CRITICAL THINKING – Rodenberg Tillman & Associates

Do we believe the truth when we hear it?

August 1, 2016

Do we really believe the truth when we hear it, even if it is not what we want to hear? That is strategic intelligence at its core: critical thinking, perspectives over and above facts, challenging assumptions, and determining the course of future action. On one occasion, I was presenting to one of the leading business groups in the Netherlands, and at the end, the CEO of a top-25 listed company asked us what kind of differentiating tools we use to determine the possible courses of future actions.

Analysis is a precondition for creating Strategic Intelligence

Most decision-making in our organizations is still based on intuition and gut feeling. The aim of strategic competitive intelligence is critical thinking fueled by analysis and driven by perspectives over and above facts.Analysis is key and is a precondition for creating strategic intelligence. In analyzing data, we tend to discern patterns early, jump to conclusions, ignore contradictory information or take other mental shortcuts.