12 May WHAT IS CRITICAL THINKING?
Critical Thinking in Action
Background
What is Critical Thinking?
The head of your organization pulled you aside and asked you to
review a workplace dispute. She said, Apply your best critical thinking
to figure out what happened and what decision can best remedy this
situation. She wants your analysis in two weeks.
To begin, lets consider what it means to engage in critical
thinking. While the application of critical thinking may vary
across disciplines, the steps are universal. Adapted from the writings of
Bassham, Irwin, Nardone, and Wallace (2011); Lau (2011); and Lau and Chan
(2015), critical thinking involves thinking clearly and systematically, and
encompasses
Formulating ideas succinctly
and preciselyIdentifying the relevance and
importance of ideasUnderstanding the logical
connections between ideasIdentifying, constructing and
evaluating arguments, claims, and evidenceRecognizing explicit and
implicit assumptions, arguments, and biasesDetecting inconsistencies and
common mistakes in reasoningFormulating clear defensible
ideas and conclusionsEvaluating the pros and cons of
decisionsReflecting on ones own beliefs
and valuesApplying ethical decision
making
The steps involved in critical thinking can be employed
universally, in the analysis of all thoughts and actions whether you are
analyzing documents, ideas, assertions, or the quality of decisions/solutions.
Most importantly, critical thinking is purposeful. It is
not restricted solely to information gathering, nor is it about being negative
and fault-finding (Bassham et. al., 2011 p. 1). As Lau and Chan write,
A critical thinker is able to deduce consequences from what he knows, and he
knows how to make use of information to solve problems, and to seek relevant
sources of information to inform himself (2015, para 1). While the
process of critical thinking may involve exposing untruths and poor reasoning,
it also involves engaging in cooperative reasoning for the purposes of shared
goals and decision making. We engage in the steps of critical thinking to
learn deeply, to improve our ideas, to strengthen arguments and to enhance
work processes and improve social institutions (Lau and Chan, 2015 para
2).
Critical thinking aligns with and informs ethical reasoning and
decision-making. Internet marketing expert Nick Melillo (2010) writes
Critical thinking plays a large role in ethics because it is the
process by which we determine for ourselves whether or not something is right
or wrong. In a sense, critical thinking is a form of analysis and
determination of fact vs. fiction, identifying the unknown, coming to an
understanding, etc By taking the path of a critical thinker, a person
develops a mental process of evaluation which helps to determine their ethical
standards. (p. 1)
The process of critical thinking helps us weigh and verify
information, assess intent, and consider consequences, thereby enabling more
effective ethical decision-making.
Hereford (2015) suggests critical thinking requires a particular
mindset that includes being able to
Rely on reason instead of
emotionsAssess a broad range of
perspectives and viewpointsConsider new evidence,
explanations, findings, and alternative interpretationsReassess informationSuspend personal prejudices and
biasesContemplate all reasonable
possibilitiesAvoid quick judgments
In this assignment, youll take some time to adopt a
framework for critical thinking. Then youll put the steps of critical thinking
into practice by responding to the company-heads request for a critical
analysis of the ongoing dispute.
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