TC 8520 assess 1

Use a template to complete a self-assessment of the thinking habits of mind, heart, and imagination and develop a plan to improve and consolidate your thinking habits.

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Introduction

Finding things out is what leaders do. They are curious about why things are done a certain way, what is actually going on, why processes and services are or are not producing desired results. If results are good, curious individuals wonder how they might be better! Curiosity produces questions, and questions, particularly “why” and “what if” questions, drive the thinking that leads to innovation and improvement.

But leaders are also people. People tend to have certain blind spots about themselves and others that they often do not investigate due to lack of awareness. Have you ever found yourself having a second conversation in your head during an actual conversation with someone, but you don’t share those thoughts? Have you ever made a series of quick judgments based on assumptions about a situation that later proved wildly inaccurate? These are universal human experiences.

Thinking habits of mind, heart, and imagination are key to your success as a doctoral student and a leader. Tools such as the ladder of inference and the two-column exercise assist in eliminating the noise of our own biases and hidden assumptions and enable a clearer picture of the truth about a situation. Double-loop learning and other concepts help us find things out about organizations and the behaviors of their members that have impacts on organizational awareness, effectiveness, and capacity to change and improve.

In this assessment, you establish a plan for engaging in intentional discovery about yourself and your organization. You will explore your progress against your plan as you complete each of the other assessments in this course.

Instructions

Complete and submit the template. For each criterion, insert your numerical score in the last column, and complete the Reflection narrative under each criterion table. Insert your plan where indicated at the end of Part 2.

Competencies Measured

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies:

• Competency 2: Apply continuous improvement models and methods to uncover the multi-dimensional nature of problems of practice.
  • Provide a plan to improve and consolidate thinking habits while completing the assessments and readings for this course.
• Competency 3: Analyze the implications of leadership behaviors for organizational learning.
  • Complete a self-assessment using the thinking habits of mind, heart, and imagination and providing examples to support self-rating.
• Competency 4: Apply critical thinking skills and habits of mind to analyze problems of practice.
  • Submit a reflective piece that highlights strengths and areas that are in need of improvement.