Transcript CriticalThinkingWeb

Critical Thinking
The Ultimate Key Success Factor
Agenda
• What is critical thinking?
• How does the brain work?
• What are some of the critical thinking
techniques that I can easily learn and use?
Why is critical thinking important?
• It is a means of improving your ability to learn
• It can help you better understand what you read
• It can help you to make more convincing
arguments
• It facilitates communication
• It can help you to address the three basic questions
Critical Thinking: Socrates
From Socrates, we get great
emphasis on argument and
critical thinking. Socrates chose
to make argument the main
thinking tool. Within argument,
there was to be critical thinking:
"To find yourself,
think for yourself."
-- Socrates
Why do you say that?
What do you mean by that?
Critical Thinking: Aristotle
From Aristotle we
get a type of logic,
based on identity
and non-identity,
as well as on
inclusion and
exclusion.
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a
thought without accepting it." -- Aristotle
Critical Thinking: Plato
From Plato we get the notion
that there is the "truth"
somewhere but that we have to
search for it to find it.
The way to search for the truth
is to use critical thinking to
“Knowledge is true
opinion.” -- Plato
attack what is untrue.
Critical Thinking: Belardo
“Critical Thinking is purposeful goal
directed thinking.
It is an art of thinking about
what one is thinking about
in order to make it more
accurate, clear and defensible”
How Does the Mind Work?
Your Brain
“The brain is the organ of destiny. It holds
within its humming mechanism secrets that
will determine the future of the human
race.”
-- Wilder Penfield
(from The Second Career, 1963)
How do you Think?  The Brain
“The human brain, then, is the most
complicated organization of matter
that we know.”
– Isaac Asimov (from the
foreword to The Three-Pound
Universe by J. Hooper and D.
Teresi, 1986)
Brain & Intelligence - Historical
• Aristotle believed that brain size was related to
intelligence.
• Broca believed that cranial volume reflected
intelligence, hence:
– Women were inferior to men (smaller brain sizes)
– Non-Europeans were inferior to Europeans
• Broca’s work was superceded by the neuronal
doctrine (Waldayer)
– Neurons are the processing units of the brain.
The Brain: Complexity
Human
Jack Rabbit
“The human brain is generally regarded as a complex web of adaptations built into
the nervous system, even though no one knows how.”
– Michael S. Gazzaniga (from The Mind’s Past, 1998)
The Brain: A Computer?
“The human brain is an amazing piece of
engineering that allows us to process
billions of bits of information within a
compact, powerful, continuously changing
computer that we carry on our shoulders our
entire lives”
-- Nancy C. Andreasen
The Brain: A Network of Cells
“The adult human brain weights about 3 pounds and
consists of about 100 billion nerve cells or
neurons. These neurons are responsible for the
transmission of information throughout the brain.
The outer wrinkled mantle of the brain called the
cerebral cortex contains about 30 billion of these
neurons connected to each other by means of a
million billion neuronal connections called
synapses. The neurons communicate with each
other via these connections.”
Neurons
“The brain evolves further than any other organ. Beginning as the simplest sort
of connecting center for the nerves, it elaborates into a surpassingly complex
structure, with many levels of activity, and untold trillions of possible circuits”
– Wendell J.S. Krieg (from Functional Neuroanatomy, 1942)
Brain & Intelligence - Neurons
• Current models postulate that intelligence and complexity
are the result of the properties of neurons and how they are
connected.
• Not only the number of neurons but physiological
properties of neurons are also relevant: channels, cable
properties, and the type of synapses.
There are billions of neurons in our brains, but what are neurons? Just
cells. The brain has no knowledge until connections are made between
neurons. All that we know, all that we are, comes from the way our
neurons are connected.
– Tim Berners-Lee (from Weaving The Web: the original design and
ultimate destiny of the world wide web by its inventor, 1999)
Synapses
“The human brain is estimated to have about a hundred billion nerve cells, two
million miles of axons, and a million billion synapses, making it the most
complex structure, natural or artificial on earth”
-- Tim Green, Stephen F. Heinemann and Jim F. Gusella
(from a paper in Neuron, vol. 420, page 427, 1998)
Functional Area of Brain
Brain Principles
• Contralaterality
• The brain is divided into two mirror-image halves (hemispheres)
when viewed from above.
– The receptive and control centers for one side of the body
are located in the opposite hemisphere of the brain.
