...AMBA 610 Week 2: The Manager as a Critical Thinker Submitted: October 25, 2011 Introduction Asking the Right Questions, in and of itself was a phenomenal read. I gained an incredible amount of insight with regards to critical thinking, but I also learned a lot about myself. While reading the text, I frequently had light bulb moments where I would reflect on my decision making process in personal relationships, but also business relationships. This book assisted me in identifying a new way in which I process information and how I make decisions. Asking the Right Questions, gives you the tools and skills to carefully approach questions and the ability to skillfully think through tasks. Critical thinking as defined by Browne and Keeley consists of an awareness of a set of interrelated critical questions, the ability to ask and answer critical questions at appropriate times and the desire to actively use the critical questions. This assignment, which focused on the PDQ Memorandum (Mark Headlee, personal communication, October 1, 2011), was an interesting discussion to use for the critical thinking process. Initially, when I thought about critical thinking as a task, my mind immediately focused on a problem and a solution. It most often times in my experience has been a lengthy discussion which resulted in numerous steps in the process. The model used by Browne and Keeley, is a different approach than what I was familiar with, however, it was quite unique when...
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...In order to validate each argument in the memo I will apply the critical thinking model from the book “Asking the Right Questions” by Browne and Keeley (2010). This model is comprised of ten steps for an audience to critically analyze a conclusion by speakers and writers. The first step of the critical thinking model is to identify the conclusion of a speaker’s or writer’s argument (Browne & Kelley, 2010). Browne and Kelley (2010) define the conclusion of a speaker or writer as the “message that the speaker or write wishes you to accept”. The conclusion of the business memo is stated by Ms. Ford, “APEU Local No. 121 should challenge the governor’s proposed privatization of the DMV information systems management function as an unfair management practice”. The conclusion in this memo is located at the end of the memo and clearly stated in the conclusion section however to validate that this statement is the conclusion, identification of the issue is necessary. Browne and Kelley (2010) define an issue as a “question or controversy responsible for the conversation or discussion”. The critical thinking model describes two types of issues that could exist in a speaker’s or writer’s argument: Descriptive issue which raise questions about the accuracy of descriptions; or Prescriptive issues which raise questions about what the accepted decision should be or what is right versus what is wrong (Browne & Kelley, 2010). In this memo the issue is of the Prescriptive type:...
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...Asking the Right Questions-11 Step Analysis Introduction “I know it’s good to be a critical thinker and to be able to ask lots of good questions, but I don’t know what questions to ask or how to ask them.” (Browne & Keeley, 2011) In our text “Asking the Right Questions: A Guide to Critical Thinking (10th Ed.) The authors explore the benefits and necessity for critical thinking as it relates to the process of asking the right questions to make an informed decision and conclusion to an argument. The authors Browne and Keeley (2011) give two different approaches that can be taken in order to achieve success in critical thinking; the Interactive approach which involves evaluation of what is being read or heard and the sponge approach which involves little thought because you are simply absorbing everything you read and hear. With a good combination of the two one can successfully go through the critical thinking process and ask and answer all the right questions. So what are the right questions? Browne and Keeley give 10 questions that create a stairway to successful critical thinking. I am going to go through the 10-question model and examine a Memo written by Ms. Mary Ford the Director of Human Resources of APEU to Mr. Hector Fuentes the President of APEU local No. 121. I. What are the Issues and Conclusions? An issue is a question or controversy responsible for the conversation or discussion. It is the stimulus for what is being said (Browne & Keeley, 2011). There are...
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...Why Questions are the Answers Leaders commonly set goals to achieve their directives and without clarity to define the goals themselves, many of them would miss the mark. The importance of asking questions helps clarify goals. Asking the right questions is important and so is knowing if one has the right answers before beginning any project in which goals are used as milestones along the way. Let’s first look at the “how” of this process by examining how questions can ensure the success of any given project. How Questions Help Questions do not just define the goal itself. Rather, questions must also be asked in order to define the basis for the goal. The importance of asking questions to ensure a successful project can be explained thus: A clear project definition and detailed objectives are critical to the success of the project. If the definition and objectives are ambiguous, unrealistic, not agreed upon, or not written down, the project is in serious trouble before it begins. Whatever time and energy you need to define the project properly in the planning stage is much less than what it will cost to fix problems after the project is completed (Richman, 2011, p. 46). Therefore, by asking questions at the beginning of the project, one can save both time and money as well as minimize the potential for running into trouble from the start. It is evident that it is important to ask questions to help ensure a smoother project overall, so now what? ...
