On 23 Jun 98 at 8:15, Bill Harris wrote:
> Without getting into the Kohn stuff, this paragraph is reminiscent of a
> line of questioning I'd like to see as part of interviews to hire or
> promote managers:
>
> What books have you read recently?
>
> Have you sought out background, original sources, and contrary opinions
> to those books?
>
> I'd be looking to see if they had a broad background so they could likely
> discern the latest fad from something real or if they could separate the
> good ideas from those which didn't provide value.
Cool idea, but I would do it a bit differently. I would ask whether the
person felt they had been influenced by any particular management approach
or guru. Then I would ask them to critique the ideas of that same
approach.
If it's critical thinking you are looking for, I would think that would be
the more direct way to go at it, particularly since people can critically
assess without necessarily seeking out other's opinions. I would rather
have a manager be able to show that critical thinking than have to go find
sources to replace his/her thinking...but then the best is both, isn't it?
Robert Bacal, Inst.For Cooperative Communication, rbacal@escape.ca
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--"Robert Bacal" <rbacal@escape.ca>
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