Overview

Critical thinking skills are important in decision making, but they’re not enough. This book offers a kit of conceptual tools that empower you – an already savvy thinker – to advance your ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, and learn quickly. Weaving together insights from both philosophy and psychology and more than a decade of work with professionals and leaders at all levels of businesses, government agencies, and NGOs, Haywood Spangler has written the inquirer’s guide to the universe of sources offering guidance regarding civic, personal, and professional choices, from self- help books, to TED talks, to periodicals, financial planners, psychologists, and successful entrepreneurs. Rather than providing oversimplified constructs or generic answers, his book expands your perspective and thought processes, applying concepts from philosophy based on people’s actual questions, needs, and challenges. It functions as a handbook, enabling the reader to consult specific chapters as needed, and as a comprehensive guide to developing personal judgment. This book is for business leaders looking for strategies to vet the results of AI queries, human resource managers wanting to be discerning in their use of data, analysts and forecasters needing a realistic understanding of statistically based predictions – and any professional who selects tools critically to assess trends impacting their life.

Full Product Details

9781041088066

Table of Contents

Reviews

""Reasoning for Business is beautifully written and exceptionally practical, pairing clear explanations of complex decision-making with excellent vignettes that bring the theories to life. The chapter toolkits are especially strong, helping business students exercise personal judgment, navigate sources, evaluate multiple viewpoints, and build “ethical imagination” by considering ethical situations from multiple perspectives. I view this as an ideal text for business ethics and related courses, and a valuable guide for professionals seeking to form their own well-reasoned conclusions in today’s polarized climate."" - Libby Rozell, PhD, Regional Head, Americas, AACSB International; Former Associate Dean and Professor of Management ""As an executive making consequential decisions in environments defined by complexity and information overload, my priority was not finding information, but knowing how to reason through it well. In Reasoning for Business, Haywood Spangler delivers something rare: a disciplined, practical framework for judgment. Rather than offering simplistic answers, his approach respects experienced professionals’ intelligence. The result is a clear methodology to arrive at better decisions when the stakes are high and the answers are not obvious. Reasoning for Business is an essential guide for executives, board members, and professionals who recognize that judgment—not information—is the true differentiator in leadership. Reasoning for Business belongs on the desk of anyone responsible for making decisions that matter."" - Michael Thorne-Begland, JD, MBA, Corporate Officer, Fortune 200 Company (Ret.)

Author Information

Haywood Spangler, PhD, MDiv, is the founder and principal of Work & Think, LLC. He is a corporate consultant, a researcher, and an author, and was formerly a biomedical ethicist at the University of Virginia Medical Center as well as an instructor of business ethics at the University of Virginia McIntire School of Commerce.

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