Introduction to Critical Thinking
Published by O'Reilly Media, Inc.
The basics for business
Critical thinking is the consideration of alternative arguments or theories in light of evidence; it consists of weighing two or more ideas to see which is closer to the truth. In fact, you’re already using critical thinking skills in some aspects of your life. In this two-hour course, you’ll learn why getting into the habit of critical thinking is crucial in the workplace.
Through a combination of discussion and exercises, you’ll explore why this way of thinking is different from other types of thinking, such as following a habit or deciding on gut instinct; why critical thinking equips you to move toward better answers or more effective solutions; and how you can use critical thinking to facilitate innovative thinking. Finally, you’ll learn that critical thinking is not at all difficult—in fact, it can be deeply satisfying—once you learn what it is and appreciate its value. You’ll leave this course equipped with examples that you can draw on to immediately use critical thinking in your workplace and improve products and process.
What you’ll learn and how you can apply it
By the end of this live, online course, you’ll understand:
- The definition of critical thinking
- Why critical thinking is crucial to solving problems and innovating
- How it applies to everyday business
And you’ll be able to…
- Apply critical thinking skills to business needs
- Become more effective in your work
- Work with your team to solve problems and approach barriers to critical thinking
This live event is for you because...
- You’re a manager in any area of your company and you need to help your team identify and solve problems.
- You’re an individual contributor in any area of your company and you want to become a thought leader in your area.
- You lead a growing company, and you need to know how to infuse critical thinking into your workforce.
Prerequisites
Please reflect on and be prepared to discuss the items in this document - Pre-Course Reflections
Read Chapter 1 “Entering the Exciting World of Critical Thinking“ from Critical Thinking Skills For Dummies
Read the article “The Lost Art of Thinking in Large Organizations,” MIT Sloan Mangement Review
Read Chapters 1 and 2 Does Your Company POUND or FLEX
Schedule
The time frames are only estimates and may vary according to how the class is progressing.
Critical Thinking: Introduction, definition, and relevance in today’s workplace (25 minutes)
- Lecture: Defining critical thinking
- Exercise: Share examples of recent critical thinking
- Lecture: History of critical thinking as the core of progress and innovation; using critical thinking to uncover and help solve problems
- Exercise: Use critical thinking to decide where to vacation
- Lecture: Why critical thinking is crucial for your team to succeed
- Exercise: Share examples where critical thinking was not used at work
Barriers to critical thinking at your company plus ways to approach them (25 minutes)
- Lecture: Defining three barriers to critical thinking in the workplace
- Exercise: Identifying barriers to critical thinking in your workplace
Break (10 minutes)
Applying critical thinking to daily business (30 minutes)
- Lecture: Review of a fictional company and its struggles to create a smaller spin-off product from a highly successful product; understand how habit is the enemy of critical thinking
- Exercise: Identifying habits in your workplace that might stifle new ways of thinking
- Lecture: Review five examples of how critical thinking can affect your everyday actions at work: process, meetings, reports, emails, and overall company strategy
- Exercise: Identify alternatives and provide evidence for changing habits and changing behavior to encourage critical thinking
- Exercise: Identify alternate outcomes to situations in the examples that would have led to better outcomes; consider what actions could be taken next.
How to apply critical thinking to your life and team every day (20 minutes)
- Lecture: How to think critically about the tolerance for critical thinking in your workplace
- Exercise: Hypothetical examples of companies that encourage or discourage critical thinking
- Exercise: Measuring your understanding of critical thinking
Question and Answer (10 minutes)
Your Instructor
Connie Missimer
Connie Missimer is an empirical philosopher and expert in critical thinking. She’s been privileged to offer business-related workshops on the O’Reilly learning platform for five years. She has over 15 years of experience in the corporate world as a usability engineer, advising Google, Samsung, and Microsoft on making their mobile devices more user-friendly. Connie holds several patents and is the founder of Critical Thinking at Work.