what is the level of one's capacity for new learning problem solving and decision making

Working Memory

Reviewed by Psychology Today Staff

Working memory is a form of memory that allows a person to temporarily hold a limited amount of information at the ready for immediate mental use. It is considered essential for learning, problem-solving, and other mental processes.

Making use of working memory is like temporarily pinning up certain images or words to a board so they can be moved or manipulated in some other way. The ability to keep certain details “at hand,” including those we haven’t committed to long-term memory, supports a variety of day-to-day mental functions.

Recalling the earlier part of a sentence to understand a later part, holding a number in mind while doing a math problem in one’s head, remembering where an object was just seen, and keeping multiple concepts in mind in order to combine them have been described as examples of working memory.

Working memory is believed to support many kinds of mental abilities at a fundamental level. It allows one to retain multiple pieces of information for use in the moment, which is essential to activities from reading or having a conversation to learning new concepts to making decisions between different options.

While long-term memory can store a huge amount of information, the amount of details contained for ready usage in working memory is thought to be relatively limited. There are differing models of the working memory system. Some have argued that it includes multiple components that handle different kinds of information and are distinct from long-term memory. Others propose that working memory represents a part of long-term memory that is especially activated and a smaller part that is the focus of attention.

Though the limits are debated, some scientists have suggested that when people aren’t able to use tactics like repeating details out loud, they may be able to keep just a few items in focus at a time. Those items can be simple or complex—including individual letters or numbers to be remembered as well as larger “chunks” of information (such as acronyms like “USA” and “UK,” and even more complex concepts).

Virtually everyone seems to put working memory to work throughout the day, but the performance of this memory system (or “working memory capacity”) is stronger in some individuals than in others—with implications for a person’s ability to learn and function.

The representation of different kinds of information (such as visual or or verbal details) in working memory seems to depend on parts of the cerebral cortex that are involved in the perception and long-term memory of those kinds of information. The prefrontal cortex, a part of the brain linked to cognitive control, is thought to play a key role in managing the current contents of working memory, regardless of type.

Research shows that measures of an individual’s working memory ability are strongly related to measures of intelligence—particularly an aspect called fluid intelligence, which is involved in solving novel problems.

Measures of working memory suggests that it typically improves throughout childhood. Working memory tends to decline in older age, research suggests—though it may begin to gradually decrease after early adulthood. It has been proposed that later working-memory decline may help account for age-related declines on other kinds of cognitive tasks.

Individual differences in working memory ability can be assessed using a range of tasks. Among them are “working memory span” tasks in which a person tries to, for example, read through sentences while remembering particular words from each. Another type of measure is an “n-back” task, in which one sees or hears a sequence of items and has to indicate when the current item matches a previous one. In a 2-back version, for instance, if the letters P, S, T, H, A, F were followed by an A, one would indicate that it matched what came two letters back. N-back task performance doesn’t necessarily correlate strongly with performance on other working memory tasks, and they may measure different components of working memory.

Find a Therapist
Find a Treatment Center
Find a Psychiatrist
Find a Support Group
Find Online Therapy
International
New Zealand
South Africa
Switzerland
Asperger's
Bipolar Disorder
Chronic Pain
Eating Disorders
Passive Aggression
Personality
Goal Setting
Positive Psychology
Stopping Smoking
Low Sexual Desire
Relationships
Child Development
Therapy Center NEW
Diagnosis Dictionary
Types of Therapy

Understanding what emotional intelligence looks like and the steps needed to improve it could light a path to a more emotionally adept world.

Coronavirus Disease 2019
Affective Forecasting
Neuroscience

The Lean Post / Articles / Building People-Focused Problem-Solving Capacity

Problem Solving

Building People-Focused Problem-Solving Capacity

By Lean Leaper

September 21, 2020

While Lean promises robust solutions to the most pressing of problems, it’s core promise offers something even more enduring: the organizational capacity to frame and face problems in a dynamic manner. This piece explores how the best lean organizations discover that disciplined lean practice helps develop a capacity to explore, learn, and indeed, solve problems by everyone.

While Lean promises robust solutions to the most pressing of problems, it’s core promise offers something even more enduring: the organizational capacity to frame and face problems in a dynamic manner. Beyond the rewards of quick fixes, the best organizations discover that disciplined lean practice helps develop a capacity to explore, learn, and indeed, solve problems by everyone.

That’s why lean thinkers always stress the importance of focusing on the process of tackling problems over the gains of any one-time solution–to be vigilant about mindfully developing healthy habits with each turn of the cycle. Tracey Richardson shares a handful of key questions in support of this approach in Are You Having Problems with Your Problem-Solving? :

Does every individual in your organization understand the Purpose of their work ?
Is everyone utilizing the power of the Gemba ?
Are you digging down to find root cause?
Are you measuring in specific performance terms?
Are you doing this everyday with everything you do?

She counsels people to replace kaizen “blitzes” (episodic events that frame problem-solving as something done on special occasions) with sustained daily efforts that become ingrained as healthy habits. “No labels, make it a way of business,” she says. This anchors the work in daily details, and guides improvers toward tangible targets.

Sustained lean practice inevitably focuses people on the specific details of any gap to be closed, say Jim Luckman and David Verble. In How a Problem-Solving Culture Takes Root , they advise people to “grasp the actual conditions of problem situations,” a principle that prevents people from jumping to conclusions with predetermined fixes.

While this may appear to be plain old common sense, they explain how this core principle grounds problem-solvers in a humble and open approach: “Rather than assume you know enough about the nature of a problem situation, go to the gemba (wherever the work processes are) and try to understand the sources of performance problems yourself. Look for and ask about the problems, often caused by variation in the way the work is being done.”

Indeed, starting with a commitment to the actual problems subsequently colors how you will interact with the people touching this problem. It will lead you to show respect for what your employees know, think, feel, and can do, they say; and drive you to ask open-ended questions in the spirit of inquiry as opposed to advocacy. It will also lead you to, per their advice, “pay attention to how employees talk to you (and each other) about problems.”

Following such a formal problem-solving process invariably develops teamwork, says John Shook, who has written often about the value of applying A3 thinking to challenges large and small. His terrific book Managing to Learn shares the iterative value of exposing how one person tackles a problem, emphasizing the mutual discovery of manager and managee as they address a focused (indeed, an increasingly narrow) problem.

In The A3 Process—Discovery at Toyota and What it Can Do For You , Shook talks about his experience that inspired the book, noting how one simple episode from his time at Toyota provided a scaffolding for a simple challenge that has helped illuminate the larger purpose of a PDCA -oriented leadership style:

“Where’s the damned file?” was a simple problem, but the value of the Process extended far beyond its face value of enabling us to find files faster. Education and learning were embedded in the Process of working on the A3 (the improvement project) itself. It exemplified learning through doing at its best. The more A3s I wrote, the better I became at the thought Process . Internalizing the thinking is the objective, not technical mastery of the format. The more cycles of reflection and learning that can be experienced, the better it is for the individual and for the organization.

The most fundamental use of the A3 is as a simple problem-solving tool. But the underlying principles and practices can be applied in any organizational settings. Given that the first use of the A3 as a tool is to standardize a methodology to understand and respond to problems, A3s encourage root cause analysis, reveal processes, and represent goals and action plans in a format that triggers conversation and learning. A good A3 has sound problem-solving — science — embedded inside, but it achieves much more, exemplifying this great quote by a great scientist:

“Science is built of facts the way a house is built of bricks, but an accumulation of facts is no more science than a pile of bricks is a house.” – Henri Poincaré

In exactly the same way, a good A3 is more than a collection of data that solves a problem — it tells a story that can coalesce an organization.

This generative quality of mutual problem-solving is highlighted in two recent Posts by John Shook and Isao Yoshino tracing the Kanri Noryoku Program (Kan-Pro) at Toyota. Tackling any problem was always linked to the eternal challenge of developing proficient managers who would learn through leading, and lead through learning (a reference to Katie Anderson’s new book on this topic.)

The two remind us once more of the need to lead mindfully, always open to the process of learning and developing while pursuing specific results: “One of the hallmarks of a successfully executed A3 process is that it is a collaborative activity (“it takes 2 to A3”), a learning process for everyone involved. For learner and teacher, senpai and kohai, sensei and deshi. The A3 paper is simply a convenience, a job aid to facilitate structured discovery.”

Virtual Lean Learning Experience (VLX)

A continuing education service offering the latest in lean leadership and management.

Written by:

About Lean Leaper

Related books

A3 Getting Started Guide

by Lean Enterprise Institute

The Power of Process – A Story of Innovative Lean Process Development

by Eric Ethington and Matt Zayko

Related events

June 10, 2024 | Coach-Led Online Course

Managing to Learn

June 12, 2024 | Morgantown, PA

Building a Lean Operating and Management System

Explore topics.

Subscribe to get the very best of lean thinking delivered right to your inbox

Privacy overview.

Search Search Search …
Search Search …

Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making

93% of employers say that “a demonstrated capacity to think critically, communicate clearly, and solve complex problems is more important than a candidate’s undergraduate major.”
Even more (95 %) say they prioritize hiring college graduates with skills that will help them contribute to innovation in the workplace.
About 95% of those surveyed also say it is important that those they hire demonstrate ethical judgment and integrity; intercultural skills; and capacity for continued new learning.
More than 75% of those surveyed say they want more emphasis on five key areas including: critical thinking, complex problem solving, written and oral communication, and applied knowledge in real-world settings.
80% of employers agree that, regardless of their major, every college student should acquire broad knowledge in the liberal arts and sciences.

We invite you to further consider how we might reimagine and redesign schools and education through the development of skills involving Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making below.

Jess Gowin, Will Rogers, Alexis Johnican, and Alicia Deckard

Butler EPPSP Group 39 & 40

Resilience and Perseverance

In reviewing the definition of resilience which is the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness and also reviewing the definition of […]

what is the level of one's capacity for new learning problem solving and decision making

Curiosity and Creativity

Imagine a library. When it is built – let’s say it was in the 1950s – it is filled with the most […]

Digital Literacy and Information

“Developing digital skills is necessary for children to interact in today’s technology-rich world and to become responsible digital citizens. Digital literacy skills, including […]

Diversity and Inclusion

The concepts of mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors are those that continue to support teachers, students, and families with having culturally […]

Cognitive Competence as a Positive Youth Development Construct: A Conceptual Review

Rachel c. f. sun.

Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Eadaoin K. P. Hui

This paper focuses on discussing critical thinking and creative thinking as the core cognitive competence. It reviews and compares several theories of thinking, highlights the features of critical thinking and creative thinking, and delineates their interrelationships. It discusses cognitive competence as a positive youth development construct by linking its relationships with adolescent development and its contributions to adolescents' learning and wellbeing. Critical thinking and creative thinking are translated into self-regulated cognitive skills for adolescents to master and capitalize on, so as to facilitate knowledge construction, task completion, problem solving, and decision making. Ways of fostering these thinking skills, cognitive competence, and ultimately positive youth development are discussed.

1. Background

According to Piaget [ 1 , 2 ], cognitive competence constitutes the cyclical processes of assimilation and accommodation, which indicates that people can manipulate their personal experiences as well as organize and adapt their thoughts to guide their behavior. Similarly, Fry [ 3 ] pointed out that cognitive competence comprises three interwoven and interdependent components: cognitive structures, cognitive processes, and overt behaviors. Among them, “cognitive processes,” such as metacognition, cognitive styles of self-regulation, and cognitive skills of thinking, reasoning, analyzing problems, and information processing, can affect one's “behaviors” like task performance, problem solving, and decision making, as well as “cognitive structures,” such as self-schemas and goal orientation. It further points out that people can make a difference in their cognitive development and capability by manipulating their mental processes and cognitive styles via using appropriate thinking skills. It is also argued that cognitive competence is more than an ability to manipulate and strategize information, but an ability to internalize, self-regulate, and transfer these cognitive skills to construct knowledge and make sense of the surroundings [ 4 , 5 ].

In the literature, there are various types of thinking, for instance, logical thinking and reasoning [ 1 , 2 ], legislative, executive, and judicial thinking styles [ 6 ], synthetic, analytic and practical intellectual skills [ 7 ], divergent thinking and evaluative thinking [ 8 – 10 ], and lateral thinking, and vertical thinking [ 11 ]. There are also important features of adolescent thinking, for instance, being able to think abstractly, test hypotheses, conduct reasoning, and make causal inferences [ 1 , 2 ]. All these are used to facilitate knowledge construction, task completion, problem solving, and decision making, but their application commonly requires critical thinking and creative thinking. Indeed, numerous studies have demonstrated that adolescents who were equipped with critical thinking and creative thinking had better academic performance [ 12 , 13 ], health [ 14 , 15 ], cognitive development [ 16 ], psychosocial development [ 17 ], and identity development [ 18 ] and were less likely to engage in unhealthy or problem behavior [ 19 , 20 ]. Therefore, both critical thinking and creative thinking are regarded as generic transferable life skills for adolescents [ 11 , 21 – 23 ], who have to deal with various developmental stresses and challenges, such as puberty changes, adjustments in social roles and expectations, school transition, examination, pursuit of further studies, preparing for or entering the labor market, expansion of social circles, and development of romantic relationship. Nonetheless, there are also situations that adolescents still engage in problem behaviors even though they understand the pros and cons or make numerous imaginative solutions of which none of them are realistic to solve the problems. Therefore, it is of paramount importance to guide adolescents to master the thinking skills well in order to foster learning [ 24 , 25 ], leadership [ 26 – 28 ], and positive youth development [ 29 , 30 ].

In regard of this, the present paper focuses on discussing critical thinking and creative thinking as the core cognitive competence. It reviews and compares several theories of thinking, highlights the features of critical thinking and creative thinking, and delineates their interrelationships. It discusses cognitive competence as a positive youth development construct by linking its relationships with adolescent development and its contributions to adolescents' learning, wellbeing and positive development. It shows how critical thinking and creative thinking can be translated into self-regulated cognitive skills for adolescents to master and capitalize on to achieve better task performance, generate precise solutions to problems, and make right decisions. It is believed that these thinking skills not only facilitate life-long learning and holistic development among youngsters, but also prepare youngsters to be the future masters of the society who are able to solve social problems and contribute to global development.

2. Definition of Cognitive Competence

There are broad definitions of cognitive competence [ 1 – 5 ], as well as narrow definitions [ 29 ]. Building on the definition given by Sun and Hui [ 29 ], the present paper refers critical thinking and creative thinking as the core cognitive competence, though it is noted that cognitive competence includes, but is not limited to these two thinking. Critical thinking refers to reasoning and making inferences, and creative thinking means stretching one's spectacles, evaluating multiple ideas and alternatives, and generating novel and practical ideas. The definitions of critical thinking and creative thinking, and the specific cognitive skills involved are reviewed in the followings.

2.1. Critical Thinking

According to Paul [ 31 ], “critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, or communication, as a guide to belief and action” (page 22). Moreover, “critical thinking refers to the use of cognitive skills or strategies that increase the probability of a desirable outcome. Critical thinking is purposeful, reasoned, and goal-directed. It is the kind of thinking involved in solving problems, formulating inferences, calculating likelihoods, and making decisions” (page 70) [ 32 ]. Therefore, critical thinking is a process that activates certain cognitive skills so as to make the best judgments regarding on what to believe and what to do [ 33 ].

“Reason” and “inference” are the two main cognitive skills in critical thinking [ 34 ], that are used when making judgments or decisions, accepting beliefs, and developing ideas and alternatives. It is important to make good and objective reasons for one's beliefs, by recognizing one's subjective point of view, gathering multiple and diverse points of view, coordinating various views (including those for and against the concerned issues), for generating sufficient reasons and reliable evidence before making a judgment [ 34 , 35 ]. Since there are no explicit guidelines for judging what sufficient and reliable reasons are, it may run the risk of developing under- or overcritical judgments. Therefore, rational thinking is needed [ 35 ]. Lipman [ 36 ] further elaborated that when engaging in critical thinking, one should make reference to reliable, strong, and relevant criteria, such as norms, shared values, laws, rules, definitions, facts, and values, and pay attention to the situational factors, such as special circumstances and limitations, and variations in culture, context, time, and people. One should also be reflective and self-correcting so as to question one's own thoughts, identify the errors in one's own thinking, and then make reasonable corrections. In other words, critical thinking means one needs to be critical to the concerned issues as well as one's thinking, so that one can proceed to make inference and deduction from the information collected for doing a rational evaluation and making a reasonable decision [ 34 ]. Paul [ 31 ] added that critical thinkers like to reason about their reasoning and make inferences and conceptualization with rational justification. Their habitual inspection of the thinking is, in fact, “an action of ongoing creation” contributing to their cognitive and intellectual advancement. In sum, critical thinking includes the skills of reasoning and making inferences, and it is both evaluative and productive [ 37 ] that encompasses the ideas of rationality and creativity, respectively [ 38 , 39 ].

2.2. Creative Thinking

Creative thinking refers to thinking that is novel and that produces ideas that are of value [ 40 ]. According to Sternberg [ 6 , 7 ], creative thinking is autonomous and people can choose to capitalize on certain “thinking styles” and “intellectual skills” to maximize their creativity [ 41 , 42 ]. Among the thirteen thinking styles, research findings showed that five of them, including legislative, judicial, hierarchical, global, and liberal (i.e., type I intellectual styles) are related to creative thinking [ 43 , 44 ]. Adolescents choose to regulate their thinking processes and behaviors accordingly can thus learn to master creative thinking. Therefore, it is preferable that, adolescents, when performing a task, can evaluate the task ( judicial thinking style) and choose to develop their own ideas, rules, and procedures ( legislative thinking style), instead of simply following rules and instructions (executive thinking style). When doing multiple tasks, adolescents can rank things in priority and distribute attention to the tasks in accordance with the value of the tasks ( hierarchical thinking style). Besides drilling the details of a task (local thinking style), adolescents can also look at the overall picture of the task ( global thinking style). Moreover, adolescents can be proactive in choosing works involving novelty and ambiguity ( liberal thinking style). All these are in parallel with the synthetic, analytic, and practical intellectual skills for solving problems [ 7 ], in which creative people would interpret problems in a new way and avoid being bounded by conventional thinking (synthetic skills), identify the most valuable and novel idea (analytic skills), and make out ways to demonstrate the values of that idea (practical skills). In short, creative thinking refers to the cognitive skills of stretching one's spectacles, generating and evaluating multiple ideas and alternatives, and generating novel and practical ideas. Similarly, creative thinking (the components of judicial thinking style and analytic skills) entails critical thinking, because adolescents have to be skeptical enough to criticize their own ideas so as to initiate positive changes in their thinking. It is believed that after continuously practicing these thinking styles and skills, adolescents would learn to welcome changes and innovations, to think globally and progressively rather than conservatively, and become habitual in generating novel and realistic ideas that help task completion, problem solving, and decision making.

3. Relationship between Creative Thinking and Critical Thinking

Conceptually, creative thinking and critical thinking are not dichotomous and conflicting [ 7 , 31 , 45 ]. Both of them operate together productively to leading to creative and effective problem solving, just as “divergent thinking” and “evaluative thinking” do [ 8 – 10 , 44 , 46 ]. Adolescents are activating creative thinking when they use divergent thinking to generate numerous and diverse solutions to a problem, in which they redefine problems in novel ways that other people usually do not see (originality), select relevant information to conceptualize a problem (flexibility), draw an analogy between the old problem and the new interpretation, and combine the information in a novel way (fluency) [ 47 , 48 ]. To find out the most sensible novel solution, adolescents also activate evaluative and critical thinking to perform valuation. Likewise, creative thinking and critical thinking are comparable to de Bono's conceptions of “lateral thinking” and “vertical thinking” [ 11 , 49 ], in which the former requires people to see things from multiple perspectives and arrive at the solutions from new angles, whereas the later requires people to see things sequentially and conventionally and generate solutions from a deeper investigation. He highlighted that both thinking are equally important in generating novel and practical ideas for problem solving, because solutions generated by lateral thinking solely are not realistic enough for tackling problems, whereas solutions generated by vertical thinking lack novelty for energizing progressive advancement though the problem is practically solved. Some empirical studies also revealed that both creative thinking and critical thinking (or divergent thinking and evaluative thinking, or lateral thinking and vertical thinking) are complementary with each other in effective problem solving and decision making [ 50 , 51 ].

Research findings also showed that both critical thinking and creative thinking are closely related to each other to facilitate learning and knowledge construction [ 52 ]. In learning, simply recalling the facts and information are usually being accused of a straight-forward surface approach. However, it is argued that recalling is a step to build up a solid foundation of knowledge, so that one can further execute the higher-order cognitive processes of critical thinking and creative thinking to understand the meanings of the information and to apply the learnt knowledge to daily life situations [ 53 ]. To further constructing one's own knowledge and meaningful learning, more sophisticated critical thinking skills are indispensable for analyzing (such as differentiating, organizing, and attributing) and evaluating (e.g., checking and critiquing) multiple information, followed by using creative thinking to create (such as generating, planning, and producing) knowledge with originality and novelty. Paul [ 31 ] stressed that “the creative dimension of thinking is best fostered by joining with the critical dimension” (page 21).

It demonstrates that there is a close linkage between critical thinking and creative thinking in problem solving and learning, and therefore acquiring and mastering of these thinking skills are of paramount importance. Adolescents should be encouraged to utilize these thinking skills effectively, not simply to get problems solved and to know more, but to achieve effective problem solving and meaningful knowledge construction.

