A case for Critical Thinking: Part 2
February 2009
Prepared by Dr. David C. Miles Chairman, The Miles LeHane Companies
Critical Thinking doesn’t come easily. By nature, we tend to operate on a routine. We fall back on prior successful processes that may not be suitable for today’s issues. We tend to believe the old ways of doing things will continue to generate positive results for tomorrow’s issues. What happens now in this fast-paced world is that old solutions do not always generate the positive results for which we had hoped. New Leadership techniques need to generate new thinking approaches.
What is entailed in becoming a Critical Thinking Organization? There are a few key principles that will lead our understanding of this subject.
1- This new model pits the theory of a Versatilist versus the Generalist versus the Specialist against Leadership theory. Clearly, the Critical Thinker is a Versatilist who integrates ‘versatilism’ into Leadership.
2- Complex / New situations will probably not fit old paradigm solutions. New and creative responses and approaches are and will continue to be demanded for future business issues that include scarcer resources and significantly shorter time periods.
3- An organization needs to integrate Critical Thinking at all levels until it becomes part of the culture and fabric of everyday life.
Key to becoming a Critical Thinking Organization is believing that the people who are your associates/employees are part of the future solutions and not part of the problem. As Jim Collins puts it in his book From Good to Great, you must have the right people on the bus. Human Resources is a key to establishing the foundation to creating an organization that can add value to Critical Thinking. Next is you, the Manager/Leader. You must be willing to adopt the tools, process and trust in your team to integrate their collective thinking and contributions. Not only is it trust, but it includes giving them the freedom to operate and carry forth their functions in an open environment that measures a balance between process and results. This includes a clear understanding on everyone’s part of results, goals and objectives at all levels.
In addition to these two areas of Human Resources and Your Managership/ Leadership skills, is the area of fostering shared and creative operating styles. This is the biggest challenge for many since it entails an awareness of operating assumptions that can question why we do things and how these things are accomplished. Challenging every aspect of our operating paradigms can be overwhelming and is not always the best way to go. Nevertheless, at times it is the only way to succeed. A scene from the movie ‘Apollo 13′ is a great example. With damage to the astronauts’ life support systems, the Flight Director on the ground put all flight support department leaders into a room with a box of available resources that the astronauts had in space. They were left with one instruction – to solve the problem, and with a conclusion statement of ‘Failure is Not an Option!’ The members of this group did not have time to learn Critical Thinking that day. They operated that way on a daily basis, creating an environment of collaboration and shared values. From this, using Critical Thinking processes, they solved the problem with duct tape. The Apollo 13 crew returned safely.
The bottom line is that Critical Thinking is an all-encompassing way of evolving your managing and leading. It impacts how your people interact and evolves the culture of the organization. It is about understanding the goals and outcomes and working within the boundaries of resources and organizational parameters.
Conclusion:
As the world events in our global society create events that have no ‘text book’ solutions, the old models of Leadership increasingly do not apply. The smallest companies as well as individuals need to be well practiced in Critical Thinking, The art and science of Critical Thinking is a compelling formula for the challenges of tomorrow.
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