problem solving.
Mary Barra, ceo of GM,recognized for her data-driven
decision making.
I mean, those are all goodexamples of people who are
(17:41):
capable of doing the job ofthinking and stepping back and
being able to look at solutions.
Here are some other greatcritical thinkers that make a
habit of.
What is it that you do in orderto be a critical thinker?
What are those characteristics?
And this one I am guilty of.
(18:02):
I probably have about a dozenpeople right now saying yes, oh,
my God.
Leading with questions.
I have done that throughout mycareer Because it's an
open-ended question to try topull the person into the
conversation.
It helps to get to the heart ofthe matter, the why, the how,
but mostly to get the voice ofthe people who are in the room.
(18:23):
It's the wonderful icebreakerEmbrace the different points of
view.
As a leader, embracingdifferent points of view is
taking advantage of diversity ofyour team and to help you see
different perspectives.
Sometimes you'll notice thatyou're stuck with your team and
all of a sudden you're justrepeating the same things that
you know.
Broaden your team, add otherpeople in from the other part of
(18:45):
the company, other part ofdivision, whomever, and have
those different voices.
Those are keys to help you beproductive.
The best leaders see this andfind the insights of what other
people have to offer.
Leading with agility the oldsaying goes that only constant
(19:07):
is change.
The variables are alwaysshifting and adjusting.
We've said that a couple timesalready in this conversation.
Leading through change requiresan open mind and to be able to
see the opportunity in everysituation.
I always use the example whenpeople ask me why we're so good
at doing this.
Sometimes, in an engineeringperspective, it's kind of like
(19:28):
NASCAR is always looking at someway to make that car go faster,
whether it's by the rules orkind of like by the rules.
But the agility and that openmind to see where the creativity
comes in is some of the magicthat happens with car racing.
Keep an open mind.
In a complex world, leaders haveto have an open mind in order
(19:50):
to see the potential answers itmay not be from something that
you understand, but your teammay understand it and to
understand diverse opinions andto take the different variables
to see what you can see.
Try to clear the image of whatyou're trying to accomplish.
(20:10):
Leaders who think criticallyhave the ability to manage the
undefined or the ambiguity thatwould normally lead people to
areas where they can't get ananswer.
They're just stuck.
These managers have the abilityto plow through and get results
.
And then the last concept interms of habits is leading from
(20:32):
within.
And then the last concept interms of habits is leading from
within.
Be a leader who knows nothing asit seems.
Be open to ideas, listen andunderstand and minimize the
uncertainty by helping people,size up the problems, connect
the dots and find the potential.
That's really the idea of aleader is to handle the
(20:57):
diversity when no one else can.
And those are the people thatyou see rising to the top,
because change and conflict andcritical thinking skills are the
mandatory requirements forexecutive leadership.
You start to see people havethose strongest traits, move
ahead of others because theyhave the ability to do just that
(21:17):
critical thinking.
So, greg, I think you have alittle bit of a twist on
critical thinking.
Why don't you help us out withthat?
Speaker 1 (21:25):
one I will.
We from time to time bring upfables or stories to help
support some of the conceptswe're talking about, and we came
up with this one that I thinkmost of you've heard before, but
I think it really drives thepoint home.
It's called the Emperor's NewClothes yes, hans Christian
Andersen, back in 1837.
So it goes something like thisthe Emperor's New Clothes is a
(21:49):
classic fairy tale where a vainemperor obsessed with new
clothes is tricked by two conartists who claim to weave a
magical fabric only visible tointelligent people.
Everyone in the court pretendsto see the fabric out of fear of
looking incompetent.
Then a brave young childbravely points out that the
(22:09):
emperor is actually naked,exposing the deception and the
emperor's vanity.
The story highlights a theme ofspeaking truth to power and the
dangers of conformity.
So let's talk a little bitabout some of those points out
of that story.
First thing questioningauthority.
This brave child askedquestions that were against the
(22:29):
consensus, demonstrating a keyaspect of what we're talking
about critical thinking.
