The Art Of Critical Thinking

A problem well stated is a problem half solved – Richard Paul

Thinking is often seen as bad because of the connotations around it. It’s often projected as something negative because when majority of people do it, they are thinking about negative things. This is why people are discouraged from thinking but no matter what we do, it’s the only way to solve problems.

Business is a series of problem solving and decision making. For every problem solved is a decision made and behind every decision is a logical reason (whether good or bad), that makes sense to the thinker. Therefore, if we are always problem solving and thinking our way through problems, how do we become better problem solvers? What helps us make better decisions in order to get good or reasonable conclusions? What guides our thought process and helps us make reasonable decisions?

This is where the power of critical thinking shines. It is thinking with structure, which makes for an interesting session whenever we engage in it.

What Is Critical Thinking?

Critical thinking is thinking about your thinking while you are thinking – Richard Paul

For many of us, our decisions are mostly based on what we like best or what sounds best – in other words, our decisions are biased. We assume there is no other way to solve a problem except the one we chose. This assumption is one that is programmed into us since elementary school where the answer to our questions can only be solved one way. Therefore, that becomes our default every time we need to problem solve.

However, in business, as long as we know our end goal, there can be more than one way to achieve it. This means two business men can use different approaches to get the same result – it doesn’t mean one is right or wrong. The best approach is the one critically thought out – this means that the best approach is the one that’s logically and reasonably thought out. In other words, the person can break down the reasons they made the decision.

The best decisions in this case are devoid of emotions and to achieve that, your thinking has to be based on data. Data helps cancel out assumptions or biases that you default to as regards the decision to be made.

How Can You Apply Critical Thinking To Business Decisions?

There are 3 principles to applying critical thinking, which are:

• Question your assumptions: The first series of thoughts that come when thinking about an issue are your biases, opinion, or perspective. Therefore, never take your first thoughts as facts – question them.
• Reason through logic: As you question your assumptions above, use datas and facts to sort through them and develop other ones. This way, your thinking is utterly devoid of emotions or biases.
• Embrace diversity of thought: Be open minded throughout the session. As mentioned previously, there can be two ways to achieving the same result.

Using the principles above, you are able to logically and reasonably connect your decisions, which is the basis for critical thinking.

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