Here is a brief excerpt from an article by Bill Jensen, featured by LinkedIn Pulse. To read the complete article, check out others, and sign up to receive email alerts, please click here.

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And you thought these blokes were only good for silliness and belly laughs. Nay! Er… Ni!

Several years ago, our Search for a Simpler Way Study found that one of the most crucial skills we all need at work is the ability to triage: Like an ER doctor, we all must be able to walk into any situation, quickly ask the right questions, and quickly figure out the immediate top priorities and next steps.

In addition to our own research, triaging emerges as a critical skill when one overlaps and integrates ten skills that the Institute for the Future says we all need by 2020.

Back to silliness: Monty Python University can quickly teach you some of the critical thinking skills that are foundational to triaging and all the other skills you will need.

How to Argue: Arguing is not just contradicting another person. “An argument’s not the same as a contradiction,” intones a voice that sounds just like a Dead Parrot shopkeeper. “An argument is a collective series of statements to establish a definite proposition.” Watch the sketch and you’ll find that your crucial conversations at work would flow a lot better if both parties better understood the difference between an argument and contradicting one another!

[Jensen then provides suggestions with regard to How to Use Logic and Deductions and How Not to Do Management Training. All three are accompanied by brief, hilarious videos.

Author’s Note: This post drew upon an IFLScience post on How to Teach All Students to Think Critically.

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Here is a direct link to the complete article.

For more than two decades and seven books, simpleton Bill Jensen and his Search for a Simpler Way research have been studying how work really gets done — silliness and all.

For more, email Bill: bill@simplerwork.com or visit his website for free downloads.