Shake Things Up with Critical Thinking

Everyone Has Critical Thinking Skills-You Just Have to Wake Them Up

Guess what? I believe everyone has critical thinking skills. Yep, it’s a superpower we all have to navigate life, solve problems, and come up with cool new ideas. Ideally, we grow up with these skills intact, free from all the unchallenged, borrowed ideas thrown at us. Unfortunately, critical thinking often gets squished by well-meaning parents, school, friends, and non-stop media consumption.

How do we know what we read and hear is true and correct, if we let our critical thinking faculties go unchallenged?

Be the Why, What, How, and What If Thinker

One thing I'd totally campaign for in schools? Critical thinking and philosophy classes. Children are natural question machines, always asking "Why?", "What?", "How?". It’s when they stop asking that we should worry about their critical thinking skills going to sleep, which is not good for any society or the future world of work. So, if you’re constantly asking why, how, what, and what if, congratulations—the engine is switched on.

Make Critical Thinking Your Business Superpower

Want to transform your business? Make critical thinking part of your business DNA and communications strategy. Use it all the time. Using the 80/20 Pareto Principle, 80% of the time, challenge your thinking and ways of doing things. See what happens. Look at everything with a fresh eye and fresh ear, every day.

It can turn challenges into opportunities, clear out old ideas, and lead your team to new ways of thinking. The trick? Think critically about everything presented to you. And of course, let's not confuse discernment with criticism. Cast a discerning eye and Ask: What is this? What can we do with it? How do we know this is true? Who are we missing that could shake things up?

The Power of "How"

"How" is my go-to guide for life and work. I always want to know how things tick and how people think. It’s a key part of every coaching session I have. I gather info on how someone forms their thoughts and opinions, getting a peek into their world and how they structure their mental and social landscape. The "how" helps unpack everything, letting them challenge their own thinking and run their brains differently. Read my previous article How to Run you Brain Better, for some tools on seeing the world differently.

Question the Status Quo

Try this experiment: question the everyday stuff you read in the media. Phrases like "studies show," "experts say," "according to a study," and "trust the science" are examples of vague language and show up often in articles about health, medical breakthroughs and science. In coaching, we call this generalization. We dig into specifics for clarity. We don't just let general statements go by us, we say, "hang on, what was that you said?"

Be the gatekeeper of your thoughts, because our sleepy brains can let stuff slip through without a second thought.

Get Specific about Meanings (Semantics)

Be the detective who gets into the weeds. Ask, "What exactly does this mean?" Remember, even experts can be wrong. Ask, "How do we know this for sure?" Bring it it to your meetings, so everyone leaves knowing exactly what was meant by what was said.

Every person around you is running their own semantic seminar in their heads.

it's important to stop other people's words at your mental doorway, and check you are all on the same semantic page. Ask yourself "Do they mean what I think you mean, or am I hearing though my personal filters?"

Question everything said to get quality understanding.

Lead with Evidence

Why not use critical thinking when leading others? It sharpens decision-making and helps you understand your team and industry better. We have evidence-based medicine and law, so why not evidence-based leadership?

A great question to ask yourself is "What facts and evidence are driving my decisions?" Share the why of your decisions, and backing it up with evidence, is a good way to get people on the same page and buy into the choices you are presenting.

Stay Curious and Challenge Your Biases

Want to boost your critical thinking? Put on your curiosity hat. Get nosy with the "Why, How, What, and What If" questions.

Make fewer statements for a week and live in the question zone —see what you discover.

Watch out for biases and borrowed ideas that you may have inadvertently picked up along the highways of life and work. Ask yourself if these views are still useful. Look at opposite viewpoints to see what you learn. Consider how a top professional or leader in your field view this or solve this?

Practice Critical Thinking Coaching

Try these questions to get your brain coaching you

What is this? What can I do with it? Can I change it? How do I change it?

What’s the most interesting choice here? What possibilities am I ignoring?

What else is possible?

Critical thinking isn’t a one-and-done deal. Keep updating your knowledge as new info comes in.

Try one of my favourite coaching questions "How do you know it's time to - fill in the blanks".

1. How will we know it's time to stop doing X?
2. How will we know its time to upgrade our system, thinking, team, perspective?
3. How will we know it's time to change our business model?

Remember what Daniel Levitin says: "Critical thinking is not something you do once with an issue and then drop it. It requires we update our knowledge as new information comes in."

Thanks for reading, if you got this far!

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Happy Friday!

Shiera