Marc's MSLD 500 Reflection Blog

Just Think About It! Over the last four or five weeks as I have been engaged in studying the various aspects and the skills involved in critical thinking I have been able to see some changes in the way I think things through.  I believe that many experiences from the past have helped prepare me with a solid foundation to build on, preparing me to better understand and apply the Elements of Reasoning.  I believe I regularly applied many of the elements subconsciously, without even knowing they were parts of critical thought.  Experience has taught me the importance of walking a few steps in another’s shoes, especially when there is conflict.  I tend to be fairly analytical; I do not jump into a decision without considering different possible outcomes.  However, before learning about it, I had given little thought to other aspects of critical thinking.  I feel that over the last few weeks I have been able to recognize assumptions in my own thinking, as w...

The Challenge of Choice Photo credit: mmnexpert.com During a TED Talk by Dr. Sheena Iyengar in which she discussed whether or not having more choices helps a person to be more satisfied with their decisions, she makes a few assumption about the way Americans see choices.  She says: -Americans want to make their own choices. -Americans think that more options leads to better choices. -Americans believe they should never say no to choice. I agree that the assumptions Dr. Iyengar makes about how people see choices are accurate for most Americans.  However, from a leadership point of view, further analysis of each assumption is merited to determine any implications that might cause negative impacts on leaders and the organizations they work with.  As leaders better understand each of these assumptions they will be able to approach their work more efficiently and help their organizations, and the individuals involved, make the best choices. Leaders need to be awa...

On the morning of October 30th, 2017, I departed the Lake Charles airport in southwest Louisiana in an Agusta A109 helicopter on a routine flight to an oil platform located about 100 miles offshore in the Gulf of Mexico.  As I climbed through 300 feet I attempted to retract the landing gear by raising the gear lever.  It was stuck; the gear lever would not move, and the landing gear would not go up.  I made the decision to return to the airport in order to have a company mechanic resolve the issue. As the mechanic and I were trying to troubleshoot the issue we had a couple options.  We could inspect and test each component individually, including checking the gear lever itself to see if it was stuck or if there was an obstruction preventing it from moving.  We would need to check the hydraulic fluid level to ensure there was sufficient fluid for system operation and verify there were no leaks or binding hoses.  We would need to check the components of ...

A Standard Life Every twelve months I am required to take a checkride with an FAA approved check airman and demonstrate that I am able to fly all of the required maneuvers and emergency procedures.  It is important for a professional pilot to maintain the expected high level of proficiency and safety.  The FAA has established a set of minimum criteria that pilots must meet or exceed during the checkride.  This set of standards is called the Practical Test Standards.  For example, the Practical Test Standards specify that while flying a traffic pattern a pilot must be able to maintain the proper altitude within 100 feet and the proper airspeed within 10 knots (U.S. Department of Transportation, 2013). Photo credit: practicalmanliness.com A standard is something that is established and used to verify a measurement of a quantity or a quality (“standard,” n.d.).  There are many different types of standards.  For example, a unit of measurement is a st...

Intellectual Perseverance Intellectual perseverance is the determination to stay on the path that has been thought out and reasoned to be the best one, despite the fact that others may think that another path is preferable.  It is also the ability to put in the required mental effort to endure to the end of that path, considering all the options, and looking at all the points of view. One of the three parts of critical thinking is “believing the results of our reasoning” (Nosich, 2012). Nosich states that “If you have reasoned something out and come to a conclusion but find that you still don’t really believe it, that indicates the reasoning is probably not complete” (2012).  After reasoning something out completely there should be no resistance to accepting the new belief or behavior.  This understanding can provide the determination and grit to follow through with the decision.  Though others may suggest that the new belief or behavior is faulty,  though i...