Meet Dr. Giedre Vasiliauskaite, a lecturer, trainer,
researcher specialised in soft skills development for academia and business,
and specifically: analytical (critical thinking), argument analysis and
cross-cultural management. Currently Dr. Vasiliauskaite is teaching courses in
critical thinking at a number of in-company programmes by The Hague Executive
Campus. Below she shares her thoughts on critical thinking:
WHAT IS CRITICAL THINKING?
Very often, when I tell people that I teach Critical
Thinking, they come up with scores of ideas and assumptions. For example, they
assume that critical thinking deals solely with being judgmental or winning an
argument. Well, none of these is completely correct. To put it broadly,
critical thinking is a theory that aims to make thinking process more
efficient. It developed at the intersection of philosophy (logic), linguistics
and psychology.
There are two major dimensions/parts of this theory:
1) analyzing the process of thinking into separate yet
interrelated elements; and
2) evaluating those elements and deciding which ones
are worth keeping and which ones need to be improved. The word ‘critical’, as
Gerald Nosich points out, refers to the word ‘criteria’, and not to the word
‘criticism’.
Critical thinking study provides information about
biases and mistakes in reasoning and offers knowledge about the process of
thinking and its challenges. It also outlines guidelines on how to think, speak
and write in a positive and respectful manner and influence a particular
audience not by force and manipulation, but by presenting strong arguments.
WHERE CRITICAL THINKING CAN BE USEFUL?
Although at first glance, it may seem a bit
theoretical, critical thinking may help in many ways. Thinking process is
behind all our actions and decisions. In business people are exposed to huge
amounts of verbal information. Their
messages should be short, informative and persuasive. However, sometimes even
though people come up with brilliant ideas, these get lost behind verbal clutter and others simply fail
to notice them. Studying critical thinking helps to address that. When we
highlight the skeleton structure of an argument, it is easier to see how ideas
connect together and whether they form a coherent big picture. That way we can
get rid of redundant information that clutters communication and wastes
valuable time.
Furthermore, critical thinking helps to recognize
biases, faulty assumptions and weak spots in thinking. Let me give an example.
Current economic recession has shown that the beliefs people had about the
market don’t seem to work. So in order to improve the situation, first we have
to make sense of what went wrong, challenge the hidden assumptions that drew
economy off the rails. Knowing how to look for them and how to challenge them
is also a part of the critical thinking course. Imagine, you are driving
mindlessly in an unknown environment and suddenly you hit a hole in the road.
Next time you drive through the same street, you will be more careful and drive
around the hole. Similarly when you are aware of the challenges and biases of
reasoning, you know what to expect and can be more prepared to handle the
situation better.
Finally, critical thinking helps individuals to
develop more resilience. That means to be knowledgeable, to recognize biases
and not get easily influenced by bad arguments. Going back to the example of
current economic situation, with less money on the market, less stability and
unpredictability of the future is challenging individuals to become more
entrepreneurial and look for new opportunities to generate income. The required
change comes in (at least) two dimensions: it is needed not only to revise the
policies in organizations, but also to strengthen the entrepreneurial mindset
of people. That means that people gain more autonomy, are more able to think
for themselves, identify and learn from mistakes, and come up with innovative
solutions in situations of ambiguity.
Interested in sharpening your critical thinking
skills? Contact us at info@thehague-executive-campus.com for details
You can read the original publication here
if you want it.
PORTAL DA
LÍNGUA INGLESA has no responsibility for the
persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-partly internet websites
referred to in this post, and does not guarantee that any context on such
websites are, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
In some
instances, I have been unable to trace the owners of the pictures used here;
therefore, I would appreciate any information that would enable me to do so.
Thank you very much.
Is something important missing?
Report an error or suggest an improvement. Please, I strive for accuracy and
fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact me!
Did you spot a typo?
Do you have any tips or examples
to improve this page?
Do you disagree with something on
this page?
Use one of your social-media
accounts to share this page:
