Critical thinking is the discipline of rigorously and skillfully using information, experience, observation, and reasoning to guide your decisions, actions, and beliefs. You will need to actively question every step of your thinking process to do it well.
Gathering, analyzing, and evaluating information is an important life skill and a highly valued asset in the workplace. People who score high on critical thinking assessments are also rated by their managers as having good problem-solving skills, creativity, strong decision-making abilities, and good overall performance.
Key critical thinking skills
Critical thinkers possess a number of key characteristics that help them question information and their own thinking. Focus on the following areas to develop your critical thinking skills:
Curiosity
Being willing and able to explore alternative approaches and experimental ideas is essential. Can you think through “what if” scenarios, create plausible options, and test your theories? If not, you will tend to give up on ideas and options too quickly, so you may miss the best answer for your situation.
To fuel your curiosity, stay up-to-date with facts and trends. You'll miss important information if you allow yourself to get "hot," so always be open to new information.
But don’t stop there! Seek out opposing viewpoints or evidence to challenge your information, and ask for clarification when things are unclear. This will help you reevaluate your beliefs and make a better-informed decision later. Read our article, Opening Closed Minds, for more ways to stay open-minded.
Logical thinking
You must be skilled at reasoning and extending logic to come up with plausible options or outcomes.
It is also important to emphasize logic over emotion. Emotion can be motivating, but it can also lead you to rash and unwise actions, so control your emotions and be careful in your judgments. Know when a conclusion is “fact” and when it is not. Conclusions that “may be true” are based on assumptions and need to be further tested. Read our article, Logical errors, for help with this.
Use creative problem solving to balance cold logic. By thinking outside the box, you can identify new possible outcomes using pieces of information you already have.
Self-awareness
Many of the decisions we make in life are subtly informed by our values and beliefs. These influences are called cognitive biases, and they can be difficult to identify in ourselves because they are often subconscious.
Practicing mindfulness will allow you to reflect on the beliefs you hold and the choices you make. You will then be better equipped to challenge your thinking and make improved, unbiased decisions.
Developing a critical thinking mindset
Combine the above skills with the right mindset in order to make better decisions and adopt more effective courses of action. You can develop your critical thinking mindset by following this process:
Gather information
First, gather data, opinions, and facts about the issue you need to solve. Draw on what you already know and turn to new sources of information to help inform your understanding. Consider what gaps there are in your knowledge and try to fill them. And seek out information that challenges your assumptions and beliefs.
Be sure to verify the authority and authenticity of your sources. Not everything you read is true! Use this checklist to make sure your information is valid:
- Are your sources of information reliable? (For example, respected authors, trusted colleagues or peers, well-known industry publications, websites, blogs, etc.)
- Is the information you have collected up-to-date?
- Has the information received any direct criticism?
- Does the information contain any errors or inaccuracies?
- Is there any evidence to support or confirm the information you have gathered?
- Is the information you have gathered subjective or biased in any way? (For example, is it based on opinion rather than fact? Is any of the information you have gathered intended to promote a particular service or organization?)
If any information seems irrelevant or worthless, don't include it in your decision-making. But don't eliminate information just because you disagree with it, or your final decision will be flawed and biased.
Lexo here the full article published on the online platform "MindTools.com"