Lecture Management (2nd edition) – Chapter 3: Critical thinking for managers

This chapter’s objectives are to: Illustrate the importance of critical thinking for today’s managers, demonstrate the significance of critical thinking skills in a job interview, explore the consequences of critical thinking backgrounds,...

MANAGEMENT SECOND EDITION Chapter Critical Thinking for Managers Learning Objectives § § § § § Illustrate the importance of critical thinking for  today’s managers Demonstrate the significance of critical thinking  skills in a job interview Explore the consequences of critical thinking  backgrounds Explainhowmanagersuseasystemsapproachto criticalthinkingtoachieveresults Outlinetheeightmostcommonsystemsarchetypes thatmanagerscanexpecttoencounter Copyrightâ2017JohnWiley&Sons,Inc HowManagersApplyCritical ThinkingtoMakeaDifference Đ Đ § Critical thinking is the ability to diagnose  situations and predict patterns of behaviors Critical thinking subscribes to the learning  domains of Bloom’s Taxonomy Critical thinking is fundamental to managers  when it comes to making good, quick,  decisions Copyright ©2017 John Wiley & Sons, Inc Demonstrate the significance of critical thinkingskillswithinajobinterview Đ CriticalThinkingQuestionsaskedduring RealInterviews ã ã ã ã IfyouweretowinÊ1mwhatwouldyoudowith themoney? Whatdoyouthinkisthemostusefulfunctionin Excel? WhatmakesyouhappyaboutworkonaFriday evening? Whatisitaboutthisjobyouwouldleastlook forwardto? Copyrightâ2017JohnWiley&Sons,Inc Demonstratethesignificanceofcritical thinkingskillswithinajobinterview Đ  Critical thinking can be learned and can help  you become a better • • • • Analyzer Problem­solver Interpreter Decision­maker Copyrightâ2017JohnWiley&Sons,Inc CriticalThinkingBreakdowns Đ Figuringouthowyoufeelaboutcritical thinkingbeforeyoupracticeitisagoodway ofbuilding: ã ã ã ã Awarenessoflevelofcuriosity Awarenessofopenưmindedness Willingnesstoconsideryourviews Abilitytofaceyourownbiases Copyrightâ2017JohnWiley&Sons,Inc CriticalThinkingBreakdowns Đ PracticeCriticalThinkingskillsby: ã ã ã ã Thinkingaboutyourthoughts Analyzingchallengingissues Identifyandfreeyourmindfromirrationalfears Understandrealversusimaginedconstraints Copyrightâ2017JohnWiley&Sons,Inc CriticalThinkingBreakdowns Đ TheHalpernCriticalThinkingAssessment(HCTA)model: • encourages students to acquire critical thinking skills and understand the structure of an  argument or problem, and it promotes an awareness of how we use reasoning to reach  outcomes • comprised of 25 everyday scenarios; students are asked to respond to both open­ended  and forced choice questions • questions are designed to test decision­making and problem­solving skills, the ability to  spot faulty thinking, the capacity to find differences between conclusions and  assumptions,andtheabilitytounderstandhowlanguageusedineverydaylifeinfluences thinking Copyrightâ2017JohnWiley&Sons,Inc Howmanagersuseasystemsapproachto criticalthinkingtoachieveresults Đ SystemsApproachư ã ã allowsmanagerstofullyvisualizethe interconnectedsetofelementsthatiscoherently organizedinawaythatachievessomething involvesusingtheelementsofcriticalthinking suchasanalyzing,explaining,evaluating, interpretingetc.toseethebiggerpicture Copyrightâ2017JohnWiley&Sons,Inc Howmanagersuseasystemsapproachto criticalthinkingtoachieveresults Đ SystemsThinkingư • •  popularized as a practical tool for managers in  Peter Senge’s seminal text The Fifth Discipline by learning to see an organization as a whole “system,” or  a set of interrelated elements rather than a number of  separate parts, managers are better able to understand the  underlying structure and apply the principles of systems  theory to address existing issues and prevent those issues  from