294. Quality Human Thinking - Your Career Defining Edge

In this dawning age of AI, we're prompted to ask an essential question: What kind of thinking is uniquely human?

Throughout this mini-series, we explore the world of quality human thinking in an AI-ready world. This isn't about resisting AI - it's about developing the human capabilities that become even more valuable alongside it.

In this first episode, we explore why quality human thinking isn't one skill; it's a collection of thinking habits that help us build careers, strengthen relationships, unlock great teamwork, make better decisions and learn from experience.

Like a microwave in the kitchen, AI gives us quick, convenient and accessible thinking. Sometimes that's exactly what's needed. But if we rely on it for every meal, we risk missing the nourishment that comes from fresh, thoughtful preparation. The same is true of our thinking. AI can accelerate our ideas, but it's our curiosity, judgement, reflection and creativity that help us grow.

We share a number of practical frameworks to help you strengthen your own thinking and spark richer conversations with others, including Bloom's Taxonomy, Edward de Bono's Six Thinking Hats and the Diamond model of divergent and convergent thinking.

Tuck in!

p.s.  This week, notice the moments where you default to convenient thinking... and the moments where you choose quality human thinking instead.

Transcript

Why Quality Thinking Matters Now

SPEAKER_00 0:11

Devs. Law, how are you doing? I'm doing really well. I'm doing lots of thinking at the moment about what it means at this stage of uh life's evolution and societal changes to kind of think long term about maybe some smart little micro decisions someone could take now for a happy, healthy future. Because there's a lot going on in the world, isn't there, Debs?

SPEAKER_01 0:37

Oh my god, every time you either turn on the radio, yes, I do have a radio, or the television, um, there's always something, somebody's thinking something. Um, not necessarily the right kind of thinking, but definitely something is going on because it's just like mad, isn't it? Really, what is going on at the moment, Law? It is.

SPEAKER_00 0:57

And of course, us two and and and the rest of our team, you know, years in the game of learning and development. And honestly, Debs, I just think the some of the magic of um workshops now, whether they're in-person or virtual, is actually just giving people some time to think away from the day to day, just to be able to reflect. And it's incredible when you put some people together and they're just given some time to think, what insights and reflections they can come up with.

SPEAKER_01 1:23

Yeah, I think you're so right. We did a workshop last week for one of our clients, Law, and they all said it was so lovely to have that space just to explore and think slightly differently and not have that, you know, um, headache of having to come up with a decision, really. It was more of a process of let's work through our thinkings, um, which we were, you know, going to um explore, which is what we're doing this series, isn't it, Laura?

SPEAKER_00 1:50

Absolutely. So, our five-part mini-series is gonna be all around focusing on quality thinking. So, what does it mean to practice reflexive thinking, which we'll be covering today? Um, and of course, I'll try not to bang on too much about AI and the robots devs, but I'm gonna do that.

SPEAKER_01 2:05

I have got a question for you, Laura. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 2:08

Um, and then we're gonna be exploring a couple of different lenses in our five parts. So, whether that means compassionate thinking, people dynamic thinking, strategic thinking, and reflective thinking, all giving us some opportunity to invest in our own self-led continuing professional development. Because if there's one thing we can probably guarantee, Debs, in terms of in this ever-evolving world of work that we're finding ourselves in, the the premium roles of the future are gonna require a human that is able to think, not ruminate, is able to plan, not anxiously worry, and to be able to use and channel all of that mental energy to be able to make a great decision in the moment, for example, without just waiting for a machine to tell us. So hence we thought, let's focus on this.

SPEAKER_01 2:52

Yeah, definitely. And um, I thought we'd start by um actually, because this is a passion project of yours as well, is to think about what that means. So, Law, I'm gonna um chuck some questions at you. Please feel free to not overthink them, see what comes into your head. But they're of them, um, some of the models that you have shared over the years in workshops that you know we've all adopted and put on our carousel of content that has come up, but it's not until you hear them explained by you how much you recognise and realise how important this skill is. And I think you're right, it's going to be such an important, important skill to keep going with, not rely on technology to give us the answers, but our own little brains can do that. So, Law, I'd love to start with a really simple question for you, if that's okay. Okay. So when bring it on. I love that. When you think about today's workplace,

Remote Work And Lost Corridor Time

SPEAKER_01 3:43

whether that is remote, whether it's hybrid, virtual, face-to-face, how would you describe the quality of thinking that's happening? And are we thinking differently than we were five or ten years ago?

SPEAKER_00 3:56

Ooh, interesting, Debs. Image makes me think of a conversation I had in an in-person workshop last week with a long-standing client of ours. And the joy of running open workshops is there's so many varied job roles and responsibilities. And actually, those workshops are pretty much the only time people have chance to be able to network and share information. And it was someone who made the comment about how when do you get that chance to be able to catch information, chat it through, and then reflect on after if you're going straight from one virtual call to another, to another. So we're missing those corridor times. So the corridor moment of being able to quickly reflect on one conversation you've had, um, and then also quickly plan then for the next one. Whereas if you're just flicking from one link to the next, where's that chance for your brain to be able to catch up? So I'm absolutely seeing as a result of the rapid shift to homework and remote working that we saw kicked off by the pandemic, that actually there are now the chickens are coming home to roost. The amount of clients that are saying collaboration is down, uh, well-being is potentially down because there's more and more research coming out that, you know, if you don't talk to anyone and have a chance to think things out loud or think with people, then it can uh it can all build up and things become bigger than what they are. So I absolutely consider the last five to ten years, we've never had to be so quick on demand with our thinking, with so much little resource to actually be able to have the time to think.

SPEAKER_01 5:31

Yeah, that's um that's such a good point. So, do you think we are becoming quicker thinkers or better thinkers?

Heuristics, Bias, And Five Seconds

SPEAKER_00 5:38

Ooh, I think we're probably becoming very good at using our heuristics. So, heuristics are the time-saving devices that we use to think quickly, which typically involve bias.

SPEAKER_01 5:51

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 5:52

So your cognitive bias, of which that's an umbrella term for like 20, 30, 40 different biases that you might have. But for example, current pain bias is we've got this meeting booked, and I know we should be thinking strategic, but actually, for the first third or the first half of that meeting, everyone's chatting about the email that's just come through because it's current and it's pressing, and there's always going to be a human bias towards that. So, have we become better thinkers or quicker thinkers? We've probably become very more skilled at having to use our cognitive biases and our heuristics to be able to think quicker. And then it's not until you then realise, oh, I think we've crossed a boundary line there that you get a feedback or a grievance or something that you realise that actually maybe I could have put more thought into that conversation I've just had. And interesting deb so I've been running a series of communicating with impact sessions recently, and pretty much the overall takeaway from it all is actually just five seconds thinking before saying something or writing something can make a world of difference.

SPEAKER_01 7:00

Yeah, they can. And I think that's such a good point, Laura, because it's the stories that our tell our brains tell us as well, isn't it? That unconscious bias, that thinking, you know, differently about what's going on. And I suppose when we only now see snippets of everybody's lives in the workplace, maybe through a screen, I wonder whether that's becoming even more pronounced in the way we are having conversations or thinking things through. And, you know, we can come up with a solution, a scenario based on our own experiences. So why do you think our brains are wired like this? And why do our biases exist?

SPEAKER_00 7:37

Oh, well, I think we have to go back to our grandparents about a thousand generations ago because those ancestors of ours that were unable to think quickly, oh yes, that grass is rustling. I think I better move, got eaten or or didn't get saved, and then didn't go on to have us. So we are the quickest, most sophisticated thinkers in terms of like reading around us, you know, that their version that there's there's ever been. But of course, the world is slightly different now. And if we've got the machines that are able to think within the blink of an eye and assimilate millions of lines of data, then what does that then mean for that human thought process? And in terms of being able to think differently from the machines, it's it's what what's that human edge that enables us to bring, not just crunching through lots and lots of data, but inferring the storyline from that and being able to articulate it in a way that makes 10 different stakeholders interested, potentially with 10 different perspectives that they're looking for. For example, you might have one part of your organisation who really want to hear about how this initiative is going to save the company money, and you might have another part of the organisation that don't give two hoots about whether that new initiative is going to save people lots of money. They just want to make sure they get home on time. So, how you would position that requires a bit of thought. And that favourite phrase that I've got, Debs, that I nabbed from a director years ago. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't force it to drink. But you can put salt in its oats. Yes. So how do

The Human Edge In An AI World

SPEAKER_00 9:17

we salt the oats of this message? A little bit of thought, could just be five seconds, just to be able to reframe it and uh and then land it in a more thoughtful way so the other person thinks and receives that in a positive way.

