Rational thinking is basic to our functioning human beings. Being able to consider the information available, organize it in a way that leads to a logical solution begins very early in cognitive development. With maturation, concrete rational thinking can become more sophisticated with the ability to consider more information in order to reach a decision.… Read More
Learning is hard work. If something feels easy to learn it usually means that we haven’t learned it very well. Anything worth learning takes hard work. Not the hard work of memorization, but the hard work of learning. Given the technological advances in the world today, we all feel that learning should be easier. If… Read More
We are in a time when continuous learning is becoming the accepted norm in life. We no longer get some schooling, find a job, and then work there until retirement. There are too many changes in the workplace and society for us to simply park after learning. We must constantly learn in order to maintain… Read More
We live in a world where everyone knows how to think – don’t they? If thinking is defined as a stream of consciousness, then everyone thinks. At least I think that everyone thinks. However, when I talk about thinking, I’m referring to developing our cognitive enablers, both basic and advanced. Basic cognitive enablers deal with… Read More
A friend of mine has been reading some of my stuff after we had a good long chat about learning advanced cognitive enablers and asked me some questions that I hadn’t really thought about. He comes from a world of hands-on, concrete work and couldn’t understand how advanced cognitive enablers fit into such a world.… Read More
There are two very different types of creativity: convergent and divergent. Convergent creativity is the kind of creativity that is the type we see today. Convergent creativity is coming up with creative ways to solve problem. This is the type of creativity that organizations are willing to reward people for. Convergent creativity is creativity that… Read More
The scientific evidence for how we learn advanced cognitive enablers (critical thinking, complex reasoning, higher order creativity, metacognition…) involves iterative discussions; discussions between peers who weigh out evidence and come to conclusions based on logic, reason, and evidence. Since logic and reason are thought to be blind to emotion, why shouldn’t learning these skills through… Read More
I have written several articles about moving through the difficult transition that we are finding ourselves in as we move into the cyber-enhanced world we are increasingly seeing around us. The reality that I see is that the rigidity of the most powerful organizations around us is going to cause unnecessary pain and suffering to… Read More
As I have written articles about the need for higher order thinking skills (cognitive enablers), I have stressed the need for a way to formally learn these skills. There is no argument that these advanced cognitive enablers are some of the skills that will remain, for the foreseeable future, exclusively human and highly valued in… Read More
There is no doubt that the prosperous workers of the future will have to demonstrate agility in learning. Learning will be a continuous process for anyone who wants to remain valuable as the world changes. So, what is the catch? We all move smoothly out of and into stages of learning and working as smoothly… Read More
