Critical Thinking Skills

Course Overview

The pace of change and volume of information we encounter in daily life make it hard to think through decisions. Instead, people often rely on biases and rules of thumb, which trap them into drawing faulty conclusions. The most successful teams use critical thinking—objective and rational analysis—to illuminate the wisest conclusions.  Critical thinking is the ability to think reflectively and independently in order to make thoughtful decisions. By focusing on root-cause issues critical thinking helps you avoid future problems that can result from your actions.

In this course, the instructor outlines a series of techniques to help you develop your critical thinking skills.

Learning Objectives

• Identify how to break down complicated issues into smaller components.
• Identify the primary benefit of focusing questions.
• Identify a problem's root causes.
• Apply critical thinking tools to analyze consequences.
• Comparing critical and strategic thinking
• Minimizing bad judgements
• Recognizing cognitive bias
• Using counterfactual thinking
• Overcoming loss aversion
• Avoiding logical fallacies
• Creating a culture of critical thinking

Course Outline

• Defining Critical Thinking
• Non-Linear vs Logical Thinking
• Evaluating and Analyzing Data
• Advantages of Critical thinking
• Considering Multiple Perspectives
• Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
• Best Practices