Simple Exercises To Break Patterns

SPEAKER_01 9:31

Yeah, and I suppose that is part of us slowing our own thinking down, isn't it? So, how do how can we practice slowing our thinking down enough so that we maybe question our assumptions about what we think we've heard or what we believe we've heard or the perception we've created, or our brain has already made up the story without all the information? How can we slow our thinking down?

SPEAKER_00 9:56

Oh, that's such a good question. Do you remember that game that Carlos got um everyone to play called the yes let's game? Oh, yeah. So the yes, yes, let's game is where you ask a sort of group of delegates, right? Um, we're gonna pretend to do oh acting out bacon a cake, and then you have to go, yes let's. And it basically forces your brain into a new pattern of open-mindedness and willingness to give something a cry a try. So there's also some things that you can do from a thinking perspective. So this was an idea that was gifted to me via a delegate on a session three or four weeks ago where we're talking about thinking and quality thinking and what it means to have creative perspective, basically. And he said he had a highly successful uncle of his who used to play this little game on the way to a meeting where he knew he was gonna have to think creatively. Okay. And we called it the word disassociation game. Right. You have to first of all think of a randomly generated word. So this could be two of you, could be a team of you, could be just you on your own sitting on a bus. And you've got to think of a randomly generated word, and then you've got to think of a word completely disassociated, no pattern at all.

SPEAKER_01 11:07

Right.

SPEAKER_00 11:07

And then another one and another one, and it forces your brain to step out of patterns and easy thinking using, you know, if you say grass and then you say green, and then you say blue, and then you say score. Um and it forces your brain to then think differently. So if you feel like you're getting a bit crusty in the old cognitive department, then this is the um this is this is the the the circuit breaker, really, to be able to actively look from a word association game. And also a self-generated thought is going to be much more resilient to memory loss. So if you are putting some um ideas together and you've just copied it offline or got your chat GPT or your clawed to do it, it's not a self-generated thought. And here's the cost potentially that has for the convenience of quick thinking, yeah, it saves you thinking time and finger typing time. But the long-term cost is it's not in there as a resilient memory. Because according to Bloon's taxonomy of

Bloom’s Taxonomy And Memory Resilience

SPEAKER_00 12:15

thinking.

SPEAKER_01 12:15

Yes, yes, which we're gonna get you to explore, Law. Because um, I thought, what is she talking about when you first introduced me to this? And I thought, is she talking about something else about you know what they do with stuffing animals? I don't know what that's called, but I just derme. Oh, that's the one. What do you mean by that? Help us and under tell us what it means.

SPEAKER_00 12:43

Okay, so if at the moment you're thinking Bloom's taxonomy of thinking is stuffing two glass eyes into a dead animal, then that's where my brain went, Lord. Well, how deliciously human, Deb. How lovely that you thought of that. Um so okay, so this is nabbed from the world of school and academic education practice, pedagogy, pedagogic, patch practice, yes, pedagogy, yes. And so um basically I I ripped out page two and then uh kind of you know assimilated it then for the world of adult learning and development. In short, there are six levels of thinking and they increase in the quality of thinking. And what's meant by quality is the harder your brain has had to work for that thought, the more resilient it is. So memory is the imprint that thought um has made. So if I don't actually have to think something through and come up with my own idea, then my brain hasn't had to work for it. So it's kind of easy come, easy go. So remembering and recalling info is easy to absorb it in that short term. You don't have to work that hard for it, but you have to do a lot of repetition for it to then really stay in. And people don't have time for eight-hour long training sessions to go over one module, they want a module an hour now, yeah. Literally, yeah. So, how do you then maximise memory recall in a time of pressure when that person human needs to recall it? And in short, the highest level of quality thinking, level six, is creative. Right. So asking people your classic coaching questions of what do you think could then help, rather than do you want to do X or Y? Because I because it's a self-generated thought. Number one, it's much more resilient to memory loss when you sleep that night, because according to Ebbinghouse's law of forgetting, 80% of the day's news gets swept away when you sleep. Okay, otherwise your brain would just overload and you you you you it's the equivalent of defragging on a machine, you have to sort of file things away, and then the other benefit of a self-generated thought is you're much more motivated to put it into practice the next day because you've come up with that thought, so it's gonna really bug you if you then don't do it. Yes, so rather than conforming to someone else's, you you're coming up with your own sort of thought pattern, right? So I love it, Debs, when different worlds transfer over each other, because this is why coaching has become such a big thing, and you know, interactive training, because if people think for themselves, yeah, it's a much more resilient memory, and we're much more likely then to want to have the willing to put that into practice because it it brings free will. I came up with this idea, so I'm gonna put it into practice.

