Overcome “Critical Thinking Bias” and Boost Your Collaborative Capability

Overcome “Critical Thinking Bias” and

Boost Your Collaborative Capability

Donald J. Minnick, Ph.D.Interpersonal Skills Laboratory, LLC

281.923.1270

Design for a New Wheelbarrow

The Itemized Response Method of Responding to Ideas

“The stupidest Idea I’ve ever heard…”

“The greatest Idea I’ve ever heard. I agree 100%....”

Our typical“first response”

To a new idea

X

92% 65% 34% 12%

Most people: 10-15 uses“GENIUS” level: 200+ uses

What happened…???

A Study of “Divergent Thinking” …….

How Critical Are We..?

Category of Individual - / + or neutral comments

Secondary school teachers 25 / 1

College professors 22 / 1

Mid-level managers 18 / 1


“Stretching forThe Pluses”




To a new idea

X

Sample Lead-Ins:“That’s a terrific thought!”“What I like about your idea is …”“That would be good because …” “What I find especially helpful in what you’re saying is…”

Probing for the pluses: “What are your thoughts behind ….?

“What are the benefits that you see of …“What would that do for us….?”






To a new idea

X

Identifying YourConcerns

IDENTIFY YOUR CONCERNS ….. invite suggestions to overcome your concerns

Sample Lead-Ins:“What I’m concerned about is …”“We have to deal with how to…”“How could we overcome …”“I wish we could also …”“I think we need to further think through this part of things…”






To a new idea

X


“Building”

X

“Threshold ofAcceptability”

BUILDING Make the original idea more useful by creatively exploring:Modification; Additions / Expanded ApplicationsSample Lead-Ins:“Building on your idea, we could…”“Good point and we could also use that to…”“That idea triggered a thought for me. What if we…”“What your idea could do for us is….”

Let’s give it a try…………..Imagine any problem where there might be some significant value for collaboration….

1. Gather your own ideas…. Make some notes to yourself about your idea….

2. Discuss the problem with your group… being careful to use: “Stretching for the Pluses…”“Identifying your concerns…”“Building…”

3. After you’ve had some time to “solve” the problem….. we’ll hear some report outs and compare notes on our solutions….

Design for a New Wheelbarrow

• Good for going over rough terrain – bottom won’t drag

• Can rig a trap door, drive right over the hole and fill it without having to dump it over

• Make wheel rotate….easier to turn

• Have double wheels (like the back of a tricycle) for stability

• Have extendable handles and make it also serve as a work-out device (chest and triceps)

Example “Builds” on the Wheelbarrow Design…

For organizations: (families, groups, teams, and companies…..)… that want to encourage creativity, innovation and involvement….

Eliciting what is “desirable” –CONTRIBUTING ….

and capturing what is “desired” –THE QUALITY IDEA….

Sometimes it really is as simple as “language” …. …….just the way we talk to each other


“Stretching forThe Pluses” “Building”





To a new idea

“Threshold ofAcceptability”

X X

Overcome “Critical Thinking Bias” and Boost Your Collaborative Capability

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