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...thinker and to be able to ask lots of good questions, but I don’t know what questions to ask or how to ask them.” (Browne & Keeley, 2011) In our text “Asking the Right Questions: A Guide to Critical Thinking (10th Ed.) The authors explore the benefits and necessity for critical thinking as it relates to the process of asking the right questions to make an informed decision and conclusion to an argument. The authors Browne and Keeley (2011) give two different approaches that can be taken in order to achieve success in critical thinking; the Interactive approach which involves evaluation of what is being read or heard and the sponge approach which involves little thought because you are simply absorbing everything you read and hear. With a good combination of the two one can successfully go through the critical thinking process and ask and answer all the right questions. So what are the right questions? Browne and Keeley give 10 questions that create a stairway to successful critical thinking. I am going to go through the 10-question model and examine a Memo written by Ms. Mary Ford the Director of Human Resources of APEU to Mr. Hector Fuentes the President of APEU local No. 121. I. What are the Issues and Conclusions? An issue is a question or controversy responsible for the conversation or discussion. It is the stimulus for what is being said (Browne & Keeley, 2011). There are two types of issues, descriptive which are those that raise questions about the accuracy of the past, present...
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...Purpose / Introduction The purpose of this paper is to apply all ten steps of the critical thinking model described in the tenth edition of Asking the Right Questions by Browne and Keeley (2012) to Penn-Mart’s Health Care Strategy Memorandum. Additional research has been conducted to cross reference and strengthen the findings while remaining objective. What are the Issues and the Conclusions? Browne and Keeley (2012) describe an issue as a question or controversy responsible for the conversation or discussion. It is the stimulus for what is being said. The main issue within this memo surrounds the rising cost of employee healthcare benefits. The author of the document, Salvador Monella, is the Senior Vice President of Human Resources. This information is vital in proving that Monella has a vested interest and responsibility in reducing the cost of health benefits, paid for by Penn-Mart. Browne and Keeley (2012) proceed to explain how a conclusion is a statement or set of statements that the writer or speaker wants you to believe. The conclusion within this memo is that Penn-Mart should institute a wellness initiative in support of lowering the cost of health care for employees.. Monella then goes on to support the conclusions by providing high level reasoning. What are the Reasons? The text defines reasons as beliefs, evidence, metaphors, analogies, and other statements offered to support or justify conclusions (Browne and Keeley, 2012, p. 28). The reason Monella...
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... Introduction: In the book, “Asking the Right Questions: A Guide to Critical Thinking (Eleventh Edition), by M. Neil Brown and Stuart M. Keeley”, the authors examine the benefits of critical thinking as it relates to the process of asking the right kinds of questions. The authors state that critical thinking is a method used to improve the way we think by asking the questions that would enable you to reach a personal decision that would eventually give credit to both sides of a discussion. Critical thinking is, in essence, the analysis, synthesis and evaluation of one’s experience, as it relates to the worth of the discussion at hand. The authors define critical thinking as, “the awareness of a set of interrelated critical questions, the ability to ask and answer critical questions in an appropriate manner; and the desire to actively use the critical questions” (p. 4). This paper will evaluate the nature of critical thinking as an intellectual process and apply that to the memorandum date October 10, 2012 to Cynthia Castle from Anil Ravaswami to determine if the issue stated of whether the CEO of the company, Cliffside Holding Company of Massapequa (CHCM) should invest $100,000 per year in leadership training program for junior insurance executives. Browne and Keeley (2010) make it clear that a critical evaluation cannot be done until the conclusion is found and instructs the critical thinker to find this by asking “What is the writer or speaker trying to prove”...
