Unfortunately, many people today rely on information posted on the internet and sound bites offered by thought leaders to make their decisions. They don’t engage in a healthy sense of skepticism and question the validity of what they are reading. And, often, they don’t consider how to use the information effectively in business today.
Bosses and leaders must focus on developing critical thinking. It’s one of the most important business skills required today for success.
Create a culture where it is considered productive to question ideas, people’s motives, and other information used to make good decisions. Critical thinking skills are required to build a strong, resilient, and agile workforce.
Develop Your People to Build Critical Thinking Skills
Engage in Brainstorming. The brainstorming process is priceless. It encourages everyone to share their ideas and learn from each other. It helps the team get beneath the surface of information and determine its validity. As a result, better decisions will be made to address the current issue, challenge or project.
Think and Talk Through the Process. Too often, your people operate as independent thinkers. They want to figure out the answers for themselves. But, relying on one person’s answer negates others’ contributions, slowing down the process. Often, it also fails to address critical components. Building a strong productive team requires trusting the process. Teach your team how to talk and think through a process as a group. It’s critical. Engaging everyone in the process encourages them to take responsibility for the results.
Encourage Curiosity. Being curious is a good thing. Addressing the why’s can create new ideas. Curiosity also uncovers the validity of assumptions. Train your team in the basics of finance, marketing, sales, people management, and operations. These basics encourage curiosity and provide a foundation to build on, reducing costly trial and error. When mistakes happen (and they will), it provides clarity for what to do next.
Share Your Decision-Making Process. Share the financial, marketing, sales, operations, and human elements that impact your decisions. Be open to talking through your teams’ questions. Set aside your ego and understand you may be wrong in your assumptions. Remember, building critical thinking skills is a process that occurs on a daily basis.
Ask Them to Take Part in Making Decisions. When you do this, you will gain insight into what they are thinking and how they arrive at their decisions. Now, you know what to focus on to build better outcomes for your company, systems, financials, employees, and customers. Remember, during this process, ask and answer why.
Build a culture that understands critical thinking is a process and required skill for today’s success. Start now to teach your team members how to become decision makers.
©Jeannette Seibly, 2019
For the past 26 years, Jeannette Seibly has been recognized as a catalyst and leadership expert. She has helped 1,000s of people create more fun, money, and inspiring results. To learn more about building a culture of critical thinking, contact Jeannette for straight talk with dynamic results.
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