discussion

THE GOAL—PART 1

According to The Foundation for Critical Thinking (n.d.), “[c]ritical thinking is that mode of thinking—about any subject, content, or problem—in which the thinker improves the quality of [their] thinking by skillfully analyzing, assessing, and reconstructing it.” As a manager, much of your work requires analyzing complex situations, which, in turn, requires critical thinking skills. For example, you may be presented with information, but you may need to decide if that information is relevant, if it is accurate, or if the sources it cites are credible. If a company leader forwards an article to you and asks you if the claims are valid, you may take steps such as identifying any biases or incorrect assumptions found within it.

This week, and continuing into Weeks 7 and 8, you will be using your critical thinking skills to analyze business issues from the business novel The Goal. You will analyze the relevance of systems thinking concepts described in the book to effective business practices.

RESOURCES

Be sure to review the Learning Resources before completing this activity.Click the weekly resources link to access the resources.

WEEKLY RESOURCES

To prepare for this Discussion:

• Read pages 1–123 (Chapters 1–16) of The Goal.
• As you read this part of the book, consider passages that contain ideas that you find compelling and particularly relevant to effective business management. You will select at least three passages to discuss this week.
• In addition, consider how understanding these concepts might have influenced your past decision making.

BY DAY 3

Postyour analysis of The Goal to include the following:

• Identify three or more short passages from this week’s assigned reading in The Goal that contain one or two essential ideas that you found compelling, and explain why each passage you chose is relevant to and important in effective business management. Be sure to include the citation for each passage in your explanation.(Note: This section of The Goal outlines the various performance problems that the Bearington plant is having, so feel free to practice your systems thinking skills to explain why the plant is having such difficulties.)
• Then, reflect on and complete this statement based on your own experience: “If I had only known this back when…”
• ****INCLUDE REFERENCES***