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...
Chapter-by-Chapter Discussion Questions for The Go-Giver by Bob Burg: Chapter Thirteen: Full Circle
What if “missing the goal” isn’t failure? In Chapter 13, Full Circle, Joe hits the quarter-end with nothing to show…until a final phone call reframes everything. This discussion guide explores identity vs outcomes, patience with growth, and awe as a skill worth practicing.
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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 13, Full Circle, Joe is finally met with the end of the quarter with nothing to show for his last-ditch efforts to learn and enact the 5 Laws of Stratospheric Success. After a conversation with Gus in which Joe resigns to the idea that perhaps it’s not about “what you accomplish…it’s who you are,” his phone rings. Perhaps the last week wasn’t a waste after all!
Discussion Questions
Use these open-ended prompts to guide reflection and conversation. Remember, there are no right answers!
- Joe doesn’t hit his sales goal by the deadline. How did that land for you? Did you expect a different outcome?
- Gus suggests that the real outcome might be who Joe became rather than what he accomplished. Do you buy that distinction? Why or why not?
- If this chapter ended without the phone call, would its message be stronger or weaker?
Rising Tide Input for your Consideration
- It’s easy to laugh at Joe for his expectations on a one-week timeline. Have you ever been in a situation where you expect immediate results and are disappointed when you don’t see them?
- Common saying, “People tend to overestimate what can be done in one year and to underestimate what can be done in five or ten years.”
- “The point is not what you do. Not what you accomplish. It’s who you are.”
- What did this part of the conversation make you feel?
- “The quiet felt almost as if it were alive. Motionless, but listening. It felt…receptive.”
- Has there been a moment where you’ve felt like the world was alive and full of possibilities? Through meditation? Traveling somewhere? Having an experience you’ve never had? Have you considered that sense of awe and wonder is a skill worth fostering?
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.
Chapter-by-Chapter Discussion Questions for The Go-Giver by Bob Burg: Chapter Twelve: The Law of Receptivity
In this chapter of The Go-Giver, Joe finally learns the Fifth Law of Stratospheric Success: Receptivity. What looks like a simple lesson about accepting help quickly becomes a deeper conversation about why service-oriented people struggle to receive at all!
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 12, Joe shows up for lunch at Pindar’s home, excited to meet the 5th mystery guest. Together, we learn the 5th law of stratospheric success: The Law of Receptivity, which Joe defines as “The key to effective giving is to stay open to recieving.”
Discussion Questions
Use these open-ended prompts to guide reflection and conversation. Remember, there are no right answers!
- Who did you think the fifth guest was going to be?
- Did you also imagine Rachel would be the guest?
- How do you feel when you give? How do you feel when you receive?
- Do you prefer one over the other? What stories or experiences shaped that preference?
- Some of our original commentary in the early chapters echoed this idea of receptivity. What if we give and get taken advantage of? Perhaps the question is, why are we giving and not allowing ourselves to also receive? Why are we giving without care for ourselves and what we should be giving ourselves?
- Why is receiving so hard for so many of us?
- Several folks in our group said some version of, “I’ll give everything, but I’ll take nothing,” and described feeling like they were taking from someone when they receive. What about you?
- Most of the people in our club said they like giving, and that it feels better to give! But, what if, when you refuse to receive: you are taking away that same good feeling from the potential giver?
- How might being more receptive change the way you work with clients or teammates?
- Jason reframed the Law of Receptivity as being open to opportunity, not just gifts: being willing to say “yes” when someone offers an intro, a collaboration, or a chance you didn’t plan for. Where have you seen that play out in your own career?
Rising Tide Input for your Consideration
- The Water Analogy – “Drink as You Pour”
- You may have heard it said, to “Drink as you pour.” Which is, as you are serving others, it is key that you also serve yourself and care for yourself so that you do not cause an imbalance.
