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Critical Thinking Means Business
Did you know critical thinking was rated the NEW #1 workplace skill? Download our paper: Critical Thinking Means Business
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How Often Do You Live in Auto-Pilot?
When we are in familiar settings, the brain often becomes comfortable and can shift into mental auto-pilot. While this energy saving technique is often helpful, we should be careful to realize that during this time we are not thinking critically. Actually, we aren’t thinking at all. So often we fail to improve our standard processes [...]
Thinking Differently About Boarding a Plane
If there’s a better way to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, then there must be a better way arrange the boarding process for airplanes. I travel often and the only thing I consistently see in the boarding process of various airlines is inconsistency. Some board from the back of the plane, and some [...]
You Disagree? Then You’re Not a Critical Thinker!
I have a Twitter search set up to alert me anytime someone says “critical thinking” or “critical thinker.” Do you know how those terms are used most often on social media? It looks something like this: “Oh, you’re a Republican? Then you’re not a critical thinker” (and you can replace the word Republican with any [...]
Was Netflix Thinking Critically? Are You?
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard about the Netflix price hike. That’s right! Many customers, including me, will see a 60% rate hike to enjoy the same amenities they experience now. Sixty percent! What was Netflix thinking?!?! Clearly they knew customers would be angry because they hired extra customer service reps to [...]
Stephen Colbert on Belief Systems and Skeptics
Stephen Colbert interviews author Michael Shermer about his new book “The Believing Brain.” There are some interesting critical thinking tid-bits in this humorous interview. What do you think about Shermer’s take on the brain’s desire to believe? The Colbert Report Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c Michael Shermer www.colbertnation.com Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor [...]
Making Difficult Decisions Despite Ambiguous Information: That’s Life!
Yesterday, Chad Fife wrote a post about how too many choices and too much information can cause “decision paralysis.“ His post hit home for me as it mirrored many shopping trips I’ve taken with my husband (more on that next week). But I also want to explore the opposite issue- when there is a lack [...]
Practical Wisdom and the Importance of Context
What is a wise person? Is she someone who scores in the 99th percentile on the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal? Is he a member of Mensa? Is she a hero whose quick thinking saved a life? Is he a listener? Is she a leader? Barry Schwartz argues that a wise person is more than scores [...]
Time and Money: It’s All Relative
I am always amazed at how the brain works. We can switch gears and alter our frame of mind in a split second. For instance, Friday morning I wanted to buy an elliptical machine but quickly dismissed the idea because “we don’t have $400 to spend today.” Later that afternoon, one of my dogs became [...]
The Jump to Conclusions Mat- You Know You Want One!
Anyone who has seen the movie Office Space (and if you haven’t, then you need to stop reading this post right now and go rent it) knows about the “Jump to Conclusions mat.” I couldn’t find a clip of the scene, so here is a transcript of the dialogue: Michael Bolton: You think the pet [...]
The Simplest Answer is Usually Correct
One day when I was about 5 years old, my mom walked into my room and with a look of shock on her face exclaimed “what happened in here?!” I quickly explained “I know!!! A bomb went off and scattered my toys everywhere, but I wasn’t hurt by it, so it’s okay.” Aside from getting [...]