We should encourage group and network collaboration as opposed to individual efforts.

made rapid decisions by recognizing how the situations they encountered fit the patterns they had learned. The pattern-matching part of their decisions was fast and automatic.

the Triple Path Model describes different routes we might take. We use the contradiction path to notice, search for, and apply inconsistencies and anomalies. We use the connection path to increase our exposure to novel ideas. When we get stuck, we use critical thinking methods to locate and correct flawed assumptions and beliefs.

the Six Sigma experiment turned sour. A 2006 article in Fortune reported that 91 percent of the large companies that adopted Six Sigma had failed to keep pace with the S&P 500 ever since. The reason, according to Fortune, was that Six Sigma got in the way of innovation. Too much energy was spent cutting defects to 3.4 per million, and not enoug

Insight advocates could share what they learn by using stories.

Their so-called experience has blinded them. They have fallen prey to a mental set, called an Einstellung effect. The success experiences create an attitude of confidently following a routine, which means that people have fallen into a habit of using an approach that works and fail to scan to see if there might be a better method. These findings ar

A fourth view is that incubation may let us build on chance events. After working hard on a problem, we are primed to notice implications in all kinds of places. Even though we aren’t deliberately working on the problem, we are in a state of heightened sensitivity about it.

The inventor of Post-it notes, one of 3M’s best-known product development stories, concluded that his work never could have emerged if a Six Sigma process had been in place.

However, some critical thinking advocates seem to go overboard with it. Like any skill, it has boundary conditions; there are times to ease back on it.