Critical thinking is the Different approach of
thinking in which we think reflectively and independently in order to find a solution for a complex problem. Critical
thinking is the ability to think in an organized and
rational way so that we can understand connections between ideas and/or facts. In this way of thinking, we focus our attention on root-cause issues and
solving them, critical thinking helps to avoid future problems that can result
from actions and decisions.
The present time is highly competitive, therefore
critical thinking is the ability that must be employed to survive in this
competitive environment.
WHY WE NEED CRITICAL THINKING?
In every part of our life be it professional or personal
we encounter several problems of low, moderate or serious nature, most of the
time we rush off to solve those problems and reach a solution by our actions
and decisions. Sometimes this approach works with small problems, but it can
result in catastrophe consequences in most of the cases because we didn’t put
efforts to analyse the consequences and outcome of our actions and decisions,
that’s where the importance of critical thinking arise.
Problem-solving
process consists of multiple departments and multiple stakeholders, due to
which the complexity of finding a solution increases. When you do finally come up
with a solution, It consists of numerous trade-offs. Not everyone is
going to be happy with what you recommend. There are going to be long
lag times in acquiring the required data to make your decision, and
when you finally do make the call, there's going to be high
scrutiny over whether you were right or wrong, and a bad call can have
both business as well as personal and professional implications.
The importance
of stopping and thinking critically before you rush off and undertake
all these very comprehensive efforts is very high. That critical
thinking process is what's going to differentiate you and the
solutions you develop versus rushing off without any thought at all.
In further
blog I am going to discuss about the tools and methods of critical thinking
that you can use to solve your problem in the best effective way.
DEFINE THE
PROBLEM STATEMENT CLEARLY
This is a very
crucial part of the problem-solving process as a WELL DEFINED problem statement gives you the final destination
point, the goal. It has to be defined clearly to have the RIGHT DIRECTION from start.
If you don’t
know the destination, you can get lost and loose the right path and choose the
wrong one. Therefore it is of utmost importance that you know where your
destination is. Without a problem statement, you're going to spend a lot of
wasted hours, wasted work, and have excessive revisions because your
recommendation won't make sense because nobody knows what you're trying to
solve for. It will give you a boundary during problem-solving which reduce your
effort and hours.
Take a look at
a problem you're trying to solve. Is it clear what the problem statement
is? Do you know who the stakeholders are? Do you know what the goals
are? What the boundaries, constraints, and assumptions are? The time you
spend with this type of critical thought is going to help you be more
effective in solving the problems that you face.
METHOD OF
CAUSE AND CONSEQUENCES
For any
problem that we are facing, we have to reach at the root cause of it. We should
clearly understand the difference between symptoms and root cause.
We should dig
deep in symptoms which are problematic and find the cause for it, figure out
the real reason it's happening. Any symptom must be tackle with multiple
perspectives.
Once you
generate a recommendation, we need to stop and think critically, and
analyse what new problems can you create if you implement this recommendation? What
are the new symptoms that will be caused? You have to think through this
before you implement your recommendation
After you come up with a solution, you have to think what are the new problems that could
emerge, if you implement your recommendation.
By stopping
and thinking about causes first and then consequences, once you do make a
recommendation, you're going to identify the true problem that you
need to solve and, hopefully, you'll be able to avoid causing future
problems
In short there
are 3 steps that you should follow:
- ·
LOOK BACK AT THE PROBLEM - To identify causes
- ·
PROBLEM-SOLVING WITH MULTIPLE PERSPECTIVE - finding the solutions
- ·
LOOK FORWARD IN THE PROBLEM - To identify consequences
USING WHY TREE TOOL
Why tree is a very effective tool to find the root cause of a
problem. It is not a problem-solving tool rather it is a problem finding tool.
Through this tool, we can identify and determine the real cause of the problem.
For any problem we should at least go up to 5 why’s so that
you can discover the right in-depth cause of the problem.
As you look at
a problem you're dealing with, when you see that issue, ask yourself why
it's happening, and ask why again and again and again. By the time
you get to that fourth or fifth why, hopefully a new insight will pop
out and you'll be able to start solving the real problem that will
have a true impact on the organization.
For your understanding, I am using an example of why the tree in
finding the root cause for ink smudging problem in photocopies.
 |
| WHY TREE (sources-Agriculture dept. Australia) |
USE OF 80/20
PRINCIPLE
During
Problem-solving process, you must follow the 80/20 PRINCIPLE or also known as the Pareto’s
principle. 20% led to 80% of the impact, and that’s the Pareto’s principle. We
must employ this method in our problem solving as it can significantly reduce
efforts and time by focusing on that critical 20 % rather than focusing on
those 80% that drives only 20% of the result.
Look at
whatever problem you are trying to solve, understand what the drivers
are, and understand how much each driver contributes to the overall
impact you're trying to have. Spend your time solving for those
issues. The ones that have a disproportionate impact on the metric
you're trying to move. It'll be a much more efficient use of your time, and
you're going to solve the biggest problems your organization faces, first.
SUMMARY
Let’s
summarize whatever we discussed regarding problem-solving using critical
thinking.
STEP 1 – Identify the specific Problem with a well-defined
problem statement
STEP 2 – Break the problem into smaller ones and identify the
root cause
STEP 3 – Focus on the meaningful and critical areas using
80/20 principle
STEP 4 – Conduct the analysis with multiple perspectives
STEP 5 – Think about the problem and consequences that may
occur
1 Comments
👍
ReplyDelete