• Hemispheric Specification
– Each hemisphere specializes in different manners of
processing information and maintains different abilities.
– The percentage of each hemisphere used varies by
individual.
Left & Right Brain
Left
Right
Visual, focusing on images, patterns
Verbal, focusing on words, symbols, numbers
Intuitive, led by feelings
Analytical, led by logic
Process ideas simultaneously
Process ideas sequentially, step by step
'Mind photos' used to remember things,
writing things down or illustrating them
helps you remember
Words used to remember things, remember
names rather than faces
Make lateral connections from information
Make logical deductions from information
See the whole first, then the details
Work up to the whole step by step, focusing
on details, information organized
Organization ends to be lacking
Highly organized
Free association
Like making lists and planning
Like to know why you're doing something
or why rules exist (reasons)
Likely to follow rules without questioning
them
Source: http://painting.about.com/library/blpaint/blrightbraintable.htm
Left & Right Brain Cont’d
Left
Right
No sense of time
Good at keeping track of time
May have trouble with spelling and finding
words to express yourself
Spelling and mathematical formula easily
memorized
Enjoy touching and feeling actual objects
(sensory input)
Enjoy observing
Trouble prioritizing, so often late,
impulsive
Plan ahead
Unlikely to read instruction manual before
trying
Likely read an instruction manual before
trying
Listen to how something is being said
Listen to what is being said
Talk with your hands
Rarely use gestures when talking
Likely to think you're naturally creative,
but need to apply yourself to develop your
potential
Likely to believe you're not creative, need
to be willing to try and take risks to
develop your potential
Source: http://painting.about.com/library/blpaint/blrightbraintable.htm
Intelligence
• Intelligence is the ability to learn from experience and adapt to the
surrounding environment. Some well-known intelligence theories are:
• Spearman’s Monarchic Theory of Intelligence
– General factor (g) present in all intelligences
– g is the ability to see relationships between things and manipulate these
relationships (this is required for problem solving)
– Different problems require different abilities to solve them
– Based on correlations
• Cattell’s Fluid Intelligence/Crystalized Intelligence
– Thought g was made up of two intelligences
– Fluid Intelligence (the ability to reason and use intelligence; it declines at
age 20)
– Crystalized Intelligence (acquired skills and knowledge from past problem
solving and application in specific domains; it increases with age)
• Gardiner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences
– Eight different types of intelligences
– People have varying levels of skills/intelligences
Source: http://comp.uark.edu/~todegar/PSYC2003/intelligence.html
Gardiner’s Multiple Intelligences
Intelligence
Strengths
Likes to:
Learns by:
VerbalLinguistic
reading, writing, telling stories,
memorizing dates, thinking in
words
read, write, talk, memorize,
work at puzzles
reading, hearing and seeing words,
speaking, writing, discussing and
debating
Math-Logic
math, reasoning, logic, problemsolving, patterns
solve problems, question,
work with numbers,
experiment
working with patterns and
relationships, classifying,
categorizing, working with the
abstract
Spatial
reading, maps, charts, drawing,
mazes, puzzles, imaging things,
visualization
design, draw, build, create,
daydream, look at pictures
working with pictures and colors,
visualizing, drawing
BodilyKinesthetic
athletics, dancing, acting, crafts,
using tools
move around, touch and
talk, body language
touching, moving, processing
knowledge through bodily
sensations
Musical
singing, picking up sounds,
remembering melodies, rhythms
sing, hum, play an
instrument, listen to music
rhythm, melody, singing, listening
to music and melodies
Interpersonal
understanding people, leading,
organizing, communicating,
resolving conflicts, selling
have friends, talk to
people, join groups
sharing, comparing, relating,
interviewing, cooperating
Intrapersonal
understanding self, recognizing
strengths and weaknesses, setting
goals
work alone, reflect, pursue
interests
working alone, doing self-paced
projects, having space, reflecting
Naturalist
understanding nature, making
distinctions, identifying flora and
fauna
be involved with nature,
make distinctions
working in nature, exploring things,
learning about plants and natural
events
Source: http://www.gigglepotz.com/mi8.htm
Knowledge
“Knowledge is a gigantic and ever-growing
sphere in space and time, made up of millions
of interconnecting, crisscrossing pathways”
-- James Burke
Learning
• Learning is a process by which we acquire new knowledge
• Learning occurs by creation of neurons and associations
between existing neurons.
