As I added milk to my morning cup of coffee today, the surface formed into something that bears a striking resemblance to the symbol representing yin and yang. It was a sight to behold and the poet in me made me wonder if it was a sign from the universe.
You must have heard of the saying: “Well begun is half done”. Turns out, it is not. There is no sense whatsoever in proceeding headlong into a problem only to realize after travelling some distance that you got the problem all wrong. The time spent on rework is better spent in getting the problem statement right.
When I worked for Amazon, I lead a Kaizen project as a part of which I had to come up with the problem statement. Muddleheaded and sleep-deprived, I drafted something submitted it very pleased with myself. The management nearly barfed at it. Swallowing my pride, I had to revise the drafts a couple of times to arrive at something that brought me closer to the problem statement.
All the conversations in our workplaces are an attempt to “clarify” scenarios and situations. But human that we are, our biases, opinions and judgments come in the way. However, critical thinking is not necessarily a preserve of the management. Everyone is a leader.
Words are tricky kaleidoscope. Opinion and judgment warp their meaning at warp speed. Even a slight change of tone and nuance can make the perception go completely “wrong”. It takes time for teams to glean the meaning of what someone is saying. They do it by forming an impression of the person first. The sense the words make shape-shifts based on impressions we have of the person. Welcome to the “post truth” world. In fact, Yuval Noah Harari has called us a post truth species.
The point I am making is that it is the natural order.
Chaos is the best way to describe any natural order. As second law of thermodynamics states, we must exercise energy to bring chaos to the natural order of things. I believe that critical thinking is a limited resource on the planet and it behooves upon us to cultivate it collectively. I believe that that thought should precede speech.
As an exercise in developing critical thinking, I must learn how to frame problem statements. It involves distancing from voices of judgment and opinion. It involves staying objective without losing my mental clarity. It winnowing through the yin and yang of perception and reality.
Asking the right questions is the place to begin.