4. Antecedents of Cognitive Competence

There are various factors, such as heredity, environmental stimuli, socioeconomic status, culture, and maturation, contributing to adolescents' cognitive competence [ 54 ]. Among them, the role of cognitive development and maturation is indispensable. According to Piaget [ 1 , 2 ], one's cognitive competence becomes sophisticated throughout four developmental stages according to one's age. Children aged between 7 and 11 years are at the concrete operational stage. Their logical reasoning is developed which allows them to mentally arrange and compare things. Critical thinking starts to blossom as their thinking becomes decentered and less egocentric, which allows them to consider others' perspectives and clarify one's thoughts [ 1 , 55 ]. This logical and critical thinking becomes advanced when they reach the formal operational stage (age 12 or above) because they are able to think systematically, manipulate mental objects, test hypotheses, and draw conclusions based on reasoning. It reveals that developmental age and maturation are related to the development of cognitive competence, and at the same time, adolescents' cognitive competence is changing progressively via their active manipulation of the mental processes.

Meaningful social interaction is another factor helping adolescents excel cognitively. Vygotsky [ 4 , 5 ] believed that through conversation, collaboration, modeling, guidance and encouragement, adolescents learn better ways of thinking, reasoning and solving problems from more competent peers and adults, when compared with performing the task alone. Creative imagination and thinking also become more sophisticated during adolescence, when youngsters actively use private speech to conceptualize their own ways of problem solving from those learnt from social models [ 56 ]. Empirical findings also showed that students were cognitively advanced when they could internalize, self-regulate, and transfer these cognitive skills, so as to complete the tasks independently without the help of the others [ 52 ].

Sociocultural contexts and settings, for example, family, classroom, school, and educational system, also account for cognitive competence among adolescents. Thus, another critical antecedent of cognitive competence is whether there is “mediated learning experience” that provides the opportunities for adolescents (i) to learn the thinking skills, and (ii) to become aware of these thinking skills and processes that help them to excel in task performance, and also become more self-regulatory and self-efficacious in transferring the skills to wider contexts. There are many research findings demonstrated that structured programs, activities, scaffolding instructions and guidance, and social interactions are effective in helping children and adolescents to equip and transfer these thinking skills. For instance, the Philosophy for Children Program in training critical thinking [ 21 ], the Purdue Creative Thinking Program in training divergent thinking [ 20 , 23 ], and the de Bono Cognitive Research Trust Program for Creative Thinking (CoRT Program) in training lateral thinking and vertical thinking [ 11 ] which could facilitate the fluency, flexibility, and originality of thinking [ 50 , 51 ]. Mushrooming evidences also showed the potential of incorporating creative thinking in classroom teaching for mainstream students [ 24 , 25 ] and outside classroom context among gifted students [ 26 , 27 ] for them to transfer the skills to independent learning and problem solving.

5. Cognitive Competence and Adolescent Developmental Outcomes

With reference to the holistic development of adolescents, there are interconnections and reciprocal influences among cognitive, moral, behavioral, emotional, social, physical, aesthetical, and spiritual domains. Hence, cognitive competence is vital in contributing to adolescent development in specific domains as well as their holistic wellbeing. In education, critical thinking was revealed to play a crucial role in students' self-regulatory learning by influencing their mastery of learning goals and deep information processing [ 57 ]. Some studies also found that critical thinking significantly predicted students' academic performance [ 12 , 13 ]. Apart from the positive effects on intellectual development, health education research studies showed that strengthening adolescents' critical thinking skills was one of the important components that enabled students' autonomy in identifying their health needs and making healthy choices [ 14 ], developing healthy body image and preventing disordered eating patterns [ 19 ]. Critical thinking was also found to help adolescents to be more pragmatic about media messages and thus less likely to internalize some distorted messages regarding beauty standard [ 15 ] and had lower intention of substance use in the future [ 20 ].

In addition, compared with those having lower levels of creative thinking, adolescents having higher levels of creative thinking were found to have higher levels of internal control and self-acceptance [ 58 ], lower levels of depression and more likely to adopt a positive attributional style [ 59 ]. A series of research studies, which were mainly conducted with Chinese university students by Zhang and her colleagues also demonstrated that creativity-generating styles (i.e., type I intellectual style) were positively related to academic achievement [ 60 – 62 ], self-esteem [ 63 ] and emotion management [ 64 ], and contributory to cognitive development [ 16 ], psychosocial development [ 17 , 65 ], and identity development [ 18 ]. The long-term positive effects of creative thinking was also demonstrated, as an 18-year longitudinal research study found that creative thinking and creative performance, rather than school grade at adolescence were better predictors of life accomplishment in adulthood [ 66 ].

All these show that critical thinking and creative thinking are the developmental assets and strengths. Adolescents who are equipped with these thinking skills tend to have better learning, wellbeing, and positive development. In regard of these beneficial effects on adolescent development, promotion of cognitive competence in education (e.g., [ 67 , 68 ]) and developmental programs aiming at preventing youth problems and promoting healthy growth (e.g., [ 29 , 69 ]) have been advocated over recent decades. Taking Hong Kong as an example, nurturing students' independent and critical thinking and creativity is clearly spelt out in the objectives of the senior secondary education and higher education [ 70 ], for such thinking skills are believed to be indispensable generic skills helping students to learn how to learn, and so as to become independent life-long learners. In addition, cognitive competence is regarded as one of the core psychosocial competencies facilitating adolescent holistic development in a curricula-based positive youth development program adopted by numerous secondary schools in Hong Kong since 2005 [ 30 ].

6. Fostering Cognitive Competence in Adolescents

To foster cognitive competence among adolescents, one of the ways is to introduce creative thinking and critical thinking skills and provide social opportunities for adolescents to master these skills. The central issues are to let students to understand “What are these practical skills?”, “How can they be carried out?”, and “Why do I use these skills?” so as to help them to internalize, self-regulate, and transfer the learnt skills. It can be done explicitly or implicitly, both inside and outside schools, in the following three ways.

6.1. Direct Teaching (Bolt-On Approach)

Thinking skills can be taught explicitly to students in context-free situation. For instance, the instrumental enrichment aims at developing students' generic thinking skills that enable their ability to solve problems and transfer their problem solving skills to a wider context [ 71 ]. As aforementioned, there are many programs targeting at training students' critical and creative thinking skills, for example, Philosophy for Children Program [ 21 ], the Purdue Creative Thinking Program [ 22 , 23 ], and the CoRT Program [ 11 ]. In addition, thinking skills can also be directly introduced in developmental programs, like leadership training [ 26 , 27 ] and positive youth development program [ 29 , 30 , 72 ], in which students' cognitive competence are fostered and sharpened leading to the forward flow of positive developmental attributes, and vice versa. In such kind of direct teaching, teachers play a crucial role in a series of structural “mediated learning experiences” to guide students to master the skills in defining problems, developing plans and strategies, and transferring the classroom learning to other life aspects. As there is a spiral of learning to think and thinking to learn, arranging more opportunities for students to practice, reflect and evaluate the skills is necessary for them to assimilate, accommodate, internalize, and advance and transfer the thinking strategies and processes.

6.2. Embedded Approach

Embedded approach means that thinking skills are taught and practiced within a subject in school formal curriculum, for example, in Social Studies [ 73 ], liberal studies [ 70 ], and Sciences [ 24 , 25 ]. This approach allows students to apply critical and creative thinking skills in a meaningful subject context, and at the same time, to develop a deep understanding of the subject matters through utilizing the skills. “Inquiry teaching” [ 74 , 75 ] can be adopted, in which students are enabled to evaluate existing information and proceed to construct new knowledge of that subject. In the learning process, reasoning skills are emphasized and students are guided to form hypotheses, test hypotheses, make predictions, select cases, distinguish consider alternative hypotheses, examine misconceptions in their current reasoning, ask questions, and challenge authorities. Moreover, probing questions and dialoging can stimulate and challenge students' thoughts, sharpen their skills and motivation to reason, to make inferences, and even to generate creative and valuable ideas.

At the same time, “problem-based learning” can be incorporated. The problems need to be novel, ambiguous, or challenging, so as to generate cognitive conflicts and stimulate higher-order thinking [ 1 ]. In other words, the problems need to be structured with reference to the students' prior knowledge in that subject areas and existing levels of thinking skills, with the purpose to progress students' generic skills of critical thinking and creative thinking in analyzing and solving the problems. Collins and Stevens [ 74 ] noted that, “by turning learning into problem solving, by carefully selecting cases that optimize the abilities the teacher is trying to teach, by making students grapple with counterexamples and entrapments, teachers challenge the students more than by any other teaching method. The students come out of the experience are able to attack novel problems by applying these strategies themselves” (page 229). Therefore, the students can become more skillful, esteemed, and motivated to master the thinking skills inside and outside their school learning.

6.3. Infusion Approach

Infusion means having the subject matters and thinking skills learnt together across curriculum. There is no specific lessons design to teach thinking skills, but teachers plan and deliver lessons with an emphasis on thinking, and to let students developing the feelings of competence and autonomy via self-regulation that encourages them to transfer the mastered skills across different subject areas and life situations. The overarching goal is to let student master these generic and transferable skills, take the responsibility in self-regulatory learning, and become a person with independent thinking. An example is the project of Activating Children's Thinking Skills [ 52 ] for primary school children in Northern Ireland, in which metacognitive skills of critical thinking, creative thinking, searching for meaning, problem solving, and decision making are infused across curriculum, demonstrated with significant effects on students' cognitive advancement as well as social and behavioral improvement. However, the infusion approach cannot succeed without structured pedagogy, for instance, engaging students in open-ended activities, collaborative activities, classroom dialogue, and joint meaning making [ 76 ] are some strategies of social construction of learning [ 4 , 5 ]. To help students to transfer thinking skills to other tasks, teachers can also give examples or ask students to generate examples, so as to guide them of how these forms of reasoning, inference-making and idea-generating can be applied inside the subject areas as well as outside. Paul and his colleagues [ 77 , 78 ] have given detailed suggestions of how critical thinking and creative thinking can be incorporated into teaching and curriculum.

7. Conclusion

In this paper, cognitive competence is defined as critical thinking and creative thinking skills which facilitate effective problem solving, decision making, and learning for positive youth development. However, there are several conceptual and research gaps that need to be filled. First, as the narrow definition was adopted, further review is needed to elucidate the broad conception of cognitive competence. Second, although the literature showed that both critical thinking and creative thinking are interrelated thinking skills, more empirical research on their relationships is needed. Third, there were studies showing that critical thinking and creative thinking are beneficial to adolescents' cognitive advancement, psychosocial wellbeing, life-long learning, and accomplishment. However, most of these were separate studies. Further research is needed to demonstrate their unique effects as well as their interactive effects on adolescents' problem solving, decision making, learning, and development. Lastly, while three ways are discussed to promote adolescents' cognitive competence, it is necessary to have more vigorous research studies to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of these approaches across age groups and cultural settings. It is hoped that tailor-made curriculum or programs can be offered to cater to the unique characteristics and needs of adolescents for their cognitive advancement and positive development.

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Group learning capacity: the roles of open-mindedness and shared vision.

$\r\nMimi Lord*$

Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA

Open-mindedness (OPM) is a construct that is considered a key foundational aspect of learning in individuals, groups and organizations. Also known as critical inquiry or reflection, OPM is believed to increase learning through examination of prior beliefs, decisions and mistakes, and also through openness to new ideas. Renowned theorists including Dewey and Argyris have emphasized the relationship between OPM and learning, yet little quantitative research has tested it or examined moderators of the linkage. The setting for the current study is that of endowment investment committees at U.S. universities and colleges who need to make knowledgeable and well-reasoned decisions about the composition of investment portfolios. Findings indicate that OPM has a positive, significant effect on group learning capacity (LCAP) and also that shared vision, which represents the group's collective purpose and direction, moderates that relationship. The literature review and discussion offer insights about how OPM is related to the research on group conflict, and how shared vision (SHV) differs from concepts such as interpersonal cohesiveness and conformity that have been associated with groupthink. A review of relevant research from the fields of organizational learning, group dynamics, and absorptive capacity provides context for the development of the hypotheses and the discussion of findings.

Introduction

From Socrates to modern learning theorists, open-mindedness (OPM) has been considered essential to learning and understanding. Dewey (1933) , Kolb (1984) and Argyris (1976) all have underscored the significance that the ancient Greeks placed on inquiry, openness, dialog, and critical reflection. Yet empirical research examining the relationship between OPM and learning is scant relative to the volumes on theory, and particularly in group decision-making domains. In addition, little empirical research has explored how interpersonal dynamics in groups might moderate the relationship between OPM and learning.

The purpose of this study, situated within the broad fields of organizational learning and behavior, is to provide additional insights about how groups learn and especially about the types of dialogs and group dynamics that foster learning. We will test the relationship between OPM and learning capacity (LCAP) in decision-making groups, as well as the effect of shared vision (SHV) on that relationship. In our literature review and discussion, we will explore how different types of cohesiveness affect group learning and effectiveness, and whether SHV is situated within the cohesiveness spectrum. We will argue that because SHV coexists with OPM in this study, it provides a positive contribution to group learning capacity. In contrast, if SHV co-existed with closed-mindedness, one could expect it (along with closed-mindedness) to detract from group learning capacity. In the latter context, SHV might be related to the strong interpersonal attraction aspect of cohesiveness associated with groupthink, a type of behavior that lacks independent critical thinking and is focused primarily on reaching consensus ( Janis, 1972 , 1983 ), thus restricting group learning capacity.

Given that OPM and group task conflict overlap with regards to the emphasis placed on critical reflection and assessment, we suggest that literature on task conflict has strong relevance to this study. Task conflict occurs when there are “disagreements among group members about the content of the tasks being performed, including differences in viewpoints, ideas, and opinions” ( Jehn, 1995 , p. 258). We will discuss similarities between OPM and task conflict, and especially when expressions of task conflict are mild rather than intense ( Todorova et al., 2014 ). While task conflict has been researched predominantly in terms of its positive influence on decision quality, the current study uses the concept of OPM as a predictor and examines its influence on a different dependent variable, learning capacity.

We adopt the term LCAP as our dependent variable because it signifies the ability of organizations, groups/teams and individuals to engage in learning processes leading to positive outcomes such as performance, competitive advantage, innovation, adaptability, and knowledge transfer ( Volberda et al., 2010 ; Van Wijk et al., 2011 ). The term has been used as a synonym for “absorptive capacity” to describe a group's ability to acquire relevant external information, integrate it with existing knowledge, and exploit it to commercial benefit ( Cohen and Levinthal, 1990 ). LCAP has been characterized as a process of gaining knowledge ( Lane et al., 2006 ), which is considered a key resource of an organization and a primary source of competitive advantage ( Barney, 1991 ; Grant, 1996 ; Kogut and Zander, 1996 ).

We define OPM as a group's critical assessment of its assumptions, beliefs and prior actions, as well as its openness to new ideas ( Sinkula et al., 1997 ; Calantone et al., 2002 ). This critical assessment concept resembles Dewey's description of reflection: “assessing the grounds (justification) of one's beliefs” ( Dewey, 1933 , p. 9). Reflection is often used as a synonym for higher-order processes ( Mezirow, 1990 ) or double-loop learning ( Argyris and Schön, 1978 ), which results in transcending current ways of thinking and acting. The OPM construct in this study also bears strong resemblance to the term “authentic inquiry” ( Mazutis and Slawinski, 2008 ), which encourages critical reflection and open dialog. Without open dialog, individuals may engage in defensive routines that inhibit their learning ( Argyris and Schön, 1978 ). They may not be willing to examine and learn from past mistakes and thus may withhold information that they perceive as detrimental to others' perceptions of themselves. When authentic dialog is encouraged, members are more likely to confront conflict through inquiry and to seek understanding without engaging in power struggles ( Mazutis and Slawinski, 2008 ).

The OPM construct has been employed widely in marketing literature as a first-order factor within a second-order reflective factor called learning orientation, which is described as a set of organizational values that influence individuals' and groups' propensity to seek and use knowledge ( Sinkula et al., 1997 ). Organizations with a learning orientation have a sense of direction for their learning as well as a critical-assessment approach that encourages open debates and questioning of assumptions ( Slater and Narver, 1995 ). Learning orientation studies typically include learning commitment and SHV as other first-order factors. To the best of our knowledge, the current study is unique in focusing on OPM and SHV as stand-alone factors that influence learning capacity. We employ OPM as having the main effect on LCAP due to its prominence in theoretical literature, and SHV as a moderator due to its motivational and purpose-oriented characteristics that would enhance the primary relationship. Learning commitment is not included in this study since we believe that its characteristics are largely subsumed in SHV and OPM.

Unlike other studies on LCAP and its antecedents in the domains of manufacturing, marketing and information technology, this study's domain is that of decision-making committees in non-profit institutions, and specifically the investment committees of college and university endowments. These committees, composed largely of alumni volunteers, typically are charged with making important decisions affecting the composition and performance of endowment portfolios. Understanding factors that affect portfolio decisions and performance is critical for college and university leaders since the endowment earnings can have a significant impact on the financial health of the institution ( Brown et al., 2010 ). As with many other decision-making groups whose environments are constantly changing, investment committees need to be able to acquire relevant information from the external world (i.e., the financial markets and external experts) on a continual basis, to assimilate it with their existing knowledge, and to implement it successfully. In a quantitative study about endowment management ( Lord, 2014b ), committees who understood how to implement their investment-related knowledge had more diversified portfolios and higher risk-adjusted returns.

In the following section, we will formalize our hypotheses by examining research on learning capacity, OPM and shared vision. Our empirical study is based on a survey of “key informants” who are involved with investment committees at 168 U.S. university endowments.

Background and Hypotheses

Our study is situated in the field of organizational learning, which has been defined as a process of improving organizational actions through better knowledge and understanding ( Fiol and Lyles, 1985 ; Garvin, 1993 ). Organizational learning researchers have addressed cognitive types of learning ( Kolb, 1984 ; Argyris, 1999 ) as well as learning processes ( Levitt and March, 1988 ; Huber, 1991 ; Tippins and Sohi, 2003 ). Certain researchers ( Huber, 1991 ; Tippins and Sohi, 2003 ) refer to four processes in organizational learning: (a) information acquisition; (b) information sharing; (c) information interpretation; and (d) information storage. Other organizational learning researchers refer to only two processes: (a) explore and exploit ( March, 1991 ); (b) organizational search and trial/error ( Levitt and March, 1988 ); and (c) reflection and action ( Edmondson, 2002 ). Learning theorists differ as to whether taking action (or exploiting) is a requirement of organizational learning. Huber (1991) and Tippins and Sohi (2003) clearly do not have that requirement. In fact, Huber states that organizational learning has occurred if, through the group's processing of information, the range of its potential behaviors has changed. In contrast, Edmondson (2002) , March (1991) and Levitt and March (1988) clearly require that action must be taken in order for learning to have occurred.

Another stream of research related to the field of organizational learning is called “knowledge management” ( Bassi, 1999 ), which focuses largely on managing what is learned, including storing and retrieving knowledge. Also related is the dynamic capabilities framework, developed by Teece et al. (1997) , which refers to the ability to renew and adapt competencies in order to be in sync with rapidly changing business environments.

While incorporating aspects of these related constructs, LCAP is distinguished by its emphasis on acquiring relevant “external” information and by its imperative of implementing or “exploiting” the knowledge successfully. LCAP has been theorized and employed in research studies as having one, two, three or four dimensions (or processes). In early conceptualizations of the learning (or absorptive) capacity construct, Cohen and Levinthal (1989 , 1990) referred to its three dimensions of identifying relevant information, assimilating it, and applying new knowledge successfully, yet they did not provide a measurement tool other than research and development expenditures. Szulanski (1996) used a unidimensional measure and found that the lack of recipient absorptive capacity is a major barrier to knowledge transfer between different functions in an organization. Zahra and George (2002) re-conceptualized the construct into two primary dimensions with each having two sub-dimensions: potential absorptive capacity consisting of acquisition and assimilation of new external knowledge; and realized absorptive capacity consisting of knowledge transformation and exploitation. Jansen et al. (2005) operationalized the construct with all four sub-dimensions and tested for antecedents of coordination, systems, and socialization capabilities. Lichtenthaler (2009) followed Cohen and Levinthal's guidance of three dimensions, employing exploratory, transformative, and exploitative learning processes with measurement items borrowed from previous studies. In sum, the LCAP construct has been operationalized in multiple ways with varying dimensions and scales ( Lane et al., 2006 ). In this study we are focused on the holistic meaning of LCAP and not on the distinct dimensions or processes of it. Therefore, we employ a unidimensional factor for LCAP that we believe captures Cohen and Levinthal's (1989 , 1990) conceptualization.

Our hypotheses in this study are in alignment with: (a) the learning disciplines of Senge (1990) that emphasize the need for SHV and open dialogs that are oriented to finding truth; (b) a set of learning-oriented activities called “teaming” which encourage group members to collaborate and to engage in honest and reflective conversations ( Edmondson, 2012 ); and (c) a learning environment called “ba” which supports learning creation and an ongoing re-evaluation of existing premises ( Nonaka et al., 2000 ).

