Phil Granillo

Ambiguity leads to subjective interpretation. Ambiguity, with its missing data and confusing demeanor, has a way of extracting leadership capabilities from unsuspecting learners. At least this is my conclusion after 43 years of life experience, and most recently, my MBA education.

I've been an adult learner in higher education for the past eight years; during this time, I earned a Bachelors degree in Information Technology and a Masters degree in Business Administration. It has been a long road, and as I settle into the final weeks of my MBA capstone class, I've come to realize how education prepares one for leadership in all aspects of life experience.

In my second class during the MBA program I remember a lecture by a professor who addressed how obscurity was integrated into the curriculum that we were about to embark. The professor mentioned that during undergraduate work, students were handed the keys, shown where each door was located, and then directed to unlock specific doors.

The professor went on to describe how graduate school differs from undergraduate discipline. He edified, "Graduate school offers new challenges often with missing information. You will need to list your assumptions clearly, devise feasible solutions, and support your position logically."

The revelation in this lecture gradually made sense as I steered from one complicated class to the next. Each class revealed successive problems that built from previous learning. At first, the problems did not always seem to have clear direction on how to achieve results. Internally, I questioned what lessons I was truly learning that did not derive algebraic like results. I mean, how many answers could there be to a problem; yet, there seemed to be multiple feasible solutions. It was very frustrating, often confusing, and I constantly worried how my solutions held up against my classmate's work.

In retrospect, I realize this process was designed to adapt the graduate student with transforming obscure problems into systematic strategies to achieve specific and measurable results. Critical thinking blueprints proved to be an invaluable resource in navigating the halls of this curriculum; but would the MBA process itself prove to develop other, more intuitive, direction finding capabilities in the participants?

In 1980, critical thinking studies started at California State University with Executive Order 338:

Instruction in critical thinking is to be designed to achieve an understanding of the relationship of language to logic, which should lead to the ability to analyze, criticize, and advocate ideas, to reason inductively and deductively and to reach factual or judgmental conclusions based on sound inferences drawn from unambiguous statements of knowledge or belief.

Deductive reasoning is evident in one's ability to derive a conclusion based validated premises, such as a categorical syllogism.  For example:

Major Premise 1: All persons are mammals

Minor Premise 2: Philip is a person

Conclusion: Ergo, Philip is a mammal

The first premise proposes that people are categorized as mammals, which is true. It is difficult to argue against this premise considering denotative reasoning. The second premise proposes that Philip is in the class of mammals. One can argue against this premise citing, "I know a Philip that is a toad, therefore Philip is an amphibian," but given the context of the argument that it is referring to Philip, the author of this paper, then premise two affirms that the subject (Philip) is a member of the class (mammals). Therefore, affirmation of premise two leads to the deductive conclusion that Philip is a mammal resulting in a valid syllogism. Okay, so lesson one is that obscurity can be tackled by deductive reasoning; but what about inductive thinking?

Deductive reasoning includes evidence about all members of a class; inductive reasoning includes evidence of some members of the class. As a result, the conclusion is not absolute, but instead, likely. Inductive reasoning can contain assumptions that are based on experience that once processed in the mind of a seasoned professional can result in intuitive intelligence.

Gary R. Kirby et al states it well in the book Critical Thinking, "Conclusions of good inductive reasoning are highly probable, but never certain." In other words, an experienced manager who understands and uses the mechanics of critical thinking is also capable of intuitive intelligence. Good managers with these attributes are confident in their ability to make intuitive decisions based on past experience and the information at hand. Good managers understand this skill and strive to constantly develop their abilities.

According to William Umiker, professor at Pennsylvania State University, "...managers who discount the value of intuition risk what Roy Rowan calls ‘articulate incompetence' or ‘paralysis from analysis.' ...Seasoned managers' experience and knowledge improve their intuitive powers. These people have a wealth of unconscious competence and base decision on both logic and intuition." (Decision Making and Problem Solving by the Busy Professional)

There is an abundance of information available, and it is easy to become bogged down with "information overload." Sometimes decisions must be made quickly in order to achieve results in a volatile business environment. This is where strong leadership in the right positions makes a difference. Logic and intuition are weapons mastered by successful students, business professionals, and leaders of industry. Therefore, lesson two is that experience builds intuitive capabilities by sheer number of lessons learned over time. As the person experiences more and more problems in life, the person builds mental files of how he or she solved the problem or one similar. Over time, this experience becomes a cognitive weapon known as intuition. It is important to note that it is up to the individual to recognize and develop this skill. Logic and intuition work hand in hand.

So how does ambiguity extract leadership aptitude? Looking back, much of the work that I completed in the graduate program was often missing data. During my research, I discovered that if I looked hard enough, it was easy to become overwhelmed with information. At some point, I had to choose the most relevant research materials and use them to cultivate solutions.

In a team setting, I'd sometimes see emails like, "Well, where do we start?" or "I'm really confused." On the flip side, certain individuals stand out and begin to frame the problem with known facts, while others springboard off this revelation and cite their experience with similar situations. Leaders become apparent in their ability to take the "unknown" and point the team in a direction that gives sense of direction. Hence, ambiguity, in the context of problems, extracts leadership capabilities because leaders have a grounded sense of where to start and then point the team with direction.

After two years in the MBA program, I've acclimated to dealing with problems of ambiguity. Truth said, each new problem usually accompanies a sense of discomfort, but the MBA process has prepared me for real-life business problems. Is the answer always right? In college, the professor usually has the last say with that matter. However, when it comes to real life situations, the MBA process has well prepared me for the likes of ambiguous problems in a volatile business environment. In this environment, quarterly results usually have the last word, and so far, that word has been "Growth." Kudos to the MBA process and education!