Critical Thinking Tools

Seize the Opportunity, Prepare for Post-Pandemic!

April 7, 2020 by Lou Quinto Leave a Comment

By Lou Quinto, Executive Coach and Speaker

In this time of uncertainty, businesses have a unique opportunity to retool their operations, refine processes, change their workplace culture, and refocus on their products or services to prepare themselves for business post-pandemic.

If there was a time for a change, the time is now! Let’s hope this opportunity to implement significant change is a once in a lifetime event. Gone is the organizational change limiting mentality of; “Well that’s the way we have always done it,” because when we come out of this pandemic, the way we have always done things will be outdated or obsolete.

Those businesses which lean into this crisis and take the time to prepare their business models, organization, services, and products to adapt to a changing marketplace, changing customer demands and a changing workplace will be able to hit the ground running and be the most successful. However, the window to make these changes will be short. Those businesses that wait until we get back to some sense of normalcy to make changes will be left behind and struggle to regain their place in a post-pandemic world.

Here are three things you should do now to start getting your business ready.

1. Reach Out and Talk to Your Customers

In most instances, you won’t be taking orders, booking future engagements, or prospecting for new business because like your business your customers are thinking about today, this week or this month. Most aren’t thinking about three to six months from now. Instead, take this time to talk to your customers to gather data. Ask questions about how they are and what kind of messages they are getting from their upper management. Be prepared to be depressed. In most instances, the news probably won’t be good if you are looking at it through a lens of future business opportunities with them. They are as uncertain about the future as you are. You’re going to hear about “cost savings” and “expense cutting.” Prepare yourself for this before you make the call. But remember, that’s not the purpose of your call. Discuss structural changes they might be making such as reorganization, “right-sizing,” and delayed purchasing. Inquire about future needs and changes they have identified, and what plans they have developed for when the end of this crisis comes about. Remember, you’re gathering data as it relates to your product or service. This information will help provide you the knowledge to make decisions when you adjust the plans and goals that were in your original 2020 business plan.

2. Revisit Your 2020 Business Plan

Now is the time to pull your business plan out and start making adjustments knowing that whatever goals and plans you had at the start of the year are no longer realistic. The future is cloudier than ever so focus on the basics of your business and those things you are most certain about – your products or services. Approach the planning of each product or service with the following questions:
• How can we deliver our product or service more effectively?
• How can we make our product or service more convenient and accessible?
• How can we deliver our product or service more economically for both my company and the customer?
• How can we provide better customer service?
• What is the best way to market our products or services?
• How can we prepare the sales staff to hit the ground running?

Approach each product and service as an entrepreneur who is new to the business. On paper blow things up. Be creative. Take your business apart. Identify your business’ existing driving forces and make them the key leverage points on which to build your new plan. Identify and refine your strategic competitive advantage – or take this time to create one – to help your business stand out when this crisis is over. Approach your products or services with the following problem statement, “How can we do it better?”

3. Get Buy-In from Your People: Let Them Help Create the Future

Now is the time to engage your employees and get them to start thinking about a bright future. Like you, they are confused, scared, and depressed. Your efforts during this time can serve as the beacon of hope that the future will be bright and their open-minded approach to the business is vital and valued.

Break your business down into parts and prioritize them. Work on one part at a time – starting with the most significant part. Allow different groups to work on individual parts of the business based upon their disciplines. This technique is an important process of sound critical thinking. It’s called “separating and prioritizing.” It’s like a mechanic that wants to improve the performance of a car’s engine. The mechanic takes the engine apart and repairs, updates, and cleans individual parts before putting the engine back together. You and the people with whom you work will become the mechanics for your business’ engine. Give them ownership. Allow them to make decisions. Allow them to identify processes that may have gotten gummed up over the years, suggest necessary refinements, and eliminate non-essential or redundant tasks. Give them the responsibility to develop action plans with assignments and milestones to gauge progress. By doing this you will find that you are creating a culture of ownership and accountability unlike any you have ever witnessed in your organization. Remember, people tend to support what they help create!

This is a scary time we are living through and giving your employees a part in creating a bright future for their livelihood will help everyone get through this time in the most productive and forward-looking way possible. But most importantly it will help prepare your business for success in a post-pandemic world.

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Lou Quinto has been working with companies and their associates internationally for over the past 30 years primarily in the area of critical thinking, leadership, and communication skills. You can watch or listen to Lou discuss leadership and management issues as the co-host of the weekly video blog and podcast “Q&A on Breakthrough Leadership.” He is a Master Coach and Keynote Speaker for Action Management Associates in Plano, TX, and a Senior Consultant on the Leadership and Organizational Effectiveness team for Executive Development Associates in Oklahoma City, OK. He also delivers leadership programs for Bonfire Training in Indianapolis, IN. Contact Lou at lou@louquinto.com or through his website.

Stop and Think

June 8, 2018 by Lou Quinto Leave a Comment

By, Lou Quinto
Executive Coach and Speaker

When you have a problem to solve or decision to make do you take the time to Stop and Think?

As simple as it sounds, most people don’t take the time to Stop and Think about the problem they are trying to tackle or the decision they are trying to make and end up wasting a lot of time. The excuses people make include:

• “I already know what the cause of the problem is, or I have a good Idea which choice I should make.”

• “I don’t have time! If I stopped to think about every problem or decision I have I would never solve any of them.”

• “I never consciously thought about it!”

Stop and Think will help make you more efficient in your problem-solving and decision-making and you will realize many benefits. Among them are:

• It will clear your head from the cacophony of daily business noise to focus on the specific situation needing to be addressed.

• It allows your brain to question what your “gut” may be telling you is the best course of action and prevent you from making a snap decision – getting you to use facts over your opinions.

• It is a wise investment of your time. People attribute Ben Franklin with the quote, “Haste, makes waste.” Four or five minutes taken on the front end will save you hours of rework repairing a snap decision that was bad or the incorrect solution to a problem.

• It minimizes your chances of falling into the time-wasting syndrome of “analysis paralysis” because you will take the time to define a list of that data you determine is necessary to arrive at the best outcome and identify the specific sources from which that data will be gathered.

• Finally, when working with others, consider the purpose of Stop and Think similar to a huddle in football before a play. When the huddle breaks the players go to the line knowing what their individual responsibilities are to successfully execute the play called by the coach.

Stop and Think is a critical thinking process. Characteristic of all critical thinking processes there is a list of logical tasks defined by a series of questions you should ask yourself. The answers to those questions help you to formulate your game-plan for tackling your situation. Here is a look at some of the questions you must answer and tasks you must accomplish before running out onto the problem solving and decision-making field.

1. Have you created a clear description of your problem, decision or goal? John Dewey, an American philosopher, psychologist and educational reformer whose ideas have been influential in education and social reform, said, “A problem well-defined, is a problem half solved.” What he was referring to is that when you take the time up-front to develop a concise problem or decision statement it helps you to eliminate areas you should avoid because those areas have nothing to do with your current challenge. I.T. professionals consider this as avoiding “scope creep.” That’s where your workload expands into doing work not directly associated with your primary task or wasting time to gather information which – in the end – proves to be irrelevant.

2. How does this relate to my goal, objective or mission? Answering this question will allow you and your team to tie the successful resolve directly to your overall purpose. When you do this, you will recognize the level of importance that this decision of solution has to the overall progress of your project or job.

3. What is the urgency and risk associated with this dilemma? Prioritizing tasks is an important concept in managing one’s time and project plan. By identifying the issue’s urgency and risk you will be able to balance this problem or decision among the many other things you need to accomplish.

4. How much time do you believe will be needed to solve this problem or make this decision? Everyone works well when deadlines are established and known by all. Create that deadline. If not, you will find yourself viewing procrastination as an option. It shouldn’t be!

5. Define your criteria in advance? Establishing criteria in advance allows you to pinpoint the specific information you will need to gather which prevents you from drowning in a sea of information and wasting time in that dreadful time waste known as analysis paralysis. Your criteria will also help you frame up your problem or decision and identify the source where that information can be obtained.

So, with your next problem or decision resist the urge to jump in with both feet. Stand at the edge – Stop and Think – and carefully map-out the game plan you will follow with an accurate and concise assessment. You will save a lot of time and frustration.

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Why Ask “Why?”

May 25, 2018 by Lou Quinto Leave a Comment

By, Lou Quinto, Executive Coach and Speaker

“Why?” is such an easy question to ask. I suppose that’s why it’s a child’s favorite question.

Having raised two daughters, I remember going through a period in each of their lives when it seemed the only question they knew was, “Why?” At first, it was cute because I viewed it as their thirst for knowledge. I also have a theory that it is an innate human trait for each new generation to garner as much information from the previous generation in order to seamlessly perpetuate life and our society. Children are natural problem solvers. They keep asking “Why?” until they have gleaned all the information available.

Child: “Why do I have to go to school?”

Parent: “To learn.”

Child: “Why do I need to learn?”

Parent: “So you can grow up to be smart.”

Child: “Why do I need to be smart?”

Parent: “So you can get into college.”

Child: “Why do I need to go to college?”

Parent: “So you can get a good job.”

Child: “Why do I need a good job?”

Parent (Now exhausted with this exercise): “Because Daddy says so!” OR “I don’t know, go ask your Mom!”

Child: “Oh! OK!”

Mission Accomplished! I now know as much as Dad on the subject of why I have to go to school…

This technique is actually a tool of good critical thinkers. There is a name for it. It’s called the “Five Whys.” It’s a basic process to gather information to solve a problem by asking the question “Why?” five times, or until there is no more new information available. This is most useful in identifying the root cause of most problems.

When my youngest daughter, Tess, was born, I remember my older daughter holding her new baby sister and looking up at me and saying, “Dad, we’re gonna have to teach her everything.” I laughed because my older daughter, Caitlin, was only 6 at the time. The fact that she thought she was at a point in her life where she believed she already knew everything didn’t escape me. As time went on and she reached her teenage years the point that she did know everything – and I no longer knew anything – was a frequent topic of intense debate between us! Caitlin stopped asking, “Why?” because she assumed she knew why!

I think every parent remembers that night when they went to bed, and their child considered them the smartest person in the world only to wake up the very next morning and find that during the night that same child had arrived at the conclusion that they were being raised by idiots! Ah, those cherished memories of raising children!

The fact is, most – if not all – of us stopped asking “Why?” as often as we should a long time ago. Today, this prevents us from gathering good information that helps get to the real cause of our problems. Some people refer to the process as “peeling apart the onion.” Each peel reveals a new layer. Or, you can equate asking Why? five times to those egg-shaped Russian dolls where you open one doll and it reveals another doll…. And another…. And another…. Until you get to the last doll that is the smallest of them all.

Root causes are similar to that last Russian doll – small, simple, and most times easy to handle.

In my work as a critical thinking skills executive coach, I have encountered that most people or teams focus on problems as the first doll that they see and don’t do a good job of asking questions – such as “Why?” – to open it up to reveal the next doll. This happens for a variety of reasons. The three root cause reasons are:

Overrated Intuition – Individuals assume they know what the root cause is and therefore, there is no need to ask any more questions. In your gut, you believe you know the root-cause and you jump immediately to generating solutions.
Time – In order to keep up with our fast-paced business environments and demand for high productivity individuals see questions leading to more information that eventually spins into analysis-paralysis. So again, there is the tendency to spring into identifying potential solutions. Usually, these solutions only address the symptoms of the problem and the root-cause continues to wreak havoc and be disruptive.
Ego – Many people view asking “Why?” as highlighting a personal knowledge deficiency. “If I ask ‘Why?’ others will discover I don’t know and that will tarnish my image as a manager or subject matter expert and I will lose the respect I need to lead.” To which I reply, “Get over it. If you knew everything you wouldn’t be sitting behind that desk. You’d be on a yacht in the Caribbean enjoying your millions because you have all the answers to every business problem in the world.”

Whatever your reason may be for not asking “Why?” more often, get over it! Get in the habit of asking “Why?” You will find the benefits – especially when working with others – will exceed just gathering more information. It will help:

Increase collaboration within your teams or work groups because they will come to know that you value their input and won’t be quickly dismissed.
Your co-workers – and family members – will feel more comfortable expressing their points of view around you.
It will make you humble and appear less arrogant.
And finally, you will learn so much more then you do now.

