By
Mendy Green
December 12, 2022
•
20 min read
Fundamental Skills
Professional Development
Critical Thinking in 5
Critical thinking is an essential skill for success in both personal and professional life. It involves the ability to think independently and objectively, to analyze and evaluate information and arguments, and to make sound and logical decisions.
Learning critical thinking is not always easy, but it is a skill that can be developed and improved with practice. Here are some tips for how to learn critical thinking:
- Practice asking questions: Critical thinking involves questioning assumptions and looking at situations from different perspectives. Practice asking questions about the information you encounter, such as “Why is this true?” or “What evidence supports this claim?”. Feel free to start with this one right here 😉
- Seek out diverse perspectives: To think critically, it’s important to consider multiple viewpoints and perspectives. Seek out diverse sources of information and listen to others with different backgrounds and experiences.
- Evaluate sources of information: In today’s information-rich world, it’s important to be able to evaluate the credibility and reliability of sources. Consider factors such as the author’s expertise and credentials, the date and source of the information, and any potential biases or conflicts of interest.
- Take your time: Critical thinking takes time and effort. Don’t be afraid to take a step back and reflect on a situation before making a decision. Consider the potential consequences of your actions and be open to changing your mind based on new information.
- Practice regularly: Like any skill, critical thinking improves with practice. Take opportunities to apply critical thinking in your everyday life, and in some cases, you’ll find that you’ve already been doing it subconsciously!
Assumptions are an important part of the critical thinking process, as they help us make sense of the world and make predictions about future events. However, assumptions can also be dangerous, as they can lead us to make false or misguided conclusions.
One of the dangers of assumptions is that they can be based on incomplete or incorrect information. For example, if we make an assumption about someone’s intentions based on limited information, we may be mistaken and draw the wrong conclusion. This can lead to misunderstandings and conflicts with otherwise could have been avoided, whereas when we properly assess a situation, it keeps us agile and allows us to adjust to meet the new circumstances (both in personal and professional lives).
Another danger of assumptions is that they can lead us to become overconfident in our beliefs and conclusions. When we make an assumption, we may be more likely to ignore or dismiss something that we see or that someone tells us that contradicts our assumption. This can lead to confirmation bias, where we only consider evidence that supports our assumption, and can prevent us from seeing the whole picture, or alternative perspectives.
Despite these dangers, assumptions are still necessary in the critical thinking process. Without assumptions, we wouldn’t have a way to continue moving forward through the process Instead, we would have to rely on raw data and facts, and we’d be stuck without being able to collect new raw data. Making an assumption is necessary for us to test the raw data and allow us to collect more (such as if the assumption is right or wrong). It’s kind of like shaking the wrapped present to see if we can guess what’s inside…we just need to be prepared for the possibility that we might break it.
With assumptions being so crucial to the Critical Thinking process, it’s important to be aware of the dangers of assumptions and to approach them cautiously. We should be open to revising or rejecting our assumptions based on new evidence, and we should strive to be as objective and unbiased as possible. By doing so, we have a greater change of avoiding the dangers of assumptions and successfully use them to our advantage.
It’s important to update and revise the things we know when presented with evidence that contradicts it, sometime even when they’re not assumptions. This is because our understanding of the world is always evolving, and new information and evidence can challenge and expand our current beliefs and knowledge.
Updating and revising our beliefs and knowledge based on new evidence is an essential part of the critical thinking process. It allows us to be more objective and unbiased, and to avoid making false or misguided conclusions. By being open to new information and evidence, we can gain a more accurate and complete understanding of the world around us.
In a rapidly changing world, it’s important to be able to adjust and update our understanding of the world in order to make informed and effective decisions. By updating and revising our beliefs and knowledge, we can remain open to new ideas and opportunities, and can continue to learn and grow.
I'm passionate about IT, driven by a dual love for solving complex problems and a commitment to transforming the stereotype of technical support into a positive and enjoyable user experience. For over 13 years, I've been deeply involved in the MSPGeek community, lending my expertise to various Managed Service Providers (MSPs), while also serving as the CTO at IntelliComp Technologies.
My journey in the tech world is fueled by a passion for teaching others. I find great satisfaction in imparting problem-solving and critical thinking skills, and offering practical guidance during the troubleshooting process. It's this enthusiasm for mentorship and improvement that led me to my current venture.
Today, as the founder of Rising Tide, I'm focusing on the MSP industry, dedicating my time to coaching and assisting both individuals and businesses. At Rising Tide, we're not just about providing solutions; we're about nurturing growth, fostering innovation, and building a community where everyone can rise together. Whether it's through hands-on problem solving or strategic planning, my goal is to make the IT experience not just efficient, but also empowering and enjoyable
See some more of our most recent posts...
Rising Tide Book Club: Think Naked - Week 1
In Rising Tide’s Winter 2026 Book Club, we explore Think Naked by Marco Marsan and challenge the idea that creativity fades with age. Instead, we examine how risk, labels, and permission shape curiosity — and what it looks like to think more like a kid in modern technical work.
Read post
About this Series
This discussion guide is part of Rising Tide’s Winter 2026 book club, where we’re reading Think Naked by Marco Marsan.