Open-Mindedness and Learning Capacity

Dewey (1933) stated that OPM (which he called “reflection”) refers to assessing the grounds or justification of one's beliefs. Similarly, more recent researchers argue that OPM is critical for examining individuals' mental models, which are deeply held beliefs or conceptions that may confine them to familiar patterns of thinking and acting ( Senge, 1990 ; Day and Nedungadi, 1994 ; Sinkula et al., 1997 ). If these deeply held beliefs and assumptions are not questioned and altered, groups' effectiveness will be diminished ( Day, 1994 ; Sinkula, 1994 ). When group members have differences in their interpretation of task-related issues, they experience greater learning and gain a more accurate assessment of situations ( Fiol, 1994 ). Argyris and Schön (1978) maintain that a key aspect of OPM is its attention to detecting and correcting errors, which they consider essential to organizational learning.

Examination of deeply held convictions and consideration of alternative perspectives often involve a relatively high level of disagreement ( Janis, 1972 ; Jehn, 1995 ; Slater and Narver, 1995 ). Disagreement that remains task-oriented is referred to as both “cognitive conflict” and “task conflict” and has been found to result in higher-quality decisions ( Amason and Schweiger, 1994 ; Amason, 1996 ). In their research on corporate board decision-making, Forbes and Milliken (1999) argued that cognitive conflict fosters an environment that is characterized by a task-oriented focus and a tolerance of multiple viewpoints and opinions; thus, it promotes critical discussions and helps to prevent groupthink. Because cognitive conflict remains task-oriented, it is not to be confused with affective (or relationship) conflict, which can become personal and damage the group's commitment and ability to work together ( Amason, 1996 ). Researchers have suggested techniques and tools to help leaders and group members foster and maintain OPM so that conflicts remain task-oriented and not personal. Among those are: (a) developing and expressing one's own view; (b) questioning and understanding other views; (c) integrating and creating solutions; and (d) agreeing to and implementing solutions ( Tjosvold et al., 2014 ). Another suggestion is to assign a member (or members) to serve as a devil's advocate, questioning group members' underlying assumptions and opinions ( Amason, 1996 ).

Cognitive (or task) conflict has typically been studied as an antecedent to higher quality decisions rather than to learning capacity. One empirical study found that “openness” led to organizational learning ( Hult et al., 2000 ) but the openness construct had two dimensions, participativeness and reflectiveness, whereas only the latter resembles the OPM construct employed in this study. As noted previously, OPM has been used in empirical studies more as a first-order factor of learning orientation than as a stand-alone construct. In a study that did examine it as a stand-alone factor, OPM was found to have a significant and positive effect on product innovation ( Calisir et al., 2013 ); the study did not employ a learning construct. Although a significant body of literature has discussed the linkage between OPM and learning, we have been unable to find a study that empirically tests that relationship in group decision-making settings.

Hypothesis 1. Open-mindedness will have a positive effect on learning capacity .

Shared Vision as a Moderator

SHV has been described as the embodiment of a group's collective goals and aspirations ( Tsai and Ghoshal, 1998 ) as well as its shared sense of purpose and operating values ( Senge, 1990 ). SHV is considered essential for proactive learning because it fosters commitment, energy and purpose among group members ( Tobin, 1993 ; Day, 1994 ). Similarly, Senge (1990) states that learning cannot occur without SHV since it provides the “pull” toward goals that helps to overcome forces of inertia.

SHV helps to motivate teams ( Van den Bossche et al., 2006 ); to promote sharing of perspectives and knowledge ( Bunderson and Reagans, 2010 ); to promote positive feelings and commitment among members ( Boyatzis, 2008 ); to foster greater organizational engagement ( Mahon et al., 2014 ); and to legitimize the acquisition and assessment of new knowledge ( Lyles and Salk, 1996 ). When team members share common or cooperative goals they are open to problem-solving approaches that help them learn from mistakes ( Tjosvold et al., 2004 ); in contrast, competitive goals have been found to correlate negatively with collective problem-solving approaches and to undermine group learning. Tsai and Ghoshal (1998) state that SHV and collective goals are reflections of the cognitive dimension of social capital.

Strong interpersonal cohesiveness of group members, on the other hand, has been associated with groupthink ( Mullen et al., 1994 ), which has been described as a dysfunctional mode of decision making that can occur when there is a lack of independent critical thinking and when there is a strong desire to have unanimity among members ( Janis, 1972 , 1983 ). However, while cohesiveness may be a determinant of groupthink, it is not sufficient ( Janis, 1972 ). Cohesiveness must be accompanied by directive leadership and a lack of cognitive conflict to foster groupthink; when cognitive conflict is present it fosters an environment with a task-oriented focus and a tolerance of multiple viewpoints and opinions ( Janis, 1983 ; Bernthal and Insko, 1993 ). Thus, a distinction has been made between a type of cohesiveness that is task-oriented and a type that is focused on interpersonal attraction, with only the latter being linked to groupthink ( Hogg, 1993 ). This view was supported in a quantitative study by Mullen et al. (1994) : interpersonal attraction contributed to groupthink and poor decision quality, whereas commitment to task tended to ward it off. Researchers also have studied the possible relationship between conformity and groupthink, and particularly when there is a strong “compliance” aspect to conformity. Compliance refers to situations where group members are in agreement publicly but are not in agreement privately; this can occur when members suppress their private doubts about the group decision for reasons such as fear of recrimination if they were to dissent ( McCauley, 1989 ).

Our argument in the current study is that SHV is about collective purpose, goals and tasks that increase the effect of OPM on learning capacity. In this study, SHV is not driven by a desire to be unanimous due to either strong interpersonal attraction or compliance motives that have been associated with groupthink. Thus, it seems logical that SHV would provide the beneficial effect of keeping open-minded dialogs on a collective learning track that supports the group's goals.

Hypothesis 2. Shared vision will strengthen the positive effect of open-mindedness on learning capacity .

Figure 1 shows the hypothesized model, with SHV moderating the effect of OPM on learning capacity.

Figure 1. Hypothesized model .

Data Collection, Screening and Sample

Empirical data to test the hypothesized relationships were obtained by an electronic survey. Emails soliciting participation were sent to 650 colleges and universities, all of which had participated in the 2009 endowment survey by the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) and Commonfund (2009–2010) , or in previous annual surveys sponsored solely by NACUBO. Non-members of NACUBO may purchase a version of the 2009 study at http://www.nacubo.org/Products/Online_Research_Products/2009_NACUBO_Commonfund_Study_of_Endowments.html . Emails were addressed to financial officers requesting survey participation by a “key informant”: someone who had regularly attended investment committee meetings for at least several years and was very familiar with the committee's composition, responsibilities, nature of discussions, and decision-making practices. The solicitation email suggested that either the university financial officer most involved with the endowment or the investment committee chair would be an ideal respondent. The Institutional Review Board at the author's institution approved the Informed Consent and ethical conduct of the study, and all protocols governing the use of human subjects were followed. After the initial email of solicitation in September 2010, three reminders were e-mailed over the subsequent 3–4 weeks. Since the questions in the survey related to a period that ended more than a year earlier (June 30, 2009), we were not concerned with slight differences in survey response dates.

A total of 191 colleges/universities responded to the survey; the usable number was reduced to 168, or 25.8%, after eliminating nine cases due to incomplete surveys, three outliers, and 11 institutions for which certain objective data were not available from NACUBO studies. The three outliers had Cook's Distance values greater than 1.0, the threshold suggested as being problematic by Tabachnick and Fidell (2007 , p. 75). To determine if the sample was representative of the 650 colleges with five-year performance data in the 2009 NACUBO–Commonfund survey, we conducted an independent samples t -test of the means of the five-year annualized performance returns. No significant difference was observed between the means ( t = −0.656; df = 815; p = 0.512). The mean return from the NACUBO–Commonfund study was 2.70%, s = 2.55%, while the mean of this sample was 2.56%; s = 2.10%.

All but four respondents were finance, foundation, or investment officers at their colleges or universities; two were outsourced chief investment officers and two were investment committee members. On average, respondents had served 11 years in an endowment-related role with the college/university. Respondents were from both public (39%) and private (61%) institutions and the size of endowments spanned all six categories in the annual NACUBO–Commonfund study, from less than $25 million to greater than $1 billion. The average endowment size of survey participants as of fiscal year-end 2009 was $315 million, compared to $306 million in the 2009 NACUBO–Commonfund study.

The investment committees in our sample play important roles in key decisions concerning the management of the endowment portfolio. Approximately two-thirds of respondents indicated that the committee makes final decisions about hiring/firing managers and consultants, as well as policy asset allocations.

Measurement

The full questionnaire included more than 70 items including those relating to factors for the structural model in this study as well as other data about governance issues, staffing, performance and asset allocation. Certain factors that are not included in this study were used in a previous paper about group factors leading to diversified investment portfolios and superior financial performance ( Lord, 2014b) ; information about some of those other factors is included later in this paper in the section called Other Findings. For our model in the current study, we used the items for the latent factors of OPM, SHV and learning capacity. For control variables we used staff size and committee meeting frequency as they were said to relate to learning and performance in a qualitative study of endowments ( Lord, 2014a ).

Independent and Interaction Variables

The scale items for all latent factors employed a 7-point Likert scale ranging from Very Strongly Disagree to Very Strongly Agree; they are provided in the appendix. Items for the independent variable (OPM) and the interaction moderator (shared vision) were adopted from existing scales ( Sinkula et al., 1997 ; Calantone et al., 2002 ). An example of the items in the OPM construct was, “The committee was not afraid to reflect critically on investment-related assumptions it made,” and a sample item from the SHV construct was, “Our committee was in agreement about the endowment's purpose.”

Dependent Variable

The LCAP scale was developed and adapted from research in the field of absorptive capacity: Jaworski and Kohli (1993) ; Zahra and George (2002) ; Jansen et al. (2005) , and Szulanski (1996) . Items included: “The committee collected in-depth information that was relevant to our investment decisions,” and “The committee knew how to implement new investment knowledge.”

Factor Analysis

Sampling adequacy is excellent with a reading of 0.926 for the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling. Bartlett's test of Sphericity is significant at the 0.000 level, indicating that there are correlations in the data set that are appropriate for factor analysis. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted simultaneously with all the items for the latent factors using principal axis factoring with Promax rotation. The purpose of EFA was to determine if the observed variables loaded together as expected, were adequately correlated, and met the criteria of reliability and validity. Three latent factors were clearly observed with sufficient item loadings on each and with minimal cross-loadings. The EFA included the eigenvalues of 11.213 for learning capacity, 2.346 for OPM and 1.348 for shared vision. We assessed scale reliability for each latent factor with Cronbach's alpha, a measure of internal consistency or the closeness of the items for each factor. The Cronbach's alpha is high for all three factors: OPM (0.871), SHV (0.904), and LCAP (0.939), indicating high internal consistency.

EFA was followed by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) for more rigorous testing and validation of the factor structure. We computed composite reliability (CR) scores for each factor, which were above the minimum threshold of 0.700. CR was 0.860 for OPM, 0.919 for shared vision, and 0.939 for learning capacity. Convergent validity was tested by calculating the average variance extracted (AVE); all factors had an AVE above the recommended threshold of 0.500 ( Kline, 2011 ). Next, we tested discriminant validity by reviewing the maximum shared variance (MSV) and the average shared variance (ASV) for each factor and confirmed that they were less than the AVE for each factor. Discriminant validity was also confirmed in that the square root of the AVE was greater than the inter-factor correlations ( Fornell and Larcker, 1981 ). See Table 1 for details on these measures; square root of the AVE is on the diagonal.

Table 1. Convergent and discriminant validity and reliability .

The goodness of fit statistics for the measurement model are shown in Table 2 along with the “ideal thresholds” outlined by Hu and Bentler (1999) . Model fit is acceptable in that all ideal thresholds are met except for root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) which is extremely close at 0.061; other research ( Steiger, 2007 ) stipulates an upper RMSEA limit of 0.07 for acceptable fit.

Table 2. Fit statistics for measurement model .

Because items for our study's three latent factors were collected via the same instrument at the same time, it was prudent to conduct a common method bias test. We used the common latent factor (CLF) method advocated by MacKenzie and Podsakoff (2012) when no theoretically driven marker variable is collected. We compared the standardized regression weights before and after adding the CLF and found that the differences were all less than 0.200, thus indicating that the model does not suffer from common method bias.

Hypotheses were tested using covariance-based structural equation modeling (SEM) with IBM's AMOS program. Hypothesis 1 is supported in that the standardized regression weight from OPM to LCAP is positive and significant at the 0.001 level. The model with standardized regression weights is shown in Figure 2 .

Figure 2. Structural model results .

Hypothesis 2 is also supported in that SHV strengthens the positive effect of OPM on learning capacity. This can be shown in Figure 3 . When SHV is high, the slope of the relationship between OPM and LCAP is steeper; and when SHV is low, the line is flatter. The standardized regression weight between the interaction variable (OPM X SHV) and the dependent variable (LCAP) is positive and significant at the 0.001 level. In sum, SHV moderates the effect of OPM on LCAP by strengthening the positive relationship.

Figure 3. Interaction effect .

Model fit is excellent as shown in Table 3 along with the “ideal thresholds” outlined by Hu and Bentler (1999) . All thresholds are met. R-squared is also excellent at 73.4%; this reveals how much of the variance in the dependent variable is explained by the predictors.

Table 3. Fit statistics for structural model .

Other Findings

Our survey also collected data on the degree of diverse investment expertise among committee members; this refers to the breath of investment expertise across various asset classes (such as domestic equities, international equities, fixed income, real estate, hedge funds and private equity). In the previous study ( Lord, 2014b ), diverse investment expertise was found to contribute both to knowledge acquisition and to knowledge implementation. This finding was in alignment with theory by Cohen and Levinthal (1989 , 1990 ) that prior experience is a key determinant of absorptive (or learning) capacity. For this paper we employ one item representing diverse investment expertise and divide the respondents into two roughly equal groups. Group 1 consists of the 88 respondents who answered either “very strongly agree” or “strongly agree” to the following statement: “Our committee over the five-year period always included expertise across a broad variety of asset classes.” Group 2 consists of 80 respondents who answered either very strongly disagree, strongly disagree, somewhat disagree, neutral, or somewhat agree. In Table 4 we can see the differences in the mean scores between the two groups for shared vision, OPM and learning capacity.

Table 4. Differences in groups based on levels of diverse investment expertise .

Using the independent samples t -test, there was a significant difference in the mean scores for the two groups across all three factors in the study; significance was at 0.001 for each factor and degrees of freedom were 166. The following t values were reported for each variable: shared vision, 4.273; OPM, 6.654; and learning capacity, 7.880. In sum, committees that had more diversified investment expertise across asset classes had higher levels of shared vision, OPM and LCAP than committees with less diversified expertise across asset classes. Therefore, committees wanting to increase their levels of shared vision, OPM and LCAP may want to consider diversifying the types of expertise on the committee. In the current research, the expertise that was examined all related to the broad realm of investments but it included variety of expertise within that realm.

In addition, our survey collected data on the degree of portfolio diversification across different asset classes, as discussed in a previous study ( Lord, 2014b ). By dividing our sample into two halves—one with the most diversified portfolios and the other with the least diversified portfolios—we found that the halves differ significantly with regards to the three variables in this study. For OPM and learning capacity, differences in the mean responses between more diversified portfolios and less diversified portfolios were significant at the 0.001 level. And for shared vision, the difference between more and less diversified portfolios was significant at the 0.01 level. In sum, more diversified investment portfolios occurred in committee environments of higher shared vision, OPM and learning capacity. In the previous paper ( Lord, 2014b ), portfolios with greater diversification among asset classes had higher risk-adjusted returns relative to their peers of similar size over a five-year period.

The findings in this study provide strong support to learning theorists' belief that OPM (also referred to as critical assessment, authentic inquiry or reflection) is a key determinant of learning capacity. In addition, the study is novel in finding that SHV has a positive and significant effect on the relationship between OPM and learning capacity. It is important to keep in mind that OPM in this study has a greater impact on LCAP than does shared vision. The co-existence of SHV and OPM in the model's configuration produces a greater effect on LCAP than OPM alone. In our view, that's because SHV not only provides direction and motivation for the group's efforts but also because its moderating effect is on an already-strong learning environment. If, as mentioned previously, closed-mindedness were hypothesized to reduce learning capacity, SHV could be expected to augment that effect. Therefore, consideration must be given to the context or environment in which SHV exists. In extreme situations, SHV could be used in studies with horrific results. Consider a model where “Hatred of Jews” contributed to “Deaths at Auschwitz.” It would seem logical to assume that “shared vision” among Hitler and his cronies would augment the relationship between “Hatred of Jews” and “Deaths at Auschwitz.” Happily, SHV in the current study co-exists with an independent and a dependent variable that are dramatically more positive.

Another important consideration is that SHV should not connote rigidity of the group's beliefs or goals. Especially in an environment with strong OPM and learning capacity, group members could be expected to re-examine their existing beliefs and goals, and to be willing to alter them based on greater understanding of the context in which they operate. OPM would essentially dictate an ongoing assessment of the group's purpose and goals to determine whether they are still justified.

This study also contributes to the literature on group conflict in that previous research focused on the benefits of task conflict to decision quality ( Jehn, 1995 ; Amason, 1996 ) while this study links task conflict (as represented by OPM) to learning capacity. We believe it is quite likely that OPM (due to its similarities to task conflict) could also be found to have a positive effect on decision quality. One could easily argue that there is a strong correlation between those two outcomes. One might hypothesize, for example, that LCAP is an antecedent to decision quality. Our findings also support research positing that task conflict is very different from relationship (or affective) conflict in that the former is focused on the content of the task while the latter is focused on personal factors ( Todorova et al., 2014 ; Weingart et al., 2014 ). Relationship or affective conflict can include interpersonal criticism, individual bragging, blaming, and defensiveness—all behaviors that can inhibit group learning; these types of behavior may occur in competitive environments where the “we” is superseded by the “me.” In contrast, cognitive or task conflict is oriented toward the substance of the work and helps to reveal additional insights and perspectives that contribute to group learning. In our view, group conflict that remains task oriented could be more accurately and positively framed as “productive disagreement” rather than “task conflict.”

In a recent addition to research on task conflict, Todorova et al. (2014) differentiate between mild and intense task conflict expression . Mild task conflict expression occurs when team members debate about differing ideas or opinions, and express different viewpoints about work issues. On the other hand, intense task conflict expression occurs when members criticize each other's viewpoints, clash about objectives/goals, and argue about desired output. While it is possible for both of these expressions of task conflict to remain focused on tasks, only mild task conflict expression had a significant, positive effect on information acquisition in their study. Intense task conflict expression, on the other hand, had a significant negative effect on information acquisition. The authors suggest that frequent, intense task conflict expressions can interfere with potential informational benefits since the intensity of arguments may limit information sharing and processing. We suggest that the OPM construct in our study is very similar to mild task conflict expression, and that it supports the findings of Todorova et al. (2014) that mild task conflict expression contributes significantly to learning. We concur that intense task conflict expression starts to resemble relationship conflict, which tends to detract from learning.

As for concerns about conformity, we contend that a group climate of OPM would be negatively related to compliance behaviors that have been associated with groupthink. In addition, SHV represents group members' genuine belief that they are working collaboratively toward a common purpose whereas conformity often represents situations where group members publicly “act” as though they are in agreement when, instead, they privately disagree. When beliefs are genuine they are internalized, whereas when expressions of belief are not genuine they may indicate compliance ( McCauley, 1989 ).

While we are open to the view that SHV falls within the spectrum of cohesiveness, we would argue that the very strong influence of OPM in this study severely limits the possibility of the type of intense interpersonal cohesiveness that is associated with groupthink. In our view, groupthink is simply not compatible with either OPM or learning capacity. If group members are open-minded they are not consensus seeking for the sake of seeking consensus. In addition, if they are open-minded they want to seek new external information, to assimilate it and to apply it rather than conform to the stated group view without engaging in learning behaviors. There may be some degree of interpersonal cohesiveness built through the collective work of developing shared vision, and it could be argued that the cohesiveness around SHV may become so strong that it veers toward a group desire to be unanimous in thoughts and perspectives. In response, we offer a counterargument from this study's results that the concurrent presence of OPM–with its focus on critical assessment–will ward off that occurrence, just as we argue that SHV provides a curb on dialogs that may start out as open-minded but become so emotionally intense that they destroy the conditions and capacity for learning. In a sense, SHV and OPM may serve to regulate each other in healthy ways.

Limitations and Future Directions

Our survey was conducted of “key informants” of college and university endowments, whereas multiple responses of members from each endowment committee likely would have been more representative. In addition, given that all respondents were associated with university endowments, the study may not be generalizable to other decision-making committees or boards.

While the methodology in this study employs a one-directional causal model, with OPM and the interaction variable (OPM combined with shared vision) leading to learning capacity, we believe it is more appropriate to consider the variables as reciprocal in that relationships can go in both directions. For example, it seems logical to believe that greater LCAP could lead to greater OPM, in that more implementations of learning would provide more instances for critical reflection. In addition, more OPM and the greater understanding associated with it could augment the group's SHV about its purpose and goals. And, as noted previously, we believe that OPM could help the group refine or even adopt a new SHV if it can no longer justify the old one. In short, the variables appear to be contemporaneously intertwined.

Another possible limitation is that we did not test or control for demographic factors such as ethnicity or gender; such inclusion could have enlightened our understanding of generalizability. Also, our construct for LCAP is unidimensional whereas a multi-dimensional construct could have provided more insights regarding how OPM and the interaction variable would influence each of the learning dimensions.

