My definition of critical thinking changed forever when I went through the following experience.

When I was 45, during an annual physical, I mentioned to my doctor that I was having headaches. He suggested that given my family history, I should have an MRI of my brain. I was like "Great, now I will have proof it isn't empty!"

Three days later I got the call that I had the same issue that killed my father at the age of 45 - 3 brain aneurysm. My Dr. said had found the best surgeon in the area and suggested I reach out to them.

My surgeon had told me the most concerning aneurysm sits right on my brain stem where it splits. If it ruptured I would either die or be drooling in a nursing home the rest of my life. I said I would take the first option.

Surgery was set for Tuesday morning and my surgeon called the night before, I assumed it was just to check in. Instead he had a question for me. He started the conversation something like this. "I am not sure why it feels different today, but when I woke up today something in my gut felt off. So I spent some time today talking to other people, but ultimately it is your decision so I wanted to touch base."

Well, what do you think I said? "If you aren't feeling it I am not feeling it." Had his scheduler called to say his horoscope was off for Tuesday, I might have been thats fine. This was my first understanding of the value of trusting someone "gut" feeling.

This story goes on to talk about the rest of the conversation and the other components of critical thinking: head, heart, gut, engaging stakeholders, and being willing to change your mind.

If you would rather have a fun story, let me know as I have those as well. This one tends to get people's FULL attention.

I started speaking about the time I decided to get divorced. Having been told I had brain aneurysms made me realize if I only had 5 or 10 years to live I wasn't going to live them like I had lived the last 10 years. My first topics were on "Why Women Don't Ask" as I had lost my voice in a marriage where we had different values.

When I spoke on "Why Women Don't Ask", women would ask me "What do we do about this?". This lead me to "Ladies, Let's Negotiate".

My other topics grew out of my work teaching Team Communication and my work experience as a team member. I discovered using structured processes aligned with strong human connections improved engagement and productivity. It also made sure more voices were heard. Better Communications = Better Relationships = Better Results

All my content at its core is about respect.