Every day we are forced to make choices.  Paper or plastic?  Regular or diet soda?  Venti White Chocolate Mocha with Vanilla or the non-fat Soy Latte at Starbucks?  Buy or rent?  Post your resume or stay with your employer?

When we are given choices that will result in serious impact on our business, we need to look critically at the alternatives available to us.  Recently, I posted 4 of the Problem Solving Techniques that are trained in the Critical Thinking Boot Camp, and today we will take a similar approach with Decision Making and Project Planning/Implementation.

Let’s say you are a recruiter who needs to choose between multiple applicant tracking software.  You would likely select 4-6 different vendors and then want to analyze the pros and cons of each one systematically.  In the Critical Thinking Boot Camp, participants are taught how to define which criteria are most important, assign numerical weights to each one, and then evaluate which vendors are able to meet the specified criteria.  Once the participant has worked his/her way through the Decision Matrix Worksheet technique, they will have quantifiably determined the best possible choice among the alternatives.

When planning a future project or implementation, an entirely different critical thinking technique must be used.  During the Planning and Implementation process technique, it is very important to anticipate the challenges one must overcome to launch a project successfully.  One must constantly ask “What could go wrong?” and “What can we do about that?”  In addition, unless we determine which issues are under our control vs. outside of our control, we could spend unnecessary time fretting about issues we cannot prevent or influence.  The best use of our time is on the potential problems we can prevent and creating specific action plans around those issues.

As you can see, each of these techniques address real world situations and give you guides for handling similar situations in the future.  Developing better critical thinking, problem solving, decision making, and planning skills takes time, and the techniques discussed in the Critical Thinking Boot Camp serve as a lifetime guide to remain on the right track.

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Editor’s Note: Breanne Harris is the Solutions Architect for Pearson TalentLens.  She works with customers to design selection and development plans that incorporate critical thinking assessments and training.  She has a Master’s degree in Organizational Psychology and has experience in recruiting, training, and HR consulting.  She is the chief blogger for Critical Thinkers and occasionally posts at ThinkWatson.  Connect with her on LinkedIn and Twitter for more of her thoughts.

Next week the authors of Now You’re Thinking! (an Amazon.com Bestseller) will be at the American Society for Training & Development’s International conference in Denver.

Judy Chartrand, Heather Ishikawa and John Maketa will be in Pearson TalentLens‘ booth (#1134) signing books and taking pictures with attendees.  Be sure to stop by and get a FREE copy of Now You’re Thinking!

We will also hold a drawing in the booth and 5 randomly chosen individuals will receive a 1-year license to the Critical Thinking University (TalentLens’ first online learning portal for critical thinking training).

Finally, we will be giving away a FREE copy of the 2011/2012 Trends in Executive Development Report (a $135 value) to everyone who attends Bonnie Hagemann’s session on Wednesday, May 9th from 8:00am-9:15am in room Four Seasons 2/3.

There are so many things to look forward to at ASTD 2012.  What are you most excited about?

Job ads are interesting. I’m sure you’ve seen an ad like this:

Requirements:

• 3 to 5 years experience in the field
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills
• Excellent analytical and decision-making abilities
• Ability to manage multiple tasks to completion within deadlines
• Detail oriented

So how do companies realistically measure these competencies?

The first two are easy. Look at the candidate’s resume and interview them.

Requirements 4 & 5 are harder to measure, but achievable. You can use a behavioral interview question such as “Describe a project that was very challenging but you successfully completed it on time. Also tell me how you tracked the project to keep everyone in sync.”

It’s the 3rd requirement that companies fail to measure well. This is why so many management-level hires don’t work out in my opinion. Gifted programmers, accountants, salespeople and other individual contributors can hide their decision making inabilities when focused on task execution. But when they’re asked to manage the task (or a budget), they underperform. Maybe they’re not comfortable analyzing data or they take too long to make a decision because they have trouble evaluating arguments and picking out the important points.

Participant feedback in our webcasts shows 9 out of 10 companies don’t have a way to assess or develop critical thinking and decision-making skills. This is a huge problem for growing companies that are constantly identifying high potential employees and slotting them into management roles.

So how do you know if someone is a good thinker? Have candidates take the Watson-Glaser critical thinking assessment and you’ll know how they make decisions. Can they see the facts within a controversial issue? Can they avoid showing personal bias when judging an idea or a conclusion?

