Critical thinking is the world’s most valuable skill. Unfortunately, being overworked and overwhelmed keeps people from learning how to do it. They spend hours trying to learn technical skills, create fool-proof plans, and solve operational problems while failing to realise that the world has changed. What you know how to do simply isn’t as relevant anymore—now, to be successful, you must know how to think.
I know because I wasted many years and tens of thousands of dollars becoming skilled in the technical elements of strategic planning, business cases and performance reviews.
I went from organisation to organisation, writing the best reports, undertaking the best analysis and presenting the most compelling cases, only to see projects go off-track and people return to the status quo at the first hurdle. They lacked the skills to adapt and change course without a step-by-step plan to stick to or a facilitator to lead the conversation.
It wasn't until I started teaching leaders to think and work like strategists and understand decision-making skills that I saw implementation skyrocket and change projects completed on time. Organisations could then flex to the needs of their clients, customers and markets.
The good news is that my loss is your gain.
Here are 3 decision-making frameworks that will save you dozens of painful hours trying to learn critical thinking for yourself:
The measure of a good decision isn't the outcome you produce - but the process you use to make it. Learning this completely changed how I thought about decision-making and the importance I placed on the process.
According to the Heath Brothers, these four steps can help you overcome common decision biases, such as narrow framing, confirmation bias, short-term emotions, and overconfidence, for every significant choice you make.
W - Widen your Options
R - Reality Test Your Assumptions
A - Attain Distance
P - Prepare for the Worst.
Download a one-pager from the Heath Brother's website here.
Hang this up in your room somewhere—and stare at it every day. In his book Essentialism, Greg McKeown makes the case that the highest point of frustration occurs when we're trying to do everything now because we feel like we should. To reach the highest point of contribution, we need to do:
The Right Thing, at
The Right Time for
The Right Reason.
When we focus on these three variables, we don't waste time and energy on activities and decisions that don't fit. Learn more about Greg McKeown's work here.
I consider this the gold standard of strategic risk management and contingency planning. Important decisions will always come with risks, consequences and unforeseen problems. Instead of trying to eliminate the negative and plan for the best, Ferris advises people to complete a pre-mortem that simulates potential responses. By drawing up a three-column table with:
The worst things that might happen
The steps you can take to prevent those
The ways you will respond if they do happen
You can prepare for a more pragmatic future rather than being thrown off course at the first unexpected obstacle. For more information on fear-setting and some useful downloads, check out Tim's blog here.
These three frameworks completely changed how I thought about decision-making and the support I could offer leaders to develop the skills they needed to keep their tricky programmes on track.
I hope they're useful for you.
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