| Collaboration Is Thinking Together |
Effective Leaders have great thinking habits. Good thinking distinguishes good leaders from mere title holders with prescribed authority. Their teams excel because of these leader leverage areas: thinking competence, coaching team member thinking and creation of a climate of trust to risk disagreement.
Our Critical Thinking framework incorporates research into what distinguishes leaders with excellent reputations as problem solvers and decision makers. This previous research studied notable successes then reverse engineered them to reveal a common approach. The common thread was a thinking approach that excels and which anyone can learn. This approach empowers teams to apply logical, fact-based questions that focus thinking, pulling together available information quickly to guide needed inquiry.
The process adapts easily to any situation. No jumping the gun with guesses or needless rushes to judgment or spending time on irrelevant information. Now any team can organize the available facts and use them to improve their judgments. The analysis is clear and easily understood by stakeholders who are not at the meeting.
[1] CONCERN ANALYSIS: A few key questions separate issues, assess priority and determine the best thinking approach for each issue (team ~30 to 60 minutes).
[2] PROBLEM SOLVING: Describes the problem, define a few high-quality potential causes, and then use the facts to determine the most likely cause before moving on to verification of the true cause (team ~30 to 60 minutes).
[3] ROOT CAUSE TRACKING: Root causes are problem factories. But they present golden opportunities to streamline systems and escape the ‘firefighting treadmill’. Root Cause analysis is how to beat the competition with better processes that take pressure off tomorrow – making tomorrow more problem free. The Problem Solving process [#2 above] is the key to unlocking and correcting root causes. Stop the drama, firefighting and distractions by using a streamlined problem solving process – one that is rewarded and supported by management.
[4] DECISION MAKING: Whether it’s deciding upon Interim Actions, Corrective Actions, or System Improvements, teams knowing how to make the best-balanced choice is how creative, practical and timely decisions are made (team: ~30 to 60 minutes).
[5] PLANNING: Decisions must be implemented. Planning defines necessary action steps, responsibilities, and timing. High threat problems are anticipated and threat countered with preventive and contingent actions. All steps are documented in a simple e-form Excel Workbook.