About Critical Thinking

I was riding the subway a few days ago and an ad caught my attention. It was from a college and how they would teach people to develop critical thinking. It got me thinking about critical thinking itself and how people would go the length to show they have it. During my over 20 years of professional experience I’ve always met people with this so called “critical thinking”. People often believe that “critical thinking” is to actually criticize and question what others were saying, on meetings and brainstorming. And they really believe that, by doing this, they were improving the work environment, projects and ideas. Some people do believe that criticizing and questioning everything other people say is proof that they are “not part of the herd”, that they are “out-of-the-box thinkers”. I won’t say that they are not all those things. They might be. What I do disagree in this case is about what really is “critical thinking”. First of all, for me critical thinking is not just question and criticize what other people say, but to question and criticize, always on a good posture, ideas, points of view and the actual way to approach problems. Never people. Even that guy that never says anything of value on a meeting can, eventually, give a good contribution to a project or toward a good solution. Bear that in mind. But there’s one thing about critical thinking that people often forget. Most people actually don’t even realize that this would be a quality of those with critical thinking. Therefore, they often forget to dedicate their energy to develop this quality. For me, having critical thinking is not only question the way of seen things, but to actually see the critical path toward a solution or a result. Critical thinking and critical path are often taken as two separate things, but I don’t agree with that. In order to effectively question and criticize solutions, ideas and the way to team or project will take, one must have a clear view of the final goal, the strategic objective and a strong base of how to get there. What conditions must be met, what are the milestones along the way, so the team or the project can achieve the final goal. What is the actual project’s “critical path”.

So, if you want to achieve that level where you can say yourself to be a “critical thinker”, first of all you must acquire and develop the ability to see, recognize and understand the critical path of a project. Then, and only then, you will be able to be effective when questioning and criticizing the ideas and approaches that your project team will come up during the journey. Your questions will make sense. People will actually listen to you, because you are not just talking, you are actually contributing. Your ideas are based on strategic goals. You see the big picture. So, next time you see yourself in the position to question an idea, think about the big picture. Consider what strategic goals the project is supporting. What is the end game. Make the difference.