How often do you think twice beyond your initial assumptions? How often are you able to think actively, rather than passively, when absorbing information as it's presented to you?

Yes, for this one, the Yes Girls are exploring the power of doubt and the art of questioning situations in order to make better decisions with live studio guest, angel investor, entrepreneur, lawyer by training, and international business expert - Laila Macharia (@lailamacharia), who is the founding director of Aspen Initiative Africa and Co-founder and Chair of the Africa Digital Media Institute (ADMI).

Remember, it's Season 7, meaning Akumu and Claire are doing the "learning something new" challenge in situ, i.e., in the studio, with the expert while recording the episodes. All of this makes it even more blindingly obvious that you can say yes to something new even if you're short on time.

That means that this Yespisode explores critical thinking first through role-playing and then discusses why it is such a necessary learning for any human being in today's world.

Laila pulls out all the stops to ensure the girls have several practical tips, tricks, and resources to enable them to think more critically. 

After the 5-minute session exploring the famous moral dilemma known as The Overcrowded Lifeboat by Garrett Hardin, Laila goes on to introduce concepts such as the Six Thinking Hats by the DeBono Group, the Black Swan theory, why it is important to get out of your echo chamber, why diverse teams make better decisions, why it is important to "get off the dance floor and go to the balcony" for better clarity and so much more.

Listen in to gain valuable insights into what critical thinking is, why it is such an important 21st-century skill, examples of how you can start thinking more critically, how critical thinking affects decision-making, and simple tips to make you a more discerning, deliberate and disciplined thinker starting today.

Tune in as Laila and the Yes Girls challenge you to think critically. They'll guide you through the process of questioning assumptions and recognising cognitive biases to form more accurate judgments.

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Important resources:

A guide to critical thinking

https://www.coursera.org/articles/critical-thinking-skills 

Learn more about Laila Macharia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laila_Macharia

Learn more about Aspen Initiative Africa

https://aspeninitiative.africa/ 

Learn more about the Africa Digital Media Institute (ADMI)

https://admi.africa/

Moral Dilemma: The Overcrowded Lifeboat by Garrett Hardin:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifeboat_ethics 

The Six Thinking Hats:

https://www.debonogroup.com/services/core-programs/six-thinking-hats/

The Black Swan Theory:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_swan_theory

How to overcome echo-chambered thinking:

https://www.henryford.com/blog/2022/02/why-its-important-to-get-out-of-your-echo-chamber 

Why diverse teams make smarter decisions:

https://hbr.org/2016/11/why-diverse-teams-are-smarter 

Getting on the balcony in order to see situations more clearly:

https://hbr.org/2002/06/a-survival-guide-for-leaders

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