In addition, the study could have provided further insights if it had included a construct for interpersonal cohesiveness; this would have permitted us to contrast the influence of SHV vs. the influence of strong interpersonal cohesiveness on the relationship between OPM and learning capacity. The personality trait called “agreeableness” might be a starting place in considering a measure.

Future research could provide further insights into conditions for greater LCAP by addressing some of the limitations noted above as well as considering factors such as leadership styles and other facets of a learning environment.

We believe this study provides new insights about group dynamics that affect collective learning. By employing SHV as a moderator of the effect of OPM on group learning capacity, the study makes an innovative contribution to other research that encompasses both SHV and OPM. Authors Amason and Sapienza (1997) discuss the need for both openness and mutuality in effective team decision-making. They define mutuality as the degree to which team members share goals and responsibilities, and openness as the team's “propensity to tolerate, encourage, and engage in open, frank expression of views.” Thus, “mutuality” is related to “shared vision,” and “openness” is related to “OPM.” Researchers stress the importance of getting the balance right ( Jehn, 1995 ; Amason and Sapienza, 1997 ). If there is too much mutuality and not enough cognitive conflict (or OPM), group members may become complacent or agree too readily such that LCAP and decision quality suffer. However, if the openness becomes so heated that it resembles intense task conflict expression, the effects can include confusion, personal conflict and even closed-mindedness, all of which would detract from learning.

In conclusion, we would argue that there's some truth to Oscar Wilde's quote: “Everything in moderation, including moderation.” A proper balance between OPM and SHV appears to offer true benefits such as greater learning capacity. On the other hand, there also may be truth to another quote by Wilde: “Moderation is a fatal thing. Nothing succeeds like excess.” With regards to the latter, excess LCAP may contribute to success. No doubt, one must choose his/her excesses carefully.

Conflict of Interest Statement

The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Amason, A. C. (1996). Distinguishing the effects of functional and dysfunctional conflict on strategic decision making: resolving a paradox for top management teams. Acad. Manage. J . 39, 123–148. doi: 10.2307/256633

CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Amason, A. C., and Sapienza, H. J. (1997). The effects of top management team size and interaction norms on cognitive and affective conflict. J. Manage . 23, 495–516. doi: 10.1016/S0149-2063(97)90045-3

Amason, A. C., and Schweiger, D. M. (1994). Resolving the paradox of conflict, strategic decision making, and organizational performance. Int. J. Confl. Manage . 5, 239–253. doi: 10.1108/eb022745

Argyris, C. (1976). Single-loop and double-loop models in research on decision making. Adm. Sci. Q . 21, 363–375. doi: 10.2307/2391848

Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text | CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Argyris, C. (1999). On Organizational Learning, 2nd Edn . Madden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.

Argyris, C., and Schön, D. (1978). Organizational Learning: A Theory of Action Perspective . Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

Google Scholar

Barney, J. (1991). Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. J. Manage . 17, 99–120. doi: 10.1177/014920639101700108

Bassi, L. (1999). “Harnessing the power of intellectual capital,” in The Knowledge Management Yearbook 1999-2000 , eds J. Cortada and J. Woods (Boston, MA: Butterworth Heinemann), 422–431.

Bernthal, P., and Insko, C. (1993). Cohesiveness without groupthink: the interactive effects of social and task cohesion. Group Organ. Manage . 18, 66–87. doi: 10.1177/1059601193181005

Boyatzis, R. E. (2008). Leadership development from a complexity perspective. Consult. Psychol. J . 60, 298–313. doi: 10.1037/1065-9293.60.4.298

Brown, J. R., Dimmock, S. G., Kang, J.-K., and Weisbenner, S. (2010). Why I Lost My Secretary: The Effect of Endowment Shocks on University Operations . NBER Working Paper No. 15861. doi: 10.14264/uql.2013.10. Available online at: http://www.nber.org/papers/w15861

CrossRef Full Text

Bunderson, J. S., and Reagans, R. E. (2010). Power, status, and learning in organizations. Organ. Sci . 22, 1182–1194. doi: 10.1287/orsc.1100.0590

Calantone, R. J., Cavusgil, S. T., and Zhao, Y. (2002). Learning orientation, firm innovation capability, and firm performance. Ind. Mark. Manage . 31, 515–524. doi: 10.1016/S0019-8501(01)00203-6

Calisir, F., Gumussoy, C. A., and Guzelsoy, E. (2013). Impacts of learning orientation on product innovation performance. Learn. Organ . 20, 176–194. doi: 10.1108/09696471311328442

Cohen, W. M., and Levinthal, D. A. (1989). Innovation and learning: the two faces of R & D. Econ. J . 99, 569–596. doi: 10.2307/2233763

Cohen, W. M., and Levinthal, D. A. (1990). Absorptive capacity: a new perspective on learning and innovation. Adm. Sci. Q . 35, 128–152. doi: 10.2307/2393553

Day, G. S. (1994). The capabilities of market-driven organizations. J. Mark . 58, 37–52. doi: 10.2307/1251915

Day, G. S., and Nedungadi, P. (1994). Managerial representations of competitive advantage. J. Mark . 58, 31–44. doi: 10.2307/1252267

Dewey, J. (1933). How We Think: A Restatement of the Relation of Reflective Thinking to the Educative Process . Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath and Company.

Edmondson, A. C. (2002). The local and variegated nature of learning in organizations: a group-level perspective. Organ. Sci . 13, 128–146. doi: 10.1287/orsc.13.2.128.530

Edmondson, A. C. (2012). Teaming: How Organizations Learn, Innovate , and Compete in the Knowledge Economy . San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Fiol, C. M. (1994). Consensus, diversity, and learning in organizations. Organ. Sci . 5, 403–420. doi: 10.1287/orsc.5.3.403

Fiol, C. M., and Lyles, M. A. (1985). Organizational learning. Acad. Manage. Rev . 10, 803–813.

Forbes, D. P., and Milliken, F. J. (1999). Cognition and corporate governance: understanding boards of directors as strategic decision-making groups. Acad. Manage. Rev . 24, 489–505.

Fornell, C., and Larcker, D. F. (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. J. Mark. Res . 18, 39–50. doi: 10.2307/3151312

Garvin, D. A. (1993). Building a learning organization. Harv. Bus. Rev . 71, 78–91.

Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text | Google Scholar

Grant, R. (1996). Prospering in dynamically-competitive environments: organizational capability as knowledge integration. Organ. Sci . 7, 375–387. doi: 10.1287/orsc.7.4.375

Hogg, M. A. (1993). Group cohesiveness: a critical review and some new directions. Eur. Rev. Soc. Psychol . 4, 85–111.

Hu, L. T., and Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Struct. Equ. Modeling 6, 1–55. doi: 10.1080/10705519909540118

Huber, G. P. (1991). Organizational learning: the contributing processes and the literatures. Organ. Sci . 2, 88–115. doi: 10.1287/orsc.2.1.88

Hult, G. T. M., Hurley, R. F., Giunipero, L. C., and Nichols, E. L. (2000). Organizational learning in global purchasing: a model and test of internal users and corporate buyers. Decis. Sci . 31, 293–325. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-5915.2000.tb01625.x

Janis, I. L. (1972). Victims of Groupthink . Boston, MA: Houghton-Mifflin.

Janis, I. L. (1983). Groupthink: Psychological Studies of Policy Decisions and Fiascoes . Boston, MA: Houghton-Mifflin.

Jansen, J. P., Van Den Bosch, F. A. J., and Volberda, H. W. (2005). Managing potential and realized absorptive capacity. Acad. Manage. J . 48, 999–1015. doi: 10.5465/AMJ.2005.19573106

Jaworski, B. J., and Kohli, A. K. (1993). Market orientation: antecedents and consequences. J. Mark . 57, 53–70. doi: 10.2307/1251854

Jehn, K. A. (1995). A multimethod examination of the benefits and detriments of intragroup conflict. Adm. Sci. Q . 40, 256–282. doi: 10.2307/2393638

Kline, R. B. (2011). Principles and Practices of Structural Equation Modeling . New York, NY: Guilford Publications.

Kogut, B., and Zander, U. (1996). What firms do? Coordination, identity, and learning. Organ. Sci . 7, 502–518. doi: 10.1287/orsc.7.5.502

Kolb, D. (1984). Experiential Learning . Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, Inc.

Lane, P., Koka, B. R., and Pathak, S. (2006). The reification of absorptive capacity: a critical review and rejuvenation of the construct. Acad. Manage. Rev . 31, 833–863. doi: 10.5465/AMR.2006.22527456

Levitt, B., and March, J. G. (1988). Organizational learning. Annu. Rev. Sociol . 14, 319–340. doi: 10.1146/annurev.so.14.080188.001535

Lichtenthaler, U. (2009). Absorptive capacity, environmental turbulence, and the complementarity of organizational learning processes. Acad. Manage. J . 52, 822–846. doi: 10.5465/AMJ.2009.43670902

Lord, M. (2014a). Smaller university endowments: team characteristics, portfolio composition and performance. Qual. Res. Financ. Mark . 6, 4–32. doi: 10.1108/QRFM-07-2012-0021

Lord, M. (2014b). University endowment committees: how a learning orientation and knowledge factors contribute to portfolio diversification and performance. Eur. J. Finan . doi: 10.1080/1351847X.2013.879536

Lyles, M. A., and Salk, J. E. (1996). Knowledge acquisition from foreign parents in international joint ventures: an empirical examination in the Hungarian context. J. Int. Bus. Stud . 27, 877–903. doi: 10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8490155

MacKenzie, S. B., and Podsakoff, P. M. (2012). Common method bias in marketing: causes, mechanisms, and procedural remedies. J. Retailing 88, 542–555. doi: 10.1016/j.jretai.2012.08.001

Mahon, E. G., Taylor, S. N., and Boyatzis, R. E. (2014). Antecedents of organizational engagement: Exploring vision, mood and perceived organizational support with emotional intelligence as a moderator. Front. Psychol . 5:1322. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01322

March, J. G. (1991). Exploration and exploitation in organizational learning. Organ. Sci . 2, 71–87. doi: 10.1287/orsc.2.1.71

Mazutis, D., and Slawinski, N. (2008). Leading organizational learning through authentic dialogue. Manage. Learn . 39, 437–456. doi: 10.1177/1350507608093713

McCauley, C. (1989). The nature of social influence in groupthink: compliance and internalization. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol . 57, 250–260. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.57.2.250

Mezirow, J. (1990). Fostering Critical Reflection in Adulthood . San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass.

Mullen, B., Anthony, T., Salas, E., and Driskell, J. E. (1994). Group cohesiveness and quality of decision making, an integration of tests of the groupthink hypothesis. Small Group Res . 25, 189–204. doi: 10.1177/1046496494252003

National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) and Commonfund. (2009–2010). NACUBO-Commonfund Study of Endowments . Available online at: http://www.nacubo.org/Products/Online_Research_Products/2009_NACUBO_Commonfund_Study_of_Endowments.html

Nonaka, I., Toyama, R., and Konno, N. (2000). SECI, ba and leadership: a unified model of dynamic knowledge creation. Long Range Plann . 33, 5–34. doi: 10.1016/S0024-6301(99)00115-6

Senge, P. M. (1990). The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization . New York, NY: Doubleday.

Sinkula, J. (1994). Market information processing and organizational learning. J. Mark . 58, 35–45. doi: 10.2307/1252249

Sinkula, J. M., Baker, W. E., and Noordewier, T. (1997). A framework for market-based organizational learning: linking values, knowledge, and behavior. J. Acad. Mark. Sci . 25, 305–318. doi: 10.1177/0092070397254003

Slater, S. F., and Narver, J. C. (1995). Market orientation and the learning organization. J. Mark . 59, 63–74. doi: 10.2307/1252120

Steiger, J. H. (2007). Understanding the limitations of global fit assessment in structural equation modeling. Pers. Individ. Dif . 42, 893–898. doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2006.09.017

Szulanski, G. (1996). Exploring internal stickiness: impediments to the transfer of best practice within the firm. Strateg. Manage. J . 17, 27–43. doi: 10.1002/smj.4250171105

Tabachnick, B. G., and Fidell, L. S. (2007). Using Multivariate Statistics, 5th Edn . Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

Teece, D. J., Pisano, G. P., and Shuen, A. (1997). Dynamic capabilities and strategic management. Strateg. Manage. J . 18, 509–533.

Tippins, M. J., and Sohi, R. S. (2003). IT competency and firm performance: is org learning a missing link? Strateg. Manage. J . 24, 745–761. doi: 10.1002/smj.337

Tjosvold, D., Wong, A. S. H., and Chen, N. Y. F. (2014). Constructively managing conflicts in organizations. Annu. Rev. Organ. Psychol. Organ. Behav . 1, 545–568. doi: 10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-031413-091306

Tjosvold, D., Yu, Z., and Hui, C. (2004). Team learning from mistakes: the contribution of cooperative goals and problem-solving. J. Manage. Stud . 41, 1223–1245. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-6486.2004.00473.x

Tobin, D. R. (1993). Re-Educating the Corporation: Foundations for the Learning Organization . Essex Junction, VT: Oliver Wright.

Todorova, G., Bear, J. B., and Weingart, L. R. (2014). Can conflict be energizing? A study of task conflict, positive emotions, and job satisfaction. J. Appl. Psychol . 99, 451. doi: 10.1037/a0035134

Tsai, W., and Ghoshal, S. (1998). Social capital and value creation: the role of intrafirm networks. Acad. Manage. Rev . 41, 464–476. doi: 10.2307/257085

Van den Bossche, P., Gijselaers, W., Segers, M., and Kirschner, P. A. (2006). Social and cognitive factors driving teamwork in collaborative learning environments. Small Group Res . 37, 490–521 doi: 10.1177/1046496406292938

Van Wijk, R., Van Den Bosch, F. A. J., and Volberda, H. W. (2011). “Absorptive capacity: taking stock of its progress and prospects,” in Handbook of Organizational Learning and Knowledge Management, 2nd Edn ., eds M. Easterby-Smith and M. A. Lyles (Chichester: John Wiley and Sons), 273–304.

Volberda, H. W., Foss, N. J., and Lyles, M. A. (2010). Absorbing the concept of absorptive capacity: how to realize its potential in the organizational field. Organ. Sci . 21, 931–951. doi: 10.1287/orsc.1090.0503

Weingart, L., Behfar, K., Bendersky, C., Todorova, G., and Jehn, K. (2014). The directness and oppositional intensity of conflict expression. Acad. Manage. Rev . doi: 10.5465/amr.2013.0124

Zahra, S., and George, G. (2002). Absorptive capacity: a review, reconceptualization, and extension. Acad. Manage. Rev . 27, 185–203. doi: 10.5465/AMR.2002.6587995

Appendix: Constructs, Definitions and Items

Open-mindedness (opm).

The committee's critical assessment of its assumptions, beliefs and prior actions, as well as its openness to new ideas.

1. Committee members routinely judged the quality of the decisions they made.

2. The committee was not afraid to reflect critically on investment-related assumptions it made.

3. Committee members realized that the way we perceive the markets must be continually questioned.

4. Committee members routinely made critical assessments of the investment approach.

Shared Vision (SHV)

A common mental model for the direction of the organization.

1. Our committee was in agreement about the endowment's purpose.

2. Committee members were committed to the goals for the endowment.

3. There was agreement among committee members about the vision for the endowment.

4. Committee members viewed themselves as partners in our efforts for the endowment.

Learning Capacity (LCAP)

The committee's ability to acquire, assimilate and implement knowledge successfully.

1. The committee collected in-depth information that was relevant to our investment decisions.

2. The committee quickly recognized shifts in the financial markets.

3. The committee quickly analyzed and interpreted changing market conditions.

4. The committee quickly determined the usefulness of new investment-related knowledge to existing knowledge.

5. The committee was capable of assessing potential investment opportunities based on its existing knowledge.

6. The committee knew how to implement new investment knowledge.

7. The committee had routines in place that it believed are essential for superior long-term performance.

8. The committee had policies in place that it believed are essential for superior long-term performance.

9. The committee knew how to capitalize on its investment knowledge.

Keywords: learning capacity, shared vision, open-mindedness, organizational learning, absorptive capacity, cohesiveness, task conflict, groupthink

Citation: Lord M (2015) Group learning capacity: the roles of open-mindedness and shared vision. Front. Psychol . 6 :150. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00150

Received: 15 November 2014; Accepted: 28 January 2015; Published online: 27 February 2015.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2015 Lord. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Mimi Lord, Doctor of Management Program, Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University, 10900 Euclid Ave., Cleveland OH 44106, USA e-mail: [email protected]

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Work Life is Atlassian’s flagship publication dedicated to unleashing the potential of every team through real-life advice, inspiring stories, and thoughtful perspectives from leaders around the world.

Contributing Writer

Work Futurist

Senior Quantitative Researcher, People Insights

Principal Writer

How to build critical thinking skills for better decision-making

It’s simple in theory, but tougher in practice – here are five tips to get you started.

Get stories like this in your inbox

Have you heard the riddle about two coins that equal thirty cents, but one of them is not a nickel? What about the one where a surgeon says they can’t operate on their own son?

Those brain teasers tap into your critical thinking skills. But your ability to think critically isn’t just helpful for solving those random puzzles – it plays a big role in your career.

An impressive 81% of employers say critical thinking carries a lot of weight when they’re evaluating job candidates. It ranks as the top competency companies consider when hiring recent graduates (even ahead of communication ). Plus, once you’re hired, several studies show that critical thinking skills are highly correlated with better job performance.

So what exactly are critical thinking skills? And even more importantly, how do you build and improve them?

What is critical thinking?

Critical thinking is the ability to evaluate facts and information, remain objective, and make a sound decision about how to move forward.

Does that sound like how you approach every decision or problem? Not so fast. Critical thinking seems simple in theory but is much tougher in practice, which helps explain why 65% of employers say their organization has a need for more critical thinking.

In reality, critical thinking doesn’t come naturally to a lot of us. In order to do it well, you need to:

Remain open-minded and inquisitive, rather than relying on assumptions or jumping to conclusions
Ask questions and dig deep, rather than accepting information at face value
Keep your own biases and perceptions in check to stay as objective as possible
Rely on your emotional intelligence to fill in the blanks and gain a more well-rounded understanding of a situation

So, critical thinking isn’t just being intelligent or analytical. In many ways, it requires you to step outside of yourself, let go of your own preconceived notions, and approach a problem or situation with curiosity and fairness.

It’s a challenge, but it’s well worth it. Critical thinking skills will help you connect ideas, make reasonable decisions, and solve complex problems.

7 critical thinking skills to help you dig deeper

Critical thinking is often labeled as a skill itself (you’ll see it bulleted as a desired trait in a variety of job descriptions). But it’s better to think of critical thinking less as a distinct skill and more as a collection or category of skills.

To think critically, you’ll need to tap into a bunch of your other soft skills. Here are seven of the most important.

Open-mindedness

It’s important to kick off the critical thinking process with the idea that anything is possible. The more you’re able to set aside your own suspicions, beliefs, and agenda, the better prepared you are to approach the situation with the level of inquisitiveness you need.

That means not closing yourself off to any possibilities and allowing yourself the space to pull on every thread – yes, even the ones that seem totally implausible.

As Christopher Dwyer, Ph.D. writes in a piece for Psychology Today , “Even if an idea appears foolish, sometimes its consideration can lead to an intelligent, critically considered conclusion.” He goes on to compare the critical thinking process to brainstorming . Sometimes the “bad” ideas are what lay the foundation for the good ones.

Open-mindedness is challenging because it requires more effort and mental bandwidth than sticking with your own perceptions. Approaching problems or situations with true impartiality often means:

Practicing self-regulation : Giving yourself a pause between when you feel something and when you actually react or take action.
Challenging your own biases: Acknowledging your biases and seeking feedback are two powerful ways to get a broader understanding.

Critical thinking example

In a team meeting, your boss mentioned that your company newsletter signups have been decreasing and she wants to figure out why.

At first, you feel offended and defensive – it feels like she’s blaming you for the dip in subscribers. You recognize and rationalize that emotion before thinking about potential causes. You have a hunch about what’s happening, but you will explore all possibilities and contributions from your team members.

Observation

Observation is, of course, your ability to notice and process the details all around you (even the subtle or seemingly inconsequential ones). Critical thinking demands that you’re flexible and willing to go beyond surface-level information, and solid observation skills help you do that.

Your observations help you pick up on clues from a variety of sources and experiences, all of which help you draw a final conclusion. After all, sometimes it’s the most minuscule realization that leads you to the strongest conclusion.

Over the next week or so, you keep a close eye on your company’s website and newsletter analytics to see if numbers are in fact declining or if your boss’s concerns were just a fluke.

Critical thinking hinges on objectivity. And, to be objective, you need to base your judgments on the facts – which you collect through research. You’ll lean on your research skills to gather as much information as possible that’s relevant to your problem or situation.

Keep in mind that this isn’t just about the quantity of information – quality matters too. You want to find data and details from a variety of trusted sources to drill past the surface and build a deeper understanding of what’s happening.

You dig into your email and website analytics to identify trends in bounce rates, time on page, conversions, and more. You also review recent newsletters and email promotions to understand what customers have received, look through current customer feedback, and connect with your customer support team to learn what they’re hearing in their conversations with customers.

