Even though I teach Critical Thinking for a living
, and I think it
’
s one of the most important skills a person can have, I
’
ve been thinking (ironically) that maybe what the world really needs isn
’
t just more Critical Thinking… it
’s also more P.O.T.
Remember Plain Old Thinking?
The kind of thinking people did before every thought came with a trademark, a framework, or a logo.
These days, there’
s Design Thinking, Strategic Thinking, Systems Thinking, Lateral Thinking, and now, of course, AI Thinking, which basically means letting your laptop do the hard work while you sip coffee and call it
“
collaboration.
”
Don
’
t get me wrong, all those
“
types
”
of thinking have their place.
They
’
re great for innovation, planning, and solving complex problems. But most of the time, the world doesn
’
t need
“
strategic ideation
”
or
“
iterative co-creation.
” It just needs people to stop, think, and make sense of things, without buzzwords, without slides, without prompts.
That’s P.O.T.
Plain Old Thinking is what we used before everything got so complicated.
It isn
’
t fancy. Plain Old Thinking is what your grandmother did when she planned a family dinner. It
’
s what you do when your Wi-Fi
’
s down or your dog
’
s staring at the door. It
’
s not
“
leveraging mental models.
”
It
’s noticing, questioning, and deciding without a whiteboard or a workshop.
We
’
ve become addicted to shortcut thinking.
We scroll, skim, and react. We let autocomplete finish our thoughts. We let AI summarize our documents. We let social media tell us what to care about. And in the process, we
’ve lost the habit of thinking things through.
So what does P.O.T. look like in action?
Here are 10 questions worth asking when you want to slow down and engage in some good, honest thinking:
What’s actually going on here? Describe the situation before you diagnose it. Observation first, judgment later.
What do I really know, and how do I know it? Facts, opinions, assumptions, rumors ... not all thoughts are created equal.
What might I be missing? Hint: it’s usually something important.
What’s the simplest explanation? If it sounds like a conspiracy, it’s probably just bad communication.
What am I trying to accomplish? You’d be amazed how often we skip this one.
Who’s affected by this? Thinking gets better when empathy walks into the room.
What’s worked before in similar situations? Reinventing the wheel is exhausting. Borrow from experience.
What are the possible consequences, good and bad? Thinking ahead beats apologizing later.
What’s the next reasonable step? Big problems get smaller when you just take one solid step forward.
Does this make sense? The ultimate gut check. If it doesn’t pass the “yeah, that makes sense” test, back up and rethink.
That
’
s it.
No whiteboard. No workshop. No Post-it notes or AI prompts. Just a person, a brain, and a few honest questions.
The Takeaway:
P.O.T. doesn
’
t replace Critical Thinking or Creative Thinking
—
it
’
s what they grow out of. It
’
s the base layer, the common sense we too often outsource to apps and experts. So before you launch your next design sprint, before you run your next strategic offsite, before you ask AI for the answer, try a little P.O.T. Because sometimes, the smartest thing we can do is stop talking about
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