If your favorite candidate doesn’t score well but you still want to hire them, you can give them a development plan with a Boot Camp or access to Critical Thinking University.

Identifying and developing better thinkers isn’t easy, but it’s easier than you may think.

The New York Institute of Finance (in conjunction with Executive Development Associates and Pearson TalentLens) is hosting a Critical Thinking Boot Camp in New York City on June 5th and 6th.

This Critical Thinking Boot Camp is open to the general public and costs $1,595 per person.  Seats are limited, and to register click here.

Here is an overview of the Critical Thinking Boot Camp:

EDA’s Critical Thinking Boot Camp powered by Pearson’s Watson-Glaser™ Critical Thinking Appraisal is specifically designed to help your workforce understand their critical thinking strengths and challenges, and build lasting skills on both the individual and team level utilizing tools and techniques developed and refined over the past 30 years.

What makes Critical Thinking Boot Camp so powerful is that the training is not limited to the intensive workshop. The three-phase program begins beforehand, as participants take the Watson-Glaser™II critical thinking assessment, and meet with their managers to identify the actual workplace problems to be solved.

In the second phase, the workshop itself, participants learn how to think critically as they examine the problem and develop a course of action. The third phase takes place a month later, as instructors follow up with participants and their managers with advice and support.

Who Should Participate?

Whether you are a front-line employee or a senior leader, you will find immediate application for the skills learned through the Critical Thinking Boot Camp. Anyone seeking to make a positive impact to their organization’s bottom line is encouraged to attend.

Learning Objectives:

• Define critical thinking
• Identify your own critical thinking strengths and opportunities
• Overcome barriers to thinking critically
• Learn the critical questions to be asked in any situation that requires focused attention
• Utilize tools and techniques for accurately identifying the root cause of a problem, strategically analyzing complex issues, making effective decisions and anticipating problems in implementation
• Create a plan of action to make a tangible, positive impact in your organization

To register for the Critical Thinking Boot Camp in New York City via the New York Institute of Finance, click here.

This week, an 8th grade civics teacher at Liberty Middle School in Fairfax County, VA has come under fire for assigning his students a political research project.  What could possibly be wrong with a civics teacher assigning a research project, you ask?  Well, students were divided into 4 groups and were each assigned a GOP candidate to investigate.  Students were then asked to look for vulnerabilities in each candidate’s personal background and political positions.  

The students were then asked to take that research and write a strategy paper for how the opposition could use that information during the upcoming campaign.  Further, students were asked to research the name and contact information for the appropriate person within the Obama campaign who could benefit from this information.

When parents heard about the assignment, the school received several angry phone calls.  Many parents felt that the assignment was inappropriate and partisan.

Instead of getting into a discussion about “indoctrination” of America’s youth or comparing this to Nazi Germany, let’s look at the positive educational aspects of this activity and learn how to make it more appropriate.

If we neutralize the fact that students were only asked to perform research on one political party’s candidates, then this is a pretty intriguing critical thinking exercise.  The students could to learn how to:

• Research the candidates to learn about the political positions
• Gain a stronger understanding of today’s most pressing national and global problems
• Learn about the complex nature of a global economy
• Identify strong vs. weak arguments
• Distinguish fact from opinion
• Write a strategy based on a candidate’s strengths
• Get involved in volunteering for a campaign
• Identify techniques to evoke emotion from an audience

The students could have even participated in a mock debate where they were asked to take on the political position of the assigned candidate.

However, for this activity to truly build critical thinking skills in the students, they should also be asked to take on the opposite position. One hallmark of critical thinking is the ability to see, understand, and respect an issue from multiple viewpoints. If the students had been asked to first research Newt Gingrich (for instance) and write a strategy paper about his weaknesses, then they should also be asked to do the same for President Obama.  Similarly, they should also research and write a strategy about the candidate’s strengths and how they would promote those issues if they were involved in the campaign.

The Liberty Middle School teacher could have taken this activity one step further to make sure all political parties (and candidates) were fairly represented and students would have had an excellent learning experience and critical thinking challenge.

What do you think?  Do you see value in this kind of activity in the classroom?  If your child was a student in this class, what would you have done?

Critical thinking is a skill everyone needs. There’s hardly a job or task that doesn’t need it. That’s what makes the Watson-Glaser™ such a versatile ability test.

Here are six ways organizations can improve their performance with the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal:

• Screen applicants for management positions. If you’re hiring a manager in any field or a C-level executive, they must be great thinkers. Knowing a person’s CT skills upfront will save you money interviewing candidates that have great technical and people skills but lack the ability to make the tough decisions or set a strategy.