The critical thinking process is sort of like a treasure hunt – you’ll find some nuggets that are fundamental for your final conclusion and some that might be interesting but aren’t pertinent to the problem at hand.

That’s why you need analytical skills. They’re what help you separate the wheat from the chaff, prioritize information, identify trends or themes, and draw conclusions based on the most relevant and influential facts.

It’s easy to confuse analytical thinking with critical thinking itself, and it’s true there is a lot of overlap between the two. But analytical thinking is just a piece of critical thinking. It focuses strictly on the facts and data, while critical thinking incorporates other factors like emotions, opinions, and experiences.

As you analyze your research, you notice that one specific webpage has contributed to a significant decline in newsletter signups. While all of the other sources have stayed fairly steady with regard to conversions, that one has sharply decreased.

You decide to move on from your other hypotheses about newsletter quality and dig deeper into the analytics.

One of the traps of critical thinking is that it’s easy to feel like you’re never done. There’s always more information you could collect and more rabbit holes you could fall down.

But at some point, you need to accept that you’ve done your due diligence and make a decision about how to move forward. That’s where inference comes in. It’s your ability to look at the evidence and facts available to you and draw an informed conclusion based on those.

When you’re so focused on staying objective and pursuing all possibilities, inference can feel like the antithesis of critical thinking. But ultimately, it’s your inference skills that allow you to move out of the thinking process and onto the action steps.

You dig deeper into the analytics for the page that hasn’t been converting and notice that the sharp drop-off happened around the same time you switched email providers.

After looking more into the backend, you realize that the signup form on that page isn’t correctly connected to your newsletter platform. It seems like anybody who has signed up on that page hasn’t been fed to your email list.

Communication

3 ways to improve your communication skills at work

If and when you identify a solution or answer, you can’t keep it close to the vest. You’ll need to use your communication skills to share your findings with the relevant stakeholders – like your boss, team members, or anybody who needs to be involved in the next steps.

Your analysis skills will come in handy here too, as they’ll help you determine what information other people need to know so you can avoid bogging them down with unnecessary details.

In your next team meeting, you pull up the analytics and show your team the sharp drop-off as well as the missing connection between that page and your email platform. You ask the web team to reinstall and double-check that connection and you also ask a member of the marketing team to draft an apology email to the subscribers who were missed.

Problem-solving

Critical thinking and problem-solving are two more terms that are frequently confused. After all, when you think critically, you’re often doing so with the objective of solving a problem.

The best way to understand how problem-solving and critical thinking differ is to think of problem-solving as much more narrow. You’re focused on finding a solution.

In contrast, you can use critical thinking for a variety of use cases beyond solving a problem – like answering questions or identifying opportunities for improvement. Even so, within the critical thinking process, you’ll flex your problem-solving skills when it comes time to take action.

Once the fix is implemented, you monitor the analytics to see if subscribers continue to increase. If not (or if they increase at a slower rate than you anticipated), you’ll roll out some other tests like changing the CTA language or the placement of the subscribe form on the page.

5 ways to improve your critical thinking skills

Beyond the buzzwords: Why interpersonal skills matter at work

Think critically about critical thinking and you’ll quickly realize that it’s not as instinctive as you’d like it to be. Fortunately, your critical thinking skills are learned competencies and not inherent gifts – and that means you can improve them. Here’s how:

Practice active listening: Active listening helps you process and understand what other people share. That’s crucial as you aim to be open-minded and inquisitive.
Ask open-ended questions: If your critical thinking process involves collecting feedback and opinions from others, ask open-ended questions (meaning, questions that can’t be answered with “yes” or “no”). Doing so will give you more valuable information and also prevent your own biases from influencing people’s input.
Scrutinize your sources: Figuring out what to trust and prioritize is crucial for critical thinking. Boosting your media literacy and asking more questions will help you be more discerning about what to factor in. It’s hard to strike a balance between skepticism and open-mindedness, but approaching information with questions (rather than unquestioning trust) will help you draw better conclusions.
Play a game: Remember those riddles we mentioned at the beginning? As trivial as they might seem, games and exercises like those can help you boost your critical thinking skills. There are plenty of critical thinking exercises you can do individually or as a team .
Give yourself time: Research shows that rushed decisions are often regrettable ones. That’s likely because critical thinking takes time – you can’t do it under the wire. So, for big decisions or hairy problems, give yourself enough time and breathing room to work through the process. It’s hard enough to think critically without a countdown ticking in your brain.

Critical thinking really is critical

The ability to think critically is important, but it doesn’t come naturally to most of us. It’s just easier to stick with biases, assumptions, and surface-level information.

But that route often leads you to rash judgments, shaky conclusions, and disappointing decisions. So here’s a conclusion we can draw without any more noodling: Even if it is more demanding on your mental resources, critical thinking is well worth the effort.

Advice, stories, and expertise about work life today.

Psychology: Thinking, language, and Intelligence

Library Resources
Books & Ebooks
WGTC Psychology Courses
What is Psychology?
Biological Foundations of Behavior
Methods of Research
Sensation and Perception
Consciousness

Thinking, language, and Intelligence

Motivation and Emotion
Personality: Theory and Measurement
Prenatal Development
Infancy & Childhood Development
Adolescence Development
Psychology, Stress, Health, and Coping
Psychological Disorders
Methods of Therapy
Social Psychology
Branches & Fields of Psychology
APA Citation / Writing
Additional Resources
OER for Psychology
Copyright & plagiarism

Intelligence

Problem Solving

Decision making

Intelligence theories

History of Intelligence testing

Books in Library Catalog

Language Development

Learning Disorders

Dyslexia: A learning disorder characterized by impaired ability to read.

Intellectual disability: A generalized deficit or impairment in intellectual and social skills.

dysgraphia: have a learning disability that results in a struggle to write legibly

Nature & Nurture

IQ scores of identical twins tend to be more similar than those between other siblings, but whether identical twins are raised together or apart also has a bearing on how similar their IQ scores are likely to be.

Evidence indicates that genetic and environmental factors interact in complex ways in shaping intelligence.

heritability: The degree to which heredity accounts for variations on a given trait within a population.

Increasing evidence points to environmental, rather than genetic, factors in explaining racial or ethnic group differences in IQ

Learning Theorists: see language as developing according to laws of learning. refer to concepts of imitation, observation, and reinforcement.

Nativist theory: innate factors which make up children's nature cause children to attend to and acquire language in certain ways

Psycholinguistic theory: the view that language learning involves an interaction between environmental factors and an inborn tendency to acquire language

Language acquisition device (LAD): neural "prewiring" that facilitates the child's learning of grammar

Intellectual functioning appears to be influenced by interaction of genetic factors, health, personality, and sociocultural factors

The process of mentally representing and manipulating information. mental image A mental picture or representation of an object or event.

cognitive psychology: The branch of psychology that focuses on such mental processes as thinking, problem solving, decision making, and use of language.

Creativity: a form of thinking in which we combine information in new ways that provide useful solutions to problems.

George de Mestral created Velcro
Arthur Fry created adhesive used on post it notes

divergent thinking: The ability to conceive of new ways of viewing situations and new uses for familiar objects.

Tests that tap divergent thinking were originated by psychologist J. P. Guilford and his colleagues.
The Alternate Uses Test: instructs subjects to list as many possible uses as they can for a common object. The person’s score is based on the number of acceptable responses the person is able to generate

convergent thinking: The attempt to narrow down a range of alternatives to converge on the one correct answer to a problem.

cognitive processes

An analogy is a comparison between two things based on their similar features or properties
conceptual combinations: Combinations of two or more concepts into one concept, resulting in the creation of a novel idea or application.
conceptual expansion: Expanding familiar concepts by applying them to new uses.

brainstorming: A method of promoting divergent thinking by encouraging people to propose as many solutions to a problem as possible without fear of being judged negatively by others, no matter how farfetched their proposals may be.

Apply skills of problem solving to become a creative problem solver include adopting a questioning attitude, gathering information, avoiding getting stuck in mental sets, generating alternatives, sleeping on it, and test out possible solutions.

mental image: a mental picture or representation of an object or event

Many of Albert Einstein's insights derived from the use of mental imaging in the form of thought experiments

concepts: Mental categories for classifying events, objects, and ideas on the basis of their common features or properties.

helps us respond more quickly to events by reducing the need for new learning each time we encounter a familiar object or event
helps us to make sense of the world and prepares us to anticipate or predict events.

Types of Concepts

logical concepts: Concepts with clearly defined rules for membership.

natural concepts: Concepts with poorly defined or fuzzy rules for membership

Problem solving: a cognitive process in which we employ mental strategies to solve problems.

Problem Solving Strategies

algorithm: A step-by-step set of rules that will always lead to a correct solution to a problem.

Systematic random search: an algorithm for solving problems in which each possible solution is tested according to a particular set of rules

heuristic: A rule of thumb for solving problems or making judgments or decisions.

means–end heuristic: we evaluate our current situation and compare it with the end result we want to achieve. We then develop a plan to reduce the distance between the two, step by step.
backward-working heuristic: we start with a possible solution and then work backward to see if the data support the solution.
creating subgoals: we break a larger problem down into smaller, more manageable problems.

Problem Solving Road Blocks

mental set: The tendency to rely on strategies that worked in similar situations in the past but that may not be appropriate to the present situation.

functional fixedness: The tendency to perceive objects as limited to the customary functions they serve.

decision making: A form of problem solving in which we must select a course of action from among the available alternatives.

Motivated Reasoning: making decisions and judgments on the basis of emotion rather than careful evaluation of all the available evidence
Anchoring and adjustment heuristic: a decision making heuristic in which a presumption or first estimate serves as a cognitive anchor; as we receive additional information, we make adjustments but tend to remain in the proximity of the anchor

confirmation bias: The tendency to maintain allegiance to an initial hypothesis despite strong evidence to the contrary.

representativeness heuristic: A rule of thumb for making a judgment that assumes a given sample is representative of the larger population from which it is drawn. availability heuristic: The tendency to judge events as more likely to occur when information pertaining to them comes readily to mind.

insight: in Gestalt psychology, a sudden perception of relationships among elements of the mentally represented elements of a problem that permits its solution

incubation: in problem solving, a process that may sometimes occur when we stand back from a frustrated problem for a while and the solution "suddenly" appears

A system of communication composed of symbols (words, hand signs, and so on) that are arranged according to a set of rules (grammar) to form meaningful expressions.

Language is a communication system that involves using words and systematic rules to organize those words to transmit information from one individual to another.

Components of Language:

Lexicon: refers to the words of a given language

grammar: The set of rules governing how symbols in a given language are used to form meaningful expressions.

phonemes: The basic units of sound in a language.

morphemes: The smallest units of meaning in a language.

syntax: The rules of grammar that determine how words are ordered within sentences or phrases to form meaningful expressions.

semantics: The set of rules governing the meaning of words.

infinite creativity: the capacity to combine words into original sentences

displacement: the quality of language that permits one to communicate information about objects and events in another time and place

language acquisition device: Noam Chomsky’s concept of an innate, prewired mechanism in the brain that allows children to acquire language naturally.

linguistic relativity hypothesis: The proposition that the language we use determines how we think and how we perceive the world (also called the Whorfian hypothesis).

Created by Benjamin Whorf

Development of Grammar

holophrases: initial utterances of children; a single word used to express complex meaning

Telegraphic speech: end of second year, two word sentences; cut out "unnecessary" words

Overregularization: the application of regular grammatical rules for forming inflections to irregular verbs or nouns

Theories of Intelligence

The capacity to think and reason clearly and to act purposefully and effectively in adapting to the environment and pursuing one’s goals.

Emotional intelligence: the ability to recognize and manage emotions

Measuring Intelligence

Alfred Binet & Theodore Simon

subtracted the child’s mental age from his or her actual age

German psychologist, William Stern

Adopted by Binet & Simon

Henry Goddard

brought the Binet-Simon intelligence test to the United States, also held another important distinction. He briefly served as coach of the USC football team. He remains to this day the only undefeated head coach in USC history.

Stanford University psychologist, Lewis Terman

adapted the Binet-Simon test for American use, adding many items of his own and establishing criteria, or norms, for comparing an individual’s scores with those of the general population. The revised test, known as the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale (SBIS), was first published in 1916.

norms: The standards used to compare an individual’s performance on a test with the performance of others.

standardization: The process of establishing norms for a test by administering the test to large numbers of people who constitute a standardization sample.

David Wechsler

Wechsler scales: group test questions into a number of subtests. Each subtest measures different intellectual tasks. Highlights individual weaknesses and strengths.

Characteristics of a Good Intelligence test

reliability: The stability of test scores over time.

validity: The degree to which a test measures what it purports to measure.

predictive validity: the degree to which test scores accurately predict future behavior or performance

culture-fair tests: Tests designed to eliminate cultural biases.

mainstreaming: The practice of placing children with special needs in a regular classroom environment.

Spearman’s “g"

British psychologist Charles Spearman observed that people who scored well on one test of mental ability tended to score well on other tests. He believed that there is an underlying general factor of intelligence that allows people to do well on mental tests. He also believed that intelligence includes specific abilities that, along with “g,” contribute to performance on individual tests

Spearman’s “s"

Spearman's symbol for specific factors, or s factors, which he believed accounted for individual abilities

Psychologist Louis L. Thurstone

did not believe that any one large, dominating factor like “g” could account for intelligence. Rather, his studies pointed to a set of seven primary mental abilities: verbal comprehension, numerical ability, memory, inductive reasoning, perceptual speed, verbal fluency, and spatial relations

Psychologist Howard Gardner

Multiple Intelligence Theory:

rejects the view that there is a single entity called “intelligence.” Rather, he believes there exist different types of intelligence, multiple intelligences, that vary from person to person. Gardner identified eight different intelligences: linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalist
According to Gardner’s model of multiple intelligences, we possess separate intelligences that we rely on to perform different types of tasks.

Psychologist Robert Sternberg

emphasizes how we bring together different aspects of our intelligence to meet the demands we face in our daily lives. Sternberg proposes a triarchic theory of intelligence, which holds that intelligence has three aspects: analytic (academic ability), creative ( Cope with situations and find many solutions to problems), and practical("street smarts").
<< Previous: Memory
Next: Motivation and Emotion >>
Last Updated: Mar 11, 2024 2:18 PM
URL: https://wiregrass.libguides.com/Psychology

Search Search Search …
Search Search …

Critical Thinking Models: A Comprehensive Guide for Effective Decision Making

Critical thinking models are valuable frameworks that help individuals develop and enhance their critical thinking skills . These models provide a structured approach to problem-solving and decision-making by encouraging the evaluation of information and arguments in a logical, systematic manner. By understanding and applying these models, one can learn to make well-reasoned judgments and decisions.

Various critical thinking models exist, each catering to different contexts and scenarios. These models offer a step-by-step method to analyze situations, scrutinize assumptions and biases, and consider alternative perspectives. Ultimately, the goal of critical thinking models is to enhance an individual’s ability to think critically, ultimately improving their reasoning and decision-making skills in both personal and professional settings.

Key Takeaways

Critical thinking models provide structured approaches for enhancing decision-making abilities
These models help individuals analyze situations, scrutinize assumptions, and consider alternative perspectives
The application of critical thinking models can significantly improve one’s reasoning and judgment skills.

Fundamentals of Critical Thinking

Definition and Importance

Critical thinking is the intellectual process of logically, objectively, and systematically evaluating information to form reasoned judgments, utilizing reasoning , logic , and evidence . It involves:

Identifying and questioning assumptions,
Applying consistent principles and criteria,
Analyzing and synthesizing information,
Drawing conclusions based on evidence.

The importance of critical thinking lies in its ability to help individuals make informed decisions, solve complex problems, and differentiate between true and false beliefs .

Core Cognitive Skills

Several core cognitive skills underpin critical thinking:

Analysis : Breaking down complex information into smaller components to identify patterns or inconsistencies.
Evaluation : Assessing the credibility and relevance of sources, arguments, and evidence.
Inference : Drawing conclusions by connecting the dots between analyzed information.
Synthesis : Incorporating analyzed information into a broader understanding and constructing one’s argument.
Logic and reasoning : Applying principles of logic to determine the validity of arguments and weigh evidence.

These skills enable individuals to consistently apply intellectual standards in their thought process, which ultimately results in sound judgments and informed decisions.

Influence of Cognitive Biases

A key aspect of critical thinking is recognizing and mitigating the impact of cognitive biases on our thought processes. Cognitive biases are cognitive shortcuts or heuristics that can lead to flawed reasoning and distort our understanding of a situation. Examples of cognitive biases include confirmation bias, anchoring bias, and availability heuristic.

To counter the influence of cognitive biases, critical thinkers must be aware of their own assumptions and strive to apply consistent and objective evaluation criteria in their thinking process. The practice of actively recognizing and addressing cognitive biases promotes an unbiased and rational approach to problem-solving and decision-making.

The Critical Thinking Process

Stages of Critical Thinking

The critical thinking process starts with gathering and evaluating data . This stage involves identifying relevant information and ensuring it is credible and reliable. Next, an individual engages in analysis by examining the data closely to understand its context and interpret its meaning. This step can involve breaking down complex ideas into simpler components for better understanding.

The next stage focuses on determining the quality of the arguments, concepts, and theories present in the analyzed data. Critical thinkers question the credibility and logic behind the information while also considering their own biases and assumptions. They apply consistent standards when evaluating sources, which helps them identify any weaknesses in the arguments.

Values play a significant role in the critical thinking process. Critical thinkers assess the significance of moral, ethical, or cultural values shaping the issue, argument, or decision at hand. They determine whether these values align with the evidence and logic they have analyzed.

After thorough analysis and evaluation, critical thinkers draw conclusions based on the evidence and reasoning gathered. This step includes synthesizing the information and presenting a clear, concise argument or decision. It also involves explaining the reasoning behind the conclusion to ensure it is well-founded.

Application in Decision Making

In decision making, critical thinking is a vital skill that allows individuals to make informed choices. It enables them to:

Analyze options and their potential consequences
Evaluate the credibility of sources and the quality of information
Identify biases, assumptions, and values that may influence the decision
Construct a reasoned, well-justified conclusion

By using critical thinking in decision making, individuals can make more sound, objective choices. The process helps them to avoid pitfalls like jumping to conclusions, being influenced by biases, or basing decisions on unreliable data. The result is more thoughtful, carefully-considered decisions leading to higher quality outcomes.

Critical Thinking Models

Critical thinking models are frameworks that help individuals develop better problem-solving and decision-making abilities. They provide strategies for analyzing, evaluating, and synthesizing information to reach well-founded conclusions. This section will discuss four notable models: The RED Model, Bloom’s Taxonomy, Paul-Elder Model, and The Halpern Critical Thinking Assessment.

The RED Model

The RED Model stands for Recognize Assumptions, Evaluate Arguments, and Draw Conclusions. It emphasizes the importance of questioning assumptions, weighing evidence, and reaching logical conclusions.

Recognize Assumptions: Identify and challenge assumptions that underlie statements, beliefs, or arguments.
Evaluate Arguments: Assess the validity and reliability of evidence to support or refute claims.
Draw Conclusions: Make well-reasoned decisions based on available information and sound reasoning.

The RED Model helps individuals become more effective problem solvers and decision-makers by guiding them through the critical thinking process ^(source) .

Bloom’s Taxonomy

Bloom’s Taxonomy is a hierarchical model that classifies cognitive skills into six levels of complexity. These levels are remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating. By progressing through these levels, individuals can develop higher-order thinking skills.

Remembering: Recall information or facts.
Understanding: Comprehend the meaning of ideas, facts, or problems.
Applying: Use knowledge in different situations.
Analyzing: Break down complex topics or problems into sub-parts.
Evaluating: Assess the quality, relevance, or credibility of information, ideas, or solutions.
Creating: Combine elements to form a new whole, generate new ideas, or solve complex issues.

Paul-Elder Model

The Paul-Elder Model introduces the concept of “elements of thought,” focusing on a structured approach to critical thinking. This model promotes intellectual standards, such as clarity, accuracy, and relevance. It consists of three stages:

Critical Thinking: Employ the intellectual standards to problem-solving and decision-making processes.
Elements of Thought: Consider purpose, question at issue, information, interpretation and inference, concepts, assumptions, implications, and point of view.
Intellectual Traits: Develop intellectual traits, such as intellectual humility, intellectual empathy, and intellectual perseverance.

This model fosters a deeper understanding and appreciation of critical thinking ^(source) .

The Halpern Critical Thinking Assessment

The Halpern Critical Thinking Assessment is a standardized test developed by Diane Halpern to assess critical thinking skills. The evaluation uses a variety of tasks to measure abilities in core skill areas, such as verbal reasoning, argument analysis, and decision making. Pearson, a leading publisher of educational assessments, offers this test as a means to assess individuals’ critical thinking skills ^(source) .

These four critical thinking models can be used as frameworks to improve and enhance cognitive abilities. By learning and practicing these models, individuals can become better equipped to analyze complex information, evaluate options, and make well-informed decisions.

Evaluating Information and Arguments

In this section, we will discuss the importance of evaluating information and arguments in the process of critical thinking, focusing on evidence assessment, logic and fallacies, and argument analysis.

Evidence Assessment

Evaluating the relevance, accuracy, and credibility of information is a vital aspect of critical thinking. In the process of evidence assessment, a thinker should consider the following factors:

Source reliability : Research and understand the expertise and credibility of the source to ensure that biased or inaccurate information is not being considered.
Currency : Check the date of the information to make sure it is still relevant and accurate in the present context.
Objectivity : Analyze the information for potential bias and always cross-reference it with other credible sources.

