Sometimes we have incomplete information, or we make mistakes. Often people follow a set approach because they are afraid of trial and error. Part of critical thinking involves looking at opposing views and creating your own knowledge by combining different ideas together in new ways.

For this discussion, describe an instance where you found yourself in the above situation and how you handled it$.$ What did you learn about incorporating opposing views into your decision$-$making process?

Good Evening All,

One of my major drawbacks is I can get impatient. Whether it is a byproduct of my growing up$,$ or a side effect of being in the military, I have had a habit of wanting to get things done quickly for as long as I can think back. Critical thinking involves deliberately setting aside time to process the decision and multiple pathways it can lead. I find that when I am rushing or working quickly, I fall into my normal pattern of behavior. It is not necessarily wrong, it just ignores critical thinking and opposing views. When I find myself with enough lead time, I sit back and ponder the different approaches. This allows for a more dynamic decision to be made, often more effective as well. Another military side effect that aides my critical thinking is being solution driven. I manipulate as many variables as needed to come up with the answer. This has helped astronomically in my construction PM job. Regardless of the problem, I hunted down a solution that was conducive to as many parties as possible.

The most recent example is when material for a specific task was not ordered. The Superintendent started raising a ruckus about how we would be pushed back weeks because of this. I was able sit back and contemplate what could be done. I brought him in and told him my ideas of man$-$loading different tasks and getting more easily acquired materials to complete others that needed to be done as well. Together he and I developed a plan that allowed for us to continue pushing the schedule and not cause any delays. We only had to maneuver and adjust different tasks and justify this to the GC$,$ who never likes change.