It was absolutely fascinating to observe…and all too familiar. With each passing moment, each passing piling on, the energy in the room began to elevate to a fever pitch. It started, as it often does, with one person passionately weaving a particulate narrative. So compelling is the tale that those gathered are completely enmeshed in every detail. And as the gathering comes to a close everyone is fired up and ready to ‘storm the castle’!
“Herd mentality, also known as mob mentality or crowd mentality, is a psychological phenomenon that significantly impacts human behavior. It occurs when individuals adopt the beliefs, behaviors, or attitudes of the majority in a group, often at the expense of their own judgment or individuality” (Toketemu Ohwovoriole based on the work of W Zhang).
Two days later I am working with a another group and an entirely different scenario unfolds. Like the first gathering an individual begins passionately weaving a particular narrative. It, too, is very compelling, however the response from the group this time is quite different. People begin to ask questions, voice wonderings, and offering alternative possibilities to the speaker’s narrative. After an engaging rigorous conversation the group comes to a consensus on a direction forward that includes seeking out more information.
“Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action” (Michael Scriven and Richard Paul)
The core of my coaching work in individual and organizational leadership development is asking questions. Contrasted with consulting which is often about sharing experience and perspective, coaching is about cultivating a mindset or culture of inquiry. It is about increasing the capacity to think critically.
Critical thinking is different than criticism. News programs are filled with folks being critical often from a mob mentality rather applying the critical thinking practices what we learned in science class: observation, documentation, experimentation, analysis.
One of my favorite teachers who would abruptly stop in the middle of a lecture and ask a student, “Share in your own words what you think about what I just said?” She would then proceed to ask three or four other students to do likewise. You learned quickly to listen intently, integrate quickly, articulate individually…think critically.
From a Christian perspective there is no greater example of distinction between mob mentality and critical thinking than the crowd that was stirred up and shouted “Crucify him!” and the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”
BP