If you’re just joining us, here are a few pages you’ll likely benefit from:
- Book Clubs, Conversations, and Curiosity for why we started a book club for a technical team here
Chapter Summary
In the introduction and first chapter, Marco Marsan proposes to the readers that creativity is not lost as we age — it is trained out of us. He cites research suggesting that young children test at very high “genius” or creative problem-solving levels, and that this capacity sharply declines by adulthood.
To return to this childlike, “genius” mindset, Marsan introduces five “rules” that mirror how children naturally engage with problems:
- Wear your cape (be fearless)
- Blockbuster (question defaults and conventions)
- Look at Your Neighbor’s Paper (learn by copying and remixing)
- Show-N-Tell (learn publicly and collaboratively)
- I’m the boss of me (take ownership and agency)
Discussion Questions
Use these open-ended prompts to guide reflection and conversation. Remember, there are no right answers!
- What did you agree with in these chapters?
- What did you disagree with in these chapters?
- Do you agree that creativity declines because of conditioning rather than capability? Why or why not?
- Who or what defines a genius?
- Do any of the five lessons intrigue you more than the others? Which of the five principles feels most uncomfortable to you right now?
- Where do you avoid experimentation because the cost of being wrong feels too high?
- Where in your work do you default to “this is how it’s always been done”?
- What would “thinking more like a kid” actually look like in one small, real decision this week?
Rising Tide Input for your Consideration
- What causes us to lose our creativity?
- The team proposed that people don’t lose creativity as they age, but rather they close off the permission rather than the capability because creativity becomes risky. As adults, mistakes have consequences: reputational, financial, professional. Most environments reward predictability over curiosity, so people adapt accordingly.
- Are children actually ‘geniuses’?
- Evidence that children become less creative over time (and how to fix it) - Idea to Value
- As a team, we felt that the label “genius,” isn’t particularly useful. It’s poorly defined, and even more poorly measured. What matters is not intelligence labels, but how people approach problems: curiosity, iteration, and willingness to engage with uncertainty.
- In fact, as a team we consistently seem to pushback on: Labels (“genius,” “best practice,” or “industry standard”), Claims without sources, and Metrics without definitions.
- Children also don’t ask if they’re allowed to participate, they assume they are. Adults often operate transactionally, constantly checking for permission. That hesitation suppresses experimentation and ownership.
- How does technology factor into creativity loss?
- Convenience is a trade. Offloading is good if the saved energy is reinvested into higher-order problem-solving. As a result, technology can either dull skills or enable deeper thinking depending on how we use it as a tool.
- Automation is welcomed after understanding exists. Technology should support people who know why, not replace them.
About Rising Tide and our Book Club
Rising Tide helps MSPs and service-focused teams build better systems: the kind that align people with purpose.
Every Friday at 9:30 AM ET, we host Rising Tide Fridays as an open conversation for MSP owners, consultants, and service professionals who want to grow both professionally, technically, and emotionally. In Winter/Spring 2026, we’re walking through Think Naked.
If that sounds like your kind of crowd, reach out to partners@risingtidegroup.net for the Teams link. Bring your coffee and curiosity…no prep required.
Chapter-by-Chapter Discussion Questions for The Go-Giver by Bob Burg: Chapter Fourteen: The Go-Giver
Chapter 14 ties The Go-Giver up neatly, and our team's conversation unpacked whether or not Joe’s ending was a success, and if it was relatable to anyone else.
Read post
About this Series
This discussion guide is part of Rising Tide’s Fall 2025 book club, where we’re reading The Go-Giver by Bob Burg and John David Mann.
If you’re just joining us, here are a few pages you’ll likely benefit from:
- Chapter One – The Go-Getter for an introduction on how to use these Discussion Questions
- Book Clubs, Conversations, and Curiosity for why we started a book club for a technical team here
Chapter Summary
In the final chapter of The Go-Giver, we meet Claire, who is on her way to meet the partners behind an amazingly (even stratospherically) successful new business: Rachel’s Famous Coffee. Chapter 14 ties up the story of The Go-Giver in a neat little bow, showcasing the stratospheric success possible, and encouraging us to share the secret with others along the way.
Discussion Questions
Use these open-ended prompts to guide reflection and conversation. Remember, there are no right answers!
- Joe ends the book in a completely different role than he started. Did that feel like success to you?
- How has your own definition of success changed over time?
- How do you tell the difference between quitting, failing, and evolving? Would this ending feel different if Joe were less financially secure?
- What did you learn from this book? What do you think your key takeaway will be?
Rising Tide Input for your Consideration
- Joe didn’t land the sale, he completely changed his trajectory. What does that mean for you? Sometimes success isn’t what we imagine or set out to accomplish, sometimes it’s adjacent.
- Joe isn’t keeping the secret or the process to himself, he’s actively sharing it with others and using the same framework Pindar gave him.
- As a team, we didn’t really like this book and wouldn’t recommend it to peers who already have practical experience in business or leadership.
