The Critical Role of Critical Thinking and 2nd and 3rd Order of Effect 

Presenters: Rob Keller and Maxine Herr

Critical thinking is a sought-after skill in the business world and is equally important in our world as crisis communicators. The leaders we work for look to us to be trusted advisors and credible sources…not just people who are on “auto-pilot.” Critical thinking provides you with the skills to analyze and evaluate information so that you can obtain the greatest amount of knowledge from it.

Here are some things to consider:

1. Always ask yourself “And then what?”
2. Think through time — What do the consequences look like in 10 minutes? 10 months? 10 years?
3. When thinking about business decisions, ask yourself how others are likely to respond. How will employees deal with this? What will my competitors likely do? What about the public? Who may be offended? Often the answer will be little to no impact, but you want to understand the immediate and second-order effects before you make the decision.