Everything is a mixed bag in life!
Nothing can ever be ‘all good’ or ‘all bad’.
Over the past 40 years of teaching higher order critical thinking skills we have seen that one of the most useful SOT thinking algorithms is the GBB.
When you do a GBB you deliberately judge the Good, the Bad and then you go even further to discern what could be Better.
G = GOOD. The good things about an idea why you like it.
B = BAD. The bad things about an idea why you don’t like it.
B = BETTER. What could be much better about an idea.
Everyone agrees that we should all be more broad-minded, more tolerant, more thoughtful, considerate, and more creative. Why don’t people THINK? How often have you heard that question?
It is easy to say to someone, “Why don’t you be more broad-minded?” But it is not so easy to actually do it. This is because it is impossible to focus attention on general attitudes like the ones mentioned above. They sound great as slogans and battle cries but have proved to be of little value as operating tools which can actually be practised and used.
However, a GBB is specific. It is possible to ask someone to “Do a GBB on this.” The thought-leader then takes pride in the skill of being able to deliberately see the Good, Bad and Better points in the situation.
DO A GBB!
Instead of just saying that you like an idea, or you don’t like it, you can use a GBB.
When you use a GBB, you give the good points, the bad points, and also the points which are neither good nor bad but are much better.
You can use a GBB as a way of managing ideas, suggestions, and proposals.
You can ask someone else to do a GBB, or you can be asked to do one yourself.
DFQ #19:
Do a GBB!Tomorrow is the last lesson in this 30-day leadership pipeline so today is a chance to reflect on your journey so far. Do a GBB on this month’s training!
• List 3 GOOD things.
• List 3 BAD things.
• List 3 things that could be BETTER.Post your GBB below:
1/ I have learnt that you van apply thinking in different ways.
2/ It was good to see the ammount of different people who have applied there thinking to these questions.
3/This is something that can be used every day to remain positive about outcomes.
The Bad
1/ I was not always in a position every day to find time to answer the questions in depth.
2/saying that cvs to bvs has a place I also believe that it can enhance logical thinking or be used hand in hand I do not beleive it answers everything about the thinking ways.
3/Allthough thinking can be a very positive tool to much thinking sometimes gets in the way of things getting done.
Three things that could be better well the answer to that is above surely a cvs above on all responses can be turned into bvs thinking positively.
GOOD
1. Some interesting techniques – I may even use one or two!
2. The level of thinking in some of my work collegues – esp. the Management team – really impressed me.
3. It certainly stimulated thought – not always positive, mind you!
BAD
1. Absolutely no feedback – remember “This is a personal journey between me and you”? I couldn’t think of anything more impersonal than a web forum with no feedback.
2. Peel the Orange. Nike said it better with “Just Do It”. This is a course on thinking, I don’t need to learn how to do something without thought.
3. Some of the “lessons” were complete cop-outs. “Tell us a story”, followed by “Tell us another story”! Here’s one for you: My wife is a primary school teacher, she sometimes uses “tell us a story” to fill in time.
BETTER
1. Focus more on the techniques than the stories – I remember learning about the Vietnam war in school. Apparently we lost!
2. Feedback and debate – from the forum responses there’s some very smart people here, constructive discussion would be of great benefit.
3. Smarter lessons – surely a thinking guru can think of better lessons than “tell us a story” or “answer in 111 words”!
GOOD
1) Thought provoking ideas
2) Sense of camaraderie
3) Feeling of optimism
BAD
1) I should have taken a more incremental approach
2) A few IT problems early on until I copied and pasted my answers
3) I don’t think I have achieved any quantifiable growth.
BETTER
1) This is a personal journey so probably don’t need to see everyone else’s answers
2) The extent of the emotional investment in the answers would in general be greater if the answers weren’t published.
3) If the next lesson was sent only after the previous one is completed
Good:
1. I liked the format of being able to read the responses from my work colleagues.
2. Some of the exercises made me think of things differently to usual.
3. The ‘PTO’ and ‘CVS to BVS’ ideas are tools that can be easily incorporated into practice.
Bad:
1. Some of the activities took a bit longer than you’d like or had time for (connected with point 3)
2.Had a few problems with my answers getting through?? Seemed to fix up though.
