Critical Thinking Archives - Jeff Havens | Keynote Speaker | Leadership Keynote Speaker https://www.jeffhavens.com/category/critical-thinking Leadership | Generational Issues | Entertaining Tue, 06 May 2025 13:36:43 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 How Using Both/And Can Change Your Life https://www.jeffhavens.com/personal-development/how-using-both-and-can-change-your-life https://www.jeffhavens.com/personal-development/how-using-both-and-can-change-your-life#respond Tue, 06 May 2025 13:36:43 +0000 https://www.jeffhavens.com/?p=14335 The April 2025 issue of National Geographic featured an awards show of sorts – 33 individuals around the world whose work (at least according to National Geographic) is improving the world in some way.  Many of them, as you might imagine, are doing things related to the environment.   Several, however, were businesspeople, and two in…

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]]> https://www.jeffhavens.com/personal-development/how-using-both-and-can-change-your-life/feed 0 Understanding What Failure Is (And Isn’t) https://www.jeffhavens.com/motivation-2/understanding-what-failure-is-and-isnt https://www.jeffhavens.com/motivation-2/understanding-what-failure-is-and-isnt#respond Wed, 02 Apr 2025 18:13:28 +0000 https://www.jeffhavens.com/?p=14323 I recently had a conversation with my 8-year-old son about how to deal with failure – and then had an almost identical conversation with a 37-year-old friend about the same thing.  It made me realize that, for many of us, our attitude toward failure doesn’t change much as we get older – we don’t like…

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]]> https://www.jeffhavens.com/motivation-2/understanding-what-failure-is-and-isnt/feed 0 Why You Should Ask Dumb Questions https://www.jeffhavens.com/communication/why-you-should-ask-dumb-questions https://www.jeffhavens.com/communication/why-you-should-ask-dumb-questions#comments Tue, 04 Mar 2025 19:46:24 +0000 https://www.jeffhavens.com/?p=14298 Recently my 8-year-old son came home from school and asked me if I knew how many uses for the peanut George Washington Carver had discovered.  After silently thanking his teachers for encouraging his love of random information, I admitted that all I knew was that it was a lot.  “More than 300,” he told me…

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]]> https://www.jeffhavens.com/communication/why-you-should-ask-dumb-questions/feed 4 How to Think Productively About Luck https://www.jeffhavens.com/business/how-to-think-productively-about-luck https://www.jeffhavens.com/business/how-to-think-productively-about-luck#respond Fri, 31 Jan 2025 17:09:01 +0000 https://www.jeffhavens.com/?p=14272 In almost everything we accomplish in life, there are three contributing factors to our success – the work we put into achieving the thing, the intelligence and creativity we apply in pursuit of our goal, and the blind fortune of dumb luck.  Most of us spend most of our time thinking about how to improve…

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]]> https://www.jeffhavens.com/business/how-to-think-productively-about-luck/feed 0 How Our Best Ideas Come To Us https://www.jeffhavens.com/innovation/how-our-best-ideas-come-to-us https://www.jeffhavens.com/innovation/how-our-best-ideas-come-to-us#respond Wed, 04 Sep 2024 20:46:39 +0000 https://www.jeffhavens.com/?p=14196 Everyone everywhere is interested in innovation.  Of the various keynote addresses that I’ve created over the years, my Uncrapify Your Future! keynote on innovation is easily the most popular.  And I understand why.  Coming up with solutions to problems, or taking advantage of possible opportunities, is one of the key drivers of success, both professionally…

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]]> https://www.jeffhavens.com/innovation/how-our-best-ideas-come-to-us/feed 0 What Is the Most Effective Type of Communication? https://www.jeffhavens.com/communication/what-is-the-most-effective-type-of-communication https://www.jeffhavens.com/communication/what-is-the-most-effective-type-of-communication#comments Wed, 03 Apr 2024 14:03:21 +0000 https://www.jeffhavens.com/?p=14117 Since the title of this article is slightly ambiguous, let me elaborate.  If your question is, “What’s the best way to win an argument – loud angry shouting, or calm reasoned discourse?” then I can answer that right now.  Do the latter.  Problem solved. But what we’re talking about here is the method by which…

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]]> https://www.jeffhavens.com/communication/what-is-the-most-effective-type-of-communication/feed 2 How To Take Initiative https://www.jeffhavens.com/decision-making/how-to-take-initiative https://www.jeffhavens.com/decision-making/how-to-take-initiative#comments Tue, 01 Aug 2023 18:49:52 +0000 https://www.jeffhavens.com/?p=13746 Making important decisions, acting like a leader, being a person your colleagues can count on to get the job done – all of these are qualities associated with “taking initiative.”  So if there’s a lot of extra initiative lying around, odds are you’d like to take some of it for yourself. Doing so, however, can…

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]]> https://www.jeffhavens.com/decision-making/how-to-take-initiative/feed 1 Is Striving For Consensus Keeping You From Moving Forward? https://www.jeffhavens.com/business/is-striving-for-consensus-keeping-you-from-moving-forward https://www.jeffhavens.com/business/is-striving-for-consensus-keeping-you-from-moving-forward#respond Mon, 08 Aug 2022 13:46:27 +0000 https://www.jeffhavens.com/?p=13377 Recently my wife and I were in Barcelona, visiting her family and 87 of their closest friends.  (Not quite, but there were a lot of people.)  We were outside, it was a beautiful day, and it was time to decide where to have dinner.  The only thing everyone agreed on was that we wanted to…

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]]> https://www.jeffhavens.com/business/is-striving-for-consensus-keeping-you-from-moving-forward/feed 0 Why We Sometimes Give Up On Our Goals (And Why That’s OK) https://www.jeffhavens.com/change-management-2/why-we-sometimes-give-up-on-our-goals-and-why-thats-ok https://www.jeffhavens.com/change-management-2/why-we-sometimes-give-up-on-our-goals-and-why-thats-ok#respond Wed, 04 May 2022 15:00:13 +0000 https://www.jeffhavens.com/?p=13238 When I was a kid, I wanted to be an astronaut.  I also wanted to be a builder (which was my Lego-inspired term for ‘construction worker’), and I also wanted to dig up dinosaurs. I have done none of those things, and it’s perfectly OK.  I chose a different path, and I’m happy with it. …

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]]> https://www.jeffhavens.com/change-management-2/why-we-sometimes-give-up-on-our-goals-and-why-thats-ok/feed 0 Reimagining the Power of Positive Thinking https://www.jeffhavens.com/motivation-2/reimagining-the-power-of-positive-thinking https://www.jeffhavens.com/motivation-2/reimagining-the-power-of-positive-thinking#respond Wed, 15 Dec 2021 15:03:43 +0000 https://www.jeffhavens.com/?p=12984 Everybody’s heard of the power of positive thinking – and if you’re like me, then the phrase is vaguely annoying.  “So I’m just supposed to think happy thoughts and everything will magically work out?”  That’s kind of how it’s presented, but life doesn’t exactly work that way.  For example, I once had a happy thought…

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