A Midwest university professor complained: "We are now focusing more on how to use the tools of communication than we are on how to effectively communicate. ... As a result, we are turning out computer and Internet gurus who can't write and think creatively."

Is writing and thinking creatively important?

Is substance important?

Is critical thinking important?

You bet they are. Making your points to your boss or anyone else requires more than information. It demands the critical thinking that convinces them of your point of view.

I would venture as far as saying that technology has set us back in the general field of thinking, trusting gadgets to do some of our thinking rather than using them to enhance our lives.

Critical thinking has never been more important -- or more challenging. With so much information bombarding us 24/7, sifting through the content to find factual, legitimate and useful material is no small task. Do you believe everything you read or hear? Do you check sources?

Thomas Edison, the genius of invention, had a way of thinking that was both critical and creative. Fortunately, it isn't only a natural-born talent -- it's a habit you can cultivate. Take some lessons from Edison's thinking processes as outlined by Michael Michalko in "Three Lessons in Creativity From Thomas Edison":

-- Question all assumptions. Examine and challenge conventional wisdom. When hiring an employee, it is rumored Edison would invite the person to join him for soup. The person wouldn't get the job if he salted the soup before tasting it.

-- Generate as many ideas as possible. You're more likely to find an idea that works if you test several. Edison is reported to have conducted more than 50,000 experiments before getting the alkaline storage cell battery just right.

-- Analyze your failures. If an experiment fails, set aside some time to think about what you learned. You can re-examine your efforts if you keep notes on your progress and failures.

-- Adapt other ideas. Look for ways to take policies, systems or ideas that are already working somewhere else and turn them into something you can use in your own department.

-- Record all your ideas. Spend time reviewing the ideas and looking for connections. You might find new ways of thinking about something.

These techniques may not make you into Thomas Edison, but they will help you learn to filter out the garbage that clouds your thinking and decision-making. There is plenty of junk floating around out there. I would also recommend these two rules:

-- Avoid jumping to conclusions and snap judgments. For example, you might be tempted to dismiss a new acquaintance because he wears tennis shoes with his suit. You later discover that he's a brilliant thinker with bad feet. Be sure to collect additional information before drawing conclusions about what you see.

-- Don't take a "yes or no" approach to data and decisions. Even the most straightforward questions may contain shades of gray. Make a habit of exploring the edges of a problem and looking beyond the obvious alternatives. Is there a middle path, or one that includes both options?

Changing your thinking patterns takes practice, but as it becomes habit, you'll notice that you will not second-guess yourself as often and will spend less time worrying about "what if?"

Critical thinking can also help you with creative solutions to problems.

A man had traveled about six miles in a taxi when he realized he had left his wallet at home. Knowing he had a problem, he knew he had to take some kind of action. About a block short of his destination he leaned forward and told the driver: "Stop at this hardware store. I need to buy a flashlight so I can look for the hundred dollar bill that I dropped back here."

When he came out of the hardware store, the taxi was gone.

Mackay's Moral: Critical thinking is critical to success.

A famous organist was performing a concert on a huge antique organ in front of a large audience. The bellows were hand-pumped by a boy seated behind a screen, unseen by any in the vast auditorium. The first part of the performance went very well, and at intermission the organist took his bows as the listeners applauded enthusiastically. During the break, the musician rested in a side passageway. The boy came out to join him.

"We played well, didn't we, sir?" the boy asked.

The arrogant musician glared at him. "What do you mean, 'we'?"

After the intermission, the organist returned to his seat to begin his next number, but as he pressed his fingers down on the keys, nothing happened. The bellows produced no wind, and not a sound came out.

Then the organist heard a whisper from behind the screen: "Say, mister, now do you know what 'we' means?"

Out of the mouths of babes, as they say.

I've written more than a dozen columns during the last 18-plus years on the importance of teamwork. You might wonder what else there is to say. The simple answer: plenty! As long as projects require the efforts of more than one person, we'll keep talking about teamwork.

Michael Jordan, in his book "I Can't Accept Not Trying," writes: "There are plenty of teams in every sport that have great players and never win titles. Most of the time, those players aren't willing to sacrifice for the greater good of the team. The funny thing is, in the end, their unwillingness to sacrifice only makes individual goals more difficult to achieve. One thing I believe to the fullest is that if you think and achieve as a team, the individual accolades will take care of themselves. Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships."

In Japanese culture, institutionalized conflict is an integral part of management. At Honda, any employee, however junior, can call for a "waigaya" session. The rules are that people lay their cards on the table and speak directly about problems.

Nothing is off-limits, from supervisory deficiencies on the factory floor to perceived lack of support for a design team. "Waigaya" legitimizes tension so that learning can take place.

