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"He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes; he who does not ask a question remains a fool forever."
~ Chinese Proverb
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"No problem can be solved by the same consciousness that created it. We need to see the world anew."
~ Albert Einstein
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"Knowing a great deal is not the same as being smart; intelligence is not information alone but also judgment, the manner in which information is collected and used."
~ Carl Sagan
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"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought."
~ John F. Kennedy
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"You could say that I worked every minute of my life, or you could say with equal justice that I never worked a day. I have always subscribed to the expression: 'Thank God it's Friday' because to me Friday means I can work for the next two days without interruptions."
~ John Hope Franklin
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"Get excited and enthusiastic about your own dream. This excitement is like a forest fire - you can smell it, taste it, and see it from a mile away."
~ Denis Waitley
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"I don't know what happens to me on stage. Something else seems to take over."
~ Maria Callas
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"You persuade a man only insofar as you talk his language by speech, gesture, tonality, image, attitude, idea, identifying your ways with his."
~ Kenneth Burke
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"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."
~ Maya Angelou
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"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."
~ Dr. Seuss
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Greetings!
Welcome to the October, 2012 edition of Insights. I hope you will find this month's selection of articles interesting and thought-provoking and that you will take from these words at least one thought or idea that you can use to bring about a positive change in some aspect of your personal or professional life.
"First Things First"
Over twenty years ago Steven Covey wrote a book titled The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People which went on to become one of the best-selling business books of all time. As many of you may be aware, Covey's seven habits include:
Habit 1: Be proactive
Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind
Habit 3: First Things First
Habit 4: Think Win-Win
Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood
Habit 6: Synergize
Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw
Each of the habits is clearly an important contributor to effectiveness, but I'd like to make the case that the third, First Things First is especially critical. In my mind, none of the other habits really have much relevance to our daily effectiveness unless we are prioritizing our actions on what is most important to be done at any particular point in time. The third habit also bears heavily on when and to what degree we even practice the other six habits. Furthermore, First Things First addresses the single most important limiting factor to our success and happiness which is our available time.
While I think most people would agree to the importance of prioritizing our actions, most would also agree that it is often very difficult to do so because we continually encounter stuff that deters and distracts from our best-intentioned plans. Years ago Covey would perform an exercise in his training sessions in which he would ask a volunteer to place several stones in bowl that had been partially filled with small sand-like particles. The stones represented the activities that were urgent and important while the sand represented unimportant activities and time-wasters. Because of the placement of the sand, several important stones would not fit into the bowl.
Then Covey would allow the volunteer to place the important stones into the bowl first and then try to fill in the spaces between them with the sand. In this fashion, both the important stones and the unimportant but ever-present sand of life fit into the volume of the bowl. This vivid dramatization of an essential success principle has remained in the forefront of my mind to this day. Sometimes it takes a dramatic visual image to drive home an important point.
View Covey's First Things First video If you know of anyone who you think might also be interested in receiving Insights, please forward this issue on. As always, I would be very interested in receiving your feedback. Pat Iannuzzi |
 ARE YOU A CRITICAL THINKER?
The concept of critical thinking is one that is often made much more complex and obscure than it needs to be. Here, for example is the definition of critical thinking put forth by the Foundation for Critical Thinking:
"Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action."
I guess that covers all the bases alright. Here is my definition:
"Critical thinking is a skill that focuses on using valid judgments in making decisions."
In other words, it is a way of thinking that relies on evidence to filter truth from untruth to arrive at good decisions. It is relevant and important for accurately evaluating people and situations and for effective problem-solving. At its core, critical thinking involves clear, informed, open-minded and unbiased thinking. It is disciplined thinking. Good critical thinkers don't jump to conclusions or make rash decisions. They can think through the most complex situations clearly and effectively and focus on the available evidence to come to the best conclusions in a logical and rational manner.
Why is Critical Thinking Important?
It is an inescapable fact that where each of us is today in both our personal and professional lives is the result of the decisions we have made up to this point. All the good outcomes we have experienced can be attributed to the good decisions we have made, and the unfavorable outcomes to our bad decisions. This profoundly expresses the impact of good decision-making and the importance of critical thinking to the decision-making process.
The ability to evaluate something comes naturally for everybody, but the effectiveness of this skill can vary significantly from person to person. Most people are not raised in an environment that is grounded in teaching critical thinking skills. As a result, they succumb to biases and prejudices present in their environment. These subjective attitudes become instilled in them over time and ultimately drive their decision-making processes. Any decision they make without applying critical analysis will lack the superior conclusions that a critically filtered evaluation would provide. And because their decisions are often based on feelings rather than evidence, many unproductive and unhappy outcomes emerge.
The Horn and Halo Effects
The Halo Effect is a tendency to ascribe an overall positive evaluation to a person because of one particular positive trait exhibited by that person. The opposite is the Horn Effect which reflects an overall negative impression of someone because of a negative trait. This phenomenon is generally associated with our assessment of other people, but it can also play a role of our assessment of organizations and situations.
