Critical thinking a necessary business skill

• Reprints

All human beings think. Our brains along with our opposable thumbs are what separate us from all other mammals. Yet, for many in business, the ability to consistently apply good critical thinking skills is lacking. Thinking is easy, yet critical thinking is far more difficult.

This past week in working with two different clients I invested specific time just for critically thinking through each of these projects. The thought process was to eliminate those pesky Re-Dos or OOP$ by crafting the best possible solutions. By investing this time up front, I dramatically reduced my execution time and so far no OOP$ have appeared. The added benefit is the customer loyalty. Both clients did not have to take their resources of time and redirect it to an unnecessary course project correction. After all, time is money.

In the book “Critical Thinking” by Richard Paul and Linda Elder wrote these three statements in Chapter One that stopped me dead in my tracks:

“Short-term thinking, which leads to quick-fix solutions, is largely the rule of the day. Great power is wielded around the world by little minds. Critical thinking is not a social value in any society.”

For the last 15 years, I have worked as an entrepreneur and before that my experiences included 5 years as a public teacher and over 25 years in corporate America. From my observations, I believe the reason that the words plan, goal and do it are four letter dirty words in business is directly attributed to the lack of critical thinking as echoed by Paul and Elder.

Those who have gone before us have also noted the importance of critical thinking.

• “Thinking is hard work; that’s why so few do it.” Albert Einstein

• “More gold has been mined from the thoughts of man than has even been taken from the earth.” Napoleon Hill.

• “A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.” William James

• “There is no expedient to which a man will go to avoid the real labor of thinking.” Thomas Edison

• “What is the hardest task in the world? To think.” Ralph W. Emerson

Now many small business owners, salespersons or C Suite executives say they:

• Do not have time

• Have too much on their plates

• Are so busy with yesterday’s problems, forget about today’s event or tomorrow’s possibilities

To these excuses, I respectfully say “Hooey!” or if you prefer “Bull feathers!” Henry Ford said “If you think you can or you think you cannot, either way you are right.” Your thinking directly determines your results.

Engaging in all those necessary interactions to run a business function works far better when careful, critical thought is demonstrated. The authors of Blue Ocean Strategy shared how critical thinking through these four filters provides an incredible competitive advantage:

1. What can I add to my business solutions?

2. What can I subtract to my business solutions?

3. What can I increase to my business solutions?

4. What can I decrease to my business solutions?

If you want to increase sales, to improve profitability to build loyal customers both external and internal, consider investing time to improve your critical thinking skills. This investment will be returned to you at least two if not four fold in a very short time.

P.S. Shout Out: Diana Kania of AFLAC in Lake County or Farm Bureau Insurance of Porter County can assist with some of your insurance needs.