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09-23-2015, 10:43 PM
You've probably been in a meeting where someone floats an idea that's imperfect, maybe even half-baked. They do it tentatively because they know the thought is emerging like a calf out of the womb, wobbly and likely to crash land onto the floor of the barn. It rests there, helpless, soaked in afterbirth, looking around the room with big brown eyes behind long, innocent eyelashes.
http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2015-09-23-1443047538-2699046-babycalf-thumb.jpg (http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2015-09-23-1443047538-2699046-babycalf.jpg)
And then someone in the meeting puts a Glock between that young idea's eyes and shoots it dead.
We call this critical thinking. We praise it. We hire for it. We promote it into the C-suite. We put it into a group of like-minded leaders and call it a strategy session.
And we wonder why strategy sessions and leadership team meetings often feel sterile, dull, and tense all at the same time.
Maybe it's because we mix up critical thinking and having a critical spirit. Here's the difference:
http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2015-09-23-1443047601-5545079-TiffanyBox-thumb.jpg (http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2015-09-23-1443047601-5545079-TiffanyBox.jpg)
Critical thinking listens to an idea. It holds the idea up to the light like a gemstone being evaluated by a skilled jeweler. It tests and probes. It tells the truth but with an eye toward discovering potential. When it sees a flaw, its first impulse is to try to polish it, to take what's good about the idea and improve upon it. It resists the urge to demolish and discard too quickly. Crucially, critical thinking is at least neutral toward the person who brought forth the idea. On good days, it is generous toward that person, perhaps even grateful that they had the courage to bring their idea out into the open. It not only allows the calf to stumble around. It puts its hands under the calf's shoulders and helps it walk.
A critical spirit is different. Rather than focusing on the potential of the idea, it focuses on its flaws, just waiting to pounce on it and destroy it. Worse yet, a critical spirit evaluates the person who brought it forth through the lens of the unfinished idea. Inwardly, a critical spirit says, "I have way too much to do to bother listening to this clown. I never thought she/he was so bright. That half-baked idea just confirmed my suspicions. I can't wait until they stop yapping so that I can point out the flaws in the idea." Outwardly, the answer to every question is no. Period. End of story.
Fill the room with critical spirits and you can watch the creative oxygen leave the room. At the very least, no one is really listening. After a little while, no one is really talking either. They're just waiting for your so-called strategy session to be over so that they can go back to work.
Fill the room with critical thinkers and well, watch out. You can sense the creative energy buzz into the room. There will probably be laughter and curious looks and shy smiles. Confidence will grow in the group's potential to crack through their collective mental barriers.
If work is a laboratory for the soul, then here's your next experiment: shift from killing ideas to nurturing them and see what happens.
http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2015-09-23-1443047676-9302450-NoondaySun-thumb.JPG (http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2015-09-23-1443047676-9302450-NoondaySun.JPG)
Be bright. -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. (http://start.westnet.ca/newstempch.php?article=terms.html/) It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
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And then someone in the meeting puts a Glock between that young idea's eyes and shoots it dead.
We call this critical thinking. We praise it. We hire for it. We promote it into the C-suite. We put it into a group of like-minded leaders and call it a strategy session.
And we wonder why strategy sessions and leadership team meetings often feel sterile, dull, and tense all at the same time.
Maybe it's because we mix up critical thinking and having a critical spirit. Here's the difference:
http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2015-09-23-1443047601-5545079-TiffanyBox-thumb.jpg (http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2015-09-23-1443047601-5545079-TiffanyBox.jpg)
Critical thinking listens to an idea. It holds the idea up to the light like a gemstone being evaluated by a skilled jeweler. It tests and probes. It tells the truth but with an eye toward discovering potential. When it sees a flaw, its first impulse is to try to polish it, to take what's good about the idea and improve upon it. It resists the urge to demolish and discard too quickly. Crucially, critical thinking is at least neutral toward the person who brought forth the idea. On good days, it is generous toward that person, perhaps even grateful that they had the courage to bring their idea out into the open. It not only allows the calf to stumble around. It puts its hands under the calf's shoulders and helps it walk.
A critical spirit is different. Rather than focusing on the potential of the idea, it focuses on its flaws, just waiting to pounce on it and destroy it. Worse yet, a critical spirit evaluates the person who brought it forth through the lens of the unfinished idea. Inwardly, a critical spirit says, "I have way too much to do to bother listening to this clown. I never thought she/he was so bright. That half-baked idea just confirmed my suspicions. I can't wait until they stop yapping so that I can point out the flaws in the idea." Outwardly, the answer to every question is no. Period. End of story.
Fill the room with critical spirits and you can watch the creative oxygen leave the room. At the very least, no one is really listening. After a little while, no one is really talking either. They're just waiting for your so-called strategy session to be over so that they can go back to work.
Fill the room with critical thinkers and well, watch out. You can sense the creative energy buzz into the room. There will probably be laughter and curious looks and shy smiles. Confidence will grow in the group's potential to crack through their collective mental barriers.
If work is a laboratory for the soul, then here's your next experiment: shift from killing ideas to nurturing them and see what happens.
http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2015-09-23-1443047676-9302450-NoondaySun-thumb.JPG (http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2015-09-23-1443047676-9302450-NoondaySun.JPG)
Be bright. -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. (http://start.westnet.ca/newstempch.php?article=terms.html/) It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
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