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COMPONENT SKILLS For the AGILE LEADER

COMPONENT SKILLS For the AGILE LEADER. AMEDD C&S CAPTAINS CAREER COURSE. OUTLINE. Critical Thinking Mind-Sets / Mental Models Barriers to Critical Thinking Creative Thinking Exercise Conclusion Questions References. CRITICAL THINKING. 2-part process: 1) Thinking about thinking

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COMPONENT SKILLS For the AGILE LEADER

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  1. COMPONENT SKILLS For theAGILE LEADER AMEDD C&S CAPTAINS CAREER COURSE

  2. OUTLINE • Critical Thinking • Mind-Sets / Mental Models • Barriers to Critical Thinking • Creative Thinking • Exercise • Conclusion • Questions • References

  3. CRITICAL THINKING 2-part process: 1) Thinking about thinking 2) Evaluating the results of that thinking

  4. ELEMENTS OF THOUGHT

  5. CRITICAL THINKING MODEL Requires critical thinking? Make decision / Clarify position / Use judgment Stimulus requiring judgment NO ASSUMPTIONS POINT OF VIEW INFERENCES YES Egocentric tendencies EVALUATION OF INFORMATION IMPLICATIONS CLARIFY CONCERN Argument analysis Impact of biases and traps

  6. EGOCENTRIC TENDENCIESRelatively common in military culture • Egocentric memory • Egocentric myopia • Egocentric righteousness • Egocentric blindness

  7. PERCEPTION: Why Can’t We See What Is There To Be Seen? ONCE PARIS BIRD IN THE IN A IN THE THE SPRING A LIFETIME THE HAND

  8. CRITICAL THINKING MODEL Requires critical thinking? Make decision / Clarify position / Use judgment Stimulus requiring judgment NO ASSUMPTIONS POINT OF VIEW INFERENCES YES Egocentric tendencies EVALUATION OF INFORMATION IMPLICATIONS CLARIFY CONCERN Argument analysis Impact of biases and traps

  9. MIND-SETS aka MENTAL MODELS • Patterns of expectations on what to look for, what is important, and how to interpret what is seen that predisposes thinking to a certain way • Mind-set is akin to a screen or lens through which one perceives the world

  10. Impressions Resist Change

  11. It is difficult to look at the same information from different perspectives

  12. Implications • People form impressions on the basis of very little information, but once formed, they do not reject or change them unless they obtain rather solid evidence • Limit the adverse impact of this tendency by suspending judgment for as long as possible as new information is being received • If information does not fit into what people know, or think they know, they have great difficulty processing it

  13. CRITICAL THINKING MODEL Requires critical thinking? Make decision / Clarify position / Use judgment Stimulus requiring judgment NO ASSUMPTIONS POINT OF VIEW INFERENCES YES Egocentric tendencies EVALUATION OF INFORMATION IMPLICATIONS CLARIFY CONCERN Argument analysis Impact of biases and traps

  14. Military leaders need to continuously ask themselves the following questions…

  15. BARRIERS TO CRITICAL THINKING Cognitive Bias Psychological impediments Logical fallacies

  16. COGNITIVE BIAS • Mental errors caused by our simplified information processing strategies • Availability Heuristic: likelihood of event assessed by ease with which examples of that event can be brought to mind • Representative Heuristic: make judgment based on how much item represents known item – sample size bias; regression to the mean • Anchoring and Adjustment Heuristic: develop estimates from initial anchor and adjust from there to yield the final answer

  17. PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPEDIMENTS • Loyalty, herd instinct, groupthink • Prejudice, stereotypes, scapegoats • Wishful thinking, mirror-imaging, self-deception • Rationalization, denial

  18. Groupthink Symptoms

  19. LOGICAL FALLACIES Common fallacies in MDMP • Appeal to (unqualified) authority, fear, masses • Slippery slope • Straw man • Arguments against the person • False dichotomy • False cause • Red herring

  20. INTELLECTUAL STANDARDS

  21. CREATIVE THINKING

  22. Problem-Solving Exercise

  23. MENTAL TOOLS • Questioning Assumptions • Seeing Different Perspective • Thinking Backwards • Devil’s Advocate • Stimulating Creative Thinking BLUF: A questioning attitude is a prerequisite to a successful search for new ideas

  24. Problem to Solution

  25. Solution 1

  26. Solution 2

  27. Solution 3

  28. EXERCISE BREAK This is not a test of intelligence.

  29. EXERCISE RULES OF ENGAGEMENT • You will be asked to answer 2 questions that require reasoning • These are not trick questions • The information provided is true and complete – take it at face value • You will have 60 seconds for each question • This is not a test of intelligence – jot your answers on a piece of paper

  30. QUESTION 1

  31. QUESTION 2 He’s drinking lemonade. Rule: You must be at least 21 to drink alcoholic beverages. Which reveler(s) must you check at the minimum to ensure compliance? She’s 23. He’s drinking wine. She’s 19.

  32. EXERCISE RESULTS Check the A to see that the number on the reverse is even. Check the 7 to see that the letter on the reverse is not a vowel. The rule is not violated no matter what number is behind the B or what letter is behind the 4. Check the wine drinker to see that he’s at least 21. Check the 19 y/o to see that her drink is non-alcoholic. The rule is not violated no matter what the 23 y/o is drinking or how old the lemonade drinker is.

  33. CONCLUSION “Technological advances alone do not constitute change. The most dramatic advances in military operations over history have been borne of ideas – ideas about warfighting, organization, and doctrine. The Army’s most critical asset will not be technology; it will be critical thinking.” AUSA Torchbearer National Security Report, March 2005

  34. Any Questions? Components Skills for the Agile Leader

  35. REFERENCES • Thinking Critically About Critical Thinking: A Fundamental Guide for Strategic Leaders, Colonel Stephen J. Gerras, Ph.D., Director, Leadership and Command Instruction, U.S. Army War College, 1 June 2006 • Psychology of Intelligence Analysis, Richards J. Heuer, Jr., Center for the Study of Intelligence, Central Intelligence Agency, 1999 • How Critical Thinking Shapes the Military Decision Making Process, Floyd J. Usry, Jr., LtCol., USMC, Naval War College, 17 May 2004 • Critical Thinking Competency Standards: Standards, Principles, Performance Indicators, and Outcomes with a Critical Thinking Master Rubric, Dr. Richard Paul and Dr. Linda Elder, www.criticalthinking.org, 2008 • Fallacies: The Art of Mental Trickery and Manipulation, Dr. Richard Paul and Dr. Linda Elder, www.criticalthinking.org, 2008

  36. RESOURCES ON THE WEB • Foundations for Critical Thinking – http://www.criticalthinking.org/ • Creativity, Thinking Skills, Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, Decision Making – http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/awc-thkg.htm • Tools, Techniques, Methods, Quotes on All Matters Creative – http://creatingminds.org/ • Online Writing Lab at Purdue – http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/

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