SPEAKER_01 15:23

I'm gonna give it a go, and then I suppose the skills is to then making sure you're not making any assumptions about anything or you've got an unconscious bias towards something, or maybe it links to what you always talk about, um, I always get this around the wrong way. The divergent versus convergent thinking as well comes into it as well, doesn't it? Around this, because this is, I suppose, a little bit like you're saying about giving yourself permission to think different, and that's okay. But coming up with it in the first place. So, but before we go on to that bit, I had one question. Where do you think, based on what you've seen maybe over the last four to five years since we've come out of the other end of what's been going on and the impact, where do you think most workplaces

The Risk Of Creating Workplace Robots

SPEAKER_01 16:05

naturally operate when you look at Bloom's taxonomy?

SPEAKER_00 16:08

I think they operate probably in that middle of um um recall. Uh so evaluate. So evaluate and judge are kind of like those those middle ones. Yeah. So I'm I s I see a lot of workplaces in that eat, sleep, work, repeat, copy, paste, but make it 10% cheaper and 20% faster. Yeah. And um, and when people's days are so highly optimised, Debs, where is that opportunity for a brain to process it and daydream and come up with um with with with new ideas? So I think a lot of organisations are kind of in that middle bit. We're sort of limping along, but potentially we're not firing people up because we haven't got the time allocated so much anymore to the downtime or the between time to then be able to our brains then catch up with what the visual cortex has seen and what your auditory um uh you know senses have heard. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:07

So what's the risk for that for organizations and managers and leaders that don't give time to go and think at that creative, free, free will level of thinking? What's what's the risk?

SPEAKER_00 17:18

Oh, I think the risk is you just end up with thousands of living robots on your payroll. Because if a human can't express themselves, have time to think, um, if it if it means that your your role isn't firing you up or or engaging you or taking your attention, then where else is that brain going? You know, it's it's it's potentially getting more and more kind of fatigue. So I think the risk is is people just get less and less engaged, yeah, more and more using synthetic ways to be able to get those thoughts going. Yeah. Um, and that is just not, I firmly believe, Debs, that the whole of our evolution does not suggest that stop the humans thinking and everything will be fine. No, definitely not. Surely AI and tech is our surfboard, but we've got to still be able to swim. Absolutely. If I can't think for myself anymore, then how are you gonna know if you're safe? How are you gonna seek consent? How are you gonna hold boundaries if we're just used to complying and nodding along with what a machine tells us?

SPEAKER_01 18:23

Yeah, and it's a lazy way of thinking, isn't it, Laura? Because that then doesn't tap into maybe listening to what our intuition is telling us, or you know, potentially we could lose that gut instinct that goes, oh no, this isn't quite right. Um, or I I mean, I'm just I have no idea if that is it, but I was just you or talking there, it just made me think, how do we encourage them people to go? No, I can see you're thinking something else. So again, it's questioning what you're seeing, isn't it? What's your gut telling you? Um, you know, what's your intuition? And if we if we don't use it, we'll lose it, right? Yes. Because if we're not then saying, well, I think that's wrong, or my belief is this, or I think we should explore it this way or that way, then those conversations, as you said, might as well just be put into a machine to do rather than let's let's have this um different way of thinking, this different perspective to and give ourselves permission to think differently, which uh I think you know that comes into that we mentioned earlier the divergent and convergent thinking.