• If you stop learning your overall mental capacity and
performance will decline. This is because of the weakening
and eventual loss of brain networks
• Over varying periods of time you’ll notice a gradual but
steady decrease in your mental agility if you do not nourish
and enhance these networks
“Whenever you read a book or have a conversation, the experience causes
physical changes in your brain. It’s a little frightening to think that every
time you walk away from an encounter, your brain has been altered,
sometimes permanently.”
-- E. Roy John (from Mechanisms of Memory, 1967)
Attention
“Attention is the spotlight that our brains use to identify stimuli
within the context of time and space to select what is relevant
and to ignore what is irrelevant”
•
Attention is a Limited Mental Resource
–
–
•
Neurons fatigue in 3-5 min. of sustained activity
Recover, but become inefficient in a few cycles
Brain tunes off when only factual information is
provided to it
–
–
Key to stay focused is to stimulate different parts of the brain
Critical thinking spreads neuronal load across the brain
“The Cocktail Party Effect”
•
In a classroom or any public situation (i.e. a
cocktail party), it is important to filter out the
important and non-important information.
•
Filtering or Selecting
–
•
Mental process of eliminating distractions or
unwanted messages
Differences between sight and hearing
–
–
Sight selection can be focused with eye movement
Hearing selection is more cognitive
Information Processing Model
Long-Term
Memory
Stimulus
Information
Attention
Sensory
Memory
Short-Term
Working
Memory
Response
Revised information processing model adapted from Neisser (1976).
Source: Mark H. Ashcraft, (2002) Cognition
Memory
• We are our memories
• It is the process by which we retain knowledge over time
– Episodic Memory
– Semantic Memory
• Memory is established in multiple stages
– Short Term
– Long Term
• Memory is not perfect
“Memory is the most important function of the brain; without it life would
be a blank. Our knowledge is all based on memory. Every thought, every
action, our very conception of personal identity, is based on memory…
Without memory, all experience would be useless.”
-- Edridge-Green, 1900
The Magical Number 7
• Problem
– Large amounts of sensory information can be experienced
– Large amounts of information can be stored long term
– Transfer of information between sensor to long term memory
imposes “severe limitations on the amount of information that we
are able to receive, process and remember”
• Basically, the limit of information that can be processed
easily into short term memory is 7 plus or minus 2.
“The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Some Limits on Our
Capacity for Processing Information”
-- George Miller. (1956)
Improving Memory
What do you do when:
• You are introduced to someone new?
– Recycle the name for a few seconds, or
– Use it in conversation and try to find a mnemonic
connection
• You are reading text?
– Process words at a simple level of understanding, or
– Search for connections and relationships that will make
the material more manageable
Brain Exercise
“You know you’ve got to
exercise your brain just like
your muscles”
-- Will Rogers
“The more you use your brain,
the more brain you will have to
use”
-- George A. Dorsey
Sleep and Learning
• Research has shown that:
– Learning a new skill and then sleeping will lead to better
performance3
– What is learned when awake is replayed and rehearsed when
asleep2
– Quality of sleep matters2
– At least 6 hours of sleep improves performance2
• It is better to study and get a good night’s sleep before an
exam than to cram the whole night!
“Sleep affords the opportunity, within certain limits, for the brain to act of
itself, and dreams are the result”
-- Edward Clarke (from Vision: A Study of False Sight, 1878)
1 http://www.apa.org/monitor/oct01/sleeponit.html
2 http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/07/02/health/main514038.shtml
Can Learning be Enhanced?
• Key to increasing your mental abilities is to
increase your cognitive skills.
– Cognition refers to your ability to attend, identify and
act.
– It also refers to thoughts, moods, inclination, decisions,
and actions
– It includes alertness, concentration, speed, learning,
memory, problem solving, creativity and mental
endurance.
Thinking Styles
•
Every thinking style has its strengths and its weaknesses. The first step in
using your strengths is understanding and accepting them. Stop thinking
that you are different or think differently. You are what you are and you
think in your own style.
Thinking Style
Attributes
Synthesist
Enjoys conflict. Can come up with solutions to “unsolvable
problems”. Look at problems from different perspectives.
Come up with creative solutions
Idealist
“Coaching” style of leadership and a “nurturer”. Work in
supportive collaborative way instead of a highly structured,
hierarchical manner.
Pragmatist
Resourceful and creative. Problem solver and creator of
solution. Take more risks than synthesists which are more
innovative and with more potential gain.
