Shifting Thinking
Natasha Orslene, PsyD, PhD
Strategic Leadership | Leader Development | Business Strategy & Wargaming
“If everyone is thinking alike, someone isn’t thinking.” -George Patton
2023 was a year of shifting my thinking. I like to think that I am open-minded and well-intended, and I learned that in certain projects, and with certain people, I needed to just think differently. Really differently. In some of my projects, I found that what was working for most of the groups was still a huge struggle for other groups. With people, I found that investing a great deal of time in getting to know them and allowing them to get to know me did not end up in anything positive when a stressful situation arose. In figuring out how I needed to move forward and adjust my own thinking, I came across a few different tools that I found to be immensely helpful.
Edward deBono shared the concept of 6 thinking hats. Each color of hat represented a different way to view and approach a situation or problem. Combined, these 6 thinking hats lead to inclusive and diverse thinking and help to point out what kind of thinking is missing from your current configuration.
The 6 Thinking Hats
As I was considering how to use the 6 thinking hats, I identified which hat I tend to use the most often, which hats I use in specific situations, and which hats I really struggle to use.
Another tool that I found to be additive was the nine intellectual standards, also known as the nine critical thinking standards. These were curated by Richard Pasul and Linda Elder to support reasoning and critical thinking that leads to action.
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The 9 Critical Thinking Standards
What I appreciate about the nine critical thinking standards is that they help me build a strong business case for a project or a new idea. Sometimes, we get so excited by a new idea that there are some pieces that we end up not covering because we have figured out the end deliverable already. I have had the experience where I have an idea and when I was discussing it with someone else, they didn’t get the core of what I was sharing. With that feedback, I realized that I needed to go back and use these nine standards to fill in some of the gaps. When I did, the story I was trying to tell made a lot more sense.
There are a lot of different tools that we use to think in a new and different way. The biggest key is to be open to changing your mind and shift your mindset.
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New Equipping Leaders podcast episodes on my YouTube channel!
·?????? 6 Thinking Hats
·?????? Feb 5 release: Feedback, Part 1 - Preparing to Give Feedback
·?????? Feb 19 release: Feedback, Part 2 - Let's Give Feedback!