Divergent And Convergent Thinking Diamond

SPEAKER_01 19:25

So tell us more about what is the difference and why is it so important to recognise that okay, fab.

SPEAKER_00 19:31

So I'm gonna do my best to weave in two different concepts. Right. So um, here's how my little brain understood around it. So when you converge on a point, yeah. So when you converge on a point, that's where um you take mess and you make it tidy. Right. When you diverge out, so if you've got a divergent thinker, or we loads of us know the phrase now, neurodivergent um um perspective uh or um or requirement. So that's where it's you got one and then you turn that into many. So imagine that the visual for that creative process probably looks like a bit of a diamond. So you're starting off with a point. How do we make more money? Or how do we increase customer satisfaction, or how do we reduce patient risk? Right. So that's the point. You then explode it out with divergent thinking. Yeah. So what are the 10 things that I think I could do? Or reverse brainstorming is good, can be quite useful. What's the worst thing that we could do? So that can unlock many, and then out of those 10, what's the that we then refine it to then converge at um something that might be practical and yet creative? So you're then converging on the three things that we want to pitch forward or the one idea that we're gonna go for. So imagining it as like a diamond shape, yeah. So one point, explode it out, and then with that mess, tidy it up into a into a point. And the point at the bottom should kind of match the problem statement that you got at the at the top. So that's a nice way just to sort of visualize that convergent and divergent. Typically, we will have a preference towards one or the other. So, do you prefer to tidy up mess or do you prefer to create mess and um and sort of think from a creative point of view? And then that's why Edward De Bono's

Six Thinking Hats To Avoid Groupthink

SPEAKER_00 21:18

thinking hats, yes. Oh, this one from around the carousel, Debs.

SPEAKER_01 21:23

Yeah, I was gonna talk to you about that one because um it's an oldie but a goldy, and it's been around. And I heard somebody talk about it the other day, and I just think, oh my god, I haven't heard that for ages. But is it still relevant in the way that we think?

SPEAKER_00 21:38

Debs. So I tell you what, I mean, the delegates can be the judge of whether it is or not, but it is a firm favourite as a post lunch, let's get practical and and and play the Edward De Bono six thinking hat. So imagine the scene you've got aha, tears for fears, and um Johnny Hazz. Uh I'm thinking of all the eight scenes. Karoski killed the cat. Oh, Karoski killed the cat. So you've got your 80s tunes on enter Edward De Bono. And Edward Du Bono wrote his book, Six Thinking Hats. Yes. And the idea was that whether or not you've got a personality type of this way or that way, whether or not you've got a confidence level of this or that, each of us can put on a hat. So even though it might not be your normal way of thinking, it encourages you to step outside of your own confines and bring a different thought perspective. Right. And he put colours on those hats, and it was the black hat thinking that really sort of turned it into a New York bestseller, uh, New York Times bestseller. Right. Because the black hat perspective is bringing the cautionary or the kind of the um the um risk perspective without looking like you are anti-change. So let's say you're sitting there and it's just one of you around a table, or there's many of you around a table, having these six perspectives that you can just very easily ask as six questions, and each works as kind of two three opposite pairs. So you've got head and heart, yeah. The white hat is the head, logical, thinking, data. Yeah, the red hat is the heart, intuition, gut feel, emotion. You've then got your yellow hat and your black hat. So yellow hat is optimistic, what's the best that could happen? Black hat is the um cautionary, what's the worst that can happen? What's that plan B? Yeah, and then you've got blue hat and green hat. And green hat is creative, fresh, different perspective, and blue hat is order and control. What are we doing? How long have we got? What's the output? So you've got these six different thinking hats, and what that then means is even if you're sitting there as a party of one and you need to think and generate some thinking quickly for a conversation or a project or an interaction you're about to have, these are six questions that you can ask yourself to unlock quality thinking that does its best to not sit with your own personal preference bias. Yeah. What's the worst that can happen? What's the best that can happen? What's something new that I can try? What is the output that I'm going to be measured on? What's the um facts and the head perspective? And what's the gut feel and the intuition emotion perspective? And it really helps technical experts unlock a bit of the emotion story, and it helps frontline teams unlock a bit of the logic that they might not have access to that data. And then the goal is you've got much more um, you've got much more kind of quality thinking, and you're avoiding groupthink, which is individually clever people making dumb decisions. So that's the idea about groupthink.

