Hi Reader,

OK, I’m old enough to remember Paul Winchell and his ventriloquist dummy, Knucklehead Smiff from the early 1950s. I also remember my Uncle Ollie referring to some of our political leaders as “knuckleheads.”

So, as I started to draft this issue of MindPrep Reflections about critical thinking I had knuckleheads in mind. Why? Because the basic definition of a knucklehead is “a stupid, bumbling, inept person,” the opposite of a critical thinker.

But where did the term originate? Well, I did a bit of research and found some interesting dots to connect.

First, the derogatory term did NOT come from the knucklehead railroad coupling from the 1800s or the Harley-Davidson knucklehead engine introduced in 1936. But it DID come from training manuals and posters used by the Army Air Force in the early 1940s.

R.F. Knucklehead

The United States entered World War II formally in late 1941 and the U.S. Army Air Forces (AAF) needed a lot of pilots. Training was rushed and tragically we lost thousands of planes in training and other activities. Before the war, the average number of fatalities in AAF aircraft training was 51 per year; during the war, it rose to 3,675 per year. The Navy’s Bureau of Aeronautics also suffered avoidable losses in training during the war.

What to do? One approach was to use cartoon characters to instruct by use of negative examples. And so, in 1941 they created the bungling pilot R. F. Knucklehead for the Army Air Forces. Knucklehead’s “job” was to demonstrate stupidity and ineptness for the benefit of the student pilots.

He was busy but was replaced by the Navy’s Dilbert.

Dilbert G. Groundloop

Most people are familiar with Dilbert, the main character in Scott Adams’ comic strip. Adams developed this cartoon character and held a contest in his workplace to name him. Someone suggested the name Dilbert. Only later did Adams realize that the friend had borrowed the name from a cartoon character used during World War II to promote safety among Navy pilots.

The cartoon character Dilbert G. Groundloop was a U.S. Navy pilot whose first name alluded to the phrase pulling a dillie, or making a big mistake.

OK, let’s get serious.

I’ve been facilitating critical and strategic thinking workshops since the early 2000s. And when someone asks for a practical definition of critical thinking in business, I often respond with something like “careful thinking that uncovers questions, assumptions, stakeholders, options, and consequences when focused on a business challenge.”

Now, the ins and outs of critical thinking are more complicated than my simple explanation. But we can get better thinking results if we just focus on the basics. Here are three areas:

• Better decision-making: Critical thinking helps individuals and organizations make better decisions when they evaluate information, challenge assumptions, and consider multiple perspectives.
• Improved problem-solving: Ask questions to identify root causes and develop options. Look at the options from stakeholder points of view and uncover potential unintended consequences.
• Enhanced innovation: Encourage individuals and teams to question assumptions, consider new stakeholder perspectives, and consider the intended and unintended consequences of wild or seemingly risky options.

Dilbert, Knucklehead, or critical thinker?

I’ve been in “the world of work” for a long time and have been fascinated (and upset) when intelligent, experienced, and very well compensated leaders allow their organizations to fail. Sure, there are always complicating factors, but isn’t that why these people get the big bucks? They’re paid to THINK.

Here are a half dozen examples of knucklehead-like behaviors. Maybe we can learn from them.

• Kodak and the Digital Revolution: CEO Antonio Perez and other leaders failed to capitalize on digital photography technology, despite inventing it. What made the status quo option the preferred option?
• Blockbuster and Digital Streaming: CEO Jim Keyes failed to adapt Blockbuster's business model to compete with digital streaming platforms like Netflix. His customer-stakeholders voted with their wallets.
• Sears under Edward Lampert: The consequences of Lampert's focus on financial engineering and cost-cutting, neglecting the core retail business and failing to adapt to the e-commerce trend, led to Sears' loss of market relevance. Did he assume that cost-cutting was the road to success?
• Nokia and the Smartphone Market: CEOs Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo and Stephen Elop were slow to respond to the smartphone revolution led by Apple and Android. Nokia stuck too long with its Symbian platform and failed to innovate. The consequence of this failure was its mobile business being sold to Microsoft.
• Volkswagen Emissions Scandal: CEO Martin Winterkorn’s leadership faced a critical thinking lapse when VW engineers were allowed to install software to cheat on emissions tests. Was cheating the only option? The foreseeable consequence of cheating led to billions in fines and damaged reputation.
• Boeing and the 737 MAX Crisis: Under CEO Dennis Muilenburg, Boeing pushed the 737 MAX planes into service despite known safety concerns to compete with Airbus. The failure to address critical design flaws led to two fatal crashes and the grounding of the fleet, significantly impacting Boeing's credibility and financial health.

Negative examples can be instructive. To quote Warren Buffet: “It’s good to learn from your mistakes. It’s better to learn from other people’s mistakes.” Don’t be a Knucklehead.

What’s coming?

This week introduced the topic of critical thinking. Next week we’ll address the need for foresight. The following weeks will explore skepticism, and design thinking.

All of this is in preparation for a late summer or early fall launch of a comprehensive online/hybrid program addressing leadership’s three imperatives: Learn from the Past – Deal with the Present – Intercept the Future.

We hope you have a great week.

Bill