In business, there are black and white situations where all the facts are known, and the answer is immediately apparent. However, there are also times when some issues are of darker shades of grey than others in which critical facts are unknown, your peers disagree on the best solution and you are uncertain on the next step. During these moments, it is easy to be paralysed as judgement is not easy.

Furthermore, judgement is particularly risky today because of the seductive power of analytical techniques. It is tempting to think if you can get the right information and use the right analytics, you can make the right decisions. But tools and techniques will not always give you the right answer. Nevertheless, when it comes to making critical judgment, we are fortunate that we can turn, not to the latest management theories but to much older source of thinkers, who over the centuries have wrestled with the big questions of human nature.

So, let us now commence a journey where your fellow ‘sifus’ include Aristotle, John Stuart Mills, Immanuel Kant, Adam Smith, Confucius, Lao Tzu, Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h), Sun Tzu, Ibn Rushd and Vivekananda, to name just a few. Over many centuries and across many cultures, they have emerged as those with serious responsibilities and have struggled with difficult problems. Their penetrating minds and compassionate spirits of human history can guide your organisation to navigate the greyest of grey areas.

We will explore how these ancient scholars have been guided to make decisions in grey areas by asking five critical thinking questions:

1. What are the core uncompromisable duties and obligations?
2. What are the various and ultimate consequences of an action?
3. What are the economic choices that benefit the nation and create wealth?
4. What really matters to the employer, the employee, the community and culture
5. What works in the real world?