When practicing critical thinking skills, it is essential to be aware of your own biases and make efforts to minimize their influence on your decision-making process.

Logic and Fallacies

Logic is crucial for deconstructing and analyzing complex arguments, while identifying and avoiding logical fallacies helps maintain accurate and valid conclusions. Some common fallacies to watch out for in critical thinking include:

Ad Hominem : Attacking the person making the argument instead of addressing the argument itself.
Strawman : Misrepresenting an opponent’s argument to make it easier to refute.
False Dilemma : Presenting only two options when there may be multiple viable alternatives.
Appeal to Authority : Assuming a claim is true simply because an authority figure supports it.

Being aware of these fallacies enables a thinker to effectively evaluate the strength of an argument and make sound judgments accordingly.

Argument Analysis

Analyzing an argument is the process of evaluating its structure, premises, and conclusion while determining its validity and soundness. To analyze an argument, follow these steps:

Identify the premises and conclusion : Determine the main point is being argued, how it is related and substance of the argument.
Evaluate the validity : Assess whether the conclusion logically follows from the premises and if the argument’s structure is sound.
Test the soundness : Evaluate the truth and relevance of the premises. This may require verifying the accuracy of facts and evidence, as well as assessing the reliability of sources.
Consider counter-arguments : Identify opposing viewpoints and counter-arguments, and evaluate their credibility to gauge the overall strength of the original argument.

By effectively evaluating information and arguments, critical thinkers develop a solid foundation for making well-informed decisions and solving problems.

Enhancing Critical Thinking

Strategies for improvement.

To enhance critical thinking, individuals can practice different strategies, including asking thought-provoking questions, analyzing ideas and observations, and being open to different perspectives. One effective technique is the Critical Thinking Roadmap , which breaks critical thinking down into four measurable phases: execute, synthesize, recommend, and communicate. It’s important to use deliberate practice in these areas to develop a strong foundation for problem-solving and decision-making. In addition, cultivating a mindset of courage , fair-mindedness , and empathy will support critical thinking development.

Critical Thinking in Education

In the field of education, critical thinking is an essential component of effective learning and pedagogy. Integrating critical thinking into the curriculum encourages student autonomy, fosters innovation, and improves student outcomes. Teachers can use various approaches to promote critical thinking, such as:

Employing open-ended questions to stimulate ideas
Incorporating group discussions or debates to facilitate communication and evaluation of viewpoints
Assessing and providing feedback on student work to encourage reflection and improvement
Utilizing real-world scenarios and case studies for practical application of concepts

Developing a Critical Thinking Mindset

To truly enhance critical thinking abilities, it’s important to adopt a mindset that values integrity , autonomy , and empathy . These qualities help to create a learning environment that encourages open-mindedness, which is key to critical thinking development. To foster a critical thinking mindset:

Be curious : Remain open to new ideas and ask questions to gain a deeper understanding.
Communicate effectively : Clearly convey thoughts and actively listen to others.
Reflect and assess : Regularly evaluate personal beliefs and assumptions to promote growth.
Embrace diversity of thought : Welcome different viewpoints and ideas to foster innovation.

Incorporating these approaches can lead to a more robust critical thinking skillset, allowing individuals to better navigate and solve complex problems.

Critical Thinking in Various Contexts

The workplace and beyond.

Critical thinking is a highly valued skill in the workplace, as it enables employees to analyze situations, make informed decisions, and solve problems effectively. It involves a careful thinking process directed towards a specific goal. Employers often seek individuals who possess strong critical thinking abilities, as they can add significant value to the organization.

In the workplace context, critical thinkers are able to recognize assumptions, evaluate arguments, and draw conclusions, following models such as the RED model . They can also adapt their thinking to suit various scenarios, allowing them to tackle complex and diverse problems.

Moreover, critical thinking transcends the workplace and applies to various aspects of life. It empowers an individual to make better decisions, analyze conflicting information, and engage in constructive debates.

Creative and Lateral Thinking

Critical thinking encompasses both creative and lateral thinking. Creative thinking involves generating novel ideas and solutions to problems, while lateral thinking entails looking at problems from different angles to find unique and innovative solutions.

Creative thinking allows thinkers to:

Devise new concepts and ideas
Challenge conventional wisdom
Build on existing knowledge to generate innovative solutions

Lateral thinking, on the other hand, encourages thinkers to:

Break free from traditional thought patterns
Combine seemingly unrelated ideas to create unique solutions
Utilize intuition and intelligence to approach problems from a different perspective

Both creative and lateral thinking are essential components of critical thinking, allowing individuals to view problems in a holistic manner and generate well-rounded solutions. These skills are highly valued by employers and can lead to significant personal and professional growth.

In conclusion, critical thinking is a multifaceted skill that comprises various thought processes, including creative and lateral thinking. By embracing these skills, individuals can excel in the workplace and in their personal lives, making better decisions and solving problems effectively.

Overcoming Challenges

Recognizing and addressing bias.

Cognitive biases and thinking biases can significantly affect the process of critical thinking . One of the key components of overcoming these challenges is to recognize and address them. It is essential to be aware of one’s own beliefs, as well as the beliefs of others, to ensure fairness and clarity throughout the decision-making process. To identify and tackle biases, one can follow these steps:

Be self-aware : Understand personal beliefs and biases, acknowledging that they may influence the interpretation of information.
Embrace diverse perspectives : Encourage open discussions and invite different viewpoints to challenge assumptions and foster cognitive diversity.
Reevaluate evidence : Continuously reassess the relevance and validity of the information being considered.

By adopting these practices, individuals can minimize the impact of biases and enhance the overall quality of their critical thinking skills.

Dealing with Information Overload

In today’s world, information is abundant, and it can become increasingly difficult to demystify and make sense of the available data. Dealing with information overload is a crucial aspect of critical thinking. Here are some strategies to address this challenge:

Prioritize information : Focus on the most relevant and reliable data, filtering out unnecessary details.
Organize data : Use tables, charts, and lists to categorize information and identify patterns more efficiently.
Break down complex information : Divide complex data into smaller, manageable segments to simplify interpretation and inferences.

By implementing these techniques, individuals can effectively manage information overload, enabling them to process and analyze data more effectively, leading to better decision-making.

In conclusion, overcoming challenges such as biases and information overload is essential in the pursuit of effective critical thinking. By recognizing and addressing these obstacles, individuals can develop clarity and fairness in their thought processes, leading to well-informed decisions and improved problem-solving capabilities.

Measuring Critical Thinking

Assessment tools and criteria.

There are several assessment tools designed to measure critical thinking, each focusing on different aspects such as quality, depth, breadth, and significance of thinking. One example of a widely used standardized test is the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal , which evaluates an individual’s ability to interpret information, draw conclusions, and make assumptions. Another test is the Cornell Critical Thinking Tests Level X and Level Z , which assess an individual’s critical thinking skills through multiple-choice questions.

Furthermore, criteria for assessing critical thinking often include precision, relevance, and the ability to gather and analyze relevant information. Some assessors utilize the Halpern Critical Thinking Assessment , which measures the application of cognitive skills such as deduction, observation, and induction in real-world scenarios.

The Role of IQ and Tests

It’s important to note that intelligence quotient (IQ) tests and critical thinking assessments are not the same. While IQ tests aim to measure an individual’s cognitive abilities and general intelligence, critical thinking tests focus specifically on one’s ability to analyze, evaluate, and form well-founded opinions. Therefore, having a high IQ does not necessarily guarantee strong critical thinking skills, as critical thinking requires additional mental processes beyond basic logical reasoning.

To build and enhance critical thinking skills, individuals should practice and develop higher-order thinking, such as critical alertness, critical reflection, and critical analysis. Using a Critical Thinking Roadmap , such as the four-phase framework that includes execution, synthesis, recommendation, and the ability to apply, individuals can continuously work to improve their critical thinking abilities.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the main steps involved in the paul-elder critical thinking model.

The Paul-Elder Critical Thinking Model is a comprehensive framework for developing critical thinking skills. The main steps include: identifying the purpose, formulating questions, gathering information, identifying assumptions, interpreting information, and evaluating arguments. The model emphasizes clarity, accuracy, precision, relevance, depth, breadth, logic, and fairness throughout the critical thinking process. By following these steps, individuals can efficiently analyze and evaluate complex ideas and issues.

Can you list five techniques to enhance critical thinking skills?

Here are five techniques to help enhance critical thinking skills:

Ask open-ended questions : Encourages exploration and challenges assumptions.
Engage in active listening: Focus on understanding others’ viewpoints before responding.
Reflect on personal biases: Identify and question any preconceived notions or judgments.
Practice mindfulness: Develop self-awareness and stay present in the moment.
Collaborate with others: Exchange ideas and learn from diverse perspectives.

What is the RED Model of critical thinking and how is it applied?

The RED Model of critical thinking consists of three key components: Recognize Assumptions, Evaluate Arguments, and Draw Conclusions. To apply the RED Model, begin by recognizing and questioning underlying assumptions, being aware of personal biases and stereotypes. Next, evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of different arguments, considering evidence, logical consistency, and alternative explanations. Lastly, draw well-reasoned conclusions that are based on the analysis and evaluation of the information gathered.

How do the ‘3 C’s’ of critical thinking contribute to effective problem-solving?

The ‘3 C’s’ of critical thinking – Curiosity, Creativity, and Criticism – collectively contribute to effective problem-solving. Curiosity allows individuals to explore various perspectives and ask thought-provoking questions, while Creativity helps develop innovative solutions and unique approaches to challenges. Criticism, or the ability to evaluate and analyze ideas objectively, ensures that the problem-solving process remains grounded in logic and relevance.

What characteristics distinguish critical thinking from creative thinking?

Critical thinking and creative thinking are two complementary cognitive skills. Critical thinking primarily focuses on analyzing, evaluating, and reasoning, using objectivity and logical thinking. It involves identifying problems, assessing evidence, and drawing sound conclusions. Creative thinking, on the other hand, is characterized by the generation of new ideas, concepts, and approaches to solve problems, often involving imagination, originality, and out-of-the-box thinking.

What are some recommended books to help improve problem-solving and critical thinking skills?

There are several books that can help enhance problem-solving and critical thinking skills, including:

“Thinking, Fast and Slow” by Daniel Kahneman: This book explores the dual process theory of decision-making and reasoning.
“The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking” by Edward B. Burger and Michael Starbird: Offers practical tips and strategies for improving critical thinking skills.
“Critique of Pure Reason” by Immanuel Kant: A classic philosophical work that delves into the principles of reason and cognition.
“Mindware: Tools for Smart Thinking” by Richard E. Nisbett: Presents a range of cognitive tools to enhance critical thinking and decision-making abilities.
“The Art of Thinking Clearly” by Rolf Dobelli: Explores common cognitive biases and errors in judgment that can affect critical thinking.

Using Critical Thinking to Find Your Strengths and Passions

When you hear the words “critical thinking”, the first thought that probably crossed your mind is that this person is a natural […]

Critical Thinking: Where It Went And How To Bring It Back

Critical thinking has been a cornerstone of academia and sound decision-making for decades. What used to be a skill that was widely […]

11 Effective and Fun Exercises to Learn Critical Thinking

No one’s too old to learn critical thinking. No one’s too smart to disregard it as well. A school is still the […]

A Student’s Guide to Critical Thinking

In the past, classroom-based learning revolved on retaining and repeating any information given. Today, schools focus on teaching the skills to learn […]

How to improve your problem solving skills and build effective problem solving strategies

Design your next session with SessionLab

Join the 150,000+ facilitators  using SessionLab.

What is a problem solving process?

What are the problem solving steps I need to follow?

Problem solving strategies

What skills do i need to be an effective problem solver, how can i improve my problem solving skills.

Solving problems is like baking a cake. You can go straight into the kitchen without a recipe or the right ingredients and do your best, but the end result is unlikely to be very tasty!

Using a process to bake a cake allows you to use the best ingredients without waste, collect the right tools, account for allergies, decide whether it is a birthday or wedding cake, and then bake efficiently and on time. The result is a better cake that is fit for purpose, tastes better and has created less mess in the kitchen. Also, it should have chocolate sprinkles. Having a step by step process to solve organizational problems allows you to go through each stage methodically and ensure you are trying to solve the right problems and select the most appropriate, effective solutions.

What are the problem solving steps I need to follow?

All problem solving processes go through a number of steps in order to move from identifying a problem to resolving it.

Depending on your problem solving model and who you ask, there can be anything between four and nine problem solving steps you should follow in order to find the right solution. Whatever framework you and your group use, there are some key items that should be addressed in order to have an effective process.

We’ve looked at problem solving processes from sources such as the American Society for Quality and their four step approach , and Mediate ‘s six step process. By reflecting on those and our own problem solving processes, we’ve come up with a sequence of seven problem solving steps we feel best covers everything you need in order to effectively solve problems.

1. Problem identification

The first stage of any problem solving process is to identify the problem or problems you might want to solve. Effective problem solving strategies always begin by allowing a group scope to articulate what they believe the problem to be and then coming to some consensus over which problem they approach first. Problem solving activities used at this stage often have a focus on creating frank, open discussion so that potential problems can be brought to the surface.

2. Problem analysis

Though this step is not a million miles from problem identification, problem analysis deserves to be considered separately. It can often be an overlooked part of the process and is instrumental when it comes to developing effective solutions.

The process of problem analysis means ensuring that the problem you are seeking to solve is the right problem . As part of this stage, you may look deeper and try to find the root cause of a specific problem at a team or organizational level.

Remember that problem solving strategies should not only be focused on putting out fires in the short term but developing long term solutions that deal with the root cause of organizational challenges.

Whatever your approach, analyzing a problem is crucial in being able to select an appropriate solution and the problem solving skills deployed in this stage are beneficial for the rest of the process and ensuring the solutions you create are fit for purpose.

3. Solution generation

Once your group has nailed down the particulars of the problem you wish to solve, you want to encourage a free flow of ideas connecting to solving that problem. This can take the form of problem solving games that encourage creative thinking or problem solving activities designed to produce working prototypes of possible solutions.

The key to ensuring the success of this stage of the problem solving process is to encourage quick, creative thinking and create an open space where all ideas are considered. The best solutions can come from unlikely places and by using problem solving techniques that celebrate invention, you might come up with solution gold.

4. Solution development

No solution is likely to be perfect right out of the gate. It’s important to discuss and develop the solutions your group has come up with over the course of following the previous problem solving steps in order to arrive at the best possible solution. Problem solving games used in this stage involve lots of critical thinking, measuring potential effort and impact, and looking at possible solutions analytically.

During this stage, you will often ask your team to iterate and improve upon your frontrunning solutions and develop them further. Remember that problem solving strategies always benefit from a multitude of voices and opinions, and not to let ego get involved when it comes to choosing which solutions to develop and take further.

Finding the best solution is the goal of all problem solving workshops and here is the place to ensure that your solution is well thought out, sufficiently robust and fit for purpose.

5. Decision making

Nearly there! Once your group has reached consensus and selected a solution that applies to the problem at hand you have some decisions to make. You will want to work on allocating ownership of the project, figure out who will do what, how the success of the solution will be measured and decide the next course of action.

The decision making stage is a part of the problem solving process that can get missed or taken as for granted. Fail to properly allocate roles and plan out how a solution will actually be implemented and it less likely to be successful in solving the problem.

Have clear accountabilities, actions, timeframes, and follow-ups. Make these decisions and set clear next-steps in the problem solving workshop so that everyone is aligned and you can move forward effectively as a group.

Ensuring that you plan for the roll-out of a solution is one of the most important problem solving steps. Without adequate planning or oversight, it can prove impossible to measure success or iterate further if the problem was not solved.

6. Solution implementation

This is what we were waiting for! All problem solving strategies have the end goal of implementing a solution and solving a problem in mind.

Remember that in order for any solution to be successful, you need to help your group through all of the previous problem solving steps thoughtfully. Only then can you ensure that you are solving the right problem but also that you have developed the correct solution and can then successfully implement and measure the impact of that solution.

Project management and communication skills are key here – your solution may need to adjust when out in the wild or you might discover new challenges along the way.

7. Solution evaluation

So you and your team developed a great solution to a problem and have a gut feeling its been solved. Work done, right? Wrong. All problem solving strategies benefit from evaluation, consideration, and feedback. You might find that the solution does not work for everyone, might create new problems, or is potentially so successful that you will want to roll it out to larger teams or as part of other initiatives.

None of that is possible without taking the time to evaluate the success of the solution you developed in your problem solving model and adjust if necessary.

Remember that the problem solving process is often iterative and it can be common to not solve complex issues on the first try. Even when this is the case, you and your team will have generated learning that will be important for future problem solving workshops or in other parts of the organization.

It’s worth underlining how important record keeping is throughout the problem solving process. If a solution didn’t work, you need to have the data and records to see why that was the case. If you go back to the drawing board, notes from the previous workshop can help save time. Data and insight is invaluable at every stage of the problem solving process and this one is no different.

Problem solving workshops made easy

Problem solving strategies are methods of approaching and facilitating the process of problem-solving with a set of techniques , actions, and processes. Different strategies are more effective if you are trying to solve broad problems such as achieving higher growth versus more focused problems like, how do we improve our customer onboarding process?

Broadly, the problem solving steps outlined above should be included in any problem solving strategy though choosing where to focus your time and what approaches should be taken is where they begin to differ. You might find that some strategies ask for the problem identification to be done prior to the session or that everything happens in the course of a one day workshop.

The key similarity is that all good problem solving strategies are structured and designed. Four hours of open discussion is never going to be as productive as a four-hour workshop designed to lead a group through a problem solving process.

Good problem solving strategies are tailored to the team, organization and problem you will be attempting to solve. Here are some example problem solving strategies you can learn from or use to get started.

Use a workshop to lead a team through a group process

Often, the first step to solving problems or organizational challenges is bringing a group together effectively. Most teams have the tools, knowledge, and expertise necessary to solve their challenges – they just need some guidance in how to use leverage those skills and a structure and format that allows people to focus their energies.

Facilitated workshops are one of the most effective ways of solving problems of any scale. By designing and planning your workshop carefully, you can tailor the approach and scope to best fit the needs of your team and organization.

Problem solving workshop

Creating a bespoke, tailored process
Tackling problems of any size
Building in-house workshop ability and encouraging their use

Workshops are an effective strategy for solving problems. By using tried and test facilitation techniques and methods, you can design and deliver a workshop that is perfectly suited to the unique variables of your organization. You may only have the capacity for a half-day workshop and so need a problem solving process to match.

By using our session planner tool and importing methods from our library of 700+ facilitation techniques, you can create the right problem solving workshop for your team. It might be that you want to encourage creative thinking or look at things from a new angle to unblock your groups approach to problem solving. By tailoring your workshop design to the purpose, you can help ensure great results.

One of the main benefits of a workshop is the structured approach to problem solving. Not only does this mean that the workshop itself will be successful, but many of the methods and techniques will help your team improve their working processes outside of the workshop.

We believe that workshops are one of the best tools you can use to improve the way your team works together. Start with a problem solving workshop and then see what team building, culture or design workshops can do for your organization!

Run a design sprint

Great for:

aligning large, multi-discipline teams
quickly designing and testing solutions
tackling large, complex organizational challenges and breaking them down into smaller tasks

By using design thinking principles and methods, a design sprint is a great way of identifying, prioritizing and prototyping solutions to long term challenges that can help solve major organizational problems with quick action and measurable results.

Some familiarity with design thinking is useful, though not integral, and this strategy can really help a team align if there is some discussion around which problems should be approached first.

The stage-based structure of the design sprint is also very useful for teams new to design thinking. The inspiration phase, where you look to competitors that have solved your problem, and the rapid prototyping and testing phases are great for introducing new concepts that will benefit a team in all their future work.

It can be common for teams to look inward for solutions and so looking to the market for solutions you can iterate on can be very productive. Instilling an agile prototyping and testing mindset can also be great when helping teams move forwards – generating and testing solutions quickly can help save time in the long run and is also pretty exciting!

Break problems down into smaller issues

Organizational challenges and problems are often complicated and large scale in nature. Sometimes, trying to resolve such an issue in one swoop is simply unachievable or overwhelming. Try breaking down such problems into smaller issues that you can work on step by step. You may not be able to solve the problem of churning customers off the bat, but you can work with your team to identify smaller effort but high impact elements and work on those first.

This problem solving strategy can help a team generate momentum, prioritize and get some easy wins. It’s also a great strategy to employ with teams who are just beginning to learn how to approach the problem solving process. If you want some insight into a way to employ this strategy, we recommend looking at our design sprint template below!

Use guiding frameworks or try new methodologies

Some problems are best solved by introducing a major shift in perspective or by using new methodologies that encourage your team to think differently.

Props and tools such as Methodkit , which uses a card-based toolkit for facilitation, or Lego Serious Play can be great ways to engage your team and find an inclusive, democratic problem solving strategy. Remember that play and creativity are great tools for achieving change and whatever the challenge, engaging your participants can be very effective where other strategies may have failed.

LEGO Serious Play

Improving core problem solving skills
Thinking outside of the box
Encouraging creative solutions

LEGO Serious Play is a problem solving methodology designed to get participants thinking differently by using 3D models and kinesthetic learning styles. By physically building LEGO models based on questions and exercises, participants are encouraged to think outside of the box and create their own responses.

Collaborate LEGO Serious Play exercises are also used to encourage communication and build problem solving skills in a group. By using this problem solving process, you can often help different kinds of learners and personality types contribute and unblock organizational problems with creative thinking.

Problem solving strategies like LEGO Serious Play are super effective at helping a team solve more skills-based problems such as communication between teams or a lack of creative thinking. Some problems are not suited to LEGO Serious Play and require a different problem solving strategy.

Card Decks and Method Kits

New facilitators or non-facilitators
Approaching difficult subjects with a simple, creative framework
Engaging those with varied learning styles

Card decks and method kids are great tools for those new to facilitation or for whom facilitation is not the primary role. Card decks such as the emotional culture deck can be used for complete workshops and in many cases, can be used right out of the box. Methodkit has a variety of kits designed for scenarios ranging from personal development through to personas and global challenges so you can find the right deck for your particular needs.

Having an easy to use framework that encourages creativity or a new approach can take some of the friction or planning difficulties out of the workshop process and energize a team in any setting. Simplicity is the key with these methods. By ensuring everyone on your team can get involved and engage with the process as quickly as possible can really contribute to the success of your problem solving strategy.

Source external advice

Looking to peers, experts and external facilitators can be a great way of approaching the problem solving process. Your team may not have the necessary expertise, insights of experience to tackle some issues, or you might simply benefit from a fresh perspective. Some problems may require bringing together an entire team, and coaching managers or team members individually might be the right approach. Remember that not all problems are best resolved in the same manner.

If you’re a solo entrepreneur, peer groups, coaches and mentors can also be invaluable at not only solving specific business problems, but in providing a support network for resolving future challenges. One great approach is to join a Mastermind Group and link up with like-minded individuals and all grow together. Remember that however you approach the sourcing of external advice, do so thoughtfully, respectfully and honestly. Reciprocate where you can and prepare to be surprised by just how kind and helpful your peers can be!

Mastermind Group

Solo entrepreneurs or small teams with low capacity
Peer learning and gaining outside expertise
Getting multiple external points of view quickly

Problem solving in large organizations with lots of skilled team members is one thing, but how about if you work for yourself or in a very small team without the capacity to get the most from a design sprint or LEGO Serious Play session?

A mastermind group – sometimes known as a peer advisory board – is where a group of people come together to support one another in their own goals, challenges, and businesses. Each participant comes to the group with their own purpose and the other members of the group will help them create solutions, brainstorm ideas, and support one another.

Mastermind groups are very effective in creating an energized, supportive atmosphere that can deliver meaningful results. Learning from peers from outside of your organization or industry can really help unlock new ways of thinking and drive growth. Access to the experience and skills of your peers can be invaluable in helping fill the gaps in your own ability, particularly in young companies.

A mastermind group is a great solution for solo entrepreneurs, small teams, or for organizations that feel that external expertise or fresh perspectives will be beneficial for them. It is worth noting that Mastermind groups are often only as good as the participants and what they can bring to the group. Participants need to be committed, engaged and understand how to work in this context.

Coaching and mentoring

Focused learning and development
Filling skills gaps
Working on a range of challenges over time

Receiving advice from a business coach or building a mentor/mentee relationship can be an effective way of resolving certain challenges. The one-to-one format of most coaching and mentor relationships can really help solve the challenges those individuals are having and benefit the organization as a result.

A great mentor can be invaluable when it comes to spotting potential problems before they arise and coming to understand a mentee very well has a host of other business benefits. You might run an internal mentorship program to help develop your team’s problem solving skills and strategies or as part of a large learning and development program. External coaches can also be an important part of your problem solving strategy, filling skills gaps for your management team or helping with specific business issues.

Now we’ve explored the problem solving process and the steps you will want to go through in order to have an effective session, let’s look at the skills you and your team need to be more effective problem solvers.

Problem solving skills are highly sought after, whatever industry or team you work in. Organizations are keen to employ people who are able to approach problems thoughtfully and find strong, realistic solutions. Whether you are a facilitator , a team leader or a developer, being an effective problem solver is a skill you’ll want to develop.

Problem solving skills form a whole suite of techniques and approaches that an individual uses to not only identify problems but to discuss them productively before then developing appropriate solutions.

Here are some of the most important problem solving skills everyone from executives to junior staff members should learn. We’ve also included an activity or exercise from the SessionLab library that can help you and your team develop that skill.

If you’re running a workshop or training session to try and improve problem solving skills in your team, try using these methods to supercharge your process!

Active listening

Active listening is one of the most important skills anyone who works with people can possess. In short, active listening is a technique used to not only better understand what is being said by an individual, but also to be more aware of the underlying message the speaker is trying to convey. When it comes to problem solving, active listening is integral for understanding the position of every participant and to clarify the challenges, ideas and solutions they bring to the table.

Some active listening skills include:

Paying complete attention to the speaker.
Removing distractions.
Avoid interruption.
Taking the time to fully understand before preparing a rebuttal.
Responding respectfully and appropriately.
Demonstrate attentiveness and positivity with an open posture, making eye contact with the speaker, smiling and nodding if appropriate. Show that you are listening and encourage them to continue.
Be aware of and respectful of feelings. Judge the situation and respond appropriately. You can disagree without being disrespectful.
Observe body language.
Paraphrase what was said in your own words, either mentally or verbally.
Remain neutral.
Reflect and take a moment before responding.
Ask deeper questions based on what is said and clarify points where necessary.

Active Listening #hyperisland #skills #active listening #remote-friendly This activity supports participants to reflect on a question and generate their own solutions using simple principles of active listening and peer coaching. It’s an excellent introduction to active listening but can also be used with groups that are already familiar with it. Participants work in groups of three and take turns being: “the subject”, the listener, and the observer.

Analytical skills

All problem solving models require strong analytical skills, particularly during the beginning of the process and when it comes to analyzing how solutions have performed.

Analytical skills are primarily focused on performing an effective analysis by collecting, studying and parsing data related to a problem or opportunity.

It often involves spotting patterns, being able to see things from different perspectives and using observable facts and data to make suggestions or produce insight.

Analytical skills are also important at every stage of the problem solving process and by having these skills, you can ensure that any ideas or solutions you create or backed up analytically and have been sufficiently thought out.

Nine Whys #innovation #issue analysis #liberating structures With breathtaking simplicity, you can rapidly clarify for individuals and a group what is essentially important in their work. You can quickly reveal when a compelling purpose is missing in a gathering and avoid moving forward without clarity. When a group discovers an unambiguous shared purpose, more freedom and more responsibility are unleashed. You have laid the foundation for spreading and scaling innovations with fidelity.

Collaboration

Trying to solve problems on your own is difficult. Being able to collaborate effectively, with a free exchange of ideas, to delegate and be a productive member of a team is hugely important to all problem solving strategies.

Remember that whatever your role, collaboration is integral, and in a problem solving process, you are all working together to find the best solution for everyone.

Marshmallow challenge with debriefing #teamwork #team #leadership #collaboration In eighteen minutes, teams must build the tallest free-standing structure out of 20 sticks of spaghetti, one yard of tape, one yard of string, and one marshmallow. The marshmallow needs to be on top. The Marshmallow Challenge was developed by Tom Wujec, who has done the activity with hundreds of groups around the world. Visit the Marshmallow Challenge website for more information. This version has an extra debriefing question added with sample questions focusing on roles within the team.

Communication

Being an effective communicator means being empathetic, clear and succinct, asking the right questions, and demonstrating active listening skills throughout any discussion or meeting.

In a problem solving setting, you need to communicate well in order to progress through each stage of the process effectively. As a team leader, it may also fall to you to facilitate communication between parties who may not see eye to eye. Effective communication also means helping others to express themselves and be heard in a group.

Bus Trip #feedback #communication #appreciation #closing #thiagi #team This is one of my favourite feedback games. I use Bus Trip at the end of a training session or a meeting, and I use it all the time. The game creates a massive amount of energy with lots of smiles, laughs, and sometimes even a teardrop or two.

Creative problem solving skills can be some of the best tools in your arsenal. Thinking creatively, being able to generate lots of ideas and come up with out of the box solutions is useful at every step of the process.

The kinds of problems you will likely discuss in a problem solving workshop are often difficult to solve, and by approaching things in a fresh, creative manner, you can often create more innovative solutions.

Having practical creative skills is also a boon when it comes to problem solving. If you can help create quality design sketches and prototypes in record time, it can help bring a team to alignment more quickly or provide a base for further iteration.

The paper clip method #sharing #creativity #warm up #idea generation #brainstorming The power of brainstorming. A training for project leaders, creativity training, and to catalyse getting new solutions.

Critical thinking

Critical thinking is one of the fundamental problem solving skills you’ll want to develop when working on developing solutions. Critical thinking is the ability to analyze, rationalize and evaluate while being aware of personal bias, outlying factors and remaining open-minded.

Defining and analyzing problems without deploying critical thinking skills can mean you and your team go down the wrong path. Developing solutions to complex issues requires critical thinking too – ensuring your team considers all possibilities and rationally evaluating them.

Agreement-Certainty Matrix #issue analysis #liberating structures #problem solving You can help individuals or groups avoid the frequent mistake of trying to solve a problem with methods that are not adapted to the nature of their challenge. The combination of two questions makes it possible to easily sort challenges into four categories: simple, complicated, complex , and chaotic . A problem is simple when it can be solved reliably with practices that are easy to duplicate. It is complicated when experts are required to devise a sophisticated solution that will yield the desired results predictably. A problem is complex when there are several valid ways to proceed but outcomes are not predictable in detail. Chaotic is when the context is too turbulent to identify a path forward. A loose analogy may be used to describe these differences: simple is like following a recipe, complicated like sending a rocket to the moon, complex like raising a child, and chaotic is like the game “Pin the Tail on the Donkey.” The Liberating Structures Matching Matrix in Chapter 5 can be used as the first step to clarify the nature of a challenge and avoid the mismatches between problems and solutions that are frequently at the root of chronic, recurring problems.

Data analysis

Though it shares lots of space with general analytical skills, data analysis skills are something you want to cultivate in their own right in order to be an effective problem solver.

Being good at data analysis doesn’t just mean being able to find insights from data, but also selecting the appropriate data for a given issue, interpreting it effectively and knowing how to model and present that data. Depending on the problem at hand, it might also include a working knowledge of specific data analysis tools and procedures.

Having a solid grasp of data analysis techniques is useful if you’re leading a problem solving workshop but if you’re not an expert, don’t worry. Bring people into the group who has this skill set and help your team be more effective as a result.

Decision making

All problems need a solution and all solutions require that someone make the decision to implement them. Without strong decision making skills, teams can become bogged down in discussion and less effective as a result.

Making decisions is a key part of the problem solving process. It’s important to remember that decision making is not restricted to the leadership team. Every staff member makes decisions every day and developing these skills ensures that your team is able to solve problems at any scale. Remember that making decisions does not mean leaping to the first solution but weighing up the options and coming to an informed, well thought out solution to any given problem that works for the whole team.

Lightning Decision Jam (LDJ) #action #decision making #problem solving #issue analysis #innovation #design #remote-friendly The problem with anything that requires creative thinking is that it’s easy to get lost—lose focus and fall into the trap of having useless, open-ended, unstructured discussions. Here’s the most effective solution I’ve found: Replace all open, unstructured discussion with a clear process. What to use this exercise for: Anything which requires a group of people to make decisions, solve problems or discuss challenges. It’s always good to frame an LDJ session with a broad topic, here are some examples: The conversion flow of our checkout Our internal design process How we organise events Keeping up with our competition Improving sales flow

Dependability

Most complex organizational problems require multiple people to be involved in delivering the solution. Ensuring that the team and organization can depend on you to take the necessary actions and communicate where necessary is key to ensuring problems are solved effectively.

Being dependable also means working to deadlines and to brief. It is often a matter of creating trust in a team so that everyone can depend on one another to complete the agreed actions in the agreed time frame so that the team can move forward together. Being undependable can create problems of friction and can limit the effectiveness of your solutions so be sure to bear this in mind throughout a project.

Team Purpose & Culture #team #hyperisland #culture #remote-friendly This is an essential process designed to help teams define their purpose (why they exist) and their culture (how they work together to achieve that purpose). Defining these two things will help any team to be more focused and aligned. With support of tangible examples from other companies, the team members work as individuals and a group to codify the way they work together. The goal is a visual manifestation of both the purpose and culture that can be put up in the team’s work space.

Emotional intelligence

Emotional intelligence is an important skill for any successful team member, whether communicating internally or with clients or users. In the problem solving process, emotional intelligence means being attuned to how people are feeling and thinking, communicating effectively and being self-aware of what you bring to a room.

There are often differences of opinion when working through problem solving processes, and it can be easy to let things become impassioned or combative. Developing your emotional intelligence means being empathetic to your colleagues and managing your own emotions throughout the problem and solution process. Be kind, be thoughtful and put your points across care and attention.

Being emotionally intelligent is a skill for life and by deploying it at work, you can not only work efficiently but empathetically. Check out the emotional culture workshop template for more!

Facilitation

As we’ve clarified in our facilitation skills post, facilitation is the art of leading people through processes towards agreed-upon objectives in a manner that encourages participation, ownership, and creativity by all those involved. While facilitation is a set of interrelated skills in itself, the broad definition of facilitation can be invaluable when it comes to problem solving. Leading a team through a problem solving process is made more effective if you improve and utilize facilitation skills – whether you’re a manager, team leader or external stakeholder.

The Six Thinking Hats #creative thinking #meeting facilitation #problem solving #issue resolution #idea generation #conflict resolution The Six Thinking Hats are used by individuals and groups to separate out conflicting styles of thinking. They enable and encourage a group of people to think constructively together in exploring and implementing change, rather than using argument to fight over who is right and who is wrong.

Flexibility

Being flexible is a vital skill when it comes to problem solving. This does not mean immediately bowing to pressure or changing your opinion quickly: instead, being flexible is all about seeing things from new perspectives, receiving new information and factoring it into your thought process.

Flexibility is also important when it comes to rolling out solutions. It might be that other organizational projects have greater priority or require the same resources as your chosen solution. Being flexible means understanding needs and challenges across the team and being open to shifting or arranging your own schedule as necessary. Again, this does not mean immediately making way for other projects. It’s about articulating your own needs, understanding the needs of others and being able to come to a meaningful compromise.

The Creativity Dice #creativity #problem solving #thiagi #issue analysis Too much linear thinking is hazardous to creative problem solving. To be creative, you should approach the problem (or the opportunity) from different points of view. You should leave a thought hanging in mid-air and move to another. This skipping around prevents premature closure and lets your brain incubate one line of thought while you consciously pursue another.

Working in any group can lead to unconscious elements of groupthink or situations in which you may not wish to be entirely honest. Disagreeing with the opinions of the executive team or wishing to save the feelings of a coworker can be tricky to navigate, but being honest is absolutely vital when to comes to developing effective solutions and ensuring your voice is heard.

Remember that being honest does not mean being brutally candid. You can deliver your honest feedback and opinions thoughtfully and without creating friction by using other skills such as emotional intelligence.

Explore your Values #hyperisland #skills #values #remote-friendly Your Values is an exercise for participants to explore what their most important values are. It’s done in an intuitive and rapid way to encourage participants to follow their intuitive feeling rather than over-thinking and finding the “correct” values. It is a good exercise to use to initiate reflection and dialogue around personal values.

Initiative

The problem solving process is multi-faceted and requires different approaches at certain points of the process. Taking initiative to bring problems to the attention of the team, collect data or lead the solution creating process is always valuable. You might even roadtest your own small scale solutions or brainstorm before a session. Taking initiative is particularly effective if you have good deal of knowledge in that area or have ownership of a particular project and want to get things kickstarted.

That said, be sure to remember to honor the process and work in service of the team. If you are asked to own one part of the problem solving process and you don’t complete that task because your initiative leads you to work on something else, that’s not an effective method of solving business challenges.

15% Solutions #action #liberating structures #remote-friendly You can reveal the actions, however small, that everyone can do immediately. At a minimum, these will create momentum, and that may make a BIG difference. 15% Solutions show that there is no reason to wait around, feel powerless, or fearful. They help people pick it up a level. They get individuals and the group to focus on what is within their discretion instead of what they cannot change. With a very simple question, you can flip the conversation to what can be done and find solutions to big problems that are often distributed widely in places not known in advance. Shifting a few grains of sand may trigger a landslide and change the whole landscape.

Impartiality

A particularly useful problem solving skill for product owners or managers is the ability to remain impartial throughout much of the process. In practice, this means treating all points of view and ideas brought forward in a meeting equally and ensuring that your own areas of interest or ownership are not favored over others.

There may be a stage in the process where a decision maker has to weigh the cost and ROI of possible solutions against the company roadmap though even then, ensuring that the decision made is based on merit and not personal opinion.

Empathy map #frame insights #create #design #issue analysis An empathy map is a tool to help a design team to empathize with the people they are designing for. You can make an empathy map for a group of people or for a persona. To be used after doing personas when more insights are needed.

Being a good leader means getting a team aligned, energized and focused around a common goal. In the problem solving process, strong leadership helps ensure that the process is efficient, that any conflicts are resolved and that a team is managed in the direction of success.

It’s common for managers or executives to assume this role in a problem solving workshop, though it’s important that the leader maintains impartiality and does not bulldoze the group in a particular direction. Remember that good leadership means working in service of the purpose and team and ensuring the workshop is a safe space for employees of any level to contribute. Take a look at our leadership games and activities post for more exercises and methods to help improve leadership in your organization.

Leadership Pizza #leadership #team #remote-friendly This leadership development activity offers a self-assessment framework for people to first identify what skills, attributes and attitudes they find important for effective leadership, and then assess their own development and initiate goal setting.

In the context of problem solving, mediation is important in keeping a team engaged, happy and free of conflict. When leading or facilitating a problem solving workshop, you are likely to run into differences of opinion. Depending on the nature of the problem, certain issues may be brought up that are emotive in nature.

Being an effective mediator means helping those people on either side of such a divide are heard, listen to one another and encouraged to find common ground and a resolution. Mediating skills are useful for leaders and managers in many situations and the problem solving process is no different.

Conflict Responses #hyperisland #team #issue resolution A workshop for a team to reflect on past conflicts, and use them to generate guidelines for effective conflict handling. The workshop uses the Thomas-Killman model of conflict responses to frame a reflective discussion. Use it to open up a discussion around conflict with a team.

Planning

Solving organizational problems is much more effective when following a process or problem solving model. Planning skills are vital in order to structure, deliver and follow-through on a problem solving workshop and ensure your solutions are intelligently deployed.

Planning skills include the ability to organize tasks and a team, plan and design the process and take into account any potential challenges. Taking the time to plan carefully can save time and frustration later in the process and is valuable for ensuring a team is positioned for success.

3 Action Steps #hyperisland #action #remote-friendly This is a small-scale strategic planning session that helps groups and individuals to take action toward a desired change. It is often used at the end of a workshop or programme. The group discusses and agrees on a vision, then creates some action steps that will lead them towards that vision. The scope of the challenge is also defined, through discussion of the helpful and harmful factors influencing the group.

Prioritization

As organisations grow, the scale and variation of problems they face multiplies. Your team or is likely to face numerous challenges in different areas and so having the skills to analyze and prioritize becomes very important, particularly for those in leadership roles.

A thorough problem solving process is likely to deliver multiple solutions and you may have several different problems you wish to solve simultaneously. Prioritization is the ability to measure the importance, value, and effectiveness of those possible solutions and choose which to enact and in what order. The process of prioritization is integral in ensuring the biggest challenges are addressed with the most impactful solutions.

Impact and Effort Matrix #gamestorming #decision making #action #remote-friendly In this decision-making exercise, possible actions are mapped based on two factors: effort required to implement and potential impact. Categorizing ideas along these lines is a useful technique in decision making, as it obliges contributors to balance and evaluate suggested actions before committing to them.

Project management

Some problem solving skills are utilized in a workshop or ideation phases, while others come in useful when it comes to decision making. Overseeing an entire problem solving process and ensuring its success requires strong project management skills.

While project management incorporates many of the other skills listed here, it is important to note the distinction of considering all of the factors of a project and managing them successfully. Being able to negotiate with stakeholders, manage tasks, time and people, consider costs and ROI, and tie everything together is massively helpful when going through the problem solving process.

Record keeping

Working out meaningful solutions to organizational challenges is only one part of the process. Thoughtfully documenting and keeping records of each problem solving step for future consultation is important in ensuring efficiency and meaningful change.

For example, some problems may be lower priority than others but can be revisited in the future. If the team has ideated on solutions and found some are not up to the task, record those so you can rule them out and avoiding repeating work. Keeping records of the process also helps you improve and refine your problem solving model next time around!

Personal Kanban #gamestorming #action #agile #project planning Personal Kanban is a tool for organizing your work to be more efficient and productive. It is based on agile methods and principles.

Research skills

Conducting research to support both the identification of problems and the development of appropriate solutions is important for an effective process. Knowing where to go to collect research, how to conduct research efficiently, and identifying pieces of research are relevant are all things a good researcher can do well.

In larger groups, not everyone has to demonstrate this ability in order for a problem solving workshop to be effective. That said, having people with research skills involved in the process, particularly if they have existing area knowledge, can help ensure the solutions that are developed with data that supports their intention. Remember that being able to deliver the results of research efficiently and in a way the team can easily understand is also important. The best data in the world is only as effective as how it is delivered and interpreted.

