Critical Thinking

In the course of a business day workers make many decisions. How are those decisions made? Sometimes companies hold meetings, other times individuals make decisions very quickly. By enhancing critical thinking skills, there is less reliance on "off the cuff" or "gut feeling" decision-making.

According to Paul & Elder (2006), "Critical thinkers strive to develop essential traits or characteristics of mind. These are interrelated intellectual habits that enable one to open, discipline, and improve mental functioning" (p. 5). Paul & Elder also note nine specific traits defining critical thinkers: intellectual integrity, intellectual humility, intellectual sense of justice, intellectual perseverance, intellectual fair-mindedness, intellectual confidence in reason, intellectual courage, intellectual empathy, and intellectual autonomy (2006).

There are several formalized decision making models available and they all require application of critical thinking skills to diminish the effects of prejudice, both internal and external.

The Institute for Strategic Clarity (2001-2004) has an interesting model which is more complex than the some of the other models. Their model is useful for virtual groups and includes steps that work in widely disparate geographic and time zones. The Institutue for Strategic Clarity model has been adapted to filter out the "noise" which exists in the internet era, and will help any organization understand and clarify it's strategic planning.

Another model put forth by businessballs.com (2006), uses a six-step approach. These six steps 1) define the issue, 2) gather facts, 3) brainstorm ideas, 4) analyze pros and cons, 5) select the best solution, 6) explains the decision to those involved.

Businessballs.com (2006) also has a simplified version of the pros and cons process. This simple system defines a decision option and lists the pros and cons with a weighted score. The weighted score is a number from 1 to 5 with 5 being extremely significant and 1 being of minor significance. This would be useful for simple, personal decisions such as buying a new car or remodeling a house. For example:

When using these formal decision-making models there is a potential for analysis paralysis. Another possible downside of formalized methods is the tendency to lock the user into a set pattern and that could stifle true innovation when searching for solutions.

An example of using critical thinking occurred at a major university. After a semester departmental wrap-up meeting between professors, part-time instructors brought up a concern. With little to no input part-time instructors are expected to teach from a full-time faculty generated syllabus.

The full-time faculty had not given this much thought. With more experience teaching and developing curriculum, full-time instructors felt better equipped to make those decisions. They also expected that the part-time faculty did not have the time to complete the process.

This is a clear case of what Kirby & Goodpaster(2007) call "enculturation": "Another source of enculturation is our place of work. Here we may learn certain manners of behavior, dress code, professional ethics, and work attitude" (p. 16). The prejudices of their workplace led the full-time faculty to make assumptions about the part-time professors.

During this meeting several part-time instructors applied critical thinking skills. They understood that by not being "in the loop" all the time creates a barrier, but part-time instructors are hired for specific expertise. The part-time instructors argued that this expertise should be used when designing or updating coursework.

The group now knew what the problem was; no part-time instructor input into course direction. The group also knew what the effect of the problem was; part-time instructors not being in sync with the expected learning goals. Their next step was to throw out some alternatives and debate the pros and cons of these outcomes. Eventually a decision was made that allowed part-time instructors to modify the syllabus with the input of the department chair. Measuring the results over the next 2 semesters is the final step and, if needed, the decision making process can begin again.

Institute for Strategic Clarity (2001-2004). The decision making process map. Retrieved April 28, 2007, from http://www.instituteforstrategicclarity.org/dmp.htm

Kirby, G. R., & Goodpaster, J. R. (2007). Thinking (4th ed.). : Pearson Prentice Hall.

Paul, R., & Elder, L. (2006). Critical thinking: Tools for taking charge of your learning and your life (2nd ed.). : Prentice-Hall.

businessballs.com (2006). Problem-solving and decision-making. Retrieved April 29, 2007, from http://www.businessballs.com/problemsolving.htm