• Predict performance. High Watson-Glaser scores correlate with good analysis and problem-solving skills, good judgment and decision-making, and good overall job performance. All skills a star performer needs! In short, critical thinking ability is more predictive of success than personality.

• Assess candidates for working virtually. Virtual workers make a lot of independent decisions and you want to ensure they are good at evaluating online information and accurately assessing situations without being face to face.

• Know the abilities of your current workforce. Watson-Glaser scores can help you make promotion decisions, create development plans for high potentials, and see if a team has the DNA to tackle a specific challenge.

• Hire better salespeople. Salespeople and customer service agents represent your company and products. If they’re good critical thinkers, they’ll be good at recommending products and thinking through an issue before responding to customer complaints, questions, etc.

• Become a thought-based organization. You should promote better thinking with the same zeal you promote honesty, hard work, and technical skills. Organizations that have good critical thinkers are prepared for higher levels of innovation, problem solving, and creativity – all competencies that will help you create real value in your market!

We talk a lot about our RED critical thinking model. Here’s how a salesperson could use it in the sales process to win more business!

1) Qualify Your Leads

In the beginning, resist making assumptions about the leads you call on (and those you don’t). Have you not called a prospect because you heard they don’t typically use or need products like yours… or they’re struggling financially? Keep an open mind and don’t limit yourself!

Do your homework. Get concrete information on the company, the decision maker, their needs, their criteria for making a purchase, and their timeline. Have you ever spent time with a prospect only to learn that they are not the decision maker? (Evaluate Arguments/Information)

2) Discover Their Needs

Don’t assume you know what they need. Sometimes they’re not even sure. Instead, ask open-ended questions and you will begin to see their needs and possibly even uncover additional selling opportunities. (Recognize Assumptions)

Be careful not to evaluate a person’s needs too quickly. Sometimes in an effort to close a deal, we miss out on larger opportunities. Listen to all of the customer’s needs and then start the process of evaluating how your products can meet their needs. (Evaluate Arguments/Information)

3) Present a Solution

After carefully listening to the customer and confirming their desired outcomes/goals, it’s time to present a solution. Remember that customers ultimately spend money on things that help them do their jobs cheaper, better and/or faster. Use your critical thinking skills to find a solution that achieves this outcome. (Draw Conclusions)

4) Negotiate & Close

Your customer enters into a negotiation with their own assumptions, arguments and conclusions. Make it your goal to understand what those are by asking questions throughout the process. (Evaluate Information)

Listen to the conclusions that your customer has arrived at. (Evaluate Arguments/Information). Then, use the information that you have gathered to creatively guide them to a conclusion that fits with the solution you can offer.(Draw Conclusions)

Learn more about the RED model or read about our critical thinking training solutions.

If you’re a techie, social media guru, or music/film geek, you are probably in Austin, TX this week for SXSW (pronounced South by Southwest). SXSW has become known as the launch pad for some of the most popular social media platforms used today including Twitter and Foursquare. However, the buzz coming out of SXSW today is a bit controversial.

BBH New York thought SXSW would be the perfect testing grounds for a solution to two seemingly unrelated problems: the need for wireless internet access and helping the homeless.  So, how do you help the homeless while providing internet access to SXSW attendees?  You have homeless people walk around with 4G HotSpot devices and ask those who wish to access the hotspot to give a donation via paypal.  With that idea, Homeless Hotspots was born.

If you’re like me, you have an immediate emotional gut feeling.  This doesn’t “feel right.”  We’re asking homeless people to walk around and serve as a “virtual outlet” for internet access?  We’re asking the “have nots” to help out the “haves?”  My initial reaction was that this idea seems dehumanizing.

However, if you think about it from the other side, this is legitimate employment for the homeless (although temporary).  Each employee of Homeless Hotspot receives 100% of the donations given for internet access (the suggested donation rate is $2 for every 15 minutes of internet access).   Additionally, each employee of the Homeless Hotspots project is guaranteed to receive a minimum of $50 for 6 hours of work.

If you visit homelesshotspots.org, you meet Clarence- a victim of hurricane Katrina.  In fact, if you click on Clarence’s Hot Spot page, you can donate to him even if you’re not at SXSW.  Clarence is one of over a dozen homeless individuals participating in this project.   In an interview with Fox 7 in Austin, Clarence said it’s not all about the money- it’s an opportunity to tell his story.

