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CRITICAL THINKING EXAMINATION

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Answer I) The decision making process has a backbone which is made up of four major

bones

Framing Gathering Intelligence Coming to conclusions Learning from experienceBut this is a very basic process. In todays complex business environment a well structured

and defined decision process is very critical.

The below framework will help us making corporate decisions and is reliable and can be

used repeatedly.

CriticalThinking

Conceptualizing

Applying

Analyzing

Synthesizing

Evaluating

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The corporate decision making process will have four major decision making milestones

1. Analyze2.

Design

3. Decide4. Feedback

1. Analyze This is the most critical stage of decision making as in this we will study thecontext of the problem/issue. The environmental analysis has to be done in this

stage. Meta decision making will be the stepping stone of this step. Understanding

the context of the situation. Gathering information related to the situation. Taking

into consideration conformation bias and overconfidence bias. And also assessing

our own capabilities. The information gathered should have the past data for results

of similar decision taken. Also very important is the clarity of what is the core

Analyze

Design

Decide

Feedback

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objective from this particular decision will be. The various techniques are used to

analyze the situation.

2. Design In this stage we design the framework of the problem. We tend toformulate the likely outcomes of the decision and try to forecast. A risk analysis is

done and likely steps to avoid those risks. The decision blue print is decided in this

stage. The plan for the decision process is tailored. It is the decision framing process.

3. Decide The design is implemented in this stage and the decision is taken.4. Feedback the outcomes of the decision are stored for future decision making

process and are treated as input to the analyze stage.

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Answer II)

Group think occurs when a group makes faulty decisions because group pressures lead to a

deterioration of mental efficiency, reality testing and moral judgment. Irving Janis

It occurs within a group of people. It is likely to occur when group members try to minimize

conflict and dont follow the essential steps of a critical decision making process. Alternative

ideas evaluation doesnt take place. When the group is from the same background the group

think is likely to happen. As they are insulated from the outside perspective. Also when the

pressure is quite high group think is most likely to happen in a cohesive group.

Various symptoms of group think are

Rationalization the group tend to collectively rationalize the process and they tend toavoid warnings and they do not reconsider assumptions.

Excessive Optimism If they are in high pressure situation then they likely to take adecision which is excessively optimistic

Right in the cause the members belief in getting to the solution without taking ethicsand moral values into consideration.

Stereotype Any conflicting view is seen as a danger Unanimity The major decisions are assumed to be unanimous. Ex NASA case.

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Protection of the group and its members from any problematic/contradictoryinformation which will affect the like mindedness of the group or will try to affect the

cohesion of the group.

Pressure on dissenters

The possible results

Creativity loss Loss of individual thinking and uniqueness Group think might lead to disasters Deterioration in mental efficiency Carelessness in decision making. High probability of failure Poor quality of results

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Answer III)

First and foremost I will try to identify the micro and macro barriers to creativity in Pear Inc and

will address the same so as the barriers are removed.

Post addressing these issues I will have a meditation event (a week long) for all those engineers

so as to relax them and make them ready for the project.

Post the meditation session I will plan a brain storming session for the project idea creation.

The Brain Storming Session

1. Pre Session Preparation2. Session3. Post Session Thinking

Pre Session Preparation

Each engineer will be asked to come up with at least 2-3 ideas prior to the brain storming

session so as to set the stage and to make the brain storming session more qualitative. This will

improve the quality of the ideas presented.

Session

The location Location is of key importance. The location for the session would be airy rooms

with very high ceilings. The sitting arrangement should be broadly spaced and recliners would

be provided. The location should have some bizarre pictures/wallpapers/cues not at all related

to the objective but it should foster the engineers to think in all possible directions.

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Also the team is a group of technical people then the before the session a fun and team based

activity should happen in which the logical brain has no role to play.

Then the session should start with a basic question of What we intend to do?

The ideas which were thought in advance should be discussed in detail and no single idea

should be ignored as it will hamper the creativity. Weird and bizarre ideas would be welcomed.

The participants should be able to see the big picture while coming with ideas. While discussing

any kind of biases and assumptions will be avoided. Provoking questions would be asked and

conventional wisdom would be challenged.

Post Session Thinking/Action.

All the members would be asked to think about the session and a feedback would be taken as

would could have been changed in the current setting so that better brain storming would

happen and those changes will be implemented.