Critical Thinking Matters
We live in a time where a lot can be done for us. Google home and Alexa answer just about any question you ask. There is a company for any product you can think of to need. The only place that requires out of the box thinking is the work place and it is noticeable. The skill of critical thinking seems to have vanished overall to the easiness and abundance of prosperity today. At one point, most of life required the ability to think through tough situations. The internet was not around to solve any issue. We could not easily contact each other to request aid. Once again, the work seems to be the last place that requires this skill. Now why do I keep bringing this up? Think back to a coworker or employee under you. No matter what they learned, it did not quite stick. They just did not get it almost to the point of frustrating for everyone. This is because they lacked this one ability. Critical thinking allows one to see past the information and utilize it in new and useful ways. For example, someone who takes a solution for one problem and learns to utilize it for another issue critically thought about the similarities between the 2 situations. Now the real question is, is critical thinking a learnable skill or is it acquired at birth?
The answer to that question is a bit of both. Some individuals are wired the right way to look at problems correctly. Unfortunately, I have worked with people that had all the best intentions to learn as much as they could. Countless hours of effort and true frustration from that person showed me that they would require much more time to master that task. I point to creativity as the difference maker. Some of us imagine the problem and look at solutions. For others, they do not have the creativity to test multiple theories in their head . The good news I have also worked with people that gained critical thinking on a particular subject against all odds. They were not cut out for the work presented to them. Three months into training, it seemed like we had to tell this individual that it was over. They proved us wrong in a grand way by becoming one of the best of that training class. Their critical thinking ability overall was still lacking but they worked so hard that they compensated in overall knowledge. They saw so many problems and solutions that nothing surprised them.
Being born with a knack for critical thinking is nice. Learning it is not impossible. A great amount of work is needed but it can be done. It comes down to the amount someone is willing to work in order to master it. Going back to the point at which someone masters a sport or job. They are willing to go through a process so many times that they have a feel for every problem coming at them. With that amount of knowledge, an individual is already half way there in getting the best solution. Test yourself a bit over the next few days. Instead of looking something up online, see if you can think your way through a situation. That gives you a good understanding of where your critical thinking is and allows you to take steps to make it better.