- Imagine you have water in a basin:
- No input, no output = stagnation: If water just sits (no fresh water in, none out) it gets swampy and stagnant. No ideas, no giving, no creativity in or out means you can’t grow and adapt!
- Only output = propensity to run dry: If you’re always pouring out (time, care, energy, support) but never receiving, you eventually empty the well. You must refill with intention and consistency, cycles of burnout don’t help you establish your health and business!
- Only input = hoarding: If you only receive and never give, the “pool” can overflow or turn destructive, just like hoarded resources in a community. Cancer is a common phenomenon that consumes without thinking and without care. It destroys all.
- Where in your life are you stagnant, over-pouring, or hoarding and what would a healthier flow look like?
- Creativity, Physics, and the Oatmeal
- Kevin dropped a reference to an old comic from The Oatmeal about creativity being like breathing: you have to inhale (rest, experiences, inspiration) to exhale (make things, serve, create). That comic helped him accept that he has to refill if he wants to keep giving.
- Where do you notice “hyper-independence” in your life or work?
- As a group, we talked about how modern “luxury” is often framed as not needing anyone, and how we tend to prioritize independence over connection. Noone borrows a cup of sugar from a neighbor anymore, we just use Instacart! Where do you feel pressure to handle everything alone? Where is that actually hurting you or others?
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.
By the [run]Book: Episode 12
Episode 12 explores the second half of the HaloPSA 2.204 release—focusing heavily on operational enhancements that matter to MSPs. From SLA fixes to asset relationship control to better filtering and improved chat API hooks, this is a release packed with workflow refinements.
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In Episode 12 of By the [run]Book, Mendy and Connor continue their deep dive into HaloPSA release v2.204, covering the second half of this massive update. They break down critical enhancements across SLAs, custom fields, assets, chat, Google Workspace, billing, documentation, and integration workflows. This episode is ideal for MSP operators, service managers, and Halo administrators looking to understand not just what changed—but how those changes impact real-world processes.
Here's a few Key impactful updates featured in this episode:
· ATimezone option has been added to Agent details (998146)
Ensures holiday/PTO allowances calculate correctly based on each agent’s actualtimezone—preventing mid-day rollovers for distributed teams.
· Improvementsto the Google Workspace integration (987605)Updated user-matching options to now allow the use of both username and email.
· Restrictedasset relationship types (897671)
Allows admins to control which relationship types can be used between differentasset classes, preventing illogical or messy asset mappings.
· Separatepermission for impersonating users (747369)Impersonation no longer requires full admin rights, enabling safertroubleshooting and testing by leads, onboarding teams, or QA staff.
· Optionto select different email templates when sending invoices (574826)
Staff can now choose from multiple invoice email templates—helpful for voided,corrected, or specialized billing communications.
· NewSLA setting: user replies reset the response target even when on hold (920093)
Fixes unpredictable SLA behavior by ensuring user updates always reset theresponse timer, eliminating false breaches.
· Ticketlist filters now support Client, Site, and User custom fields (965190)
A major visibility upgrade that allows filtering by Client, Site, User customfields, and other options.
· Pre-paybalance type can now be set per contract (758980)
MSPs can now choose hours or currency on a per-contract basis—ideal for clientswith mixed prepay models like retainer hours and project funds.
Watch Now: By the [run]Book: Episode 12
For easier tracking, check out haloreleases.remmy.dev to filter and search HaloPSA updates by ID, version, and keyword.
Full Feature review:
A Timezone option has been added to Agent details which initially will only be used to ensure that the Holiday allowance calculations are correct | v2.204 #998146 | 2:04
Ensures holiday allowance calculations respect each agent’s timezone.
Various Embeddable Chat Widget API improvements | v2.204 #993194 | 7:42
Adds more customization and event capabilities to Halo’s external chat widget.
Various improvements to SAF management | v2.204 #987889 | 9:23
Enhances the Service Architecture Framework.
