profile

Evolved Management

They don't lack critical thinking skills, they lack context

Published 20 days ago • 1 min read

Hey Reader!

I hear it all the time from MSP owners, "My team just doesn't have critical thinking skills."

But here's what's actually happening. You've spent 15 or 20 years building expertise that now feels like second nature. You see patterns instantly. You know which shortcuts work and which ones will bite you later. You've internalized lessons from hundreds of client environments.

Your team doesn't have that. Not yet. What looks like a lack of critical thinking is actually just a lack of experience.

This is called the expert blind spot, sometimes the false consensus effect. You've forgotten what it's like not to know what you know. The connections that seem obvious to you aren't obvious to someone who hasn't logged thousands of hours troubleshooting or managing client relationships. They're not failing to think critically. They're working with a fraction of the data you have stored in your head.

The fix isn't to complain about critical thinking. It's about building systems that turn your knowledge into repeatable processes. Document your decision-making frameworks. Create checklists for common scenarios. Make your expertise accessible instead of expecting people to magically develop 15 years of wisdom overnight. Otherwise, you will remain the bottleneck for decision making.

Your team isn't lacking critical thinking. They're lacking your context. That's a problem you can actually solve.

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

113 Cherry St #92768, Seattle, WA 98104-2205
​Unsubscribe · Preferences​

Evolved Management

Todd Kane : MSP Operation Nerd

Join the 2000+ IT services people that enjoy my weekly newsletter. No Fluff, all good stuff! Industry insights, leadership thoughts, practical advice to help you.

Read more from Evolved Management

Hey Reader do you provide regular onsites for your clients? Do you really need to? No, do you REALLY need to? The reason for doing onsites should be a substantial business need. In far too many cases, people tell me they do onsites for these reasons: It demonstrates value to the client The client said they need them These are not good reasons to do onsites. "Value to the client" Your tech being visible at the client shouldn't be how you demonstrate value. If you think this type of thing is...

6 days ago • 1 min read

Hey Reader! Happy Thanksgiving to our American friends! 🦃 For all of us, let's use the spirit of thanksgiving to reflect and be grateful. IT is a difficult industry, plain and simple. The thing we can sometimes lose sight of is that 99% of the world would trade you places in a heartbeat for their circumstances. No matter how challenging your week, you're in the Goldilocks zone of winning in life simply because you are reading this email. Be thankful, be grateful. Life will inevitably be...

13 days ago • 1 min read

Hey Reader! Communication is at the core of every dysfunction in relationships and business. When people lack alignment, there is conflict. Communication is the primary tool to create shared expectations and common perspective. In many conflicts, people feel like they have communicated. I shared a quote on a recent LinkedIn video this week. (If we're not connected on LinkedIn, let's fix that. I share short, punchy videos a few times a week there.) “The greatest failure of communication is the...

27 days ago • 1 min read