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...Critical Thinking And Asking the Right Questions Mark Buscemi Introduction: To survive in such a complex and diverse world we as people must possess the ability to think critically in highly complex situations. The world is an extremely challenging place, all of us are forced to adapt by constantly challenging existing principles and performing certain methods to ensure our growth both physically and mentally. Many claim that contemporary society needs a skill called critical thinking to adapt and survive. Critical thinking is a higher level of intellectual progression that makes use of diverse information, skills and attitudes in interpreting situations and confronting problems. Critical thinking is done by everyone, it is all around us. But how many of us actually understand the critical thinking model created by Browne and Keeley? Critical thinking can only be effective if the one who engages in the process understands the 11 questions and steps created by Browne and Keeley while adapting them to each situation. This paper is an attempt to evaluate and converse the nature of critical thinking as an intellectual process based on the given situation (ex. the memo to evaluate the merit of Ms. Forsythe’s proposal to establish and fund a new leadership development program for junior insurance executives). Critical Thinking: According to Brown and Keeley (2007) critical thinking is an organized intellectual process that an individual undergoes while using...
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...thinker and to be able to ask lots of good questions, but I don’t know what questions to ask or how to ask them.” (Browne & Keeley, 2011) In our text “Asking the Right Questions: A Guide to Critical Thinking (10th Ed.) The authors explore the benefits and necessity for critical thinking as it relates to the process of asking the right questions to make an informed decision and conclusion to an argument. The authors Browne and Keeley (2011) give two different approaches that can be taken in order to achieve success in critical thinking; the Interactive approach which involves evaluation of what is being read or heard and the sponge approach which involves little thought because you are simply absorbing everything you read and hear. With a good combination of the two one can successfully go through the critical thinking process and ask and answer all the right questions. So what are the right questions? Browne and Keeley give 10 questions that create a stairway to successful critical thinking. I am going to go through the 10-question model and examine a Memo written by Ms. Mary Ford the Director of Human Resources of APEU to Mr. Hector Fuentes the President of APEU local No. 121. I. What are the Issues and Conclusions? An issue is a question or controversy responsible for the conversation or discussion. It is the stimulus for what is being said (Browne & Keeley, 2011). There are two types of issues, descriptive which are those that raise questions about the accuracy of the past, present...
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...Asking the Right Questions: A Guide to Critical Thinking Browne and Keeley, 2010 The Right Questions… | Critical Question Summary… | What are the issues and the conclusions? | Before you can evaluate an author’s argument, you must clearly identify the issue and the conclusion. How can you evaluate an argument if you don’t know exactly what the author is trying to persuade you to believe? Finding an author’s main point is the first step in deciding whether you will accept or reject it (p. 27). | What are the reasons? | Once you have identified the issue and the conclusion, you need to understand why an author has come to a certain conclusion. Reasons are the why. If the author provides good reasons, you might be persuaded to accept her conclusion. However, right now, we are simply concerned with identifying the reasons. Identifying reasons is the next step in deciding whether you should accept or reject the author’s conclusion (p. 36). | Which words or phrases are ambiguous? | Once you have identified the author’s argument, you need to identify key words or phrases within that reasoning that might have alternative meanings. More importantly, you need to determine whether the author explicitly uses one of those definitions. If she does not, and if one of those meanings alters your acceptance of the conclusion, you have indentified an important ambiguity. Identifying ambiguous words and phrases is the next important step in determining whether you will reject or...
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...Literature Review Asking the Right Questions in the Business Research Process Liberty University Abstract This paper seeks to briefly define the topic of business research, then explore the various steps within the associated process while revisiting the issue of what questions are appropriate to ask as the researcher during each of these steps. This will be accomplished by conducting a literary review of the subject in order to gain a general understanding of how the academic community views the business research process. The paper will be divided into two main sections. These main sections include the business research process, and ethical considerations thereof, and research design. By the end of the literary review, the reader should have a good understanding of not only the business research process as a whole, but how to ask the right questions during each step in order to maximize the impact of the study and ultimately lead to better decisions made with the findings. Literature Review Introduction The business research process is one riddled with decision points. Each step comes with many complexities and options that must be carefully considered in order for the researcher to get the best final product possible. From identifying the manager’s question to detailing the wording for a survey to choosing a report format, the researcher must be aware of not only what options are available to him, but also what questions should be asked along...