SPEAKER_01 24:43

There's a few of them, isn't there? But anyway, let's not get into that.

SPEAKER_00 24:46

Well, we're all human, Dave.

SPEAKER_01 24:47

We are only human, we're not quite the robots. And I know that was something, you know, it wouldn't be a conversation without chatting about the robots, and you've already mentioned them and AI and everything else. Um, so therefore you did mention this right at the beginning as to therefore whether we're becoming a bit more lazy or whether it's making our own thinking an even more valuable asset. And because I suppose if technology is giving us all the answers, Law, what thinking skills become even more important?

SPEAKER_00 25:17

Oh do you know what I think it all boils down to, Debs?

Undivided Attention As Future Skill

SPEAKER_00 25:22

It is giving full and undivided cognitive attention to another human.

SPEAKER_01 25:28

Lovely. So it's that real connection.

SPEAKER_00 25:31

Yeah, because it then comes a personal sacrifice. So you and I are investing our full cognitive attention to each other. We're not doing anything else, I'm not having this conversation with anyone else at the same time. Whereas when I am in conversation with an AI, they could be doing that to a million other women at the exact same time. Yeah, there's no sacrifice because when we're investing our attention in each other and our full thought processes, we're not doing it anywhere else. We could be doing something else. And then when you know that someone has given you that undivided thinking time, yeah, you know they're doing it out of choice and because they want to. So there is that sense of being recognized by someone else. And I think the roles of the future that require quality thought and quality interactions, that is going to be the USP, the unlocker, because it's being able to give your undivided attention in a time poor world, that is the ultimate recognition gift that any human can then give. So you might not come up with a thousand ideas and your AI could have.

SPEAKER_01 26:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:35

But those 10 ideas, as a result of sitting here in full harmony with someone else, they're worth their weight in gold because you've been chosen for someone to give attention rather than just pay $20 a month.

SPEAKER_01 26:48

Yeah, I love that. And that's so important, isn't it? When you think about it from that perspective, because I know we play around with AI, right? But it's still not us, it still doesn't make you think, I believe, uh properly, if that makes sense. And I think it's like, no, I don't agree with that actually. This is my thinking, and I mean it will respond back to you, but it's the ability to not just go with the easy option, isn't it? Really? And you know, to flow with oh, that was it. I didn't have to really think about that. It did it all for me. But at what cost?

SPEAKER_00 27:18

Yeah, but of course, Debs, you know, like with convenient food, you know, microwaves, convenient food, just like you know, fork in a cellophane cover. There are times where you absolutely need that just to get through the day-to-day to have convenience. But it's not, it's not it, you wouldn't use a microwave meal to celebrate, you know, a key wedding anniversary.

SPEAKER_01 27:38

Well, you would hope not.

SPEAKER_00 27:40

I mean, the the the moment you hear at a wedding uh breakfast, a wedding breakfast or whatever it's called, just the sound of microwaves popping off in the background. Um, but I I think I think maybe that's the analogy to use. Your chat, your your AI is like your microwave.

SPEAKER_01 27:56

Um yeah, that's a good point. That's really nice.

SPEAKER_00 27:59

Yeah, that's your microwave, but kind of um, you know, hand-cooked, home cooked, that artisan approach is gonna become even more, even more premium.

SPEAKER_01 28:10

Oh my god, that's such a good way of looking at it. And I like that actually. It's like, yeah, do you want to just keep hearing a pinging of a microwave, or do you actually want to want to have something that's been cared and looked after and nourished and proper, not just some old rubbish that we're dealing with? Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 28:29

There's been time, care, and attention. Yeah, some TLC has been put into that. So I think it's gonna be fascinating over the next three to four years. AI is only gonna get smarter and smarter the more we interact with it.

