Related Sponsors

What is Critical Thinking?

Home » Leadership » Critical Thinking » What is Critical Thinking?

Critical thinking involves logic, and asking the right questions to increase the probability of achieving the desired goal. The phrase is equivalent to describing a way of thinking that is goal oriented. But the most interesting point that critical thinking can offer to a business and its employees, is that it is a way of thinking that asks those involved to evaluate their own thinking along the way. It asks that the �thinker� consider whether their thinking is valid and to be able to give rational reasons for their thoughts and ideas.

Essentially, critical thinking is a manner of thinking that moves from the general to specific, ever narrowing the focus until the logic of both the questions and arguments come to the same conclusion. Executives and employees can also use this form of thinking to narrow the focus of a problem until one or more solutions become evident as both possible and logical.

Critical thinking and teamwork go hand in hand. Critical thinking used in a problem-solving mode, can take a team of coworkers from the brain storming session to the final solution through a process of ever-narrowing the questions and possible solutions until the group cooperatively agrees that they have arrived at a logical and satisfactory conclusion. During this process, each person in the group is asked not only to offer ideas, but also to be able to support those ideas through a workable rationale. Because people are asked to evaluate their own thinking and ideas, the process of hashing through what will and will not work is done individually. Then as ideas are presented, further narrowing of focus will lead the group to select from all the possible solutions.

Next Page: Can Critical Thinking be taught?

Related Critical Thinking Articles