CRITICAL THINKING

What is Critical Thinking?

I heard this definition in the first session of my Analysis of Business Problems (ABP) course; “Critical thinking is thinking about your thinking while you are thinking in order to make your thinking better“. This definition by Richard Paul I find very interesting, you must think about your thinking. The term critical comes from the Greek word kritikos meaning “able to judge or discern”. Critical thinking is the objective analysis and evaluation of an issue in order to form a judgement (Oxford dictionary).

Critical thinking is a disciplined art and skill that every professional or manager needs to develop to make key decisions in business. It is a vital skill that can be learned to hone our ability to make good judgments. It enables one to have clarity on what an issue is, analyse the problem correctly come up with alternatives to solve the problems, and eventually take a decision. The goal of critical thinking is to make informed judgements or get to reasonable conclusions. With critical thinking, one can move systematically from PREMISE to CONCLUSION. There are 3 simple principles to build Critical thinking:

• Question assumptions
•  Reason through logic
•  Embrace diversity of thought

In thinking critically about any situation, you need to ask the right questions. There is a systematic process of solving problems. The systematic process aims to help us clearly articulate the problem we seek to solve before jumping into action. The decision-making process goes thus:

• 1. Understand the situation: You need to ask yourself: What, Why, When, How, Where, and Who to fully understand the situation at hand. You have to be able to separate relevant information and irrelevant information.
•  2. Identify the right problem: Once the situation has been understood, the next step is to clearly define the problem.
•  3. Define your objective: What is the goal of the decision? What does success look like and what are you trying to achieve with the decision?
•  4. Generate alternatives: Also known as Brainstorming, you need to develop different options and pathways for solving the problem.
•  5. Identify criteria: What are the considerations or limitations to consider in the alternatives listed? Which option best achieves my objective?
•  6. Analyse the criteria: Carefully analyse the criteria chosen in light of the objective of the decision to be made.
•  7. Take a decision/make a choice.
•  8. Develop an action plan and identify the risks involved in your own decision.

This systematic process is what we used to analyse the various case studies in the ABP course, to enable us to make clear data-driven decisions when we are faced with similar real-life scenarios as managers or CEOs in our different organizations. It helps us see if there is sufficient justification for taking a particular position in any case. This Critical thinking process aims to be able to identify the problem when it arises and make informed decisions (not guess-work decisions) that help to solve the problem.

I am learning to apply this systematic process of critical thinking not just in business but in personal decisions as well. It enables me to be unbiased and objective in my judgements by using data and evidence to arrive at my conclusions.

#MMBA5