I think one of the reasons why it’s more difficult in today’s day and age is that we live in a world of incessant distraction and technology is often to blame as well. HELEN LEE BOUYGUES: That’s a great question Curt and actually we did a survey at the Reboot Foundation about a year ago, where we asked people questions of everything from ranging from how often do they practice critical thinking to how important they think critical thinking is, and how often they teach their children critical thinking? But in reality, critical thinking is not only extremely important for success in life, but it’s also something that needs to be learned and practiced.Ĭritical thinking skills are very much predictive of making positive financial decisions, even more so than raw intelligence, but people kind of forget what that actually means in terms of tools and practices that they need to exercise in order to make the right decisions, or at least the better decisions.īased on my 20 years of different turnaround and transformation experience, I have noticed that very often when things go sideways or create problems and companies find themselves in a situation of a need for turnaround, it’s typically been because I would argue that the leadership perhaps lacked some elements of critical thinking.ĬURT NICKISCH: Why do you think we lack critical thinking skills, or why do you think we think we’re better at it than we actually are? HELEN LEE BOUYGUES: Yeah, I think at first glance people believe that critical thinking is something that we do every day and it comes very natural. That just sounds a little surprising to me and I wanted to hear why you say that. And, you say that many people’s business problems really come down to simple errors in critical thinking. HELEN LEE BOUYGUES: Thank you for having me Curt.ĬURT NICKISCH: Helen, you worked in transitional periods for a bunch of big companies. She’s also the author of the HBR.org article “ 3 Simple Habits to Improve Your Critical Thinking.” Helen, thanks for being here. Based in Paris, the nonprofit helps parents, teachers and employers think more critically about their problems. She’s the founder of the Reboot Foundation. But in her experience, all these organizational problems shared one root cause: A lack of critical thinking. In a few cases, members of the senior team were simply negligent. Some failed to stay in front of changing technologies. Sometimes they needed her because they were mismanaged. She has been an interim CEO, CFO, or COO at more than one dozen companies. Customers and contracts will always be there.Īnd then one day – the money stops flowing in, and the business is suddenly in real trouble. Bouygues is the author of the HBR.org article “ 3 Simple Habits to Improve Your Critical Thinking.”ĬURT NICKISCH: Welcome to the HBR IdeaCast from Harvard Business Review. The good news, she says, is that critical thinking skills can developed and practiced over time. Instead, leaders should deliberately approach each problem and devote time thinking through possible solutions. She says organizational leaders often rely too heavily on expertise and then jump to conclusions. Helen Lee Bouygues, founder of the Reboot Foundation, believes that a lack of critical thinking is responsible for many business failures.
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