Analyst
Great troubleshooters and detail oriented. Deal best with
factual information. Do things in a step-by-step manner and by
thinking through problems.
Realist
Provide practical solutions to problems quickly. Blunt. Good
understanding of situations and how to react.
Source: http://sern.ucalgary.ca/courses/seng/693/W98/alang/minor.html
Cognition: Critical Thinking?
• One demonstrated way to increase cognitive
skills is to use a collection of tools and
techniques that can be classified under the
rubric critical thinking
• These tools were developed by philosophers
and thinkers over the last three thousand
years
• Business leaders do not relate well to these
tools
Critical Thinking
• We propose to introduce a Rosetta Stone for
Critical Thinking which will be more
orthogonal to the managerial mindset
Classical
Critical
Thinking
• Syllogisms
• Truth Table
• Chain Arguments
• Inductive Reasoning
• Deductive Reasoning
Bloom’s
Taxonomy
• Cognitive
• Affective
• Psychomotor
Applied
Critical
Thinking
• Experimentation
• Reasoning
• Communication
Blooms Taxonomy?
Critical Thinking
Why is critical thinking so important?
Entrepreneur
Asking the Right Questions
It can help
you become a visionary
It can help you succeed in
important relationships
Employee
Critical Intellectual Traits
It can help you in your business studies
Marketing, Finance, Information Systems, etc.
Basic Learning Skills
Critical Thinking
Basic Learning Skills
Bloom’s Taxonomy
• Cognitive Domain: deals with the development of ascending levels
of intellectual abilities and skills.
• Affective Domain: describes levels of the internalization process of
the learners’ interests, attitudes, values, appreciations and
behavior.
• Motor Skills Domain: Deals with physical activity requiring
coordination.
Critical Thinking
Basic Learning Skills
Bloom’s Taxonomy: The Cognitive Domain
•
•
•
•
•
•
Knowledge: I can define it
Comprehension: I understand it
Application: I have used it
Analysis: I know how each part works
Synthesis: I can adapt it to other uses
Evaluation: I know when to use it
Critical Thinking
Basic Learning Skills
Bloom’s Taxonomy:The Cognitive Domain
•
Knowledge
– It is rote learning ranging from the recall of specific facts to knowledge of
conventions and theories…a rich vocabulary
•
Comprehension
– Encompasses meaningful integrated learning. At this level, the learner has made the
material part of his/her own frame of reference…ones own words
•
Application
– Application means that the person can employ the idea, theory, practice, etc.
•
Analysis
– Analytical skills enable the individual to discern unstated assumptions
•
Synthesis
– At this level the individual is able to adapt his/her knowledge to other uses
•
Evaluation
– Making judgments about the value or worth of something
Critical Thinking
Basic Learning Skills
Bloom’s Taxonomy:The Cognitive Domain
In Finance: Net Present Value
•
•
•
•
•
•
Knowledge: I have heard the term before. Isn’t that a method for ranking
investment proposals.
Comprehension: The Net Present Value is equal to the present value of
future returns, discounted at the marginal cost of capital, minus the
present value of the cost of the investment.
Application : I used it recently to help make a decision concerning two
investment proposals.
Analysis: The equation consists of several factors: the net cash flows, the
marginal cost of capital, the initial cost of the project, and the project’s
expected life.
Synthesis: I believe that this method can also be used as part of a method
to determine the value of a firm’s intangible assets.
Evaluation: I know when to use NPV and when to use the IRR method
Critical Thinking
Bloom’s Taxonomy & Action Verbs
Action Verbs for Active Learning
Evaluation
Synthesis
Analysis
Application
Translate
Comprehension Interpret
Apply
Restate
Employ
Discuss
Knowledge
Use
Describe
Demonstrate
Know
Recognize
Dramatize
Define
Explain
Practice
Memorize
Tell
Illustrate
Repeat
Express
Operate
List
Identify
Sketch
Recall
Report
Analyze
Compare
Diagram
Experiment
Differentiate
Test
Inspect
Debate
Question
Relate
Examine
Distinguish
Between
Calculate
Compose
Plan
Design
Propose
Arrange
Assemble
Prepare
Collect
Create
Set up
Organize
Judge
Appraise
Rate
Value
Revise
Estimate
Assess
Select
Critique
Critical Thinking
Basic Learning Skills
Activities for Using Bloom’s Taxonomy in TQM
•
•
Knowledge Level:
List or record terms related to TQM
List three functions of your job that relate to other departments in the organization
Define the various acronyms associated with TQM (e.g., SPC, CQI)
•
Comprehension Level:
Discuss the advantages of TQM with coworkers
Identify three departments that are customers of your department
Review the major objective achieved in each training session
In a role-play, tell what you have learned in this session to your immediate supervisor
•
Application Level:
Demonstrate how four of the analysis tools could be used to locate quality problems in one
activity of your work
Dramatize how you would facilitate a meeting to introduce concepts of TQM to your
department
Critical Thinking
Basic Learning Skills
Activities for Using Bloom’s Taxonomy in TQM
•
Analysis Level:
Diagram a process flow chart of the activities for a task in your work
Differentiate those processes in your task environment that can be improved with TQM from
those where TQM cannot be applied
Examine the present departmental activities and determine which one currently use TQM
•
Synthesis Level:
Prepare an article for the company newsletter describing TQM training
Design a proposal for policy changes reflecting TQM to be presented to top executives
Collect and compile data from department activities that support implementation of TQM
•
Evaluation:
Critique a present training program and revise it to suit the needs of your organization
Estimate a budget that would be necessary to implement TQM changes for your department.
Rate the leadership in your department as to its readiness to implement TQM
Critical Thinking
Can Help You Succeed in Important Relationships
Critical Intellectual Traits and the Affective Domain
•
•
•
•
•
Receiving: Getting to 50%
Responding: Seeing the Value
Valuing: Understanding the Value
Organization: Comparing Values & Making Sense
Characterization: Practice & Consistency
Critical Thinking
Can Help You Succeed in Important Relationships
Critical Intellectual Traits
•
•
•
•
•
Humility: Having a consciousness of the limits of ones knowledge. We should not claim to know
more than we know. It implies the lack of pretentiousness or conceit.
Courage: This requires that individuals challenge what they learn rather than accept it at face
value. This implies the need to look more deeply into various viewpoints that run counter to
those that we hold. Willing to learn, to change, to unlearn, but to have the courage of right
founded convictions.
Empathy: Recognizing the need to put oneself in the place of others. It requires a consciousness
of our egocentric tendencies to identify truth with our perception of previous experience and
beliefs.
Integrity: One must apply the same standards when looking at opposing points of view as when
looking at their own arguments. Honestly admitting errors in ones thought and actions.
Perseverance: Recognizing the need to employ intellectual standards in spite of the difficulties
and obstacles this may present.The recognition that it may take time to make sense of confusing
situations and to develop a necessary deeper understanding or insight.
Critical Thinking
Can Help You Succeed in Important Relationships
To be effective in business it is essential that individuals and
organizations focus on two primary objectives.
Improve Organizational Effectiveness:
What business should we be in?
Improve Organizational Efficiency:
Who are we in business with, and what must we do in order to gain a
competitive advantage?
Critical Thinking
Can Help You Succeed in Important Relationships
The Importance of Trust in Ensuring Efficiency & Effectiveness
Efficiency
“Trust should be viewed as an important component of social capital because
low trust cultures incur a higher cost of doing business than do high trust
cultures. Low trust cultures are simply less efficient.”
Francis Fukuyama: Trust:The Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity
Effectiveness
“If everyone cheated, trust would not exist. Every party to every transaction
would be suspicious of everyone else and in such a system, people would
spend valuable time energy and resources on protection and retaliation. In
such a system, there would be no incentive to take risks and innovate.”
Magda Ratajski:Vital Speeches
Critical Thinking
The Importance of Trust
All ethical systems are designed to ensure trust, and with trust, the
cooperation and collaboration necessary to ensure prosperity and survival.
•
•
•
The Ten Commandments
The Bill of Rights
The Hippocratic Oath, etc.
Critical Thinking
The Importance of Trust
An ethical system is a set of rules that helps guide behavior. Ethical systems
exist along a continuum ranging from those that focus on the ends
(teleological), and those that focus on the means (deontological). They differ
on the basis of:
• The extent to which they focus on the individual or on the broader society
• The extent to which complete and accurate information is shared
• The extent to which rules that guide behavior are universally practiced
• The extent to which duty determines behavior
These four elements can be described as: inclusiveness, truthtelling,
consistency and discipline. These are then the values that help ensure that
people share knowledge with their colleagues and build upon one another’s
ideas.
