1. SLB-054 03/11/07 Thinking and Communicating “Above all else guard your heart, for it affects everything you do.” Proverbs 4:23 (NLT)

2. 3/11/07SLB-0532 Think 1 Cor 14:20 (2) Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature.

3. 3/11/07SLB-0533 Thinking skills are relatively specific cognitive operations that can be considered the "building blocks" of thinking.

4. 3/11/07SLB-0534 Core Thinking Skills FOCUSING SKILLS Attending to selected pieces of information and ignoring others.

5. 3/11/07SLB-0535 Core Thinking Skills INFORMATION GATHERING SKILLS Bringing to consciousness the relative data needed for cognitive processing.

6. 3/11/07SLB-0536 Core Thinking Skills REMEMBERING SKILLS Storing and retrieving information.

7. 3/11/07SLB-0537 Core Thinking Skills ORGANIZING SKILLS Arranging information so it can be used more effectively

8. 3/11/07SLB-0538 Core Thinking Skills ANALYZING SKILLS Clarifying existing information by examining parts and relationships

9. 3/11/07SLB-0539 Core Thinking Skills GENERATING SKILLS Producing new information, meaning or ideas

10. 3/11/07SLB-05310 Core Thinking Skills INTEGRATING SKILLS Connecting and combining information

11. 3/11/07SLB-05311 Core Thinking Skills EVALUATING SKILLS Assessing the reasonableness and quality of ideas.

12. 3/11/07SLB-05312 Core Thinking Skills FOCUSING SKILLS Attending to selected pieces of information and ignoring others. –1. Setting goals: establishing direction and purpose. –2. Defining problems: clarifying needs, discrepancies, or puzzling situations.

13. 3/11/07SLB-05313 Core Thinking Skills INFORMATION GATHERING SKILLS Bringing to consciousness the relative data needed for cognitive processing. –3. Observing: obtaining information through one or more senses. –4. Formulating questions: seeking new information through inquiry.

14. 3/11/07SLB-05314 Core Thinking Skills REMEMBERING SKILLS Storing and retrieving information. –5. Encoding: storing information in long- term memory. –6. Recalling: retrieving information from long-term memory

15. 3/11/07SLB-05315 Core Thinking Skills ORGANIZING SKILLS Arranging information so it can be used more effectively. –7. Comparing: noting similarities and differences between or among entities. –8. Classifying: grouping and labeling entities on the basis of their attributes. –9. Ordering: sequencing entities according to a given criterion. –10. Representing: changing the form, but not the substance of information.

16. 3/11/07SLB-05316 Core Thinking Skills ANALYZING SKILLS Clarifying existing information by examining parts and relationships. –11. Identifying attributes and components: determining characteristics or the parts of something. – 12. Identifying relationships and patterns: recognizing ways elements are related. – 13. Identifying main ideas: identifying the central element; for example the hierarchy of key ideas in a message or line of reasoning. – 14. Identifying errors: recognizing logical fallacies and other mistakes and, where possible, correcting them.

17. 3/11/07SLB-05317 Core Thinking Skills GENERATING SKILLS Producing new information, meaning or ideas –15. Inferring: going beyond available information to identify what may reasonably be true. –16. Predicting: anticipating next events, or the outcome of a situation. – 17. Elaborating: explaining by adding details, examples, or other relevant information

18. 3/11/07SLB-05318 Core Thinking Skills INTEGRATING SKILLS Connecting and combining information. –18. Summarizing: combining information efficiently into a cohesive statement. – 19. Restructuring: changing existing knowledge structures to incorporate new information.

19. 3/11/07SLB-05319 Core Thinking Skills EVALUATING SKILLS Assessing the reasonableness and quality of ideas. –20. Establishing criteria: setting standards for making judgments. – 21. Verifying: confirming accuracy.

20. 3/11/07SLB-05320 Evaluating Skills Information Gathering Skills Focusing Skills Generating Skills Integrating Skills Evaluating Skills Remembering Skills Analyzing Skills Organizing Skills Event Perception Appraisal Representation VI

21. 3/11/07SLB-05321 Understanding Effective Communication “We all make mistakes, but those who control their tongue can also control themselves in every other way.” Jas 3:2 (NLT) “Be gracious in your speech. The goal is to bring out the best in others in a conversation, not to put them down, not cut them out.” Col. 4:6 (Message)

22. 3/11/07SLB-05322 Understanding Effective Communication “CRUCIAL CONVERSATIONS: TOOLS FOR TALKING WHEN STAKES ARE HIGH is a book by four cofounders of a corporate consulting firm who present their formula for effective communication. The book is based on the trial and error of years spent as corporate trainers made from observing literally thousands of people from all walks of life, as well as employees across major industries.”

