You're a leader.
You're killer at execution.
You need your team to be the same.
Here’s a framework for building a culture of rigorous thinking:
As a manager, your ability to create impact depends on how well you manage OTHER people.
It doesn’t matter how smart you are--it matters how well your team performs.
Unfortunately, smart leaders can accidentally traumatize their team...
You say you want your direct reports to think independently.
But every time they have a question, you jump to answer it.
I get it.
When you have a million things going on it’s easier to dictate a solution.
So you have a dilemma:
You want your direct report to think like an owner.
You want them to bring you fresh ideas.
You want those ideas to be defensible.
You want a clear POV backed by solid evidence.
But right now they are doing anything but...
They bring you a laundry list of random ideas. The ideas are flimsy with logical gaps and obvious holes.
As a manager, you have two options to solve this problem:
🚫 Make all the decisions for them.
✅ Empower them to think rigorously.
Let’s talk about what I like to call rigorous thinking.
Rigorous thinking is asking critical questions about tactics and having a systematic way of making decisions.
Here’s how it works in practice:
Any idea goes.
But you have to be prepared to advocate for the idea and defend it.
You should be able to walk through the upside, downside, trade-offs, and second order effects.
Rigorous thinking is where flimsy ideas go to die.
It's the opposite of lazy thinking.
Lazy thinking is making assumptions you don't even realize are assumptions. Like assuming an idea will work w/o thinking about how to make it work.
It's a black box where "suddenly we succeed and have thousands of sign ups."
Let's compare:
🚫 Lazy thinking: "Hey boss, can we do [insert random tactic that competitors are doing]?"
👎 Result: Managers have to think through everything, which leads to decision fatigue.
In this world, you're always correcting your team’s mistakes and poor logic.
You have to think of polite ways to say "this isn’t a good idea" without discouraging your team.
If you always say no & your team doesn’t understand why, you look like the bad guy.
✅ Rigorous thinking: "Hey boss, I recommend we ___. It's worth the time, effort, and budget because ___. The downside is ___. But we can minimize risk with a small experiment by doing ___.”
👍 Result: Managers have less decision fatigue. Direct reports are empowered.
In this world, you are working collaboratively to pressure test assumptions.
You rarely say no to an idea.
It's not about saying yes or no.
It's about vetting the idea.
You ask probing questions.
Your direct report might realize their idea won't work in its current state.
But they're excited to go back to the drawing board, then show you their improved version.
They become sharper thinkers & take ownership.
You get better results.
A few questions you can ask to get started:
“What's the hard part?”
“What does success look like?”
“This is a great start. How do you see this working?”
“Why would someone be excited to do the thing you want them to do?”
“Who do we need buy-in from for this to move forward?”
It’s not an interrogation.
The way you ask matters.
Don’t sit back, kick your feet up, and wait to be impressed.
That wouldn’t bring out the best in you, and it won’t bring out the best in your team.
Ask hard questions with a curious and supportive posture.
When you take this approach as a manager, you empower your direct reports to figure out and articulate a solution.
You show that you're in the trenches with them and you believe in them.
Let’s get tactical:
The next time a team member approaches you with a problem, gently toss it back at them.
Give them a chance to practice thinking rigorously.
Instead of answering their question, ask:
“What do you think? I want to hear how you would fill in the blanks."
They may struggle at first. You may wonder if it's worth it.
But if you consistently do this, your employees will become sharper and more independent.
Invest the time to train your team--or burn a few hours every day to correct their work forever.
The choice is yours.
Training your team to think rigorously takes a load off your plate.
It’s an organizational force multiplier allowing everyone to produce higher quality work.
I hope you’ll give this a try. It's worked for many teams I’ve led and I'm curious to hear how it goes for you.