The Importance of Trust
Inclusiveness
“We must all hang together or assuredly, we will all hang separately”
Benjamin Franklin July 4, 1776
Why is inclusiveness important?
Cross Functional Teams
How do you know whether your organization practices inclusiveness?
How many of the following stakeholders are identified in your company credo?
Policy Holders, Managers, Suppliers, Customers, Employees, etc.
In how many broad areas are employees allowed to participate?
Setting goals, Making decisions, Solving problems, Making changes, etc.
How can you ensure inclusiveness?
Empower, Distribute responsibility
The Importance of Trust
Inclusiveness
“ In matters of morality we are not judges about others, but nature
has given us the right to form judgements about others. She has
ordained that we should judge ourselves in accordance with
judgements that others form about us. The man who turns a deaf ear
to other people’s opinions of him is base and reprehensible.”
From The Lectures of Immanuel Kant
The Importance of Trust
Inclusiveness
Johnson and Johnson Company Credo
“We believe our first responsibility is to doctors, nurses and patients,
to mothers, and all others who use our products and services.
We are responsible to our employees, the men and women who work
with us throughout the world.
We are responsible to the communities in which we live and work,
and to the world community as well. Our final responsibility is to our
stockholders.” [Bowie, 1987]
The Importance of Trust
Inclusiveness
Examples
•
•
•
•
•
Jethro’s Advice to Moses
Johnson and Johnson Company Credo
Wayne Huizenga and Waste Management
Bob Gebo at AT&T
Steven Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
The Importance of Trust
Inclusiveness
Practices
•
Distribute responsibility:
–
•
Seek first to understand:
–
•
Process ownership at Chaparal steel has paid of handsomely. Workers at Chaparal
require 1.6 hours to produce one ton of steel whereas the industry average is 4.4 hours per
ton.
Dell’s Direct Model means that they spend more time with the customer before they
actually make the product. This way hey know exactly what the customer wants.
Encourage collaboration:
–
Honda and Rover benefited from their collaboration. Rover learned how to improve
quality and productivity, and Honda learned how to develop and market a luxury car, the
Acura Legend.
The Importance of Trust
Truthtelling
“Truth is the secret of eloquence and virtue, the basis of moral authority; it is
the highest summit of art and life.”
Henri Frederic Amiel, 1883
Why is truthtelling important?
Individual and Team Learning
How do you know whether your organization practices truthtelling?
A falsehood ceases to be a falsehood when it is understood on all sides
that the truth is not expected to be spoken.
How can you ensure truthtelling
Admit your mistakes quickly and publicly.
The Importance of Trust
Truthtelling
“ If a man spreads false news though he does no wrong to anyone in
particular, he offends against mankind because if such practices were
universal, mans desire for knowledge would be frustrated. For apart
from speculation there are only two ways I can increase my fund of
knowledge, by experience, and by what other people tell me.”
From the Lectures of Immanuel Kant
The Importance of Trust
Truthtelling
Examples
•
•
•
•
Nixon and Clinton
Donald Douglas of McDonald Douglas
Scott Cook of Intuit
Edmund Schweitzer of SEL, etc.
The Importance of Trust
Truthtelling
Practices
•
Admit your mistakes quickly and publicly:
–
•
Humility is the best guarantor of truth and learning:
–
•
Tom’s of Main produced a deodorant that actually made body odor worse. Tom’s recalled
their product and issued an apology. It cost $400,000 or 30% of their projected profits for
the year. No loss of market share, in fact it went up.
Self disclosure is important to open communication and learning. When students
approached strangers at an airport and tried to communicate with them, the more
personal the messages they communicated, the more revealing the comments.
Do not give the impression of stealth or impropriety:
–
Gerber baby Foods and the blue ceramic chip.
The Importance of Trust
Consistency
“The secret of success is constancy of purpose”
Benjamin Disraeli, 1872
Why is consistency so important?
Behavior characterizes individuals as well as organizations.
How do you know whether your organization practices consistency?
Measure the number of complaints or law suits brought against the firm.
How can you ensure consistency?
Set incredibly high standards.
The Importance of Trust
Consistency
“The first rule was never to accept anything as true unless I recognized it to
be evidently such: that is carefully avoid all precipitation and pre-judgement
and to include nothing in my calculations unless it presented itself so clearly
and distinctly in my mind that there was no reason to doubt it.
The second was to divide each of the difficulties which I encountered into as
many parts as possible, and as might be required for easier solution.
