Think Smarter: Critical Thinking to Improve Problem–Solving and Decision–Making Skills

From the mind behind HeadScratchers, a guide to getting more out of thinking We often hear about the importance of thinking critically and acting strategically. And yet, there are few resources that provide a business–focused, non–academic, practical approach to doing just that. Thankfully, Mike Kallet has come to our rescue. Mike has a very conversational tone in his writing on this critical subject, thereby making what can potentially be a very dry subject an interesting read. More importantly, the examples of how to use the process of critical thinking and the key takeaways help the reader apply the content appropriately. In our business, we rely on rapid and accurate decision making, with little margin for error. The concepts in Think Smarter are easy to implement quickly, realizing great results. Jacqui Bellini–Murray, Senior Training Manager at Genentech Intelligence can be found, knowledge can be acquired, but critical thinking can only be developed. Finally, Mike Kallet delivers a guide for honing this much–needed skill in decision making. Practical and simple, yet profound. Every leader, every decision maker, needs this guide! Tess Reynolds, CEO at New Door Ventures Bringing critical thinking and innovation into a company is a worthy goal, but a very difficult and elusive task. Mike Kallets Think Smarter is a stimulating, practical guide that expands the thinking processes to embrace new concepts while keeping a focus on what is success. This is a book developed through years of working with leaders and teams to move them to new levels of problem solving and performance. I have both participated and overseen teams who have been coached by Mikes critical thinking. The improvements in the subsequent product developments and intra–team dynamics were impressive, breaking historical patterns of thinking processes. The exercises in Think Smarter are especially helpful in bringing clarity to the use of the tools and techniques introduced. Think Smarter is a must read for leaders who are challenged with solving the everyday problems of a business while finding approaches that step up the innovative capabilities of their teams. Dan Yost, Managing Partner at Dankat and former EVP at Qwest Communications

Preface xi Acknowledgments xvii Section I Introduction and the Framework for Critical Thinking 1 1 What Is Critical Thinking? 3 2 When to Use Critical Thinking 10 3 The Framework and Tools 16 Section II Clarity 21 4 Empty Your Bucket 23 5 Inspection 28 6 Why? 33 7 So What? 43 8 Need 50 9 Anticipatory Thinking 57 10 What Else? 62 11 The Ingredient Diagram 65 12 Vision 71 13 The Thinking Coach 74 14 Summary of Clarity 79 Section III Conclusions 83 15 It’s All about the Premise 85 16 Facts 90 17 Observations 94 18 Experiences 99 19 Beliefs 104 20 Assumptions 110 21 The Conclusion: Putting It All Together 114 22 Credibility 128 23 Consistency 132 24 Triangular Thinking 136 25 Change 141 26 Influencing and Persuading 147 Section IV Conclusions and Innovation 155 27 Outside–the–Box Thinking 159 28 Abductive Thinking 164 29 Impossible Thinking 172 30 Summary of Conclusions 176 Section V Decisions 179 31 Who, Need, and When 181 32 Criteria 186 33 Risk 189 34 Summary of Decisions 200 Critical Thinking Summary and Suggestions 203 About the Author 209 Index 211

MICHAEL KALLET founded HeadScratchers in 2004 to train business professionals and leaders in critical thinking, problem solving, decision making, and creativity. Through workshops, webinars, and keynote speeches, he teaches people to apply critical thinking techniques to real world business challenges. Mike has held leadership positions in business environments ranging from ten–person startups to a $500 million public company. www.headscratchers.com