A Stepwise Approach to Critical Thinking

If you can think critically, you can analyze every situation’s depth and come out with well-informed decisions. After all, the quality of decision making is what proves to be the underlying difference between success and regrets. In this blog, we dive deeper into the definition of critical thinking. Besides, we look at the various steps involved in critical thinking. Let us get going then!

What is The True Meaning of Critical Thinking?

Critical thinking is the ability to evaluate a given situation or idea rationally and reliably. It is an affluent process in which a person can distinguish the truth and useful information from limited and biased perceptions. When you start to think critically, you go into the depth of things and examine them with attention to detail. So, the inculcation of critical thinking in your personality will refine your decision making. Apart from that, you will be able to analyze situations from different perspectives rather than the prism of your intuitions or personal prejudices. Before we closely scrutinize the stepwise approach to critical thinking, let us shed light on some of the key benefits of critical thinking.

Merits of Critical Thinking

1. It Creates Awareness

When you begin to think critically, your approach to life changes, you then start to look at circumstances through various strategies. In the absence of critical thinking, you may have a single approach to everything. But with critical thinking, you become aware of the available alternatives. Moreover, this awareness is also driven by empathy and the idea of society’s collective welfare. Most critical thinkers are not selfish and have the knack for leading society to social awakening. Social learning is a crucial contributor to the process of critical thinking.

2. It Enhances Time Management Skills

No matter if you are a student or an entrepreneur, time is and will always be a luxury. Time management is hence an essential skill set for all ambitious people. All of us tend to lose out on a lot of time when we are confused with our thoughts. Also, we witness delays in our actions when we cannot figure out the difference between useful information and wasteful information. However, with critical thinking, you can discard the information that is of no value. You only spend time on data and information that adds value to your decisions.

3. It leads to successful decisions

As stated above, thinking critically can overhaul how one takes crucial life decisions. Being a critical thinker, you invest attention to detail in evaluating a given thought. In such a scenario, you minimize the possibility of bad choices. More often than not, your options will be based on reasoning and logic than preferences. You have to understand that critical thinking is the foundation of responsible decision making.

4. It Makes You More Open-Minded

Critical thinkers are not rigid in their perspectives and are happy to accommodate varying views. They understand that different inputs can lead them to the best possible choices. Hence, in the pursuit of examining things with precision, they become more accommodating towards other views. This makes them open-minded and makes them more cooperative than their counterparts. It is imperative to note that emotional intelligence and social awareness are vital cogs in the wheel of critical thinking. You have to be sensitive and open to other people’s thoughts and try to take everyone on the same page. A good critical thinker will not ignore the emotions or feelings of others. Instead, he will try to balance between sentiments and rationale as contributing factors to take a stance on a given situation.

5. It Encourages Strong Opinions

Those who think critically are confident of their opinions. They back their assertions, for they are sure that they are based on reason and credible information. So, they exhibit strong opinions and leadership traits.

Seeing how advantageous critical thinking traits can be, you would now be keen to know about the process. Of course, the journey to critical thinking will be incomplete without a detailed explanation of each step. We have bifurcated crucial consideration into a stepwise approach for you to understand it sans doubts. Here we go!

Steps Involved in Critical Thinking

1. Observe the collected information

Once you have collected the information and data from various sources, you must examine it. You need to make sure that the data is credible and is reliable to use. Besides, you have to identify the main issue and ascertain that the information is relevant.

To cite an example, if you have to do your chemistry project based on research, you need to observe all resources. There may be an endless list of internet resources claiming to help your project. But you have to examine and compare so that you can choose the most trusted information from the sea of websites or blogs.

2. Clarify the purpose

Understand the situation, gather the information, assess it, and determine your response’s purpose. You should be clear about what objective your final actions will serve. If the goal is not predefined, how will you think about the best response? The ultimate aim is to take action, and the objective has to be set at an early stage to consider different approaches.

3. Form beliefs and ascertain assumptions

When you reach the third step, you have already collected sufficient information and have assessed it well. Next, based on your analysis, you must form beliefs and assumptions concerning the inherent purpose. These beliefs and assumptions do not have to be based on your biases or prejudices. They instead need to be based on reasoning, SWOT analysis, pertinence to the main issue, and data.

4. Consider the consequences

Before you finalize an action plan, you need to estimate the consequences of all the options in your mind. You should ideally segregate the potential responses into short-term and long-term consequences. Further, you need to compare these possible ramifications to figure out the action that promises the maximum benefit.

5. Draw conclusions

Someone who is not a critical thinker will jump to conclusions right after his rough assessment of the problem. But a critical thinker’s path to concluding will cross the above four steps. You work on the decisions only when you have worked hard to be in a position where you can see through various viewpoints and reach affirmative conclusions. It takes an effective process to conclude. It comes from attention to every detail and precise evaluations of alternative approaches.

6. Set goals and act to achieve

Critical thinking’s outcome is to devise a strong, informed, and efficient response. After you estimate the consequences and work on the conclusions, you then set your objectives and take the most fruitful actions. So, as you can see, the process starts by collecting information about a given problem and ends at solving it by acting rightfully.

To encapsulate, critical thinking has the prowess to make you stand out in the crowd. Your ability to think critically can prove your most significant asset to survive and thrive in this competitive world. When you begin your journey to being a critical thinker, you will have to be careful about following each step in the right order. But as time passes, critical thinking will become an innate part of your personality. Then you would not have to make a conscious effort to think critically, for it will come naturally to you. You will enjoy the various benefits and witness how it makes you more prosperous and inspiring. With critical thinking, you can unlock the leader in you and scale the apex of success with ease.

About the author: Jessica Robinson is an epitome of creativity. She has dedicated her life to educational writing and works for ‘The Speaking Polymath’. She has been creating magic with her powerful words for over a decade