Customer experience map #ideation #concepts #research #design #issue analysis #remote-friendly Customer experience mapping is a method of documenting and visualizing the experience a customer has as they use the product or service. It also maps out their responses to their experiences. To be used when there is a solution (even in a conceptual stage) that can be analyzed.

Risk management

Managing risk is an often overlooked part of the problem solving process. Solutions are often developed with the intention of reducing exposure to risk or solving issues that create risk but sometimes, great solutions are more experimental in nature and as such, deploying them needs to be carefully considered.

Managing risk means acknowledging that there may be risks associated with more out of the box solutions or trying new things, but that this must be measured against the possible benefits and other organizational factors.

Be informed, get the right data and stakeholders in the room and you can appropriately factor risk into your decision making process.

Decisions, Decisions… #communication #decision making #thiagi #action #issue analysis When it comes to decision-making, why are some of us more prone to take risks while others are risk-averse? One explanation might be the way the decision and options were presented. This exercise, based on Kahneman and Tversky’s classic study , illustrates how the framing effect influences our judgement and our ability to make decisions . The participants are divided into two groups. Both groups are presented with the same problem and two alternative programs for solving them. The two programs both have the same consequences but are presented differently. The debriefing discussion examines how the framing of the program impacted the participant’s decision.

Team-building

No single person is as good at problem solving as a team. Building an effective team and helping them come together around a common purpose is one of the most important problem solving skills, doubly so for leaders. By bringing a team together and helping them work efficiently, you pave the way for team ownership of a problem and the development of effective solutions.

In a problem solving workshop, it can be tempting to jump right into the deep end, though taking the time to break the ice, energize the team and align them with a game or exercise will pay off over the course of the day.

Remember that you will likely go through the problem solving process multiple times over an organization’s lifespan and building a strong team culture will make future problem solving more effective. It’s also great to work with people you know, trust and have fun with. Working on team building in and out of the problem solving process is a hallmark of successful teams that can work together to solve business problems.

9 Dimensions Team Building Activity #ice breaker #teambuilding #team #remote-friendly 9 Dimensions is a powerful activity designed to build relationships and trust among team members. There are 2 variations of this icebreaker. The first version is for teams who want to get to know each other better. The second version is for teams who want to explore how they are working together as a team.

Time management

The problem solving process is designed to lead a team from identifying a problem through to delivering a solution and evaluating its effectiveness. Without effective time management skills or timeboxing of tasks, it can be easy for a team to get bogged down or be inefficient.

By using a problem solving model and carefully designing your workshop, you can allocate time efficiently and trust that the process will deliver the results you need in a good timeframe.

Time management also comes into play when it comes to rolling out solutions, particularly those that are experimental in nature. Having a clear timeframe for implementing and evaluating solutions is vital for ensuring their success and being able to pivot if necessary.

Improving your skills at problem solving is often a career-long pursuit though there are methods you can use to make the learning process more efficient and to supercharge your problem solving skillset.

Remember that the skills you need to be a great problem solver have a large overlap with those skills you need to be effective in any role. Investing time and effort to develop your active listening or critical thinking skills is valuable in any context. Here are 7 ways to improve your problem solving skills.

Share best practices

Remember that your team is an excellent source of skills, wisdom, and techniques and that you should all take advantage of one another where possible. Best practices that one team has for solving problems, conducting research or making decisions should be shared across the organization. If you have in-house staff that have done active listening training or are data analysis pros, have them lead a training session.

Your team is one of your best resources. Create space and internal processes for the sharing of skills so that you can all grow together.

Ask for help and attend training

Once you’ve figured out you have a skills gap, the next step is to take action to fill that skills gap. That might be by asking your superior for training or coaching, or liaising with team members with that skill set. You might even attend specialized training for certain skills – active listening or critical thinking, for example, are business-critical skills that are regularly offered as part of a training scheme.

Whatever method you choose, remember that taking action of some description is necessary for growth. Whether that means practicing, getting help, attending training or doing some background reading, taking active steps to improve your skills is the way to go.

Learn a process

Problem solving can be complicated, particularly when attempting to solve large problems for the first time. Using a problem solving process helps give structure to your problem solving efforts and focus on creating outcomes, rather than worrying about the format.

Tools such as the seven-step problem solving process above are effective because not only do they feature steps that will help a team solve problems, they also develop skills along the way. Each step asks for people to engage with the process using different skills and in doing so, helps the team learn and grow together. Group processes of varying complexity and purpose can also be found in the SessionLab library of facilitation techniques . Using a tried and tested process and really help ease the learning curve for both those leading such a process, as well as those undergoing the purpose.

Effective teams make decisions about where they should and shouldn’t expend additional effort. By using a problem solving process, you can focus on the things that matter, rather than stumbling towards a solution haphazardly.

Create a feedback loop

Some skills gaps are more obvious than others. It’s possible that your perception of your active listening skills differs from those of your colleagues.

It’s valuable to create a system where team members can provide feedback in an ordered and friendly manner so they can all learn from one another. Only by identifying areas of improvement can you then work to improve them.

Remember that feedback systems require oversight and consideration so that they don’t turn into a place to complain about colleagues. Design the system intelligently so that you encourage the creation of learning opportunities, rather than encouraging people to list their pet peeves.

While practice might not make perfect, it does make the problem solving process easier. If you are having trouble with critical thinking, don’t shy away from doing it. Get involved where you can and stretch those muscles as regularly as possible.

Problem solving skills come more naturally to some than to others and that’s okay. Take opportunities to get involved and see where you can practice your skills in situations outside of a workshop context. Try collaborating in other circumstances at work or conduct data analysis on your own projects. You can often develop those skills you need for problem solving simply by doing them. Get involved!

Use expert exercises and methods

Learn from the best. Our library of 700+ facilitation techniques is full of activities and methods that help develop the skills you need to be an effective problem solver. Check out our templates to see how to approach problem solving and other organizational challenges in a structured and intelligent manner.

There is no single approach to improving problem solving skills, but by using the techniques employed by others you can learn from their example and develop processes that have seen proven results.

Try new ways of thinking and change your mindset

Using tried and tested exercises that you know well can help deliver results, but you do run the risk of missing out on the learning opportunities offered by new approaches. As with the problem solving process, changing your mindset can remove blockages and be used to develop your problem solving skills.

Most teams have members with mixed skill sets and specialties. Mix people from different teams and share skills and different points of view. Teach your customer support team how to use design thinking methods or help your developers with conflict resolution techniques. Try switching perspectives with facilitation techniques like Flip It! or by using new problem solving methodologies or models. Give design thinking, liberating structures or lego serious play a try if you want to try a new approach. You will find that framing problems in new ways and using existing skills in new contexts can be hugely useful for personal development and improving your skillset. It’s also a lot of fun to try new things. Give it a go!

Encountering business challenges and needing to find appropriate solutions is not unique to your organization. Lots of very smart people have developed methods, theories and approaches to help develop problem solving skills and create effective solutions. Learn from them!

Books like The Art of Thinking Clearly , Think Smarter, or Thinking Fast, Thinking Slow are great places to start, though it’s also worth looking at blogs related to organizations facing similar problems to yours, or browsing for success stories. Seeing how Dropbox massively increased growth and working backward can help you see the skills or approach you might be lacking to solve that same problem. Learning from others by reading their stories or approaches can be time-consuming but ultimately rewarding.

A tired, distracted mind is not in the best position to learn new skills. It can be tempted to burn the candle at both ends and develop problem solving skills outside of work. Absolutely use your time effectively and take opportunities for self-improvement, though remember that rest is hugely important and that without letting your brain rest, you cannot be at your most effective.

Creating distance between yourself and the problem you might be facing can also be useful. By letting an idea sit, you can find that a better one presents itself or you can develop it further. Take regular breaks when working and create a space for downtime. Remember that working smarter is preferable to working harder and that self-care is important for any effective learning or improvement process.

Want to design better group processes?

Over to you

Now we’ve explored some of the key problem solving skills and the problem solving steps necessary for an effective process, you’re ready to begin developing more effective solutions and leading problem solving workshops.

Need more inspiration? Check out our post on problem solving activities you can use when guiding a group towards a great solution in your next workshop or meeting. Have questions? Did you have a great problem solving technique you use with your team? Get in touch in the comments below. We’d love to chat!

Design your next workshop with SessionLab

Join the 150,000 facilitators using SessionLab

SUGGESTED TOPICS
The Magazine
Newsletters
Managing Yourself
Managing Teams
Work-life Balance
The Big Idea
Data & Visuals
Reading Lists
Case Selections
HBR Learning
Topic Feeds
Account Settings
Email Preferences

How to Make Great Decisions, Quickly

Martin G. Moore

It’s a skill that will set you apart.

As a new leader, learning to make good decisions without hesitation and procrastination is a capability that can set you apart from your peers. While others vacillate on tricky choices, your team could be hitting deadlines and producing the type of results that deliver true value. That’s something that will get you — and them — noticed. Here are a few of a great decision:

Great decisions are shaped by consideration of many different viewpoints. This doesn’t mean you should seek out everyone’s opinion. The right people with the relevant expertise need to clearly articulate their views to help you broaden your perspective and make the best choice.
Great decisions are made as close as possible to the action. Remember that the most powerful people at your company are rarely on the ground doing the hands-on work. Seek input and guidance from team members who are closest to the action.
Great decisions address the root cause, not just the symptoms. Although you may need to urgently address the symptoms, once this is done you should always develop a plan to fix the root cause, or else the problem is likely to repeat itself.
Great decisions balance short-term and long-term value. Finding the right balance between short-term and long-term risks and considerations is key to unlocking true value.
Great decisions are timely. If you consider all of the elements listed above, then it’s simply a matter of addressing each one with a heightened sense of urgency.

Where your work meets your life. See more from Ascend here .

Like many young leaders, early in my career, I thought a great decision was one that attracted widespread approval. When my colleagues smiled and nodded their collective heads, it reinforced (in my mind, at least) that I was an excellent decision maker.

MM Martin G. Moore is the founder of Your CEO Mentor and author of No Bullsh!t Leadership and host of the No Bullsh!t Leadership podcast. His purpose is to improve the quality of leaders globally through practical, real world leadership content. For more information, please visit, www.martingmoore.com.

Partner Center

Leading through Problem Solving and Decision Making

7 videos | 46m 51s
Includes Assessment
Earns a Badge
Certification CPE
Certification PMI PDU

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

In this course.

Playable 1. Leading through Problem Solving and Decision Making 56s Successful leaders recognize that while they’re fully accountable for the results, it’s essential to work with their teams to get the input they need to solve problems and make decisions. In this video, you'll discover how to use a three-stage approach to engage your team in problem-solving and decision making. You'll also learn how to use your critical thinking and interpersonal skills to define problems, generate feasible solutions, and make the best decisions for your team and organization. FREE ACCESS
Playable 2. The Problem Solving and Decision Making Process 8m 40s In this video, you will learn how to deal with a problem effectively. You will also discover the common reactions people have when suddenly presented with a problem. FREE ACCESS
Locked 3. Defining the Problem 8m 31s In this video, you will learn how to define the problem. You will also discover how to develop a problem statement that addresses a single problem and describes it objectively in specific and measurable terms. FREE ACCESS
Locked 4. Generating Feasible Solutions 10m 1s In this video, find out how to recognize the best way to generate feasible solutions. FREE ACCESS
Locked 5. Choosing a Viable Solution and Making Decisions 11m 2s During this video you will learn about the key concepts for making decisions. You will also discover how to evaluate a proposed business decision. FREE ACCESS
Locked 6. Using Problem Solving and Decision Making Skills 6m 53s When you're in the middle of tackling a big problem, one of the things the leader has to do is de-conflict some of the political forces and priorities at work. In this video, you will learn how to syndicate risk up and out of the way. You will also discover how to reconcile those priorities so you can define the root of the problem and get to the essential truth. FREE ACCESS
Locked 7. Let's Review 48s In this video, you'll review the key concepts covered in this course, including how to lead teams using problem solving skills to make decisions. FREE ACCESS

EARN A DIGITAL BADGE WHEN YOU COMPLETE THIS COURSE

Skillsoft is providing you the opportunity to earn a digital badge upon successful completion on some of our courses, which can be shared on any social network or business platform.

PEOPLE WHO VIEWED THIS ALSO VIEWED THESE

IMAGES

Problem-Solving Strategies: Definition and 5 Techniques to Try
Master Your Problem Solving and Decision Making Skills
what is problem solving and decision making how important is it in the
five step problem solving process
Problem-Solving and Decision Making
Problem-Solving Process in 6 Steps

VIDEO

Keynote: The New Thing Generative AI Does
Application of Mathematical Concepts in your Daily Life VLOG
Critical Thinking Skills for Turbulent Times
Scale of Preference: The Key to Smart Decision-Making
CAPACITY [3.7e] Problem Solving Strategies: Workin' It out!!
CBSE Class 12th Maths Exam 2024

COMMENTS

Chapter 2: Personality, Stress, Learning, and Perception
is the level one's capacity for new learning, problem solving, and decision making. locus of control. is a continuum representing one's belief as to whether external or internal forces control one's destiny. perception. refers to a person's interpretation of reality. perceptual congruence.
L.H. Chapter 2: Human Relations Flashcards
___ is the level of one's capacity for new learning, problem solving, and decision making. Intelligence. In the context of learning styles, ___ prefer to learn by doing and feeling. Accommodators. In the context of learning styles, which of the following statements is try about accommodators?
A New Layered Model on Emotional Intelligence
EI is the rudder for feeling, thinking, learning, problem-solving, and decision-making. In this article, we present an emotional-cognitive based approach to the process of gaining emotional intelligence and thus, we suggest a nine-layer pyramid of emotional intelligence and the gradual development to reach the top of EI.
Working Memory
Working memory is a form of memory that allows a person to temporarily hold a limited amount of information at the ready for immediate mental use. It is considered essential for learning, problem ...
Approaches for Organizational Learning: A Literature Review
Systematic problem solving involves reliance on scientific methods to diagnose problems. Rather than relying on guesswork, organizations use, for instance, techniques for generating and testing hypotheses. Systematic problem solving is fact based, and decisions are made based on data rather than assumptions.
Building People-Focused Problem-Solving Capacity
Internalizing the thinking is the objective, not technical mastery of the format. The more cycles of reflection and learning that can be experienced, the better it is for the individual and for the organization. The most fundamental use of the A3 is as a simple problem-solving tool.
Complex cognition: the science of human reasoning, problem-solving, and
The present "Special Corner: complex cognition" deals with questions in this regard that have often received little consideration. Under the headline "complex cognition", we summarize mental activities such as thinking, reasoning, problem-solving, and decision-making that typically rely on the combination and interaction of more elementary processes such as perception, learning, memory ...
Cognition: Mental Representations, Problem Solving, and Decision Making
Problem solving uses mental models, forms a basis for learning, and can be supported in a variety of ways. Decision making is a more punctuated form of problem solving, made about and with systems. It is not always as clear or accurate as one would like (or expect), and there are ways to support and improve it.
The New Learning Compact: A Systemic Approach to a Systemic Problem
The New Learning Compact: Professional Learning "Done Well". Research has revealed the power of professional learning "done well" to advance educational change. The phrase "done well" is critical. High-impact practices, such as undergraduate research, build student learning only when "done well" (Kuh et al., 2017, pp. 8-16).
Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making
93% of employers say that "a demonstrated capacity to think critically, communicate clearly, and solve complex problems is more important than a candidate's undergraduate major.". Even more (95 %) say they prioritize hiring college graduates with skills that will help them contribute to innovation in the workplace. About 95% of those ...
Cognitive Competence as a Positive Youth Development Construct: A
In this paper, cognitive competence is defined as critical thinking and creative thinking skills which facilitate effective problem solving, decision making, and learning for positive youth development. However, there are several conceptual and research gaps that need to be filled.
Frontiers
Open-mindedness (OPM) is a construct that is considered a key foundational aspect of learning in individuals, groups and organizations. Also known as critical inquiry or reflection, OPM is believed to increase learning through examination of prior beliefs, decisions and mistakes, and also through openness to new ideas.
How to build critical thinking skills for better decision-making
Problem-solving. Critical thinking and problem-solving are two more terms that are frequently confused. After all, when you think critically, you're often doing so with the objective of solving a problem. The best way to understand how problem-solving and critical thinking differ is to think of problem-solving as much more narrow.
LibGuides: Psychology: Thinking, language, and Intelligence
Thinking. The process of mentally representing and manipulating information. mental image A mental picture or representation of an object or event. cognitive psychology: The branch of psychology that focuses on such mental processes as thinking, problem solving, decision making, and use of language. Creativity: a form of thinking in which we ...
Critical Thinking Models: A Comprehensive Guide for Effective Decision
In decision making, critical thinking is a vital skill that allows individuals to make informed choices. It enables them to: Analyze options and their potential consequences. Evaluate the credibility of sources and the quality of information. Identify biases, assumptions, and values that may influence the decision.
PDF Complex cognition: the science of human reasoning, problem-solving, and
ing, problem-solving, and decision-making that typically rely on the combination and interaction of more elementary processes such as perception, learning, memory, emotion, etc. (cf. Sternberg and Ben-Zeev 2001). However, even though complex cognition relies on these elementary functions, the scope of complex cognition research goes
PDF Teaching Problem Solving and Decision Making
Teaching Problem Solving and Decision Making A student's capacity to solve problems is critical to his or her success in educa-tion and in life. This capacity has become even more important in the context of educational reform efforts. Peterson (1996) noted that an increased focus on teach-
4. Assessing complex problem-solving skills through the lens of
Although these decisions were identified by studying the problem solving of high-level experts, we argue that they provide a broadly applicable framework for characterising, analysing and teaching S&E problem solving across all levels and contexts (except for decisions 1, 2 and 27 that are only relevant at high levels).
How to improve your problem solving skills and strategies
6. Solution implementation. This is what we were waiting for! All problem solving strategies have the end goal of implementing a solution and solving a problem in mind. Remember that in order for any solution to be successful, you need to help your group through all of the previous problem solving steps thoughtfully.
How to Make Great Decisions, Quickly
The right people with the relevant expertise need to clearly articulate their views to help you broaden your perspective and make the best choice. Great decisions are made as close as possible to ...
Leading through Problem Solving and Decision Making
4.5 (3457) From Channel: Leading In The New Normal Leadercamp. Problem Solving & Decision Making. The hallmark of leadership is being able to work through problems and make tough decisions using the skills and experience of your team. In this course, you'll learn how to use a three stage approach to engage your team in this effort.
Solved Job satisfaction is defined asMultiple Choicethe
Question: Job satisfaction is defined asMultiple Choicethe level of one's capacity for new learning, problem solving, and decision making.a set of attitudes toward work.one's overall attitude about oneself.a set of standards by which an individual lives.
Solved Question 9 (1 point)Listenis the level of one's
is the level of one's capacity for new learning, problem solving, and decision making.

Working Memory

On This Page

Building People-Focused Problem-Solving Capacity

Virtual Lean Learning Experience (VLX)

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Related books

Related events

Managing to Learn

Building a Lean Operating and Management System

Subscribe to get the very best of lean thinking delivered right to your inbox

Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making

You may also like

Resilience and Perseverance

Curiosity and Creativity

Digital Literacy and Information

Diversity and Inclusion

Leave a comment Cancel reply

Cognitive Competence as a Positive Youth Development Construct: A Conceptual Review

Eadaoin K. P. Hui

1. Background

2. Definition of Cognitive Competence

2.1. Critical Thinking

2.2. Creative Thinking

3. Relationship between Creative Thinking and Critical Thinking

4. Antecedents of Cognitive Competence

5. Cognitive Competence and Adolescent Developmental Outcomes

6. Fostering Cognitive Competence in Adolescents

6.1. Direct Teaching (Bolt-On Approach)

6.2. Embedded Approach

6.3. Infusion Approach

7. Conclusion

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Introduction

Background and Hypotheses

Open-Mindedness and Learning Capacity

Shared Vision as a Moderator

Data Collection, Screening and Sample

Measurement

Independent and Interaction Variables

Dependent Variable

Factor Analysis

Other Findings

Limitations and Future Directions

Conflict of Interest Statement

Appendix: Constructs, Definitions and Items

Shared Vision (SHV)

Learning Capacity (LCAP)

How to build critical thinking skills for better decision-making

What is critical thinking?

7 critical thinking skills to help you dig deeper

Open-mindedness

Critical thinking example

Observation

Communication

3 ways to improve your communication skills at work

Problem-solving

5 ways to improve your critical thinking skills

Beyond the buzzwords: Why interpersonal skills matter at work

Critical thinking really is critical

Advice, stories, and expertise about work life today.

Psychology: Thinking, language, and Intelligence

Problem Solving

Decision making

Intelligence theories

History of Intelligence testing

Books in Library Catalog

Critical Thinking Models: A Comprehensive Guide for Effective Decision Making

Key Takeaways

Fundamentals of Critical Thinking

Definition and Importance

Core Cognitive Skills

Influence of Cognitive Biases

The Critical Thinking Process

Stages of Critical Thinking

Application in Decision Making

Critical Thinking Models

The RED Model

Bloom’s Taxonomy

Paul-Elder Model

The Halpern Critical Thinking Assessment