How to Develop Critical Thinking in 7 Steps

What is Critical Thinking?

Critical thinking is all about asking the right questions to arrive at the best possible conclusions. Successful critical thinkers look at information from different perspectives, analyze it thoroughly, and then determine the most appropriate course of action.

If you feel your critical thinking skills aren't strong, don't worry. This article will guide you through the foundational steps to help you understand, analyze, and make better decisions.

Understanding Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is the ability to gather and analyze information to reach a well-reasoned conclusion. This skill is essential across almost all industries and job roles because it’s not limited to a specific field. Instead, it’s about evaluating information, data, and statistics to find the most satisfactory solution.

Developing critical thinking skills can enhance your problem-solving abilities and enable you to make data-driven decisions. It also provides a systematic approach to tackling complex issues.

Those with strong critical thinking skills are comfortable with ambiguity and are willing to question their assumptions to reach the best outcomes.

The 8 Key Skills for Critical Thinking

Critical thinking isn’t something you typically learn in a course; it’s a combination of analytical and interpersonal skills. To develop critical thinking, you need to adopt an open-minded and flexible approach, applying analytical thinking to define problems clearly. Here are the eight most important skills:

Analytical Thinking: Analyzing data from various sources to arrive at the best conclusions, free from biases.

Open-mindedness: Setting aside personal prejudices to objectively process information and reach data-supported conclusions.

Problem-Solving: Using critical thinking to come to appropriate conclusions based on all available information, applicable to work challenges and everyday issues.

Self-regulation: Controlling your thoughts and setting aside biases to reach the most appropriate conclusion by questioning all available information.

Observation: Looking beyond the obvious and using different viewpoints to identify potential problems.

Interpretation: Understanding that not all data is equal, and determining which information is important and relevant to draw the best conclusions.

Evaluation: Making confident decisions based on the available data, especially when complex questions don’t have obvious answers.

Communication: Sharing your decisions effectively with others, presenting evidence to support your conclusions, especially when multiple solutions are possible.

The 7 Steps to Developing Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is a skill you can develop by following these seven steps. These steps help ensure you approach problems from the right angle and consider all possible alternatives to reach an objective conclusion.

1. Identify the Problem

The first step in critical thinking is to clearly identify the problem you want to solve. Analyze the problem from different perspectives and ask questions like:

What’s happening?

Why is this happening?

What assumptions am I making?

How do I initially think we can solve this problem?

Becoming aware of any biases affecting your current thinking is crucial in this step.

2. Conduct Research

Once you have a general understanding of the problem, gather more information. This includes data, statistics, feedback, and other relevant details. Ensure you collect information from various sources, including those that may challenge your initial thoughts.

3. Determine the Relevance of the Data

Not all information is equally important. After gathering data, carefully examine it to determine which pieces are relevant to solving the problem. This will help you focus on what’s most important.

Ask yourself:

How reliable is this information?

How important is this data?

Is the information up-to-date?

4. Ask Questions

To make objective decisions, question the assumptions you’re making throughout the process. Recognize and set aside any unconscious biases that may influence your conclusions.

Ask yourself:

Am I making any assumptions?

Are there other variables I haven’t considered?

Have I evaluated the information from all perspectives?

5. Find the Best Solution

Now that you’ve gathered and analyzed the information, it’s time to find the best solution. Establish connections between cause and effect, and use the data to reach the most objective conclusion. Remember, complex problems may have more than one solution.

6. Present Your Solution

Effective communication is essential. Share your findings with others involved in the project. If multiple solutions exist, present them all and consider testing one before fully implementing it.

7. Analyze Your Decision

After implementing your solution, evaluate its effectiveness. Did it solve the problem? What lessons can you learn from this experience to improve your critical thinking in the future?

Example Of Critical Thinking At Work

Imagine you’re leading a User Experience (UX) Design team. Your team is responsible for the pricing and offerings page, but you’ve received feedback that it’s not as effective as it should be.

Some customers find the services unclear, and the page doesn’t answer their questions. Since this page is crucial for customer sign-ups, your team decides to apply the critical thinking process.

1. Start by Identifying the Problem: The current pricing page isn’t working well. The team brainstorms theories and decides to apply the critical thinking process to make the best decision.

2. Gather Information: Understand how the problem arose and research what works well. Analyze competitors’ pricing pages and industry best practices.

3. Organize and Analyze Information: After gathering data, organize and analyze it to identify trends and relevant information.

4. Ask Open-ended Questions: Reduce bias by questioning assumptions and considering all perspectives.

5. Determine the Best Solution: Design multiple page options or run A/B tests to determine the best solution.

6. Present the Solution: Share the findings with key stakeholders and decide on the next steps, such as testing the new design.

7. Analyze the Results: After the new page goes live, evaluate its performance and learn from the outcomes.

Conclusion: Achieve Success through Critical Thinking

Developing critical thinking skills takes time and effort, but it’s worth it. With practice, you can apply an analytical and unbiased mindset to any situation. Critical thinking is a valuable soft skill that will make you a more effective team member, manager, and professional.