Avoiding Herd Thinking

Good Morning and Happy Friday!

Lady Blues Volleyball (@Vernon) and Graham Steers Football (@Bridgeport) are on the road this evening. Best of luck and safe travels!

Our Lady Blues and Graham Steer Tennis teams are in action against WF Hirschi on Saturday in Graham. Start time is 9:00 a.m.  Good luck to all!

The Rompin Stompin Big Blue Band is participating in the Ponder March Festival this Saturday as they continue preparing for the upcoming UIL marching contest. Good luck RSB3!

WATCH D.O.G.S. (Dads of Great Students)- We had an excellent kick-off event this Tuesday with approximately 300 attending the event.  It is never too late to participate in this program. Contact the office at Pioneer, Crestview, Woodland or GJHS for more information on how you can participate.

Register to Vote by Tuesday, October 11! October 11 is the last day to register to vote for the November 8, 2016, General Election. (Your application must be received in the Voter Registrar’s office or postmarked at least 30 days before an election for you to be eligible to vote in that election.) Early voting runs October 24–November 4. Voter Registration Info

Avoiding Herd Thinking

In case you haven’t watched television lately or you haven’t  “connected’ with your “friends” via social media there is an election scheduled for November 8, 2016.  The media (print, broadcast and social) provide stumbling blocks for our thinking.  Remember, there is no such thing as an unbiased article in a newspaper or an objective sound bite on television news. Reporter, editors and producers are experts at getting us to believe what they say and to adopt their point of view.

Most of us, most of the time, are very binary and immediate in our judgments. We immediately classify items as good or bad, true or false, etc. Three pitfalls to effective leadership linked to binary thinking include:

1.    The decision maker forms opinions before it is necessary to do so, and in the process closes his/her mind to facts and arguments that may be brought forward.

2.    The flip-flopping perception. Quickly making a decision based on the initial information received and then changing the decision based on subsequent details provides the perception that the leader believes the last thing they heard from the last person they talked to.  This is counterproductive for the leader and the organization.

3.    The perception of going along to get along.  Human nature leads us conform to others.

Effective leadership requires one to be able to realize the shades of gray in order to avoid the pitfall of herd thinking. Imperative to this is the ability to avoid forming an opinion about an important issue until all of the facts have been revealed and all arguments have been heard. This can be quite complex, as it requires you to embrace opposing thoughts as the same time- think- decide.

Whatever you do, don’t be like the subjects in this video… think for yourself!

CORNY JOKE OF THE DAY

What do you call it when a shoemaker drops his vegetables? (scroll down for the answer)

Corn of the cobbler!