Global Achievement Gap (Part II): Critical Thinking and Problem Solving, Collaboration and Leadership by Influence

In our work how can we begin to address these issues?

In my last article I began the discussion regarding what is being called the Global Achievement Gap. This concept is derived from research carried out by Tony Wagner, co-director of the Change Leadership Group (CLG) at Harvard University. Again, the seven Survival Skills needed for the new global knowledge economy are:

• Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
• Collaboration Across Networks and Leading by Influence
• Agility and Adaptability
• Initiative and Entrepreneurialism
• Effective Oral and Written Communication
• Accessing and Analyzing Information
• Curiosity and Imagination

In this issue I will briefly deal with the first two: Critical Thinking and Problem Solving, and Collaboration across Networks and Leading by Influence. Now let’s think about it: how do we define critical thinking and how does it relate to problem solving? According to Wagner, in his discussions with corporate leaders, the ability to ask good questions is one of the key components in developing good critical thinking and problem solving skills.

One of the corporate managers he interviews is the manager of strategic development in k-12 education for Dell Computer Corporation. She explains that over the past 20 years corporations have changed dramatically. Many are no longer run by a top-down management style, with lots of managers where employees are very specialized in their functions. It is now flattened with work no longer defined by your specialty. It is rather now defined by the task or problem you and your team are trying to solve or the goal you want to accomplish. Teams have to figure out the best way to get the results; the solution is not prescribed.
A manager at CISCO Systems described the issue this way: “One of the biggest issues facing corporations in America today is changing how we think about problems… ‘this is the way we’ve always looked at it’… versus understanding the problem from the perspective of a flat world. So we need to approach problems and challenges as a learner as opposed to a knower. We need to be curious versus thinking ‘I know the answer’. Yesterday’s solution doesn’t solve tomorrow’s problem.”

Another aspect of critical thinking is surrounding yourself with people who have differences of opinion and who can help you to come to the best solution, team-based leadership.

The concept of team-based leadership leads us to the second Survival Skill: Collaboration Across Networks and Leading by Influence.Technological advances have created what is now called virtual offices. It requires workers to operate individually and then collaborate from afar. The creation of virtual offices and teams that communicate electronically have made the issue of trust an enormous concern and challenge. This is explained in the following manner by a consultant that worked with a corporation in setting up a virtual office: “I once read that trust is the total number of interactions divided by the number of positive interactions. The higher the number of positive interactions you experience, the greater the trust becomes.”

Knowing that you’re not face to face with people, that you don’t see them when you’re taking off your coat in the morning, or setting up your desk, or grabbing a cup of coffee or tea; how do you provide the opportunity to interact so that your workers have the ability to develop trust?

At CISCO, collaboration is an essential skill. As organizations become more global, the ability to work fluidly around the world is a competitive advantage: understanding how to leverage the globe, time zones, where the work can best be done, where there are skills that best match the task either because of the culture or the training.

Being prepared to work globally is a significant issue for our current and future workforce. The skillfulness of individuals working with networks of people across boundaries and from different cultures has become an essential prerequisite for working in many multi national corporations.

According to the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, high school and college students need to master global awareness. This awareness includes using critical thinking and problem solving skills to address global issues; working collaboratively with individuals representing diverse cultures and religious in a spirit of mutual respect and open dialogue in personal and work community contexts; and understanding other nations and cultures, including the use of non-English languages.