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...February 3, 2014 8:29:57 AM CST6 days ago ED7590 Discussion 6d1 This post required a peer-reviewed journal article be selected from the Capella Library. The chosen article was about a descriptive study completed of nine states and the Funding support for school-wide positive behavioral interventions and support implementation and scale-up. This article examines the major focus and the difficulty states face with the process of selecting, implementing, and scaling-up evidence-based practices. The article also contains a discussion about the renewed commitment to improving student outcomes and how that has led directly to the need for effective practices implemented at scale (Gage et. Al, 2013). In particular, this article examines the funding decisions of nine specific states and makes note that funding decisions made at state, regional, and district levels remain a key to large-scale implementation of effective practices (Gage et. Al, 2013). No one will argue that the main objective of education in the United States is to offer all students a free and suitable public education so they may become active and vital members and contributors to society. However, the process involved in funding education to achieve this goal is a very complex one mainly because it includes interests, policies, and dollars originating from and flowing among local education agencies (LEAs), state education agencies (SEAs), and federal government agencies (e.g., U.S. Departments of Education...
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...Articles - Asking effective focus group questions 11/6/12 10:18 PM Asking effective focus group questions Tags: Focus Group-Moderating Focus Groups Article ID: 19941203 Published: December 1994 Author: Naomi R. Henderson Article Abstract Focus groups are not helpful if the right questions aren’t asked. This article discusses asking effective focus group questions, including the key elements of good focus group research, the role and purpose of effective questions, question types, general questions to establish a base and the classic 10 questions for opening up areas for discussion. Editor's note: Naomi R. Henderson is CEO of RIVA Market Research, Bethesda, Md. In the soft brightness of fluorescent lights, eight respondents wait earnestly for the focus group session on catalog shopping to begin. Each of the eight receives more than 10 catalogs a month and spends more than $100 each month on items from those catalogs. The moderator gives a clear statement of purpose: "We're here tonight to talk about catalog shopping in general and to look at an idea for a new catalog." General guidelines for participation are given and disclosures are made about taping and one-way mirrors. Respondents introduce themselves, and the http://www.quirks.com/articles/a1994/19941203.aspx?searchID=256631957 Page 1 of 11 Articles - Asking effective focus group questions 11/6/12 10:18 PM moderator easily builds a genial, warm rapport with the respondents. The moderator...
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...reasoned process. This process involve the utilization of the ten step methodology presented in Browne and Keeley’s book called “Asking the Right Questions”. These steps are used to achieve a clearer understanding of the issues being evaluated. In this paper, I will be using Browne and Keeley’s ten step methodology presented in “Asking the right questions” to analyze the memo title “Leadership Development Program” writing by Mr. Anil Ravaswami to Ms. Cynthia Castle (CEO of Cliffside Holding Company of Massapequa CHCM). I will be analyzing the memo by going through each steps of the critical thinking model. This is to show my level of understanding of the intended messages being conveyed by Mr. A. Ravaswami’s memo. Critical Thinking: Leadership-Development Programs In Browne and Keeley’s book “Asking the Right Question”, Browne and Keeley discuss what the characteristics of an active reader or listener is. Browne and Keeley indicated that an active reader or listener is one who possesses the ability to utilize the search strategy, which explains or reveal an in depth answers to the question asked by the writer. These involves a process of asking certain powerful questions in order to reach a personal decision based off of an author’s argument. These powerful questions are what Browne and Keeley refer to as “Asking the Right Questions. These are the questions: (1) What are...
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...“Questions open many possibilities” To ask questions opens many possibilities. When one thinks about a topic, one’s mind tends to follow one thought after another, in links associating one with one more. However, when one asks a question, one tends to wonder, and the mind is more free to wander in any of several directions. Furthermore, when one is wandering, one tends to ask several questions. So do you think that by asking questions, one opens one’s mind to many possibilities? The power of creating new possibilities comes from the magical effect that questions have on our lives. The kinds of questions we tend to ask ourselves consistently have an effect on the quality of our lives. If you ask yourself “Why is my life a mess?” you will get lots of information about why your life a mess. If you ask yourself “Why do I always cry because of love?” you will get lots of information about why you always cry because of love. By doing this again and again, you will see an adverse effect or the opposite of the results you desire, partially because you will start associating yourself with your mistakes and thus decreases your self-esteem. One of the major differences between people and their outlook on life is the questions that they consistently ask themselves. If this seems like a strange observation, it may be that you have been underestimating the power of questions to change your mindset. Questions have the ability to change our focus in an instant. Asking the right questions...
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