Category Archives: Critical Thinking

(#452) Cognitive Distortions

Posted on January 20, 2019 by

Can you say, “fake news”? Or “leading statements”? Or “inferences based on limited information or examples”? In their book The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas are Setting Up a Generation for Failure, Greg Lukianoff … Continue reading →

Posted in assumptions, awareness, blame, Critical Thinking | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

(#442) Community Building: Beyond Why to How

Posted on November 11, 2018 by

The question, in my mind, moves beyond why we need community to how we go about building and sustaining it. While dichotomies can be simplistic, they can also help frame a conversation. When you seek a community, toward which end … Continue reading →

Posted in acceptance, accountability, action, amplifying, assumptions, authenticity, awareness, change management, Communication, Community, community development, confirmation bias, Critical Thinking, leadership | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

(#438) You May Not be the Gift in the Room

Posted on October 14, 2018 by

Effective collaboration rests on the ability to share the stage. In the early 1990s, the public high school where I taught created a committee called the “Shared Decision-Making Committee.”  I was tapped as its first chair.  The stated mission of … Continue reading →

Posted in accountability, amplifying, authenticity, Being REMARKABLE, Being selfish, Choice, Civility, collaboration, collegiality, Communication, Critical Thinking, decision making, Life lessons | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

(#433) Verifying Truth

Posted on September 9, 2018 by

You won’t find a step that says evaluate a source based on what “my group believes” or “who tweeted the most” or “how much I dislike a source.”  2012: Maybe it is the heat of the political campaign season. The … Continue reading →

Posted in assumptions, bias, Civility, Communication, Community, confirmation bias, Critical Thinking, information literacy, Life lessons, opinion, truth | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

(#427) Someone Must be the Grown-Up in the Room

Posted on July 29, 2018 by

The leader helps us see what is possible, especially when we do not have that vision in our experience. Transformation does not just appear. It requires vision, thought, communication, respect, difficult questioning, and better listening. Transformational leaders help orchestrate that … Continue reading →

Posted in action, amplifying, assumptions, awareness, Being REMARKABLE, change management, Civility, coaching, collaboration, Communication, Community, community development, consideration, conversation, Critical Thinking, Integrity, leadership, legacy, Life lessons, resilience, transformational leadership, vulnerability, wellbeing | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

(#423) Poverty

Posted on July 1, 2018 by

When communities build walls to separate their people (due to a poverty of understanding or compassion), the lack can seem insurmountable.  “The world tends to define poverty and riches simply in terms of economics. But poverty has many faces—weakness, dependence, … Continue reading →

Posted in accountability, action, assumptions, authenticity, awareness, Being REMARKABLE, change, change management, Choice, Civility, collaboration, Critical Thinking, Life lessons, respect, responsibility, risk-taking | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

(#409) More with Less or Less with More?

Posted on March 25, 2018 by

If the “more-with-less crisis” is followed by another “more-with-less crisis” and yet another, simple arithmetic indicates with each “more” there is a lot “less.” And then that becomes the norm.   Toward the end of my high school teaching career the … Continue reading →

Posted in accountability, assumptions, authenticity, awareness, boundaries and limits, Critical Thinking, curiosity, leadership, Personal Wellbeing, resilience, Success, vulnerability, wisdom | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment