Matthew Kenney

Small Business | Workplace Law

  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact
  • Small Business Law
  • Community Service
  • Non-Profit Law

Critical and Lateral Thinking

Posted on: 07.07.16 | by Matthew Kenney

A common frustration of new business school students is that professors are trying to teach them “what to think” about business. There are certainly some instructors who make this mistake, but this is not the objective of faculty. Rather, the goal is to help students develop critical thinking skills, and lateral thinking skills.

  • Critical thinking is established when we use a criteria for making decisions and analysis (the words critical and criteria both derive from the Greek word kritērion, defined as a means of judging).
  • Lateral thinking is the process of problem solving through creativity and non-traditional approaches. Imagination and possibilities are emphasized over step-by-step approaches.

Most people will have a natural inclination towards one of these approaches. Therefore, when instructed in a style using the opposite approach it might feel as if they are being taught what to think. In reality, they are being taught how to think critically and laterally. The ability to blend critical and lateral thinking is essential to career success, since it is a key element in seeing things from different perspectives.

It is important to note that professional educators tend to view critical and lateral thinking development as a career-long process. For example, the two most influential management educators of the 20th Century, Peter Drucker and W. Edwards Deming, were researching and publishing well into their 90’s. Albert Einstein worked on his Grand Unification Theory until the day of his passing. It doesn’t matter if we are learning how to think about management or the universe. To an educator, there is always an opportunity learn more about one’s chosen vocation.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Do any of us know more about our fields of endeavor than Drucker, Deming, or Einstein knew about their fields? If they never stopped sharpening-their-edges, why should we? These men are not icons by accident. They gave us a formula for success: Choose your vocation wisely, and know as much about it as possible. Learn a little more every day; apply what we have learned, and good things will happen.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  When presented with new knowledge from professional educators, however, it is not uncommon for some people to reject it believing they are being told “what to think”. Understanding the mission of educators, however, removes this incorrect perception. The goal of a competent educator is not to tell people what to think. Rather, it is to help people think critically and laterally.

 

Categories: Communication

Leave a Comment Cancel

Subscribe to the Blog

Recent Posts

  • Create Energy & Exit a Rut
  • The CARES ACT & Your Small Business
  • Coronavirus and Contracts: Must You Perform?
  • Employees, Texting & Driving: What’s Your Policy?
  • Is an English-Speaking Only Workplace Legal?

Categories

  • Communication
  • Innovation
  • Management and Leadership
  • Marketing
  • Uncategorized

Archives

  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • April 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016

Social Media

Linkedin

© Copyright 2019 Matthew G. Kenney
All Rights Reserved

Policies and Legal Statements

Like to See a 38% Increase in Employee Productivity? Let Us Show You How.
Our Gift to You: Five Entrepreneurship Insights. Sign-Up Today to Receive Your Valuable Gift.
______________________
YOUR NAME:
YOUR EMAIL: