AVQ 2 Original

BIG THINK+ — DECEMBER 21, 2022
https://bigthink.com/plus/critical-thinking-training/
Author: Joanne Willard
Critical thinking training: 5 key lessons for

employees
employers participating in the AAC&U’s periodic surveys consistently grade critical thinking
as one of the most vital skills for success in the workplace. The 2020 survey ranked it second
in importance only to the ability to work effectively in teams.
The survey also found that while 60% of employers rated critical thinking skills as very
important, only 39% agreed that recent college graduates have been well prepared by the
training on critical thinking they received in school.
This is one of the main reasons of critical thinking training is growing in demand among
organizations across sectors. Learning and development leaders are tasking their teams with
determining what it would take to develop critical thinking skills in the workplace, at scale.
Critical thinking training in the workplace
Critical thinking refers to the act of analyzing evidence, observations, and arguments to
form a judgment. It often requires the conceptualizing and synthesizing of information.
Specific skills that are commonly addressed in critical thinking training include:
• Identifying a problem or question
• Using more than one strategy to approach a problem
• Gathering relevant data , opinions, and observations
• Analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating data
• Understanding patterns and connecting ideas
• Making inferences from data
• Thinking creatively
• Practicing self-reflection, self-regulation, and open-mindedness
• Identifying assumptions and biases
• Identifying and evaluating alternative courses of action
• Anticipating the possible outcomes of different actions
• Testing hypotheses
• Making data-based decisions
While some personality traits are particularly conducive to critical thinking, such as curiosity
and creativity, employees without these traits can benefit greatly from critical thinking
training. The five lessons below are an excellent starting point for organizations looking to
develop this skill set in their workforce.
Common Cognitive Pitfalls in Decision-Making
Guarding against the possibility of biases influencing one’s decisions is a key principle that is
often discussed in critical thinking training. In her Big Think+ class, Liv Boeree —
international poker champion — addresses several cognitive pitfalls that can result in faulty
decisions
As Boeree described, confirmation bias is the tendency to overvalue evidence that confirms
one’s existing beliefs and undervalue evidence that contradicts them. She later goes on to
explain status quo bias, which reflects the natural human aversion to change and is defined
as a preference for how things have been done previously.
There is also the sunk cost fallacy, which refers to the act of making decisions based on
previously invested resources rather than desired outcomes for the future. For instance,
some organizations cling to legacy systems, creating a nightmarish patchwork of fixes before
eventually reaching the conclusion that it’s time to scrap the old and embrace the new.
Open to Think | Dan Pontefract
In his book, Open to Think, award-winning author and professor Dan Pontefract describes
“open thinking” as a cyclical process that involves creative thinking (dreaming), critical
thinking (deciding), and applied thinking (doing).
The first stage in the process involves generating new ideas unrestricted by constraints.
Then in the critical thinking stage, one evaluates and makes data-driven, fact-based
decisions about the ideas generated through creative thinking. Finally, applied thinking
operationalizes the decisions resulting from critical thinking.
This dream-decide-do cycle can be repeated as many times as needed to improve outcomes.
The true power of the model lies in its iterative nature because it allows for the possibility of
failure, treating it as a learning experience and opportunity for improvement.
Let Information Permeate Your Organization | Andrew McAfee
Effective critical thinking doesn’t just rely on the individual thinker. In order for the skill to
thrive among individuals, information must flow freely throughout the organization. And
employees must have the support of their supervisors in using that information.
Andrew McAfee, MIT scientist and author of Machine, Platform, Crowd, says that in the
Information Era, managers should no longer act as gatekeepers of information. Today’s
technology makes it easy to distribute data throughout all levels of an organization.
If the marketing team has information that would be useful to the sales or product teams,
that information should be easily accessible by all. And as McAfee suggests, team leaders
can provide specific suggestions for how to best make use of the information. These are key
strategies that leaders can learn in critical thinking training.
The Art of Perception | Amy Herman
Amy Herman — art historian, attorney, and author of The Art of Perception — offers a
unique model for thinking critically about observations that she refers to as the “Four As of
Visual Intelligence.” Herman defines visual intelligence as the ability to assess, analyze,
articulate, and adapt to visual information in one’s environment.
• Assessing your situation involves consciously making observations and determining
what information can be extracted from them. Herman suggests asking others to share their
observations, as no two people interpret things the same way.
• To analyze the information is to examine it closely and decide what is important and
necessary.
• To articulate one’s observations is to describe in words the important observations
and the information they provide.
• Finally, adapt to the situation by making a purposeful decision based on the
information from the previous steps, and act on that decision.
In her Big Think+ class, Herman suggests consciously practicing the Four As until they
become automatic. This develops a mindset of applying critical thinking skills to make sense
of information in the world around us.

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BIG THINK+ — DECEMBER 21, 2022

Author: Joanne Willard

Critical thinking training: 5 key lessons for

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