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3 great books help you think more clearly about any problem – and transform better thinking into better results – in business, and in life!
Three remarkable books help you think more clearly, flexibly, effectively — and transform better thinking into better personal and business performance! Critical Thinking: Tools for Taking Charge of Your Professional and Personal Life offers practical tools for becoming a better thinker in every aspect of your life: in your career, and as a consumer, citizen, friend, parent, and lover. Richard W. Paul and Linda Elder reveal the core skills of effective thinking, helping you analyze your own thought processes, identify weaknesses, and overcome them. The Truth About Making Smart Decisions brings together 50 powerful “truths” about making better decisions: real solutions for the tough challenges faced by every decision-maker, in business and in life. You'll discover how to systematically prepare to make better decisions...how to get the right information, without getting buried in useless data...how to minimize your risks, and then act decisively...how to make better group decisions...profit from mistakes...and a whole lot more. Finally, Now You're Thinking!: Change Your Thinking...Transform Your Life draws on an incredible story of survival in wartime to introduce a model of critical thinking that will help you recognize how your emotions are shaping your actions, evaluate arguments more effectively, and draw conclusions that lead you directly to better life decisions.
From world-renowned leaders in the promotion of effective thinking, including Dr. Richard Paul, Dr. Linda Elder, Robert E. Gunther, Judy Chartrand, Stewart Emery, Russ Hall, Heather Ishikawa, and John Maketa
Critical Thinking: Tools for Taking Charge of Your Professional and Personal Life
ACKNOWLEDGMENT xiii
PREFACE xv
1 Thinking in a World of Accelerating Change and Intensifying Danger 1
2 Becoming a Critic of Your Thinking 7
3 BECOMING A FAIR-MINDED THINKER 17
4 SELF-UNDERSTANDING 37
5 The First Four Stages of Development: What Level Thinker Are You? 47
6 The Parts of Thinking 65
7 The Standards for Thinking 97
8 Design Your Life 129
9 The Art of Making Intelligent Decisions 143
10 Taking Charge of Your Irrational Tendencies 157
11 MONITORING YOUR SOCIOCENTRIC TENDENCIES 185
12 DEVELOPING AS AN ETHICAL REASONER 205
13 ANALYZING AND EVALUATING THINKING IN CORPORATE AND ORGANIZATIONAL LIFE 229
14 THE POWER AND LIMITS OF PROFESSIONAL KNOWLEDGE (AND OF THE DISCIPLINES THAT UNDERLIE THEM) 251
15 STRATEGIC THINKING PART ONE 277
16 STRATEGIC THINKING PART TWO 293
GLOSSARY: A GUIDE TO CRITICAL THINKING TERMS AND CONCEPTS 311
REFERENCES 343
INDEX 347
The Truth About Making Smart Decisions
Preface ix
Introduction x
Part I The Truth About Preparing for Decisions
Truth 1 Before a major decision, get some Z’s 1
Truth 2 Act from a state of clarity 3
Truth 3 If you can’t get distance, get perspective 7
Truth 4 Keep it real 11
Truth5 Use a systematic process 15
Truth 6 Know your decision-making style 19
Part II The Truth About Why Bad Decisions Are Good
Truth 7 To make better decisions, make more mistakes 23
Truth 8 Be prepared to profit from your mistakes 27
Truth 9 Learn from your close calls 29
Truth 10 Learn from the decisions of others 33
Truth 11 Don’t judge your decisions based on their outcome 35
Truth 12 Leave yourself room to get back from the pole 39
Part III The Truth About the Limits of Your Mind
Truth 13 Understand common “decision traps” 43
Truth 14 Giving up something? Get over it! 47
Truth 15 It’s possible to miss an entire gorilla 51
Truth 16 You may see only what you’re looking for 53
Truth 17 You’re not as clever as you think you are 57
Truth 18 Your view of the world depends on what planet you’re from 61
Truth 19 Beware of seeing patterns that aren’t there 65
Truth 20 Different is not always better 69
Part IV The Truth About Complex Decisions
Truth 21 Boil knowledge down to its essence—and then act on it 71
Truth 22 Decisions are not snapshots but movies 75
Truth 23 No decision is an island 79
Truth 24 Build the city around your decision 83
Part V The Truth About Data
Truth 25 Listen for the dog that doesn’t bark 85
Truth 26 Sorry, Joe Friday. The facts are never “just the facts.” 89
Truth 27 Recognize the power of intuition 91
Part VI The Truth About Acting Decisively
Truth 28 The wrong decision is better than none at all 95
Truth 29 Get 80 percent (or less) of what you need, and then act on it 99
Truth 30 Every decision carries risk. Get used to it. 103
Truth 31 Not making a decision is a decision 107
Part VII The Truth About Decisions in Groups
Truth 32 Two heads can be worse than one 111
Truth 33 Use constructive conflict 115
Truth 34 Surround yourself with people smarter than yourself 119
Truth 35 Make decision roles clear 123
Truth 36 Break free from the prisoner’s dilemma 127
Part VIII The Truth About Emotions
Truth 37 A little adrenaline can be a good thing 131
Truth 38 Understand the impact of emotions 135
Truth 39 Beware of the attractive new shortcut 139
Part IX The Truth About Ethical Decision Making
Truth 40 Don’t do anything you wouldn’t want seen on YouTube 143
Truth 41 There are no quiet corners safe from scrutiny 145
Truth 42 To know where you’re going, know where you stand 149
Truth 43 Don’t let power or ego sway you from your course 153
Part X The Truth About Big Decisions
Truth 44 Lower the costs of failure 157
Truth 45 Break down big decisions into smaller ones 161
Truth 46 Don’t forget the screwdrivers 165
Part XI The Truth About Moving On
Truth 47 Keep your eye on the long term 169
Truth 48 Belief in your decision can make it come true 173
Truth 49 Keep a sense of humor 177
Truth 50 Don’t look back 181
Additional Resources 183
References 184
About the Author 188
Now You're Thinking: Change Your Thinking...Transform Your Life
Introduction 1
Amenah’s Story 5
Chapter 1: How Your Mind Works--Some Assembly Required 45
Chapter 2: A New Way of Thinking 59
Chapter 3: Take Stock of Your Style 79
Chapter 4: Change Your Thinking...Revolutionize Your Career...Transform Your Life 95
Appendix A: Characters 113
Appendix B: Cognitive Biases: Common Mental Mind Traps 125
Appendix C: Resources 131
Index 147