Every day, we make multiple decisions: some may be trivial, others may be so crucial, that they assume long-term significance. There is a methodical process through which we arrive at our decisions, and this is the ability of critical thinking. It is not a matter of acquiring information alone, but about making sense of the information and connecting the dots to arrive at a conclusion. Critical thinking is a complex skill that requires application and practice.
The importance of critical thinking:
Being able to think through subjects and solve problems is an asset for any profession.Whatever we choose to do – be it education, finance, research, management, or the legal profession, the ability to think clearly and rationally is important. Critical thinking skills help us think through subjects and solve problems.
In the new knowledge economy, we function in a dynamic world, where we have to deal with changes quickly. We need flexible intellectual skills in our time, and the capacity to integrate diverse sources of knowledge.
We can break down critical thinking into three steps:
1. Having a thorough understanding of the decision to be made
2. Identify the sources of information and pull out the relevant information
3. Analyse the pieces of information from multiple sources, and then arrive at a decision
Along with this, we’ve got to ensure that our own biases and assumptions do not influence our final decision.
Benefits and positive outcomes of critical thinking
1. Critical thinking promotes creativity – a creative solution is much more than just a new idea. A new idea needs to go through the lens of a method, assessing content, relevance, and capacity to be modified before it turns into a solution.
2. Critical thinking enhances language and presentation skills – A clear and systematic thought process can improve the way we express our ideas. It helps us formulate our text paragraphs and images in logical segments.
3. Critical thinking is the foundation of innovation – Science and technology require critical use of reason; these skills are used during experimentation and theory confirmation.
When you sit with a decision to be made before you, you can practice critical thinking in 5 steps:
1. Zoom in on your objective
2. Layout the relevant pieces of information, check their sources and validity
3. See how the relevant pieces of information bring out logic, connections, and patterns
4. Remove inherent biases and assumptions
5. Deduce, and come to a conclusion
Why employers value critical thinking skills
For any employee, critical thinking skills are a valuable asset, as employers always appreciate candidates who can correctly assess a situation and come up with a rational resolution. For managers, time is a valuable resource, and an employee or team member who is capable of making correct decisions will save both the manager’s time as well as the Company’s time.