- The parable format wasn’t great for our team. It was a good basic overview, but it didn’t go as deep as we felt some of these concepts deserved. While we get that it’s a book with a story that needed to be simplified to get the author’s key ideas across, seven days isn’t enough time for meaningful personal or professional change, and we felt the timeline and simplicity undercut the book’s credibility. Many felt the book oversold its lesson without adequately showing how it applies in complex, real-world situations, added to the fact that since Joe doesn’t apply the lessons over time and he’s rewarded through proximity to power, it made the ending feel uncomfortably like access solves everything.
- The main character wasn’t relatable or aspirational. The team generally struggled with Joe! He started unlikable and never quite crossed into someone the team wanted to root for or become, in fact, as a result, the story ended up feeling like it was more about “who you know.” and being in the right place at the right time. While generosity mattered, only once the right people were involved, which ignores how uneven access to networks really is.
- There are possibly better books out there that communicate similar ideas more effectively. Here are a few of our favorites:
- We hope you’ll join us in 2026 for our next book: Think Naked: Childlike Brilliance in the Rough Adult World by Peter Lloyd Marco Marsan | Goodreads. Get a copy of the book and mark your calendar for January 09, 2026 to talk through the cover and reading plan.
About Rising Tide and our Book Club
Rising Tide helps MSPs and service-focused teams build better systems: the kind that align people with purpose.
Every Friday at 9:30 AM ET, we host Rising Tide Fridays as an open conversation for MSP owners, consultants, and service professionals who want to grow both professionally, technically, and emotionally. Our book for 2026 Quarter 1 is Think Naked: Childlike Brilliance in the Rough Adult World by Marco Marsan.
If that sounds like your kind of crowd, reach out to partners@risingtidegroup.net for the Teams link.
Bring your coffee and curiosity…no prep required.
Chapter-by-Chapter Discussion Questions for The Go-Giver by Bob Burg: Chapter Ten - The Law of Authenticity
What if the real value you bring to your work, clients, and relationships isn’t your pitch, your process, or your polish—but you? This post walks through The Go-Giver’s Law of Authenticity, major blows to self-esteem, and why relationships aren’t 50/50. Learn how to add value simply by showing up as your honest, imperfect self.
Read post
About this Series
This discussion guide is part of Rising Tide’s Fall 2025 book club, where we’re reading The Go-Giver by Bob Burg and John David Mann.
If you’re just joining us, here are a few pages you’ll likely benefit from:
- Chapter One – The Go-Getter for an introduction on how to use these Discussion Questions
- Book Clubs, Conversations, and Curiosity for why we started a book club for a technical team here
Chapter Summary
In Chapter 10, Joe learns the Fourth Law of Stratospheric Success — “The Law of Authenticity” — from a now-successful saleswoman who found this truth when she was at her lowest.
Discussion Questions
Use these open-ended prompts to guide reflection and conversation. Remember, there are no right answers!
- “These lessons don’t apply only to business…the true bottom line is whether it improves your life’s balance sheet.” What are things that improve your own balance sheet of life? Family? Hobbies? Travel?
- Have you ever had a major blow to your self-esteem like Debra’s husband leaving her? Have you ever looked at is as a gift? What if you did?
- “Add value. I had nothing to add but myself”. Have you ever considered that you, as you are, brings value to a relationship? Yes, your perspective, your experiences, but more than that, your presence is valuable in a relationship!!
- What do you consider to be people skills? To be a person?
Rising Tide Input for your Consideration
- How does privilege (financial cushion, partner support, social safety nets) affect whether we’re able to call adversity a “gift”? As leaders or teammates, what responsibility do we have to build safety nets for our people (policies, culture, financial practices) so they don’t fall off a cliff when life hits?
- John & Julie Gottman – Fighting Right & Repair. The Gottmans’ work shows that what predicts relationship health is not whether you fight, but whether you repair effectively afterward, mirroring what we discussed about client relationships and authenticity.
- Julie and John Gottman: Relationship advice from 50+ years of marriage | TED Talk
- “Happily ever after simply means that both partners are known, valued, accepted for who they are and who they are becoming.” - John M. Gottman
- Julie and John Gottman: Relationship advice from 50+ years of marriage | TED Talk
- Brené Brown – “Marriage is Never 50/50” - Short clip where Brown explains why healthy relationships aren’t equal splits but ebb and flow based on capacity, reinforcing the idea that we bring our best available self, not a fixed quota.sometimes they're 30-70...and sometimes they're 30-30...you should only be expected to bring your best. Because we are rarely able to be 100% consistently!
- The Framemaking Sale - by Brent Adamson and Karl Schmidt; so often relationships aren’t just about US or what we perceive we need to be, but rather how we can make the other person feel confident and comfortable in their own decisions.
About Rising Tide and our Book Club
Rising Tide helps MSPs and service-focused teams build better systems: the kind that align people with purpose.
Every Friday at 9:30 AM ET, we host Rising Tide Fridays as an open conversation for MSP owners, consultants, and service professionals who want to grow both professionally, technically, and emotionally. In Fall/Winter 2025, we’re walking through The Go-Giver, chapter by chapter.
If that sounds like your kind of crowd, reach out to partners@risingtidegroup.net for the Teams link.
Bring your coffee and curiosity…no prep required.