LAS VEGAS — Becoming an "expert thinker" may help credit union leaders move beyond the brainstorming phase to the implementation phase in helping bringing value to members and get the industry's message across, according to one expert.
Michael LeGault, author of Think! Why Crucial Decisions Can't be Made in the Blink of an Eye, shared with attendees his observations on what it takes to become an "expert thinker." For one, expert thinkers develop plausible theories that explain the world, he believes. Three elements of critical thinking are observation and investigation, logic and reasoning and skepticism, LeGault said.
"Critical thinking is not an orderly process," LeGault said. "There's still a lot of guesswork involved. Failure is a part of the learning process."
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The traits of a "good" critical thinker include not being a "know-it-all," seeing problems as exciting challenges, having positive energy and being able to tolerate risk, failure and criticism. For credit unions, these traits can go a long way in helping the industry get its message out to the wider public, LeGault said.
"Who knew," LeGault asked upon reading that Consumer Reports recently suggested to readers to look to credit unions because they tend to have lower rates than other financial institutions.
LeGault offered some tips to improving critical thinking including never assuming anything is true or obvious, checking against evidence when assuming something and becoming better observers.
"We don't sweat the details anymore," LeGault said. "Appearance is not always reality. You want to try and get rid of biases to see if they coordinate with reality." –[email protected]
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