Jeff Haden’s “8 signs an employee is exceptional” is a fantastic list (especially the shout-out to “quirky”)!
One thing I would add to the roster is scientific thinking.
Scientific thinkers embrace:
humility – because they resist the temptation to be overconfident in their ideas and accept that new data might require them to update their beliefs,
objectivity – they cautiously audit their thinking for bias; are transparent in their thinking openly declaring all assumptions and potential conflicts; and when arguing, they do not make straw men out of counter arguments,
clarity – they promote the use of operational definitions in order to ensure that the terms of the discussion are clear and consensual, and everyone is working towards the same goals,
standing on the shoulders of giants – they recognize the half-life of facts and. continually update their knowledge by staying up-to-date with new research,
failure — is recognized as an important (joyful?) part of learning,
evidence-based decision-making – they leverage the power of intuition and the wisdom of experience, but recognize the limits of each; that just because it feels right, doesn’t mean it is right; they understand the efficacy of empirical methods like the scientific method as the best way to make causal claims and predictions, for answering why, how, and what if
And democratizing innovation by recognizing that experimentation through the scientific method provides the levelest of playing fields to subject everyone’s ideas to objective testing; diversity ensues from evaluating ideas independent from their originator’s salary, charisma, experience, authority, or persuasive appeal.
#Scientificthinking
