Drs. Paul & Elder have provided the elements of thought to assist critical thinkers in their goal of making sound decisions. These elements include: Point of View, Purpose, Question or Problem, Information, Inferences and Conclusions, Concepts and Theories, Assumptions, and Implications and Consequences. The U.S. Army has provided today’s military leaders with a valuable tool as well; the problem solving process. The eight steps of this process are: Identify the Problem, Gather Information, Develop Criteria, Generate possible Solutions, Analyze possible Solutions Compare possible Solutions, and Make and Implement the Decision. Though one tool is civilian and the other military by creation, they both strive to achieve the same objective of assisting individuals or groups in making an educated and informed decision. As military leaders, utilizing the elements of thought will complement the military problem solving process to achieve our goals or mission objectives. To demonstrate how the elements of thought assist the military problem solving process, I will compare three elements and form Drs. Paul and Elder to three steps in the problem solving process. Both processes use different systems to achieve the same result of solving a problem.
The first comparison will be Drs. Paul & Elder’s element where you are asked to identify the problem or question. When we attempt reasoning for a specific goal we have to ask ourselves what we are trying to accomplish or what ultimate goal are we trying to achieve. We have to be specific in what our objective is, and what is the desired outcome we wish to produce. Making this goal as specific as possible will aid in identifying the question. We need to distinguish questions that have definitive answers from those that are a matter of opinion1.
This element of thought is comparable to Step one of the problem solving process: Identify the Problem. When military leaders identify a problem they need to...