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:
GBB on the training
Good Things
New thinking concepts learnt
Rediscover my strengths
Optimistic of using skills
Bad Things
Concepts may not be practical for use in some circumstances
Thers is a time & place to request answers on personal life issues
Lack of personal interaction
Better Things
Ability to put concepts to practical use , that make a financial & spiritual difference to the team
Ability for personal interaction , look into the eyes of the other when communicating
Ability for personal growth
Good:
Reading through other peoples blogs.
Learning a new technique.
Thinking about thinking.
Bad:
The personal questions.
Falling behind on the lessons.
No feed back.
Better:
Some interaction with the trainer.
Some feed back.
Not just military based examples.
Three Good Things-
1.CVS2BVS
2.GBB
3.PTO
Bad Things –
1. The way too many references to the war.
2. No real measurement of my performance.
3. The personal stuff.
Better –
1. Get rid of the war scenarios
2. Have feedback for performance
3. Get rid of the personal stuff.
New Ideas
Thinking skills
Better vocabulary
Lost Interest
Bored
My attitude
My answers
Feedback
3 GOOD THINGS:
The training has made me stop and think about my thinking processes
The training has helped me to be more focussed on my strengths rather than my weaknesses
The training has helped me to make some personal commitments
3 BAD THINGS
It is easy too easy to read through others’ responses and cherry pick the best to help form your own
It can turn every decision into a day-dreaming waste of time
It takes a little time to do the exersizes
3 THINGS THAT COULD BE BETTER
Only allow access to other’s responses once your own have been submitted – make people escape and search
I could practice the techniques more rigorously to form a more considered opinion on their relative benfits – this would also help minimise time wasting
Training on the best circumstances in which to apply the different methods would aid in their use
Good – new ideas/concepts, repetition, simplistic
Bad – Backlog, Travel, time
Better – utilisation, case studies, review
Goood things: thinking longer on things, looking at things from a different perspective, understanding some of the processes we use in reaching a decision
Bad things: acronyms, acronyms, acronyms
Better: less acronyms, me taking a bit more time in my responses, having time to discuss some of these questions rather than doing them on the run
Good
1 – New skills learned.
2 – Time to reflect on my own thought patterns.
3 – Minimal time constraint.
Bad
1 – Was out of the office a few days and couldn’t always respond.
2 – Didn’t see the point of lessons repeating. Felt like filler material.
3 – IT issues (we have enough of these in our work life as it is).
Better
1 – More options for discussion.
2 – Easier way to refer to previous posts.
3 – More reference material.
Good
1. Stimulated thinking I otherwise would not have done.
2. I learnt some new concepts I can use immediately (eg GBB)
3. Small time commitment for rapid learning
Bad
1. IT problem, started the program twice and lost a number of my responses
2. Timing clashed with my travel, dependant on email access.
3. Due to above I lost the learning momentum
Better
1. More practice on the tools for those who wish to take further
2. Some form of interaction/discussion with other participants
3. Easier reference back to previous lessons/responses
g1: spaced learning, large tasks are best done in small digestable parts, preferably a little pr day
g2:change of necktop sw should be reinforced daily in order to form a permanent thougth pattern
g3:Pipeline comittment makes me allocate time in a busy schedule
b1:limited interaction with other of the pipecrawlers
b2:
b3:
Be1: establish chat/forum for the group in the pipeline together
Be2: interactive flashbacks to acronyms learned, eg GBB
Be3: more practical tools and examples on putting the teories into action