The Horn/Halo effects can be an especially significant barrier to critical thinking in the execution of a performance appraisal. A manager, for example, may develop an overall more positive impression of Bob than of Mary because Bob is always on time to work and Mary is sometimes several minutes late. This reflects the manager's personal bias that being on time demonstrates a higher level of worker responsibility and thus productivity than does being occasionally late.
However, the actual facts may be that while Mary is sometimes late, she works harder, is more conscientious and is a better team player than Bob. Furthermore, she frequently works late while Bob never does. If the manger applied critical thinking to the performance appraisal process rather than simply relying on his personal biases, he would see that that the evidence showed that Mary, not Bob, was the more valuable employee, and he would be able to make a much more valid assessment. We often make such snap (non-critical thinking based) assessments in our everyday lives, such as in evaluating a restaurant or an organization on limited and uniformed criteria.
Critical Thinking in Problem-Solving
"Thinking outside the box" is to think differently, unconventionally, or from a new perspective. The phrase often refers to novel or creative thinking. A critical thinker will consider not only the current facts regarding a situation, but will also pursue additional available information that may have a bearing on the problem at hand. The critical thinker discounts nothing and carefully and thoroughly considers all possible approaches. Furthermore, the critical thinker judiciously assesses his or her personal biases and does not include them in the problem-solving process until research and concrete evidence verify them. On the other hand, a non-critical thinker will make assumptions and draw conclusions on information about which he or she may have no idea as to whether or not it is factual.
The following puzzle represents a classic example of thinking outside the box:
Can you connect all the dots using four or fewer straight lines, without lifting your pencil and without tracing the same line more than once?
Solution
Three Keys to Becoming a Critical Thinker
- Be open-minded. It is so easy to have preconceived notions on a subject. Be receptive to the suggestions of others. Don't jump to quick conclusions even if they seem apparent. Think of it as trying to solve a mystery on TV. The apparent answer is rarely the right one. Arriving at the answer involves gathering facts and throwing out biases.
- Think outside the box. It's easy and comfortable to rely on habitual thinking. Move away from it and explore "what if" and "why not" scenarios. Find out how others under similar conditions have handled such situations or solved related problems. Brainstorm with others and do not discount any approach out-of-hand.
- Challenge conventional wisdom. Erroneous statements are made every day and non-critical thinkers take them and run with them. Continually check your facts and those of others for accuracy. Do your own research if necessary. Credibility is everything.
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"IN THE GROOVE"
 At some point each of us has likely experienced a feeling of being in the groove. Being in the groove is a slang term for describing a situation in which a person is performing exceptionally well. It represents a state of consciousness where we experience a task so deeply that it becomes truly enjoyable and satisfying, resulting in an emotional state where all of our attention and/or energy is totally focused on the activity. Other terms for this kind of mental state include:to be in the moment, being present, being on a roll, wired in or in tune.
In 1990, psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi [me-high chick-sent-me-high] named this state "Flow," based on how participants in his studies described the experience, and he characterized this focused attention as "psychic energy". According to Csikzentmihalyi, Flow is a "sense of effortless action people feel in moments that stand out as the best in their lives. Athletes refer to it as 'being in the zone,' religious mystics as being in 'ecstasy,' artists and musicians as 'aesthetic rapture.'" In his book Flow, the Psychology of Optimal Experience, he asserts that the sensations associated with a state of Flow include total concentration and focused attention, feeling of confidence on one's abilities, a sense of personal control over a situation, positive personal feelings and a distorted perception of time.
Flow has been experienced throughout history and across cultures. The teachings of Buddhism and Taoism speak of a state of mind known as the "action of inaction" or "doing without doing" that greatly resembles the idea of Flow. Historical sources suggest that Michelangelo may have painted the ceiling of the Vatican's Sistine Chapel while in a state of Flow. It is reported that he painted for days at a time, and that he was so absorbed in his work that he did not stop for food or sleep until he reached the point of passing out. He would wake up refreshed and, upon starting to paint again, would re-enter a state of complete absorption. Bruce Lee also spoke of a psychological state similar to Flow in his book the Tao of Jeet Kune Do. If you watch a great athlete or a gifted artist, you can see that they seem so totally focused. They are completely zoned in on the task at hand. This is being in Flow.
Flow in the Workplace
Conditions of Flow can play an extremely important role in the workplace. Because Flow is associated with achievement, its development can have concrete implications in increasing workplace accomplishment as well as in driving personal satisfaction. Flow researchers such as Csikszentmihalyi believe that three basic conditions need to exist in order for Flow to be possible:
- Clear goals and expectations
- Continual and relevant feedback
- A balance between workplace challenges and worker capabilities
Interventions that contribute to these conditions may increase and enhance Flow in the workplace, leading to heightened intrinsic rewards for employees which would result in increased worker persistence, commitment and productivity. Furthermore, creating a workplace atmosphere that allows for Flow and growth can also increase the happiness and satisfaction of employees.
