CIL Critical Thinking: Rebecca Jones and Deb Wallace (managing Director, Baker Lib Servcies Knowledge and Lib Services, Harvard Bus School... dwallace@hbs.edu
aotus is modelling / living critical thinking
is not about being critical!!! or being smart
about thinking productively etc
pres is on slideshare...beckyjojojones...also on www.dysartjones.com (slides and worksheets)
not just for academics...practical applications...challenge assumptions
what are the traps / landmines?
(Deb has climed Mt. Kilamanjaro!!!)
tend to suffer from “deer in the headlights”...need to focus on the right thing at the right time
critical thinking is really about:
decision making and problem solving
openmindedness
productive dialogue...with colleagues / mgnt...to get to the best decision
three simple underlying facts:
implicit that we can't make decisions alone or in a vacuum
the decisions and problems we face are increasingly complex
it's hard and it's worth it
Good critical thinking
raises the right questions clearly and precisely
focuses on the real problem or decision to be taken
gather and assesses relevant info
uses abstract ideas to interpret info effectively
“critical, not criticize!”
why?
For customers...designing meaningful servcies
for organizations...planning, netiation, managing, relationsip building
for ourselves and professional cred:
aware and factor in our:
tendancies and assumptions
perceptions and selecitons based on conditioning / beliefs etc
reconstructive memory affected by time, what we want to remember, how we want to view a situtation
confidnt in our:
knowledge
ability to reason
wake up call...
naming the process at first makes it legit:
challenge usual practices
rethink what has been thought
expand the emphasis from shot-term fixes to long-term fusion
shake off the feeling that you'll have all the answers
common decision traps:
framing
put the frame up first...clarify status quo, anchor and sunk-costs...brainstorm “what is your view / perpsecitve of this problem?” We don't all see the status quo through the same frame...put up a frame!...and notes inside...put it on its side...”how will we reframe?”...what would the new frame look like?
Status quo:
tendency is to prepetuate what we already know
when we take action we take responsibility
psychologically risky....to avoid this:
focus ont he real goals and ask how status quo helps move towards them
evaluate vs all others alternatives in terms of the future
anchoring / chains around our ankles!!!
what we hear or see first influences our subsequent thinking...
to avoid:
be aware
purposefully use different starting points
as you gather other peeps to discuss the issue, try and limit the info you give them
clarify base assumptions
keep coming back to them
sunk cost
investment already made...justify past decisinos...
to avoid:
consciously set aside past investments
stop sinking costs into sunk costs
reward turn-arounds and “trys”
reaching clarity means wading through confucion...know your own conflict handling style...good chart on slide...very personal...
Deb...Harvard Bis School (lovely grey hair!!!)...iconic building...birth of MBA (what would give a degree more cred than a “big honking library!”...keeps mission out front
now called “knowlege and library services”...to illustrate so much more going there than “library”
building, and organization, was gutted from the inside
critical thinking...it's important to THINK...
we don't change goals like we change our underwear!!!
to build and enrich an info and knowledge ecosystem (one of their goals)...also...
to be the trusted advisor for HBS in knowledge, info and learning practices
identified startegic shifts
an embarassment of riches of thought...wow...top world leaders in planning / cirtical thinking available to them @ Harvard
sense of urgency not super fab...sort of like turning the Queen Mary...have to work within the culutre and with the resoruces available
exercising good judgement
capability development
modelling best practice
road maps
performance management
project management
team norms
opportunity management
after action reviews
the status quo is not what we alwyas have to go back to
critical that we think
need organizational frameworks to allow people to think cirtically
all day, every day
customer service standards
service delivery agreement
customer relationship management
exceptions management
strategic alighnment
employee engagement
balanced score cards
job descriptions / work designs
sign: “Service Management Alighnment Engagement”
every aspect of the lib has to constantly be engaged...all day, every day
300 type A entrepreneus on faculty!!!
lib @ Harvard Bis School ranked very low by employees...working from botton / middle up to address peeps' concerns...can't think critically if you're not happy / engaged at work...good point...
balanced score card session later on...way more than just stats
also did work on concrete job desciptions / work designs...need to know what you're susposed to be doing
manage carefully...it's new
disagreement must be incited and managed...leave the convo open for disagreement
organizational culture must encourage questioning, especially of decision-makers' assumptions and propositions
if peeps are not allowed to think, they will not be engaged
critical characteristics
harnessing all the types of thinking in your org
communication skills...esp listening
self-awareness and self-acceptance
curiuos, interested and questioning
admits lack of valid information or understanding
assesses and evaluates info info and propositions for their value on the issue at hand
What's critical:
awareness
just try it
discipline your decision-making to uncover thinking erorrs and prevent judgement errors
slide with bibliography
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