Month: May 2018

Focus on the Solution not the Problem

Breakthrough Critical Thinking focuses on the Solution not the problem.


What is Breakthrough Creative Thinking?

  • It focuses forward on the solution you want to create rather than backwards at the problem you want to eliminate.
  • It identifies the right things to do and how to do them.
  • Removes obstacles from your path to the simple solutions.
  • Requires minimal information gathering and then only on the information you need to move forward – thus reducing “analysis-paralysis”.
  • Provides long-term solutions

It also helps you avoid the mistakes made in the traditional problem-solving paradigm:

  1. Working on the wrong things – ladder against the wrong wall.
  2. Starting with the wrong assumptions which always causes coming to wrong conclusions.
  3. Involving the wrong people.
  4. Accepting the wrong or incomplete solutions.
  5. Addressing the wrong timing.
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Be Right or Go Wrong

We are living in a time when to be right is relative.

Call it the “New Morality”.

The “New Morality” says that man’s reason should be the instrument of moral judgment. It’s not a matter of what is good or right but rather what is fitting to the situation or lifestyle I want to live.

I used to think this was just a problem from the liberal or “left” side of society but I have come realize that even on the “right” we are raising generations of relativists.

The supreme law for the “New Moralists” is Love.  Or as the left would say “compassion”.

That sounds like it should be a good thing but to these New Moralists any “standards” of right and wrong stifle love and compassion.

Today’s moral relativist is willing to ignore any principle if he thinks he can show more love by its violation than its obedience.  The ends justify the means.

Look at politics just in the past few years. Our leaders can lie to pass their agenda that they think demonstrates more “love” and no one bats an eye.

Today’s New Morality” is being used to condone and accept every sort of sin from adultery, lying, abortion, homosexual behavior, coveting, theft…The only sin that is not acceptable at the moment is outright murder unless of course you are in the womb. And we now have “ethicists” claiming that elderly, the too infirm, handicapped, etc. may not be of the same value.

Millions are suffering the consequences of having no moral compass to guide them. We can rationalize any type of behavior in the name of love but without a Biblical guideline, the New moral relativist has no way of knowing whether what he is doing or condoning is truly loving.

The person who engages in moral relativism has no fixed standard of what is right and what is wrong. Right is simply whatever he “feels” is in his best interest at the time.

Having no moral compass, no standards or guidelines is no different than setting sail without having plotted a course to your destination.

It sort of reminds me of a famous Yogi Berra saying “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.”

I am a Christian; my moral compass is the Bible. It’s not ambiguous; It’s clear cut and IT IS based on Love and compassion but Love is clearly defined. It’s the same standard for everyone, not just a select few.

To be right requires you to have a worldview based on reality.

 

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How to Develop Good Judgment

Good judgment never comes from book smarts but rather from street smarts. The school of hard knocks. There is a huge disconnect from what our schools and universities teach and what the real-world demands.

People with high IQs can and often do make some really stupid decisions.

What is it, then, that smart people do right? What qualities do they have that set them apart from the rest?

Mostly, they make better decisions, especially when it really matters.

“In life you only need to make a few good decisions, so long as you don’t make too many bad ones.” – Warren Buffett

Here are three effective strategies you can adopt in order to improve your judgment:

Be Honest about Current Reality: Although as created beings, one of the ways we are created similar to God is the attribute of rationality, we are also created with emotions, and almost always poor judgment is a result of being driven by our emotions without any regard to our rational side.

The very first thing we need is be honest about our own assumptions, prejudices and biases if we are going to be able to overcome them.

As created beings, we are created in the image of God with four common characteristics.  We are:

  • Rational – we have the ability to think and reason.
  • Volitional – we have the freedom to choose.
  • Emotional – we feel.
  • Relational – we long for relationship.

Be Proactive: People with great judgment are proactive in that they assume responsibility for their decisions and thus can live with their mistake. They are not self-deceived and do not seek to deceive others. People with good judgment are not afraid to make a decision because they have the integrity to be able to live with the decisions they make.

Learn from your Experiences: Once you are aware of your own assumptions, prejudices, and biases and accept responsibility for your decisions it then comes down to learning from those decisions, whether right or wrong.

 “Life is a series of experiences, each one of which makes us bigger, even though sometimes it is hard to realize this. For the world was built to develop character, and we must learn that the setbacks and grieves which we endure help us in our marching onward.” – Henry Ford

The best decision-makers in the world succeed because they have the ability to capitalize from their mistakes, keep refining their judgment, and set their emotions in the rightful place. It’s this self-awareness and self-coachability enables them to become known for having world-class judgment. Every decision they make is another opportunity to learn and get better.

Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them; for the ways of the Lord are right, and the upright walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them. – Hosea 14:9 ESV

 

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