MLSD 500: Leadership Found in Research
A500.1.5RB - Intellectual Perseverance
Submitted to ERAU Worldwide
in Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements of the Degree of MBAA
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical
University
Worldwide
Online Campus
August 11, 2015
State
it:
The
topic for discussion today is intellectual perseverance. According to the
Foundation of Critical Thinking, one can achieve an elevated state of intellect
when one becomes conscious of the need and significance to overcome
difficulties, obstacles and frustrations by using intellectual insights and
truths to reach rational principles. Intellectual
perseverance is further described as a sense of need to struggle with confusion
and unsettled questions over an extended period of time to achieve deeper
understanding or insight (The Critical Thinking Community, 2014).
Explanation:
To
understand the view others hold, one must invest in and implement rigorous
intellectual processes to overcome personal biases that might impede
understanding. Views that tend to be vast or complex in nature require dedicated
intellectual perseverance in order to comprehend the micro and macro elements. This
has proven to be essential in all areas of higher-level thinking. Working
through complex questions on the job and in relationships necessitates patience
in order to process and solve everyday frustrations (West Side Toast Masters,
2015).
Example:
Critical
thinking opens up other viable courses of action that may provide more
successful outcomes and possibly leave stakeholders far more fulfilled, directions
that otherwise might have never been considered. Because we think conceptually,
we like or dislike, based on the influence of the very concepts that we are
familiar with (Nosich, 2012). Concepts bring us joy, pleasure, pain and
expectations. Instincts and intuition are learned behaviors that also shape
decision-making.
It
is imperative that a good leader, one who practices the art of intellectual
perseverance, remain grounded and levelheaded while analyzing both quantitative
and qualitative inputs and outputs. It is also important to note that, in
hindsight, a good leader may not always make the best decision in a particular
situation, but given the variables at the time, the decision may have been based
on projections for a different and better outcome.
Illustration:
America
was in a state of flux when all the rules by which the traditional economy
functioned were broken and reconstructed. It was the decade of 1860; more than
a dozen men had led their businesses to incredible heights in uncharted
territories. Not only did these cutting-edge leaders have the foresight,
opportunity, and talent, they had intellectual perseverance. Leaders like John
Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, J.P. Morgan, and Henry Rogers demonstrated that
it would take minimally 10,000 hours of deliberate practice to become
world-class in any field (Gladwell, 2015).
Conclusion:
I
now understand that the goal in intellectual perseverance is to adhere to
rational principles, absent preconceived beliefs that may be founded on
emotional or manipulated information, beliefs that can lead to fallacious
reasoning. I now understand the benefit
of investing in the challenge to free myself of existing assumptions and
external influences by opening myself to all
intellectual insights and discoveries in order to determine a rational outcome.
I
will remind myself that it takes intellectual perseverance to last 10,000 hours
in order to hopefully realize one’s goals. My goal is to become a student of
life, investing my resources to absorb, discern, and to make thoughtful,
rational, and strategic decisions based on logical and factual data.
As
a leader, I realize the importance of instituting a culture of intellectual
perseverance to make strategically thoughtful decisions that will hopefully
lead to success.
References:
Gladwell, Malcolm. (2015). The 10,000 Hour Rule.
Gladwell.com. Retrieved from http://gladwell.com/outliers/the-10000-hour-rule/
Nosich, G. M. (2012). Learning to think things
through: Critical thinking across the curriculum. Columbus, OH: Prentice Hall.
(ISBN: 9780137085149)
The Critical Thinking Community. (2014). Foundation
For Critical Thinking
Valuable Intellectual Traits: Intellectual
Perseverance. Retrieved from http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/valuable-intellectual-traits/528
West Side Toast Masters. (2015).
Intellectual Perseverance: Working Through Complexity and Frustration.
Retrieved from
http://westsidetoastmasters.com/resources/thinking_tools/ch03lev1sec7.html
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