The third part was to think in an orderly fashion when concerned with the
search for truth, beginning with the things that were simplest and easiest to
understand and gradually by degrees reaching toward more complex
knowledge even treating as though ordered materials which were not so.
The last was both in the process of searching and in reviewing when in
difficulties, always to make enumerations so complete and reviews so general
that I would be certain that nothing was omitted.”
Rene DesCartes
The Importance of Trust
Consistency
Examples
• Wal-Mart
• Hubble Telescope
• MacDonalds, etc.
The Importance of Trust
Consistency
Practices
•
Choose a task worthy of your efforts:
–
•
Believe in yourself:
–
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The one thing successful companies have in common is a worthy purpose. This is the
company’s reason for being. For SONY it is “To have people experience the joy of
advancing and applying technology for the benefit of the public.
Drucker states that knowledge workers must believe in themselves. This way they take
serious, the need to keep learning, to constantly seek out new knowledge.
Set your standards high:
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General Electric, Monsanto Intel, etc. employ stretch goals. One company set a goal of
reducing hazardous wastes by 5%. Once achieved everyone slacked off. Monsanto set a
goal of zero emissions. While scientifically impossible this stretch goal helped Monsanto
striving for the best.
The Importance of Trust
Discipline
“Discipline is the soul of an army, it makes small numbers
formidable, procures success to the weak and esteem to all”
George Washington, 1759
Why is discipline important?
It ensures the other three values
How do you know whether your organization practices discipline?
Does your organization make public their performance toward their goals?
How can you ensure discipline?
Establish goals and make them explicit
The Importance of Trust
Discipline
“ Men are qualified for civil liberty in exact proportion to their disposition to
put moral chains upon their own appetites; in proportion as their love of
justice is above rapacity; in proportion as their soundness and sobriety of
understanding is above their vanity and presumption; as they are disposed
to listen to the counsels of the wise and good in preference to the flattery of
knaves. Society cannot exist unless a controlling power upon will and appetite
be placed somewhere and the less there is within, the more there must be
without. It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things that men of
intemperate minds cannot be free, their passions forge their fetters.’
Edmond Burke
The Importance of Trust
Discipline
Examples
• Harvard Graduates
• Jack Welch
• The United States Marines, etc.
The Importance of Trust
Discipline
Practices
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Know your limits:
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Establish goals and make them explicit:
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Young companies must learn not to promise the market place too much. Brian Farrell,
CEO of THQ, a video game seller complained that if you grow at 15%, the first thing Wall
street asks, is if you can grow at 25%.
Accountability should be seen as a tool that inspires a company and its employees to to
learn and work harder rather than a form of organizational policing.
Make your goals and performance public:
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In 1989, Dupont Chairman Edward Woolard publicly stated that they would reduce toxic
air emissions by 60%, carcinogens by 90% and hazardous wastes by 35%. They then
announced that they cut these emissions and wastes by 605, 75% and 46% respectively.
The moral—Measure what you do and report the results publicly.
Critical Thinking
Asking the Right Questions
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Who
What
Where
When
Why
How
Critical Thinking
Asking the Right Questions
Managing Conflict
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Who has conflict?
What kind of conflict?
Where is the conflict
When is the conflict?
Why is there conflict?
How can conflict be resolved?
Critical Thinking
Asking the Right Questions
Managing Conflict
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Who has conflict?
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What kind of conflict?
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Working together, making a major purpose
Why is there conflict?
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On the job, at home
When is there conflict?
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Emotional, substantive
Where is the conflict?
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Workers, husbands and wives
Differences in values
How can conflict be resolved?
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Or in what ways can persons who interact with one another better achieve their mutual
objectives
Critical Thinking
Asking The Right Questions
Cutting Grass
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Who has grass?
What kind of grass?
Where is the grass?
When does it need cutting?
Why cut the grass?
How can the grass be cut?
Critical Thinking
Asking The Right Questions
Cutting Grass
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Who has grass?
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What kind of grass?
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When its over three inches high
Why cut the grass?
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In yards, parks, golf courses
When does it need cutting?
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All kinds
Where is the grass?
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Homeowners, municipalities
To control weeds, for a nicer looking yard
How can the grass be cut?
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Or, in what ways can grass be made to stop growing after it reaches a height of three inches?
Critical Thinking
Asking the Right Questions
What Firm
Must Know
Knowledge Gap
What Firm
Knows
What Firm
Must Do
Strategy Gap
What Firm
Can Do