How Charismatic Leaders Use Critical Thinking to Innovate

Charismatic leaders use their insatiable curiosity and ability to spot business inefficiencies through critical thinking to innovate products and services.  But what is innovation?  Innovation is simply the foundation of new beginnings. Through innovation, you can find new products, learn new techniques, offer better quality, and even help to bring the dollar out a little farther.  But, what many business owners do not realize is that you can use innovation to help move your business to the next level, one that is better for the customer and for you. Can you ask for more than that?

There are several ways in which you can use critical thinking like charismatic leaders to innovate and transform your business. For example, it can be as simple as having access to the right information so that you know what the latest and greatest is. From the Core Edge Image & Charisma Institute’s IBAR Critical Thinking Method, this is called “Benchmarking.” In benchmarking, you compare and contrast your business operations to industry leaders, standards, or best practices. By juxtaposing your operations with these standards, you are able to select the options best suited for innovation.  

Think it is too difficult to manage on your own? Send your most promising employees to a critical thinking class to encourage them to look at your internal operations differently.  Or, simply hire a group of creative people to manage innovation on their own. You would be amazed at the quality that can be improved as well as the efficiency of even the simplest of tasks when you encourage innovation in some form.

Innovating is challenging to get started. Innovation research will be needed, brainstorming will have to be done and ideas will have to be brought to the forefront. But, there are enormous resources open to everyone in every type of business out there. Books, websites, organizations, and many more avenues are available to you.  Although you are spending time, resources, and money on finding the answers, learning how to make it better for you will help you increase your business’s profit margin.  Innovation changes every single day. Do you know what it can do for you, yet?

For more information on developing the critical thinking skills necessary for innovation, click here: Charisma

Trends in Productivity the Obama Administration Should Consider

Productivity, defined as a measure of the amount of output per hour of work, is shown to be typically pro-cyclical. This means that productivity increases during economic upswings and slows down (or even declines) when the economy is in a downturn.  Several causes have been forwarded to sustain this. One declares that labor and capital inputs are worked harder during boom times than in busts.  Another observation pronounces that the reallocation of resources to more productive activities is faster when the economy grows rapidly than when it slows down.

   

Pro-cyclical exceptions

In 2009, productivity growth was expected to slow down further in many countries. However, there appeared to be some exceptions to the pro-cyclicality of labor productivity. The experiences of the United States and Europe are two examples reflecting this economic wrinkle. Compared side by side, striking differences are evident between these two regions in terms of the productivity growth rates with which they entered the current recession.  For the long period of 2000-2008, labor productivity in the United States increased at 2% against 1.5% in the European Union. (The 1.1% figure is even much smaller in the original EU-15 member states that exclude the new member states from Central and Eastern Europe.)

These differences reflect a more efficient use of capital, labor, and other sources of growth in the United States. The most recent productivity advances of the U.S. have been realized, however, through rapid layoffs. This further suggests that the productivity of the remaining workers and firms is actually strengthening.

Traditional productivity growth rates 

During the run-up of 2008, the Euro Area showed a surprisingly weak productivity growth (below 1%). This was attributed to the large increases in employment coming from a relatively large labor reserve pool.  In the same quarter, output and productivity growth rates in the Euro Area turned negative following the traditional pattern that employment growth does not adjust as quickly to a deteriorating economy in Europe as it does in the U.S.  Presently, productivity growth rates in advanced economies are falling below historical structural productivity trends. These represent the rate where productivity can grow.

To get back to the structural growth trend, an increased productivity through investment in new capital and innovation is needed - and not just through cost-cutting of the current resource base.  This would comprise investments in technological change and innovation, skill and performance level of the labor force, and all the organizational intangibles (management and workplace practices, organizational structure, and human resource strategies).

Given the current constrained economic climate, all these are big challenges. Added to this is the expectation that high productivity growth rates also imply greater efficiency of resources once the economic environment improves.  Productivity growth will also translate into high levels of output per hour. These higher productivity levels will also reflect the presence of a strong resource base in terms of human and physical capital per worker.  When maintained during the downturn, they will provide the firms with the means to more easily innovate themselves out of the recession resulting in a better resurgent productivity growth.

Click this link to discover how productivity and profitability can be increased through Charisma.

Improving Your Critical Thinking Skills Like Charismatic Leaders (The IRAC Method)

Edward Brown, M.S., of Core Edge Image & Charisma Institute provides questions and answers on how you can make better decisions, solve more problems, and complete goals using the IRAC Method for critical thinking.

Q: Why is critical thinking important, particularly for charismatic leaders?

Brown: People often believe that the great visions and missions that charismatic leaders create are “Pie in the sky,” as oppose to a systematic approach to critical thinking. Charismatic leaders are voracious readers and analysts who develop ideas through extensive research.  Everything begins and ends in your ability to think effectively and execute a plan of action.

Q: So, what is the IRAC Method for critical thinking?

Brown: The IRAC Method is used in law schools to encourage students to think critically and systematically in dealing with issues of law. By enlisting the same method in any problem solving manner, you will improve your thinking skills. IRAC is actually an acronym for:

I---Issue. What is the issue or problem and the root causes of it?

R---Rules. What are the laws, regulatory mandates or industry standard that the problem falls under?

A---Analysis/Application----Where are the gaps in current solutions and recommendations and what alternatives should be considered?

C---Conclusion---What are the final results or recommendations for solving the problem?

Q: Do charismatic leaders use the IRAC Method as a de facto approach to solving problems or creating visions?

Brown: Charismatic leaders might use an abbreviated version of the IRAC Method, but the thought process is similar.  For example, charismatic leaders may determine a problem exists, develop immediate solutions, and begin acting on results. Martin Luther King, Jr. was good at strategizing a plan and implementing it using what was tantamount to the back of a napkin or envelope.

Q: So, the process is not long and drawn out?

Brown: It depends on the nature of the problem. The four (4) step process is the standard. The process for making the pieces fit together is totally individual. It’s not the length of the process, but the necessary thinking that goes into the process itself.

Q: If the IRAC Method solves problems and helps aid in creating missions, why are charismatic leaders often seen as not having a specific strategy for developing great visions and missions?

Brown: That’s the responsibility of researchers. Charismatic leaders are merely acting in ways that appear natural to them. It is the role of the researcher to extract and create a system from  the charismatic leader’s behavior. The charismatic leader will not necessarily market the process for developing a mission, but market the mission itself.  By using the IRAC Method for creating missions and solving problems, you can emulate the results of charismatic leaders.

See how charismatic leaders enhance corporate productivity and profitability: Charisma