Teamwork begins with the hiring process. Ask interview questions that uncover teamwork skills. Listen for stories or examples of "we" accomplishments, and unless the candidate was a one-person shop, the answers should include clues to a collaborative attitude.

A team approach requires a specific set of skills and behaviors from your workforce. Lone wolves and mavericks may not mesh well within a team environment, so when you're hiring people for a true team, ask these questions:

-- Why do you want to join this team? Look for people who are interested in the goals of the team, not in achieving success on their own. Find out what the candidate has done in the past, and what other work options he or she has considered.

-- What relevant teamwork experience do you have? Teamwork skills usually carry over across departments or industries. Probe to find out how the person has worked cooperatively with others in pursuit of group goals.

-- What's most important in working on a team? Teamwork means different things to different workers. Find out what teamwork skills the candidate values -- communication, reaching consensus, cooperative decision-making -- and discuss these in depth.

-- How have you handled conflicts on previous teams? No team functions without some disagreement. You'll find out a lot about your potential teammate by exploring his or her approach to, and experience with, conflict between team members or between the team and other parts of the organization.

Certainly, sports provide easy examples of teamwork in action. Perhaps the most visible example of how much a team values contributions of everyone involved in great success is when the time comes to award championship rings. A few years back, I spearheaded a committee to save the men's golf program at the University of Minnesota, which was scheduled to be eliminated. That same year, at impossible odds, the team won the NCAA men's golf tournament. I don't wear much jewelry, but the championship ring that they generously presented to me never comes off my finger.

Mackay's Moral: "We" is a little word that sends a big message.

"The surest way for an executive to kill himself is to refuse to learn how, and when, and to whom to delegate work," said James Cash Penney, founder of J.C. Penney Co.

When you grow, you have to know when to let go. You have to know when to delegate so you can rise up. The inability to delegate properly is the main reason that executives fail. I've learned people will seldom let you down if they understand that your destiny is in their hands, and vice versa.

Delegating is a key management skill, but managers often mistake delegation for passing off work. Failing to effectively delegate wastes your time as well as the company's time and resources.

Personal experience starting and running Mackay Envelope Co., now MackayMitchell Envelope Co., taught me this. There came a day when we had grown to the point where I had to hire a person below me to run the company day to day, while I scanned the horizon, studying our industry and the company's future direction.

The reason? You don't want to be micromanaging and end up macromangling. The captain's place is on the bridge and not knee-deep in the bilge. As the person steering an enterprise, you keep your head high and your vision unobstructed so you can study the big responsibilities, while maintaining authority and control. Many aspects of this art can't be taught. Pulling it off successfully can't be analyzed or quantified, but it can be qualified. If you don't get quality people, you're doomed.

In his book, "Further Up the Organization," Robert Townsend wrote: "Leaders delegate whole important jobs. Non-leaders make all final decisions themselves."

Learning to delegate often requires a detour outside your comfort zone. How do you start delegating successfully?

-- Don't look for perfection. Your objective is to get the job done, not create a masterpiece. Establish a standard of quality and a fair time frame for reaching it. Once you establish the expectations, let your staff decide how to carry out the project.

-- Provide complete job instructions. Make sure your employee has all the information needed to complete the job. Confirm that he or she understands -- and accepts -- the requirements.

-- Stop believing you're the only one who can do the job properly. Just because an employee does things differently, doesn't mean they won't do the job right. If you establish expectations of the end goal and the standards to follow, then methodology shouldn't be an issue. An important and often overlooked part of delegation is that it helps develop employees for advancement and creates a better work environment.

-- Focus on teaching skills. Delegating doesn't mean passing off work you don't enjoy, but letting your employees stretch their skills and judgment. As you hand over greater responsibility, it's important to understand that learning new skills sometimes includes making mistakes. Don't punish employees who make a good-faith effort to do things right.

-- Check on progress. Let the employee do the work, but check in periodically. Don't look over employees' shoulders or watch their every move. When you outline the expectations in the beginning, make sure you build in checkpoints for follow-up.

-- Thank the people who have accepted the responsibility. Make sure employees know their efforts are recognized and appreciated.

A new hotel employee was asked to clean the elevators and report back to the supervisor when the task was completed. When the employee failed to appear at the end of the day, the supervisor assumed that like many others, the employee had not liked the job and left. However, after four days the supervisor bumped into the new employee. He was cleaning in one of the elevators.

"You surely haven't been cleaning these elevators for four days, have you?" asked the supervisor, accusingly.

"Yes, sir," said the employee. "This is a big job, and I've not finished yet. Do you realize there are more than 40 of them, two on each floor, and sometimes they are not even there."

Mackay's Moral: The most successful managers aim at making themselves unnecessary to their staff.