reoccurring in the future Copyrightâ2017JohnWiley&Sons,Inc Theeightmostcommonsystemsarchetypes thatmanagerscanexpecttoencounter Đ Balancingloopư ã Đ areactionaryforcethatattemptstomoveacurrent statetoadesiredstatethroughsomelevelofaction Reinforcingloopư ã areactionaryforce,whereanactionproducesa resultthatcausesmoreofthesameaction, resultingineitheraconditionofgrowthordecline Copyrightâ2017JohnWiley&Sons,Inc Theeightmostcommonsystemsarchetypes thatmanagerscanexpecttoencounter Đ SengesEightArchetypesư ã Sengeclassifiesthesecomplexproblemsintoeight predictablepatternsormodelscalledsystems archetypes Copyrightâ2017JohnWiley&Sons,Inc CommonSystemsPatterns(p.68) Đ Systemarchetypes ã Đ Commonpatternsofcomplexproblemsthat managersencounter 1.Limitstogrowth ã ã Aninternalorexternalforcerestrictstheabilityto expandaserviceorproductoffering Growthprocesscomesupagainstabalancing process Copyrightâ2017JohnWiley&Sons,Inc CommonSystemsPatterns(cont.) § 2. Shifting the burden • • • Managers use short­term fixes that over the long­term  worsen the situation due to unwanted side effects Underlying problem seems too time­consuming,  difficult, or costly to address fully Similar to “Fixes that Fail” Copyrightâ2017JohnWiley&Sons,Inc CommonSystemsPatterns(cont.) Đ 3.Erodinggoals ã ã ã Ashiftingtheburdenconceptwhereashortưterm solutionisputinplace,leadingtotheerosionofa longưtermgoal Acceptgoalưslippingprocessandallow performancestandardstolower Correctiveactionisnottaken Copyrightâ2017JohnWiley&Sons,Inc CommonSystemsPatterns(cont.) Đ 4.Escalation ã ã ã Competinginterestseventuallytakeirrational actionsagainstoneanother,resultinginaloseưlose situation Aggressivecompetitionleadstooneưupmanship Canbeavoidedifmanagerslookforwaysforboth partiestoachievetheirgoals Copyrightâ2017JohnWiley&Sons,Inc CommonSystemsPatterns(cont.) Đ 5.Successtothesuccessful ã ã ã Twoactivitiescompeteforthesameresources Oneactivitybecomesmoresuccessful,depriving theotherofsupportandresources Keyistostrikeabalancebetweenthetwoactivities Copyrightâ2017JohnWiley&Sons,Inc CommonSystemsPatterns(cont.) Đ 6. Tragedy of the commons • • • Use of a common limited resource purely for one’s  own gain without concern for the resource’s  availability Multiple efforts compete for the same resources,  where self­interest overrides a collective solution Limited common resources eventually are diminished  oreradicatedaltogether Copyrightâ2017JohnWiley&Sons,Inc CommonSystemsPatterns(cont.) Đ 7.Fixesthatfail ã ã Relianceonaquickfixsolvesprobleminthe shortterm,butdoesnotsolvetheproblemoverthe longterm Longerưlastingeffectsderivedfromsolutions focusedonthelongterm Copyrightâ2017JohnWiley&Sons,Inc CommonSystemsPatterns(cont.) Đ 8.Growthandunderinvestment ã ã ã Conservingresourcescanleadtounderinvestment with consequent slide in performance Companies that under invest remain in their  current state, leading to stagnation and unfulfilled  goals Underinvestment is just as risky as overinvestment Copyright ©2017 John Wiley & Sons, Inc  ... Illustrate the importance of? ?critical? ?thinking? ?for? ? today’s? ?managers Demonstrate the significance of? ?critical? ?thinking? ? skills in a job interview Exploretheconsequencesofcriticalthinking backgrounds Explainhowmanagersuseasystemsapproachto... Explainhowmanagersuseasystemsapproachto criticalthinkingtoachieveresults Outlinetheeightmostcommonsystemsarchetypes thatmanagerscanexpecttoencounter Copyrightâ2017JohnWiley&Sons,Inc HowManagersApplyCritical ThinkingtoMakeaDifference... ThinkingtoMakeaDifference Đ § § Critical? ?thinking? ?is the ability to diagnose  situations and predict patterns of behaviors Critical? ?thinking? ?subscribes to the learning  domains of Bloom’s Taxonomy Critical? ?thinking? ?is fundamental to? ?managers? ?