So, when you’re done reading this, ask yourself; “Why don’t I ask ‘Why?’ more often?” Then take steps to do so!

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Open Mind: A Cure for Cognitive Bias

May 22, 2018 by Lou Quinto 1 Comment

By Lou Quinto
Executive Coach and Speaker

Fake News…. Alternative Facts….

These are two terms that we hear too much of in the news these days, and they are invading our team and project meetings.

I don’t intend to get into a political debate. What I do want to highlight is the phenomenon of cognitive bias that causes us to rely only on that information which is not in conflict with what we already believe to be true and how it is detrimental to sound critical thinking. Every critical thinking process you can employ adheres to the old adage; “Garbage in, garbage out.” Therefore, if you only use information with which you believe to be true or agree, chances are you will fail in solving your problems correctly, creating solid strategic plans or making accurate decisions.

Cognitive bias occurs because of several reasons:

You take mental shortcuts when solving problems or making decisions to save time.
Too much information is available, and you gravitate to only that information with which you are most familiar or you believe to be true.
You are motivated by emotional or moral reasons.
You yearn to be “in-sync” with your associates or friends – Peer pressure or Groupthink.

There are 120 types of cognitive biases that we all experience when assessing situations, solving problems, generating solutions, and making decisions. It’s a regular smorgasbord! Without having to spend years in therapy to break through these biases there is one easy solution we can all practice which will help us steer clear of cognitive biases – having an open mind. An open mind will permit you to look at information that may be in conflict with your experiences and what you understand to be true. Ultimately, an open mind leads to more accurate decisions, plans, and solutions.

Here are ten suggestions you should consider acting on to keep that door to your mind open on a regular basis:

Listen More Than You Talk!

When you talk, you reinforce what you already know and believe. When you listen, you hear information that may be different from what you know and believe.

Think Positive, Before Negative

Our brains are prewired to protect us. When someone brings up a new idea our brains have an “Automatic Negative Thoughts” trigger. Our first reaction is to give a dozen reasons why the idea is bad or why it won’t work. Force your brain to start thinking about the positives. Think how an idea will work, or what the benefits of that idea could be.

Never Say Never, Never Say Always

This mindset keeps your thoughts and beliefs static. The world around us is moving fast. Things DO change. Your thinking and thoughts must also change in order to stay up-to-date. By saying NEVER and ALWAYS you do not allow your thinking to evolve.

Avoid Making Snap Decisions

When you make snap decisions it’s usually because of overrated intuition– your gut. That means you do not think through decisions by using established criteria and facts. The more you do this, the more comfortable you feel making decisions “on the fly” which keeps your mind closed.

Respect Others’ Point of View

By respecting other people’s points of view, it prevents your brain from being immediately defensive about views, opinions, or feeling that are different than yours. This invites people to express their points of views more often. You will find It increases collaboration and teamwork!

Look for New Opportunities

Thomas Edison was quoted as saying, “There is a better way to do it, I have to find it.” Be like Edison and look for new opportunities to be more productive and more efficient. This mindset will help keep your mind’s door wide open.

Expand Your Network

We surround ourselves with people who tend to think like we do. They are your comfort zone and provide you a “safe place.” Expand your business network. Add new people to your circle of friends. These people will provide a diversity to your views and what you think.

Make Failure an Option

When thinking through new ideas, or different ways to do things, make failure an option in your mind. We naturally avoid failure at all costs so we will make judgments sometimes because of uncertainty or lack of knowledge. When you let yourself consider failure as an option you will not be quick to dismiss those ideas that appear on the surface as unsafe.

Get Away from Your Screens

This is the most difficult of all of the suggestions. We are addicted to our screens – computer screens, cell phone screens, TV screens, tablets, and even touch screens on our car’s dashboard. Make an effort to go on a technology diet. Each day, make a conscious decision to detach yourself from all screens for a period of time – one or two hours, initially. When you get on your screens you gravitate to information with which we agree – Facebook pages, Twitter or Instagram accounts, or texts to and from our friends. It confirms our beliefs. It makes us feel “safe.” Turn them off. Walk the dog. Go for a run or a bike ride. Better yet, sit down and talk with your family, friends, and neighbors.

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