SPEAKER_01 28:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:41

And how do we ensure that when we need a microwave meal, we need convenient thinking, we've got it, but we also maintain that art and craft of being able to cook for ourselves.

SPEAKER_01 28:51

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 28:52

And think for ourselves.

SPEAKER_01 28:53

And think for ourselves. So I'm gonna ask you, my call to action is to you, but also to

The Microwave Meal Thinking Analogy

SPEAKER_01 28:58

the listeners. And there's a question to get you thinking. Um, so my question is to you, Laura, and whoever's listening is thinking about this. What's one question everyone should ask more often?

SPEAKER_00 29:20

I think that one question that we should be asking more often is let me just pause for three seconds. What do I really think about this? Nice. So the pause. Let me just pause for a second. Yeah. What do I really think about this?

SPEAKER_01 29:38

Love that. Thank you. So those of you who have also come up with yours, please feel free to share us what your question is or what we should be doing. It'd be it'd be so good to hear it, wouldn't it, Laura?

SPEAKER_00 29:49

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And we love a microwave meal.

SPEAKER_01 29:52

AR is brilliant, but yeah, it is. However, it's lazy.

SPEAKER_00 29:56

Part of a balanced yeah, and part of a balanced diet.

SPEAKER_01 29:59

Yeah, I like that. You still need your extra bits.

SPEAKER_00 30:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:06

Oh, so Laura, I mean, I've loved this conversation with you, and I cannot wait until we delve even deeper in it. And because I know you just your brain just takes all of this on, and the models that you use and the way you bring them alive alive in a workshop or in a conversation with anyone, I think is something we can explore even more on the next couple of episodes. But um, what would be your share the secret then, Laura?

SPEAKER_00 30:30

So, my share the secret would be let's say you're thinking, oh, I don't know how I feel about AI, you know, if it's all feeling a bit doom and gloom, get a mate to then listen to this. Because as always, Debs, it's bringing an optimistic, can-do, capability um aspect to this. Because if us working adults or any adults don't go don't get their heads around the narrative around this, then you know what um legacy are we leaving behind in the workplace for the new generation then coming in. So, yeah, if it all feels like it's getting a bit scaremongering around AI, get a mate to listen to this, and then together, you know, colleague, you can think about where are some of those human-first moments that um where we have those quality thinking. Um, and of course, Debs, I'm so looking forward to flip it next week where we're going to be focusing on compassionate.

SPEAKER_01 31:17

Oh my gosh, yes.

SPEAKER_00 31:18

Which I just love hearing you um describe that. So they've got a nice kind of build on with this. So, what would be your call to action, Debs, from this focus? It's the first in our five-part mini-series around quality thinking. And this one has been about the reflexive human first thinking.

SPEAKER_01 31:38

Yeah, I I'm actually gonna think about what you said around my call to action is to be keep being curious. If you're if you're inside you is wanting to ask that question or wanting to explore it more, then ask it. Just keep the curiosity going, which can open up a whole nother world, right? And goes to so many different levels when we're curious about it. So that's what I would say. Keep being curious is my call to action.

SPEAKER_00 32:07

Beautiful, Debs. Beautiful. Um, oh, I can't wait to um catch up and chat about compassionate thinking on the next one.

SPEAKER_01 32:13

I'm looking

One Question To Ask More Often

SPEAKER_01 32:14

forward to it as well. I'm gonna get my thinking cap on. I don't know which one of Debono's I'm gonna be using, but I might try them all.

SPEAKER_00 32:21

Absolutely. I think that's a bit of red hat thinking, the compassion, and then uh yeah, and of course, well, green hat, you know, the clue's in your name. Yeah, there we go. Yes, I need to remind myself.

SPEAKER_01 32:33

Fresh perspective, yeah, definitely. I love that. Oh Lord, will you have a good week? Yet thinking, create those spaces that enable people to pause to think rather than just react. And I think, yeah, it'd be a great week. Looking forward to next next next one.

SPEAKER_00 32:50

Next one, right. Well, lovely loads, have a fabulous day.

SPEAKER_01 32:52

Love you too. Love you, love you.

SPEAKER_00 32:58

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