Critical Thinking Techniques for Problem Solving, Decision Making and Creativity
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The #1 Thing |
Highly effective Problem Solving starts with an unwavering belief that a satisfactory solution exists |
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Deductive and Inductive Thinking |
How Deductive and Inductive reasoning play a role in decision making |
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Elements of Invention |
Invention requires; Need, Knowledge, Association and Critical Thinking |
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What is Critical Thinking anyway? |
Critical Thinking ... a way of "Thinking Smarter" and how it's done. |
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Fast Cycle Time |
Fast Cycle leads to Out Cycling your competition |
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Serial vs Anticipatory Thinking |
Knowing the difference and when to use them can lower costs, increase speed and reduce re-work. |
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Asking So What? |
So What?; gets people thinking about what data they are collecting and what it means |
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Gedanken Experiments |
"Thought" experiments save a lot of time and money |
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Key Metrics |
Key metrics should give you the time to change an outcome they predict. |
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Triangular Thinking |
A way to find a solution with indirect measurements and predictions |
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The Definition of Done |
Thinking through to "Done" |
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The Numbers Talk |
Analyzing the data |
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The 3rd Version Syndrome |
A fatal phenomena that occurs in nearly every software company or IT department |
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Beating the Odds - Changing the Equation |
Changing the equation is when breakthroughs occur. |
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The Infamous Requirements Document |
Waiting for requirements? Go out and get them instead. |
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180 Seconds of Headscratching |
Thinking about a broader problems are when solutions that make a huge difference are created |
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Because !! |
Finding the "Because!!" frees you to start solution building |
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How long will it take? |
How to improve on the accuracy of this answer |
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The Better MouseTrap |
When is better not good enough? |
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Everything is Throw-Away |
It's the return on the investment that's important |
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Decision Making |
About different decision making styles and when to give critical thinking input |
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Hypothesis |
Predicting an outcome based on an understanding |
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Defragmented Thinking |
Make sure your critical thinking is not conducted in your fragmented schedule |
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Sampling |
Sampling can answer which way to go, or what the issue might be, or what might be wrong. |
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Readiness and Quality |
Knowing when you're "Ready" is critical when you want consistent quality. |
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Trending |
You have an amazing ability to Trend. Tap into it. |
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When logic is illogical |
Decisions and Conclusions are related to assumptions and beliefs. These vary from person to person. |
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Thinking outside "The Box" |
Thinking Outside "The Box" means that there is something that bounds a Box. What is that? |
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Famous Thoughts |
Selected Quotations about Thinking |
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Abductive Thinking and Creativity |
There is another component of logic beyond Deduction and Induction. This one is the foundation for Creativity. |
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Can your mind be too helpful? |
Your mind has an ability to fill in blanks and make things fit into what makes sense. This isn't always good. |
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Creativity and Music |
Is it possible that listening to music can help your creativity? |
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Tips to Think Critically In 2008 |
A few tips about Inductive Reasoning to get you started |
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Leading People to Think |
Leading people to "think" and not just "do" can make a huge difference in performance and quality |
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Crisis Thinking |
When in a crisis, critical thinking is important. A few tips to use for a strategy during this time. |
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Making Decisions |
The "who", "what" and "when" about making decisions. |
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Fuzzy Thinking |
Fuzzy thinking and how to deal with it using Critical Thinking |
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Thinking about Priorities |
Priority lists .. Are yours a gate or a tool for managing change? |
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Maintenance and Customer Retention |
Strategies for maintenance on equipment or your own health are also useful for customer retention. |
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Surprise vs Predictability |
Random events are not common. If it's not random, it's predictable. Can you predict your business outcomes? |
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Learning to Learn |
Learning how to learn is a skill more valuable than anything in particular you can learn. |
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Innovation - Now more than ever |
With the current economy, there has never been a more important time to innovate ... and to Think! |
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The Moon Shot - May 25, 1961 |
Lots of changes coming in 2009. Are you preparing for them? Ask these 4 questions. |
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Stewing Thoughts |
Load up with facts, opinions and ideas and then let it "stew" for awhile for that background thinking to work. |
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Exercising your Brain |
Like your heart and the rest of your body, your brain needs exercise ... But a different kind. |
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Two ideas about Change |
A critical thinking perspective on change with two ideas to help you cope and manage change. |
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3 reasons why we don't like to Think |
We like to "DO". Here are 3 reasons why we don't like to Think even though the benefits are huge. |
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The Thinking Behind Risk |
What is Risk and how do we take that into account when we are making decisions? |
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Five ideas for Impossible Thinking |
Here are 5 suggestions to think about the impossible and maybe even to make it possible. |
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Instant Thinking |
Sometimes only having 5 minutes to come up with a solution can really deliver some exciting results |
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Critical Thinking without Words |
Some situations can't be described by just language. Use some of your "standard" and cerebral senses. |
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Ask "What else?" |
Asking "What else?" can lead to new ideas and prevent just picking the first one that comes along. |
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3 Critical Thinking Tools for Parents |
Critical Thinking can be used beyond business. Try these simple tips with your kids. |
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None, One, Two, Many |
When creating solutions, and perhaps a "one-off", consider the repeatability of the problem |
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When you can't see the path |
A few simple ideas to remember when you're tasked with a goal without a clear path to get ther |
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Thinking about the Future w/Critical Thinking |
You think about the future and make predictions automatically. Now try this with Manual Thinking |
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Turning on a Dime (The Physics of Change) |
We present two ideas about the thinking of changing quickly |