Chapter 3: Critical thinking for managers

Chapter 3Critical Thinking for ManagersIllustrate the importance of critical thinking for today’s managersDemonstrate the significance of critical thinking skills in a job interviewExplore the consequences of critical thinking backgroundsExplain how managers use a systems approach to critical thinking to achieve resultsOutline the eight most common systems archetypes that managers can expect to encounterLearning ObjectivesCritical thinking is the ability to diagnose situations and predict patterns of behaviorsCritical thinking subscribes to the learning domains of Bloom’s TaxonomyCritical thinking is fundamental to managers when it comes to making good, quick, decisionsHow Managers Apply Critical Thinking to Make a Difference Critical Thinking Questions asked during Real Interviews“If you were to win £1m what would you do with the money?”  “What do you think is the most useful function in Excel?”  “What makes you happy about work on a Friday evening?”  “What is it about this job you would least look forward to?”Demonstrate the significance of criticalthinking skills within a job interview  Critical thinking can be learned and can help you become a betterAnalyzerProblem-solverInterpreterDecision-makerDemonstrate the significance of criticalthinking skills within a job interview Critical Thinking BreakdownsFiguring out how you feel about critical thinking before you practice it is a good way of building:Awareness of level of curiosityAwareness of open-mindednessWillingness to consider your viewsAbility to face your own biasesPractice Critical Thinking skills by:Thinking about your thoughtsAnalyzing challenging issuesIdentify and free your mind from irrational fearsUnderstand real versus imagined constraintsCritical Thinking BreakdownsThe Halpern Critical Thinking Assessment (HCTA) model:encourages students to acquire critical thinking skills and understand the structure of an argument or problem, and it promotes an awareness of how we use reasoning to reach outcomes.comprised of 25 everyday scenarios; students are asked to respond to both open-ended and forced choice questionsquestions are designed to test decision-making and problem-solving skills, the ability to spot faulty thinking, the capacity to find differences between conclusions and assumptions, and the ability to understand how language used in everyday life influences thinkingCritical Thinking BreakdownsSystems Approach-allows managers to fully visualize the “interconnected set of elements that is coherently organized in a way that achieves somethinginvolves using the elements of critical thinking such as analyzing, explaining, evaluating, interpreting etc. to see the bigger picture.How managers use a systems approach to critical thinking to achieve resultsSystems Thinking- popularized as a practical tool for managers in Peter Senge’s seminal text The Fifth Disciplineby learning to see an organization as a whole “system,” or a set of interrelated elements rather than a number of separate parts, managers are better able to understand the underlying structure and apply the principles of systems theory to address existing issues and prevent those issues from reoccurring in the futureHow managers use a systems approach to critical thinking to achieve resultsBalancing loop- a reactionary force that attempts to move a current state to a desired state through some level of actionReinforcing loop-a reactionary force, where an action produces a result that causes more of the same action, resulting in either a condition of growth or decline.The eight most common systems archetypesthat managers can expect to encounterSenge’s Eight Archetypes-Senge classifies these complex problems into eight predictable patterns or models called systems archetypes.The eight most common systems archetypesthat managers can expect to encounterCommon Systems Patterns (p. 68)System archetypesCommon patterns of complex problems that managers encounter1. Limits to growthAn internal or external force restricts the ability to expand a service or product offeringGrowth process comes up against a balancing processCommon Systems Patterns (cont.)2. Shifting the burdenManagers use short-term fixes that over the long-term worsen the situation due to unwanted side effectsUnderlying problem seems too time-consuming, difficult, or costly to address fullySimilar to “Fixes that Fail”Common Systems Patterns (cont.)3. Eroding goalsA shifting the burden concept where a short-term solution is put in place, leading to the erosion of a long-term goalAccept goal-slipping process and allow performance standards to lowerCorrective action is not takenCommon Systems Patterns (cont.)4. EscalationCompeting interests eventually take irrational actions against one another, resulting in a lose-lose situationAggressive competition leads to “one-upmanship”Can be avoided if managers look for ways for both parties to achieve their goalsCommon Systems Patterns (cont.)5. Success to the successfulTwo activities compete for the same resourcesOne activity becomes more successful, depriving the other of support and resourcesKey is to strike a balance between the two activitiesCommon Systems Patterns (cont.)6. Tragedy of the commonsUse of a common limited resource purely for one’s own gain without concern for the resource’s availabilityMultiple efforts compete for the same resources, where self-interest overrides a collective solutionLimited common resources eventually are diminished or eradicated altogetherCommon Systems Patterns (cont.)7. Fixes that failReliance on a “quick fix” solves problem in the short term, but does not solve the problem over the long termLonger-lasting effects derived from solutions focused on the long termCommon Systems Patterns (cont.)8. Growth and underinvestmentConserving resources can lead to underinvestment with consequent slide in performanceCompanies that under invest remain in their current state, leading to stagnation and unfulfilled goalsUnderinvestment is just as risky as overinvestment