There are, however, barriers to achieving Flow in the workplace. In his chapter "Why Flow Doesn't Happen on the Job," Csikszentmihalyi argues the first reason that Flow does not occur is that the goals of one's job may not be clear. He explains that while some tasks at work may fit into a larger, organization plan, some workers may not see where their individual tasks fit in. Second, limited feedback about one's work can reduce motivation and leave employees unaware of whether or not they did a good job. When there is little communication of feedback, employees may not be assigned tasks that challenge them or seem important, which could potentially prevent an opportunity for Flow.
Furthermore, when there isn't a good balance between the challenge at hand and the ability to meet that challenge, job enjoyment and satisfaction suffer. When the challenge is greater than our abilities, we can become anxious and frustrated. When the challenge is significantly less than what we are worthy, we become bored and de-motivated. Both conditions can significantly diminish self-fulfillment leading to decreased productivity.
The trick is to find that "sweet spot" where designated tasks are challenging enough in relation to performers' abilities that they do not become bored, but not so overly challenging that they induce worker anxiety. That's where Flow lives.
Think about your favorite hobby. You enjoy it and often become engrossed in it because it's fun and you are most likely good at it. Additionally, you probably often lose track of time when you are engaged in the activity. That's Flow and that's the reason to strive for Flow in the workplace.
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YOUR PERSUASIVE EDGE
People often associate the topic of persuasion primarily with the concept of selling, but the importance of effective persuasion skills really pertains to every one of us regardless of our individual vocation. Every day each of us is involved to some degree in influencing the thoughts and actions of others. In fact, the path to success in life lies to a very large extent in gaining the cooperation of others. In this edition of Insights, we continue with our ongoing segment dedicated to the topic of persuasion.
YOUR PERSUASIVE APPEAL: Credibility - Emotion - Logic
Whenever we are trying to persuade others to our point of view, we are generally appealing to them from at least one of three perspectives: personal credibility, logic or emotion. Most of the time we may not really be conscious of which approach we are using or may not be focusing on the most effective approach. These three categories of persuasive appeals were first describes by the Greek Philosopher Aristotle who referred to them as Ethos, Pathos and Logos.
Personal Credibility (Ethos)
One of the central challenges of persuasion, whether oral or in writing, is to project the impression that you are someone worth paying attention to. Credibility is closely associated with personal character. Furthermore, you want to come across as someone who is likable and worthy of respect because people tend to believe people whom they respect. Credibility is often conveyed through the tone and style of the message and by how respectfully a communicator deals with opposing viewpoints. It can also be affected by a speaker or writer's reputation (which can exist independently from the message), his or her expertise in a particular field or his or her previous record or integrity. The impact of credibility is often referred to as the persuader's ethical appeal, and is closely associated with the nature of one's character.
Personal credibility is the cornerstone of successful persuasion. To get others to agree with your ideas or purpose, you must first be believed, and to be believed, you must be credible. The dictionary definition of credibility is "the quality or power of inspiring belief." Another way of saying it is that credibility is what makes you believable and, therefore, persuasive. While there is a range of factors that can contribute to a person's credibility, two essential qualities are trustworthiness and competency.
Emotion (Pathos)
The appeal of emotion focuses on the audience's feelings. Most everyone wants to feel happy and avoid feeling sad. Since most of us like to believe we are caring and sensitive people, skillful speakers and writers can structure their arguments in a way that can leverage our emotions to influence our thinking and thereby our actions. Many speakers and writers over the centuries have considered emotion to be the strongest of the persuasive appeals. Consider the following:
"Oh officer, please don't give me a ticket for speeding. I was just on my way to the hospital to see my wife who is in serious condition to tell her I just lost my job and that the car is going to be repossessed."
This appeal to the policeman's emotions strives to create a feeling of sufficient pity on him so as to persuade the policeman not to issue a ticket which based on the basic facts of the situation, would be totally warranted.
Logic (Logos)
The appeal to logic in persuasion has to do with how reasonable and rational an argument is. In other words, does your premise make sense? You may be a highly respected authority in your field (credibility) and may have made a very powerful call to action (emotion), but if you haven't convinced your audience that doing what you want them to do is logical and will, in fact, result in the desired outcome, you are not likely to be effective in influencing other people's thinking. To make a logical argument, you must draw conclusions from evidence or principles (and often both). In order to accept your argument as logical, your audience must find your evidence valid and convincing and/or agree with the principles your conclusions are based on.
Focus on Your Strong Suit
When preparing to persuade an individual or a group, first determine which appeal is best suited to your argument or position and which would be most persuasive to your audience. For example if, you are presenting a marketing plan to your superiors, a strong logical approach based on the available market data would probably be the best avenue to take. If you wanted to get voters to vote for you by persuading them that you will do what you say you will do, you should probably rely heavily on your credibility. However, if you were soliciting donations to support your favorite charity, an appeal to emotion would likely work best. In most persuasion scenarios, elements of all three appeals would come into play.
Ask us a question about Persuasiveness.
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| I hope you have enjoyed what you've read. As always, we value your thoughts and comments. Please feel free to:
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Pat Iannuzzi
Symbiont Performance Group |
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