3. If you were not at work (eg meetings/days off etc) or very busy, the emails quickly piled up.
Better:
1. 30 days seemed a bit long, better to be less
2. Would be better if we could now re-inforce the topics in another format, because our comfort zone might make us revert to our old ways too easily.
3. Would be good to find a way for more practice.
GOOD THINGS
1) Doesn’t take long to do
2) Makes you think outside your normal boundaries
3) You are not the only one doing the blogs
BAD THINGS
1) Don’t read emails everyday so get a backlog
2) Can be distracting
3) You can read everyones responses
BETTER THINGS
1) Every other day blogs rather than everyday
2) Maybe some background reading would be good
3) Maybe 30 days is just too long
GOOD
1) The blog format, something I haven’t been exposed to, so have been introduced to something new.
2) The commitment to enter the pipeline works a treat, I cannot jump ship!
3) I trust and value the trainers commitment and belief.
BAD
1) IT Bugs without a doubt – my computer most likely culprit. I couldn’t post a comment till it was almost over, then lost a couple on the way.
2) I will need to revisit the concepts as I will no doubt lose a few in the coming weeks / months – so hope to follow up.
3) My wifes so sick of me sitting at the computer, she has offered to do it herself.
BETTER
1) Knowing where to go from here would be good, but presume, follow up will occur.
2) Being placed in random blog groups may be of benefit.
3) I think that more emphasis may be placed on the necessity for creating a culture in an organisation for these concepts to work.
Good – 1. Is to good to be exposed to this style of thinking
2. I have definitely learnt some good take home messages
3. I look forward to trying out some of these strategies in the workplace.
Bad:
1. you know people around you are reading what you write so …..
2. getting behind on the daily emails has been annoying
3. every now and then the emails feel robotic
Better
1. improve confidentiality
2. update some of the examples – Vietnam war was a long time ago.
3. I have no idea what happens next so perhaps some direction from DPI on where to from here prior to entering the pipeline would be good.
Good
1. the blog-like system works well — it was interesting to see what others were saying
2. the concept of committing to the pipeline and thinking about the PTO idea were good
3. the questions made me think about a few issues I hadn’t considered before
Bad
1. I don’t really know why I’m doing this. I mean the course wasn’t really offered as an option, we were basically instructed to do it. This annoys me, even when I end up liking the course.
2. There was a bit of deja vu. It was a bit like a mixture of 6 thinking hats, lateral thinking and those self improvement 101 courses.
3. I spent too much time thinking about some of the questions when I really have a to-do list as long as my arm.
Better
1. I need more explanation about what happens after the pipeline, if anything.
2. I need a purpose, a feeling that I’m aiming to achieve something by doing this.
3. Can’t think of a 3rd thing.
Good
1. The flexibility of the email format meant that I could do the tasks when it best suited me.
2. The visibility of colleagues comments gave me a better idea of the people that I work with.
3. The tasks were not too onerous.
Bad
1. The lack of feedback or interaction throughout.
2. Some of the tasks were challenging to answer openly within a work environment.
3. The javascript errors were annoying.
Better
1. More feedback/interaction.
2. Access to more optional reading material.
3. Additional examples from a variety of areas.
Good
1. I enjoyed being part of a leadership team that were all progressing through this process together
2. I valued the responses of my colleagues, they assisted my thinking but I also felt I better understood their varied contirbutinos to the organisation.
3. The daily regime continued to focus your attention towards applying the skills.
Bad
1. Some of the activities require time to think and compose, time that wasnt necessarily available
2. I feel I have touched upon some skills but I’m not sure they are consolidated enough to change my work practices
3. THe technology occasionally failed so answers were sometimes lost.
Better
1. I would value the opportunity to further consolidate the learning touched upon through the emails
2. Feedback on how others incorporated the training to change current work practices
3. Access to further information