Critical thinking is an essential skill to possess in today’s world, characterised by the acronym VUCA, which stands for Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous. The demand of the times is to look at things objectively, dispassionately, and in depth and deriving the relevant information through the process of observation, experience, reflection, reasoning and analysis.
1. Ask the right questions
Being curious and asking the right questions is an essential precursor to developing a critical process. The critical process begins with looking at the information to be processed inquisitively. Once you begin to ask questions to yourself, your mind starts to look at the information differently and in depth. You start to engage with the matter at hand from a different perspective and look at things which would otherwise not come to your notice.
2. See beyond the obvious
To establish a critical thinking process, you have to learn to think beyond the most obvious. Successful people are able to instinctively interpret things in ways that are not common and derive different conclusions from the same set of information given to others. This is what sets them apart. The fine print is always difficult to interpret, it’s not for everybody to have the ability to read between the lines. But a person with critical thinking abilities is able to look beyond the things that everyone else notices, and identify what’s relevant and what’s not.
3. Rely on your instincts
Critical Thinking Process is deeply instinctual. What you think naturally, from your guts, is what you should be relying on whenever you find yourself in any dilemma. Learning to trust your instincts in all situations comes in handy. This is because everything else depends on the external- your knowledge and the experiences you have, but your instincts define who you really are and will never let you down.
4. Go through the evidence
Critical Thinking Process also involves thorough investigation of the evidence at hand. For instance, in CAT, the Reading Comprehension requires critical thinking skills from the candidates to comprehend the passage accurately. Analysis of the passage and looking for the right answers involves critical thinking. The DI section too involves the process of critical thinking, as the candidates need to interpret the given data, critically analyse it without any preconceived notions or bias, and use the right calculations to arrive at the right answer.
5. Be systematic
In whatever you do, try to be systematic and organised. Critical Thinking Process happens when your mind is thinking in a clear and logical manner. The ability to organise your thoughts coherently is a necessary condition of critical thinking, which involves getting to the solution or conclusion in a step- by- step manner, such that the chances of arriving at the right answer increases and the possibility of going wrong decreases.
Essentially, critical thinking is engaging with the problem deeply and thoroughly. It involves complete attention to the problem, using the skills of observation and analysis. A lot of it comes naturally to a candidate but a hard-working candidate can develop this skill too.
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