👣 Step 47: Critical Thinking is Your Moat

Last week I facilitated again at Sigma Chi's Krach Transformational Leaders Workshop, and I had a blast reconnecting with my fellow alumni brothers while pouring into my undergraduate group.

I had a rockstar group of 13 guys, and they really leaned into the curriculum. They got close really quickly, and I could see the information really clicking and inspiring them.

But there's one thing I want to discuss, as this was the first year I really noticed it: the impact of AI on critical thinking.

This newsletter is a commentary on what I noticed, not a dig at them. They truly are great guys, and they're going to do great things. But if we don't notice and discuss the patterns emerging in how people think and act, we are all at a disadvantage.

A core component of the Servant Leadership curriculum is a project, where teams of 3-4 guys identify a problem, brainstorm causes and solutions, and present their findings.

The purpose isn't to produce an immediately implementable solution. It's to go through the process of problem solving and communicating your thoughts - of using your brain.

Critical thinking is your moat.

I've facilitated this curriculum 4 times, and this year was different. 3 of my 4 groups noticeably used AI in their presentation. 2 used their brains alongside AI. 1 didn't.

This isn't to knock AI use. I use it all the time to brainstorm ideas, refine my thinking, analyze documents, and much more (I never use AI on this newsletter though - no worries!). But I also use my brain.

It was apparent that students have started shifting their priorities from "how can I present a quality solution?" to "how fast can I produce a result?" From quality to speed.

Because of that, the ideas weren't as creative as usual. Their knowledge wasn't as deep. And their confidence wasn't as strong.

This is happening in college and the workplace too. People auto-generating emails and LinkedIn captions while presenting AI-generated slide decks of just-good-enough ideas that check the box but don't meaningfully move things forward.

The core of this problem is offloading our critical thinking to AI. Using it as our replacement and not as our assistant.

It is paramount that when we use AI, we also use our brain. If we don't, we are only hurting ourselves.

So, how do we strengthen our critical thinking? There's many ways, but here's one quick activity: The Five Why's.

When presented with a situation or problem, ask yourself "why?" five times. Each time, you'll notice that you dig deeper and deeper to the actual root cause or situation at hand.

You transition from "what's happening?" to "why is it happening?"

Critical thinking is your moat. AI can't replace that. It literally doesn't have the infrastructure to do that.

But, as AI becomes more pervasive, it'll become easier and easier to offload our tasks and thinking to it. I get it. It's the path of least resistance.

But please fight that. It will only hurt you and your chances of growing and becoming the person you deserve to become.

Continue developing your critical thinking.

Dig your moat.

See you next Thursday, Steppers.

We will succeed,

Grayson

​graysonstepanek.com​

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Song of the Week:

Blood Runs Thicker Avery Anna PREVIEW   ​

It was hard to choose a song this week, as I've been listening to a ton of new music (Uzi's Maverick EP & Charli xcx's Music, Film, Fashion to name some) and revisiting other great music (Charli's BRAT), but this song sticks out from the rest. I didn't expect a country rock like this from Avery, but man it reminds me of old Carrie Underwood. Listening to her music also has me relapsing on Sam Barber and their song Indigo (which I shared in Step 31 and almost re-shared today). If you need some good country, check out Avery and Sam.