Critical thinking is a lifelong skill that, when cultivated with care, can give you a professional edge.
Critical thinking is the ability to question, analyse, interpret and evaluate information you receive. It is vital skill for every aspect of your life, particularly work.
It may take a bit of extra effort to build up your critical thinking skills, but it is well worth it, as when applied to a working context professionals often find they have an increased ability to view complex scenarios from multiple points of view, enabling effective decision making.
So, if you want to improve your critical thinking to stay sharp at work, the following list is a great place to start your upskilling journey.
Know your source
In today’s landscape, with the proliferation of technologies that can very easily skew reality, it isn’t always easy to separate the real from the fake. Some imagery or information that comes through will be so obviously falsified that you won’t have to give it a second thought, but regardless of the quality, anything that you use as the basis for your own work should be closely analysed.
When you receive information of any kind, in a workplace context, even if it is from an internal source, do your due diligence. Locate the original source, confirm their credibility, ask yourself who benefits from the sharing of this information and ascertain if there are any potential biases.
Brainstorm scenarios
When you are under pressure to solve a time-sensitive issue it can be tempting to run with the first idea that comes into your head.
You might worry that sitting at your desk appearing to daydream or going outside to gather your thoughts can make it seem as though you are not being productive, however, brainstorming is a proven method in problem-solving.
Start by isolating the issue you are having and identify the outcome you wish to see. Now, by running through the possibilities in your mind, hypothesise the multiple different ways you can get from point A to point B, with minimal disruption.
If you believe your team has valuable insights to offer, schedule a brainstorming session where you clearly explain your dilemma and open the floor to alternative points of view. The more diverse and skilled your team is the better, as they can offer a unique perspective that you may not have reached on your own.
Be socially conscious
At the end of the day, we are who we are. That is to say, we are a reflection of the societies in which we were reared and while we are all capable of individual thought, we are often subject to internal bias, some of which we might not even be fully aware of.
A key aspect of developing strong critical thinking skills is the ability to recognise your own biases and to acknowledge their influence in your decision-making process. By asking yourself questions and ensuring that your judgments are coming from confirmed facts, rather than opinions or feelings, you can base your choices on fundamentally truthful information.
This is also an important step when brainstorming with a group, as group mentality or homogenous groups can sway decision making, due to a lack of diversity or outside perspectives. Listen to others and have your say too, but don’t underestimate the power of deductive reasoning.
Eliminate barriers
Learning a new skill, particularly one that you plan to use professionally and personally, will come with challenges, for example the aforementioned internal bias issue. But by identifying potential barriers you can keep moving forward as you overcome each one.
Another such issue is the risk of over-analysing in an effort to think critically and ultimately failing to reach a conclusion. Critical thinking is a discipline, therefore it takes a degree of discipline to master. By learning the difference between critical thinking and overthinking you can identify slips in your thought process and get back on track.
It is also worth noting that, despite the point of critical thinking being a vehicle to dissect and understand information, when used in your personal life and even at points in the workforce, not everything has to be subject to deep analysis.
For instance, light-hearted conversations with coworkers and other social interactions can be just that. Light and easy. It’s important that you retain a sense of balance between transparency and scepticism.
So there you have it, some tips to start you off on your critical thinking upskilling journey. Off you go and don’t overthink it.
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