Not accepting just becauseeveryone else does it.
That's not being a verycritical thinker.
The next thing that this youngman did observation and analysis
.
The child carefully observedthe situation and he used logic
right, just plain logic toconclude that the emperor is not
(22:53):
wearing any clothes.
No-transcript.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
Yeah, I always get a business application of critical
thinking, and probably morerelates to the fast and slow
concept.
There's an accident and there'smultiple injuries that are
associated with an accident andyou're having problems with the
(23:31):
water system that's out in theemergency room and you have to
come up with some plan to handlethe water requirements and the
isolation and the emergency atthe same time.
I'm trying to give you a littlebit of a detail of an emergency
, and a hospital can be a myriadof different things, but the
fast and the slow of an incidentcommand event is there are
things that are going on thatneed immediate attention.
(23:53):
So like stop the water fromleaking, get people out of the
area where there's harm, talkabout where entrance or access
can be maintained and where ithas to be isolated.
Those are the nuts and bolts ofthe details.
Now you need to step back in.
What's wrong with the watersystem?
(24:13):
What are the requirements thatwe need for the patients?
What is the impact of theemergency room's capacity?
Those are long-term.
That's sitting out there.
There are different teams thatanswer different questions and
you have to have the wherewithalto be able to step back and
talk about staffing needs,material needs time requirements
in order to be productive, oryou have to make a decision on
(24:35):
being on something called bypassbecause the actual effect on
the hospital is so bad that youcan't accept any more emergency
room activity and you go onbypass.
All those things are going onat the same time and you have to
be able to step back as acritical thinker and have people
that are working on the shortterm and people working on the
(24:56):
long term and knowing what yourresources are in the critical
incident command team to be ableto say I'm available to help or
I'm overwhelmed and I need yourhelp.
So it's the ability to be ableto stand back, be self-aware and
be able to think on your feetand move quickly.
Those are those elements thatyou're looking for in critical
(25:17):
thinking.
So let's just step back and do aquick summary of who's
responsible for criticalthinking.
Everybody's responsible forcritical thinking.
It is whether it's thecompany's a sort of approach in
terms of having people that areprepared, people that are
trained, whether it's yourmanager that should help you to
(25:41):
demonstrate critical thinkingexamples before you actually get
into it, to train you, to giveyou that observation possibility
where you can see somethingactually going on and bring
other people in for learning.
It might be from otherhospitals.
I've done that myself and youare responsible as a leader to
(26:10):
take on the responsibility oflearning what critical thinking
means to be self-aware of yourlimitations and build on your
strengths and it's importantthat I'm saying build on your
strengths, because everybody hasweaknesses we need to work on.
But you can take advantage andbe more effective if you play
with your strengths to help youmake yourself a better critical
thinker.
So we've talked a lot aboutcritical thinking today.
I hope you understand we aretrying to give you different
(26:32):
points of view that can help youout and give you an idea of
what this concept really means.
So, if you like what you'veheard, yeah, I wrote a book.
It's called Building theLeadership Toolbox.
It's about this very subject,about critical thinking.
The book's available on Amazonand Barnes Noble.
The book is now an ink book.
(26:54):
It's an audio book.
You can use a card to cover thebook.
It's awesome.
Get an opportunity to read thebook.
The podcast is what you listento and what form that you're on.
It's also available on thethings like Google's book.
A lot of what Greg and I talkabout is really Dr Dury's and
(27:15):
his MBR program.
Now that information and hisprogram is available through
successgrowthacademycom, Nowthat information and its program
is available throughsuccessgrowthacademycom.
And if you want to talk to us,please send a message to
wwwauthorjawcom and you can sendus a message.
Music is brought to you by mygrandson, so we want to hear
(27:39):
from you.
Have an opportunity, drop us aline.
We love hearing from theaudience and it has always
helped us with our program.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
So thanks Greg, thanks John, as always.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
Next time yeah.
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