Improvements to the Google Workspace integration | v2.204 #987605 | 13:02
Adjusts Google user matching behavior.
Added a ticket setting to show the department a team belongs to when assigning/re-assigning | v2.204 #983485 | 15:29
Displays department context during ticket assignment.
The FAQ list now shows in the portal URL when navigating through the Knowledge Base | v2.204 #983353 | 16:02
Improves navigation clarity when browsing FAQs.
Slack notifications can now be triggered by CRM Note updates, Site updates and specific Agent Actions | v2.204 #982479 | 16:27
Expands Slack integration coverage.
Added Agent Team Mappings to Microsoft Entra ID | v2.204 #979667 | 16:36
Allows syncing team membership from Entra ID.
The change management fields ‘Impact’ and ‘Risk’ can now be used in Risk Score calculations | v2.204 #975163 | 19:31
Improves accuracy of Change Management scoring.
Added a general Ticket setting that when enabled, the Can Edit Advanced Ticket Details permission is required to bulk change Ticket Priority | v2.204 #971319 | 21:58
Adds protection against mass-priority edits.
Charge Rates/Types can now be ordered by a sequence number set on the Charge Rate/Type setup | v2.204 #969791 | 22:33
Enables custom sorting of charge rates.
Minor report Chart filtering UX improvements | v2.204 #969514 | 23:20
Improves visual continuity when filtering dashboard charts.
You can now use Client, Site and User Custom Fields as criteria for Ticket List filters | v2.204 #965190 | 24:58
Significantly expands filter capabilities.
Added option to send an Email to a specified Agent when a Runbook fails | v2.204 #957580 | 27:45
New notification option for automation failures.
Added a notification trigger for when a User uploads a document to a specific folder | v2.204 #955651 | 27:53
Useful for client-upload workflows.
Added Access Control to Folders when using Document Management | v2.204 #955650 | 28:09
Brings permissioning to folder-level document storage.
‘Top Level’ field now available when creating an Account/Prospect from the new Opportunity screen | v2.204 #923428 | 30:08
Allows proper top-level assignment for accounts/prospects.
Customer & Site level custom fields now have the option to be displayed under the customer record when logging a ticket | v2.204 #920539 | 32:06
Surfaces client metadata during ticket creation.
Added a global SLA setting to allow user updates to reset the response target regardless of whether the ticket is on hold | v2.204 #920093 | 34:13
Fixes a major SLA limitation.
Added the ability to restrict the allowed relationship types when relating assets | v2.204 #897671 | 39:30
Prevents invalid asset relationship mappings.
You can now import Service Level Agreements (SLAs) & Priorities using an XLS spreadsheet | v2.204 #841750 | 40:34
Enables bulk-import of SLA structures.
Added asset and service business and technical owners as notification recipients | v2.204 #801201 | 41:42
Provides more targeted asset/service notifications.
Improvements to the Jira Software integration | v2.204 #796046 | 43:04
Enhances mapping, syncing, and mention handling.
Unapproved holidays now show with a dotted border | v2.204 #795392 | 44:59
Better visibility in calendars.
You can now save emails from Mail Campaigns as email templates | v2.204 #762793 | 45:06
Allows reuse of campaign email layouts.
Pre-pay balance type can now be set per contract | v2.204 #758980 | 46:33
Adds contract-specific prepay logic.
You can now view the amount of hours invoiced so far on the billing tab of a ticket | v2.204 #749755 | 48:13
Adds visibility into billed time totals.
Added a separate permission for impersonating users | v2.204 #747369 | 48:37
Impersonation no longer requires full admin.
Added option to select different email templates when sending out invoices | v2.204 #574826 | 49:02
Choose among different invoice email templates.
Creating a Purchase Order from a Sales Order line will now set the Sales Order line Supplier field and updating the Purchase Order line price will update the Sales Order line cost | v2.204 #417125 | 50:38
Fixes cost/supplier syncing between SO → PO.