23. 3/11/07SLB-05323 Understanding Effective Communication TOOLS FOR TALKING WHEN STAKES ARE HIGH For Believers, the Stakes are Always High: 1. My Witness to All 2. My Ministry to the Few 3. My Godliness to the One

24. 3/11/07SLB-05324 Understanding Effective Communication “‘Crucial’ conversations are interpersonal exchanges at work or at home, that we dread having but know we cannot avoid. How do you say what needs to be said while avoiding an argument? Day-to-day conversations and interactions affect your life. Crucial conversations can have a profound impact on your career, your happiness, and your future.”

25. 3/11/07SLB-05325 Understanding Effective Communication “Underneath these topics run the same main point - think twice before speaking. Care and thought are needed to make a crucial conversation work.”

26. 3/11/07SLB-05326 Understanding Effective Communication “When stakes are high, opinions vary, and emotions run strong, you have three choices: Avoid a crucial conversation and suffer the consequences; handle them poorly and suffer the consequences; or handle them well … and discover how to communicate when it matters the most.”

27. 3/11/07SLB-05327 Understanding Effective Communication “If you normally handle tense situations by running the other way, screaming or slamming the door, this book will help you develop constructive habits that will leave you feeling better about yourself. With the skills, you learn in this book, you'll never have to agonize about the outcome of a crucial conversation again.”

28. 3/11/07SLB-05328 Understanding Effective Communication Principle 1: Start with Heart Stay focused on what you really want and maintain dialogue. Learn what dialogue is and how to work on me first. Understand how motives change when conversations turn crucial.

29. 3/11/07SLB-05329 Understanding Effective Communication Principle 2: Learn to Look Spot the warning signs that indicate safety is at risk. Notice various forms of silence and violence. Take steps to rebuild safety and return to dialogue. Step out of a conversation and notice how to make it work. Identify your own Style Under Stress™ and manage it.

30. 3/11/07SLB-05330 Understanding Effective Communication Principle 3: Make It Safe Talk about almost anything—without silence and violence. Increase candor and decrease defensiveness Use specific skills to keep everyone sharing information. Establish and maintain mutual purpose and mutual respect. Recognize when you are at cross-purposes.

31. 3/11/07SLB-05331 Understanding Effective Communication Principle 4: Master My Stories Stay in dialogue and learn how to master emotions that destroy dialogue when you are angry, scared, or hurt—“think” your way to the root cause of negative emotions. Discover your stories—how do you justify your behavior? Eliminate victim, villain, and helpless stories, and improve your results.

32. 3/11/07SLB-05332 Understanding Effective Communication Principle 5: State My Path Speak persuasively, not abrasively. Get your meaning across even with potentially threatening messages. Share strong opinions without shutting down contrary views. State your mind while making it safe for others to do the same.

33. 3/11/07SLB-05333 Understanding Effective Communication Principle 6: Explore Others’ Paths Use exploring skills to make it safe for others to speak up. Diffuse others’ violence and eliminate silence - keep listening when others blow up or clam up. Encourage others to share issues they fear bringing up. Get safely to the meaning behind others’ emotions.

34. 3/11/07SLB-05334 Understanding Effective Communication Principle 7: Move to Action Put Crucial Conversations principles and skills together. Learn how to make decisions and improve accountability Move from healthy dialogue to taking action and achieving results.

35. 3/11/07SLB-05335 Understanding Effective Communication This guidebook provides an approach to those conversations in life that are both difficult and necessary. The authors give you the tools you need to step up to life's difficult and important conversations, say what's on your mind, and achieve positive outcomes.

36. 3/11/07SLB-05336 Understanding Effective Communication By outlining specific strategies that can create mutual respect and understanding, they seek to open channels of communication, which would otherwise remain barred

37. 3/11/07SLB-05337 Understanding Effective Communication “The techniques are geared toward getting people to lower their defenses, creating mutual respect and understanding, increasing emotional safety, and encouraging freedom of expression. Among other things, readers also learn about the factors that characterize crucial conversations, and the technique that prepares them to work through any high impact situation with confidence.”

38. 3/11/07SLB-05338 Understanding Effective Communication “Speaking the Truth in Love, we will in all things grow up into Him who is the Head, that is, Christ.” Ephesians 4:15