We Must Think Critically And Differently

Frank Diana Education, Future Scenarios, Pandemics, , , , , , , ,

It was late 2013 and I was thinking about the transformation that digital would eventually drive. In a Series of Posts on transformation, I laid out my early thinking about forcing functions and related enablers. One of those enablers was Thinking Differently. In this Article authored by Jeff Haden, he describes the viewpoints of best-selling author Simon Sinek:

“These are not unprecedented times. There are many cases — lists of cases — where change, or something unexpected, has put many companies out of business, and made other companies come out stronger and reinvent themselves. The invention of the Internet put many, many companies out of business. The ones who could not reinvent themselves for the Internet age but rather doubled down on the old way they did business.”

The importance of thinking differently could not be described better. As we approach what could be a new normal, we need to let go of current mental models. Another form of thinking is also highlighted by our current crisis. While the lack of Internet and computer access has been the discussion regarding both remote work and education, this Article focuses on how we think. I have focused on Education as a key piece of our societal journey going forward. Author Colin Seale talks about the current crisis in the context of education, highlighting our need for critical thinking. He had this to say:

“If we are sincere in our goal to prepare young people to solve problems the likes of which we have never seen, using technologies that have not been created, in career fields that do not exist, education systems should obsess over critical thinking”.

He goes on to describe the gaps in our education system and concludes that: When critical thinking is literally a matter of life or death, we can no longer afford to keep treating it like a luxury good. The need to think both critically and differently was already an imperative in a world that promised dramatic change before the current crisis. This crisis just shines a brighter light on it – other thoughts on the crisis can be found at the links below.

FEATURED: A Post Pandemic Society

49 thoughts on “We Must Think Critically And Differently”

  47. […] I read a great Article on education the other day written by leadership thinker Steve Denning. My passion for the future of education is expressed in frequent Posts on the topic – so the article struck a chord. As a leadership guru, Mr. Denning focused on the management of education and provided some fascinating statistics. For example, in 2006, only 43% of school personnel in the US were teachers, while in other countries, that percentage was 70 to 80%. Seems that this imbalance is driven by a compliance focus that has employees trying to monitor and comply with federal and state requirements. Mr. Denning believes that lost in this period of industrial-era bureaucracy is the purpose of organizations involved in education. He describes a current corporate revolution in management and leadership that he believes needs to take root in education. There are two very critical points made in the article that speak to a need to Think Differently. […]

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