Improving Your Critical Thinking Skills
The ability to think critically does not just happen- it’s a learned skill. With endless amounts of information in the world, there is always more to learn. Although developing critical thinking skills can take time, certain practices can help advance your knowledge, attitudes and skills. With practice and powerful changes to your cognition, you can improve your ability to analyse information and ultimately make the best decisions for your life. Below is our Quick Guide to improving your critical thinking skills.
Being a robust and active listener is fundamental for successful communication and advancing your critical thinking skills. Active listening involves making a conscious effort to listen attentively and process the information that is being offered. It includes noticing both verbal and nonverbal indications that would be needed for creating a solution. With good active listening skills, the listener should be able to understand the context, make logical connections, and restate what was being said by the speaker. The listener should not be formulating rebuttal or responses to the speaker or thinking about something completely unrelated.
Active listening will help to:
· Avoid missing any critical information that is beneficial for concluding.
· Reduce conflict and misunderstandings.
· Build trust and connections with others.
· Further, one’s critical thinking skills.
When it comes to exceptional critical thinking, the key is exceptional questioning. Asking the right questions will lead to new insights, innovation, and breakthroughs. To formulate great questions, it’s essential to slow down, listen, and truly reflect on what is being analysed. Critical thinkers ask questions on topics they are unfamiliar with and when they are seeking to confirm their knowledge. Questions can spark significant changes throughout your life. They are not only great for learning new information about a topic, but they will also inspire new ways of thinking. Critical thinkers should never abandon the questioning process.
At first glance, big problems can often become overwhelming. An analytical approach to problem-solving will help to eliminate feelings of overwhelm or stress and improve your ability to think critically. The key is to recognise those big problems are a collection of more minor issues. When you invest your time in breaking down your problems into smaller pieces, these problems will become easier to digest and solve, generating ideas for solving the bigger problem. Start by asking questions such as “What smaller issues might be driving this big problem?” or “What is the problem composed of?” A complex problem instantly becomes an easier one to solve. Solutions will emerge, leading you closer to the final problem-solving stage.
Emotions play a crucial role in the critical thinking process. They enable critical thinkers to process information efficiently with an open mind and encourage motivation. However, it is essential to be mindful of emotions with decision-making, as emotions can sometimes cloud our judgment. Emotions should not be ignored when thinking critically but managed and channelled in productive ways. Ultimately, your success in any situation will be a result of how you control your emotions. Emotional intelligence is identified as the ability to assess and control the emotions of oneself, others, and even groups. It’s about being heart smart, as opposed to book smart. For instance, professionals need empathy when working with others, regardless of their occupation, to experience what others feel, believe, or wish vicariously.
Sometimes the most powerful tool you have is your ability to think for yourself. Critical thinking is a self-disciplined and self-guided form of thinking. After you’ve read books, articles or blogs and listened to the advice of others, take some time to reflect on what you think about the situation. Your personal experiences are not to be dismissed altogether in decision-making and problem-solving. We all have a lot to offer, so consider your thoughts and feelings when deciding which path to choose or which solution to a problem is best for you.
Although it’s impossible to make a perfect decision for all of our life decisions, there are ways to improve our chances of making the best choices. Critical thinking is a soft skill that can evolve in many ways. A lack of metacognition, or ‘thinking about thinking, can make some people feel overconfident. Some leaders have learned to succeed under pressure but may become complacent in their successes and neglect to take advantage of an opportunity to improve their critical thinking skills. Thoughts become critical when you are aware of them. Exceptional critical thinking skills will develop from practising habits designed for success per your goals.
An effective way to organise thoughts and explore connections between ideas is to use mind maps or logic trees. Mind maps can foster information organisation in a logical structure essential for successful critical thinking. Visual diagrams allow learners to map out their thoughts, explore new connections more visibly, and analyse choices to form decisions. This logical structure makes it easier to integrate new ideas into your thinking process. Mind mapping allows the thinker to have greater clarity with their thoughts in light of the bigger picture or objective.
It is best to capture your ideas in a mapping format that is understandable to you. Consider beginning with a central theme and expanding your thoughts from there. The central theme can branch off to other connected topics that you wish to explore, which these topics may be branched as words, images, or phrases. Mind maps create a clear organisational structure that can guide you through your critical thinking process.
An essential aspect of critical thinking is the ability to open your mind to new insights and possibilities. Open-mindedness is the virtue by which we learn. In particular, open-mindedness means considering relevant evidence or arguments to revise a current understanding. It involves being critically open to alternatives, possibly changing your personal view. When we allow ourselves to be open-minded, we can discover new information about ourselves that challenges our current values and beliefs. The key to being open-minded is not allowing pre-conceived notions to constrain or inhibit reflection on newly presented information. It’s essential to avoid becoming defensive when our ideas are being challenged but enable new ideas to give us fresh insight into the world around us.
Learning and improving any life skills is possible with practice. A critical thinker can improve by finding ways to get involved and participate in exercises or dilemmas that expand their reasoning line. In a workplace setting, actively volunteer to help with specific work-related problems or newly emerging issues- this will help bring out your creative side and offer you the support you will need to develop those necessary skills. If there is a lack of opportunities available, consider introducing team-building exercises to get the group involved in exploring logic and reason. Surrounding yourself with keen critical thinkers exposes you to more sources of perspective and shared knowledge of great ideas.
Conclusion
Are you ready to set your trainees up for success with these skills? Download our newly updated Critical Thinking Workshop today!
Posted by Katelyn Roy on August 5, 2022