Though some people find the idea of a homeless person being asked to walk around wearing a shirt saying “I’m a 4G hotspot” degrading, Clarence sees this as a way to make the invisible more visible.  Each of the 13 members of Homeless Hotspots has a unique story.  Clarence, in addition to being a victim of hurricane Kartina, has suffered 4 heart attacks and is on disability but can’t find a landlord to accept his disability payments as proof of income.  Dusty’s unemployment benefits have run out.  Jason has been looking for employment ever since he was released from prison for a non-violent crime.  Jeffrey, a former service manager at a Jaguar dealership, was mugged and hit in the head with a baseball bat leaving him with a traumatic brain injury.  He like his 12 Homeless Hotspots colleagues just need a chance…a chance for employment…a chance to tell their stories…a chance to feel a part of society.

Watch the video below to see Clarence and Jeffey’s perspectives:

Company Offered Homeless Hotspots at SXSW: MyFoxAUSTIN.com

To add some comparative context to this debate, check out the image (via Chime.in) below from SXSW.  FedEx has had employees walking around the conference center as “Power Couriers” for smartphone users.  Attendees can plug their phones into the Power Courier’s jacket for a battery boost.  Is this degrading or a genius marketing move?

What do you think?  Is Homeless Hotspots innovative or disgraceful?

Meet Kaitlyn- she is 5 years old and the daughter of Heather Ishikawa, co-author of Now You’re Thinking!  Kaitlyn often hears her mom talk about adult concepts like critical thinking, brainstorming, assumptions, drawing conclusions, and evaluating information.  Even though present day philosophers sometimes have trouble defining these concepts, tonight at bedtime Kaitlyn took a shot at making sense of these complex ideas.  So, with the help of her mom and an iPhone, Kaitlyn explained critical thinking through the eyes of a 5 year old:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mWDHiyQkE4

Little Kaitlyn speaks with such authority that we’re pretty sure she has a bright career as a critical thinking coach!

If you asked your child to explain “critical thinking,” what would he/she say?

We want to know!!!

So, please enter our newest contest with a video of your own and you could win a great critical thinking prize!

Here’s how to enter:

1)  Video tape your child (anyone under 16) explaining any of the following concepts:

• critical thinking
• strategic thinking
• creative thinking
• assumptions
• bias
• brainstorming
• evaluating information
• drawing conclusions
• consequences
• risk
• emotions

2)  Post your video to YouTube and use the title “My Kid Knows Critical Thinking”

3)  Post a link to that video on the Critical Thinkers Facebook fan page:  http://www.facebook.com/criticalthinkers

4)  Ask your friends to click the “like” button for your post on the Facebook fan page.

The five people with the most “likes” for their video will receive a free autographed copy of “Now You’re Thinking!”

Additionally, we will randomly select 3 videos for the grand prize, which is a free 1-year license to the Critical Thinking University (the newest eLearning portal for critical thinking training).

Your video must be submitted by Friday, March 16th at midnight CT, and voting will end on Monday, March 19th at midnight CT.

We think this will be a fun way to see a complex idea through the eyes of a child.  So, please don’t coach your child with the “right answer.”

We know kids say the darndest things and can’t wait to hear what your kids have to say!

Guest Post by John Trent

It goes without saying that every manager wants to hire a bright employee. So why not use an assessment that can identify the candidate with the highest intellectual horsepower—a pure measure of cognitive ability?

While intellect is an undisputed asset in the workplace, the ability to apply brainpower to make well-reasoned judgments and draw accurate conclusions cannot be assumed. Most of us have had the experience of working with an incredibly bright individual who can regurgitate every morsel of learned knowledge or breeze through cognitive ability tests, and yet when confronted with a complex problem that requires careful and logical reasoning, their horsepower is rendered paralyzed.

How is that possible? The answer is simple; intellect is only one component of critical thinking.  Although scores on the Watson-Glaser have a positive relationship with cognitive ability, the additional information obtained by measuring critical thinking provides insight into an individual’s ability to put brainpower into practice. Specifically, critical thinking involves:

• Attitudes that enhance one’s ability to recognize the existence of problems and an acceptance of the general need for evidence in support of what is asserted to be true.
• Knowledge of the nature of valid inferences, abstractions, and generalizations in which the weight or accuracy of different kinds of evidence are logically determined, and
• Skills in employing and applying the above attitudes and knowledge.