I was most surprised by how intriguing the whole presentation, discussion and exercise around critical writing was to me. First I noticed how much I already do this, despite my not thinking of critique in that way. The challenges to assumptions, even my own, require a dual approach of approaching a topic or thought with both a strong sense of where and what I believe and know, along side of meta-awareness of this individual sense; to be in the moment and see myself in the moment, so to speak. I appreciated the consolation that “I can do this!” that I experienced, too. To Dru’s point, critiquing experts can appear a bit daunting.

Assumptions that were happily challenged last night were that this course was: (1) going to involve a lot of math, (2) might be more theoretical than admitting of the messiness of reality, and (3) might be rather boring. I am happy to know that challenges to tenets and propositions set forth in any of our readings or writings can be gladly challenged, backed up by evidence. There are many doubters and naysayers yet in the enterprise when confronted with the topics we are covering and discovering. Despite the fact that many of the questions we all have don’t really have answers yet, the challenge to consider, discuss, formulate and explore is wonderfully freeing to me.

I had a number of “Ah-ha!” moments during class, mostly around recognition of many of the issues and problems that came up in everything from our personal introductions to a few of the discussions questions. It felt familiar, since these are the issues I deal with every day and work with my teammates to figure out for our business. This sense of familiarity amped up my adrenaline much more than usual for a late Monday night, since I felt that I am making this journey with others who can and will press me to think differently, critically and in different directions I might have otherwise.