Increasing Critical Thinking in the Workplace

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Increasing Critical Thinking in the Workplace
The Raw Material of 21st Century Success
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Todays Agenda
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Everyone thinks, but few think critically
The success of your organization depends on the
quality of the thinking and the decisions made by
everyone in your business.
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Lots of people work hard
Imagine if everyone worked intelligently
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• Meet Jerry, your new salesperson.
• Is he
• Working on the right things?
• Asking the right questions?
• Making good decisions?

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• Meet Pam, your new office manager.
• Can she separate
• Facts
• Opinions
• Assumptions

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• Meet your new store
• managers.
• Will they think about
• Outcomes?
• Consequences?
• Effective
• Implementation?

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Critical Thinking Defined
It is
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Critical Thinking Impacts Business
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Schlitz Loses Its Lead
Background In the 1970s, Schlitz, Americas 2
beer, wanted to compete with Budweiser.
Decision Head of Schlitz Brewing Company,
Robert Uhlein, Jr., decided to cut costs in the
ingredients used in the beer and to speed up the
brewing process. The brew time went from 40 days
to 15. Barley malt was replaced with corn syrup.
A foam stabilizer was replaced with a cheaper
version. Impact Initial profit was good, but
the beer tasted terrible and the ingredients
tended to bond together and sink to the bottom of
the can looking like mucus. A reviewer
described it as snot-ridden beer. Schlitz
finally recalled 10 million cans of beer. By
1981, they shut down their Milwaukee plant, and
the following year they were sold. A Milwaukee
mayor compared it to the sinking of the Titanic.
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The Beatles Sign With EMI
Background In December, 1961, Decca Records
executives Mike Smith and Dick Rowe watched a
local rock n roll band perform in Liverpool. He
invited them to audition on January 1, 1962. The
group spent two hours playing 15 different songs.
Then they went home and waited for
weeks. Decision Finally, Rowe told the bands
manager that Decca wasnt interested. He said
"Not to mince words, Mr. Epstein, but we dont
like your boys sound. Groups are out four-piece
groups with guitars particularly are
finished. Impact The group, The Beatles,
signed with EMI Records, and started a trend back
to guitar bands. The rest is history.
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Hersheys Sees the Light
Background In 1981, Universal Studios called
Mars and asked permission to use MMs in a new
film. This was common practice. The director was
looking for cross-promotion he would use MMs,
and Mars could help promote the movie. Decision
The Mars brothers said no. Impact The film
was E.T. The MMs were needed for a crucial
scene Elliot, the boy who befriended the alien,
uses candy to lure E.T. into his house.
Instead, Hersheys cut a deal to use a new
product called Reeses Pieces. Initial sales had
been light. Sales exploded when E.T. became a
top-grossing movie. Hersheys estimated that they
would have had to pay 15-20 million for this
level of advertising.
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A 21st Century Survival Skill
Weve seen bad judgment bring down business
giants Enron, Lehman Brothers and AIG. Every
business needs to focus on making the right
decisions in a complex, rapidly changing
environment with incomplete and imperfect
information. Critical thinking is a core
survival skill.
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A Foundation for Key Management Skills
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Identifying and Developing Good Critical Thinkers
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How Can You Spot Great Talent?

• People often appear similar on the surface.
• Similar resume
• Similar communication style
• Similar upbeat attitude
• But how can you predict who will succeed on the
  job?

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Create Success Profiles Through Assessment

• Assess the critical thinking ability of top
  performers to create a baseline (e.g., 70th
  percentile and above)
• Assess job
• applicants and
• candidates for
• internal promotion
• and compare their
• scores to the
• baseline

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Watson-Glaser The Gold Standard for Critical
Thinking Assessment

• In use for over 85 years
• Voluminous research
• Measures critical
• thinking ability
• Predicts success
• in professional roles
• Development report provides
• custom development plan

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Watson-Glaser Users
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Watson-Glaser Applications
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Watson-Glaser RED Model of Critical Thinking
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RED Model Defined

• Recognize Assumptions
• Assumptions are statements that are
• implied to be true in the absence of proof.
• Evaluate Arguments
• Arguments are assertions that are intended
• to persuade someone to believe or act a certain
  way.
• Draw Conclusions
• Consists of arriving at conclusions that
  logically follow from
• the available evidence.

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RED Model In Action

• Recognize Assumptions the CIA believed
• that Cubans would rise up to support the effort
• they could successfully overthrow the Cuban
• government based on past success (Guatemala,
  1954)
• Evaluate Arguments Kennedy reviewed the plan
  with his closest advisors, who supported
  invasion. When campaigning, he had criticized
  Eisenhower for not being proactive enough with
  Cuba, so contrary views were not well represented
  in the inner circle.
• Draw Conclusions Kennedy ordered the invasion,
  which was an immediate and costly failure.

Learning Kennedy changed the way in which he
was briefed so that assumptions would be
challenged and arguments better evaluated.
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The Next Generation Critical Thinking In
Schools andEarly Workforce
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Do Students Have Sufficient Critical Thinking
Skills?
Everyone agrees that students learn in college,
but whether they learn to think is more
controversial. - Wilbert McKeachie
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What Employers Say
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We Have a Critical Thinking Deficit
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Its Also the 1 Skill of Increasing Importance
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Another Survey Skills More Important Now
Experienced Workers New Workers
SHRM 2007 Survey
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Changing Education Policy

• I'm calling on our nation's governors and state
  education chiefs to develop standards and
  assessments that don't simply measure whether
  students can fill in a bubble on a test, but
  whether they possess 21st century skills like
  problem-solving and critical thinking and
  entrepreneurship and creativity.

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Framework for 21st Century Learning
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Critical Thinking Emphasis
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Training People to Think BetterIs it possible?
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Yes, But Not Without Effort and Feedback
Critical thinking is like any other skill (e.g.,
becoming a good golfer) it requires practice
But developing critical thinking is more
challenging than behavioral skills (e.g., golf)
because you cant easily see it
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Critical Thinking Can Be Learned
There is substantial evidence to show that
critical thinking can be improved, especially
when instruction is designed to encourage the
transfer of these skills to different situations
and different domains. Diane Halpern, 2003
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Key Areas for Critical Thinking Training

• Separating fact from opinion
• Asking the right questions
• Evaluating arguments
• Dealing with politics and spin
• Exploring alternative POV
• Coping with contradiction
• Reading carefully
• Making decisions under
• pressure

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Assess to Develop Skills and a
TrainingIntervention
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Trainer Readiness

• Are supervisors equipped to evaluate 21st century
  skills such as critical thinking and
  adaptability?
• Are you currently assessing and developing these
  foundation skills?

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The ROI of Developing Skills
Take a manager making 60,000 per year whose
daily decisions impact his/her productivity. If
training can move this person from average to
superior, the ROI is 28,000 annually per
manager 25 managers/professionals 720,000
annually
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28k difference
Productivity (in percent)
0 25 50 75 100
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Manager A
Manager B
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Critical Thinking Drives Professional Success
Let It Drive Your Business
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Questions?TalentLens.com/en/watsonContact
Suzan Ramsey at 210.339.8455 or
Suzan.Ramsey_at_Pearson.com to schedule a demo of
the Watson-Glaser II Critical Thinking Appraisal