What is critical thinking and how to excel?

Table Of Contents

Critical thinking is considered a valuable asset, an important skill for any job, and a necessary element to make it easier for you to advance at work.

Critical thinking is considered one of the important skills in every field. Having acquired critical thinking skills, you will form and develop better many other related skills such as active listening, communication, problem solving, etc. So how do you understand the concept of critical thinking? How to improve critical thinking effectively? Please refer to this article of Navigos Search for more information.

1. What is critical thinking? 

Critical thinking is the process of analyzing, evaluating, questioning hypotheses, assumptions and forming a way of thinking and giving an opinion for a certain problem or situation.

In other words, critical thinking is the skill of making a point about an issue and proving that point of view. Critical thinking is very important in every field of work today.

What is critical thinking?

Understand the concept of critical thinking

2. Common types of critical thinking 

Critical thinking can be divided into two main categories:

Self-regulating critical thinking

Self-regulating critical thinking is the process of self-debating with an inner point of view. For a certain problem and situation, each person has their own subjective thoughts and opinions. These opinions may be true or false. People with self-correcting critical thinking style will self-evaluate, refute opinions, and provide the most complete criticism.

External-regulating critical thinking

External-regulating critical thinking is giving opinions, objective thoughts that you think are right to counter wrong opinions and views on the issue. In any group, each individual will have different ways of thinking and reasoning. Since then, there have been many opposing views and opinions, with some right and wrong opinions.

External-regulating critical thinking will help you synthesize and evaluate the opinions of others objectively to solve the problem correctly and optimally.

Self-regulating and external-regulating critical thinking skills

Common types of critical thinking

3. Why should you practice critical thinking skills?

What is the role of critical thinking? Critical thinking is important in today's work and life. When you hone your critical thinking skills, you'll get many benefits:

It is essential for every field 

No matter what field you work in, critical thinking is required. This skill will help you to think clearly and make sharp arguments, helping to solve any problem properly. In particular, this is an indispensable element if you want to become a good leader. If you work in the fields of education, finance/investment, executive management, legal,... critical thinking is even more important.

It helps improve other skills 

In the process of critical thinking, you will think, organize your ideas logically, present your views, give presentations, listen to people, etc. All of which help you improve many important skills, such as communicating, listening, presenting, solving problems,... effectively.

It boosts creativity

Creativity is not simply thinking of a new and unprecedented idea, but that creative idea must be useful, related to the problem being solved and not carry much risk when applied in practice. Critical thinking is at the core of evaluating new ideas, choosing the most original, and fine-tuning that creative idea to perfection. Therefore, in the process of thinking critically, it will promote your creativity, help improve work efficiency.

It helps with self-improvement

With critical thinking ability, you will know how to brainstorm, analyze data and information, as well as integrate diverse knowledge sources to solve problems. These abilities help you develop yourself more, improve your chances of advancement in the field you are pursuing. And when you are confident in your ability, you can completely select and apply for mid-level and high-level jobs that perfectly match with you at Navigossearch.com's job directory. You can also actively send your CV to Navigos Search for a chance to become our potential candidates. When there is a suitable job position, Navigos Search will actively contact, invite you to apply and support you throughout the application process.

Navigos Search's consulting team are recruitment experts who are knowledgeable about the industry, understand the labor market and always accurately grasp the recruitment requirements for each industry. With a very methodical recruitment process, Navigos Search has helped many candidates find the right job position, develop themselves and succeed on their career path.

The importance of critical thinking skills at work

It is crucial to practice critical thinking skills

4. How to excel critical thinking skills? 

Each person will have the ability to perceive, analyze and synthesize information separately to give different criticisms. To train yourself the ability to think critically, you can apply the following methods:

Actively cultivate knowledge and practice related skills

What is the first method to practice critical thinking? Certainly, you cannot argue without knowledge of the subject in question. Therefore, actively cultivate multi-disciplinary knowledge by constantly learning, updating industry or investment trends, taking advanced courses, taking IQ quizzes, etc. both help you improve your critical thinking ability and professional capacity.

Besides, you also need to practice skills related to critical thinking such as observation, analysis, inference, communication, problem solving, etc. The best way is to get practical experience. Another important factor to keep in kind is to not be afraid of collisions and challenges at work to gain more experience and useful lessons. When encountering any problem and situation, apply your professional knowledge and experience to give an objective opinion as well as the best solution.

Have an objective vision

What is the next method to effectively practice critical thinking? Not only do you need to rely on your knowledge, you cannot just insist on defending your opinions and personal views without considering if it’s right or wrong. Let's look at the facts, look at the current situation for feedback. Only then will you know what is right and what is wrong to absorb and improve yourself every day.

Practice asking questions, making assumptions

A problem always has many facets, hidden corners. If you only think briefly, you cannot find the final truth. You should practice asking open-ended questions, digging questions, making assumptions, and then answering yourself to recognize the important factors. Surely, you will be surprised with the results after answering those questions yourself.

Re-evaluate the problem many times

After giving your own opinion and judgment, evaluate and examine the issue many times, from many different perspectives. In the process, you can add important points or find holes in an earlier argument. And if you don't look closely, others will find the point where they can refute your opinion.

Make conclusion based on current situation

As mentioned, with critical thinking, you will encounter many conflicting opinions. For that objection, stay calm, re-analyze the problem in a realistic way and not be influenced by the feelings and thoughts of others or yourself. Never conclude an issue according to your feelings because it not only makes your thinking and perspective wrong, but also makes others not appreciate you.

Apply 5W + 1H rule

To better understand the problem, after fully synthesizing important information, you can build a 5W + 1H diagram. This map should address the exact problem by asking: Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?. Then, based on scientific and logical thinking, list clear answers and draw conclusions for the problem that needs to be solved.

Express your personal opinion

In order for your point of view to be accepted by all, be well prepared in your mind for what you believe to be true and be prepared to answer critical questions. Be confident to present clearly to successfully convince others and to prove that your opinion is correct.

Methods to effectively excel critical thinking skills

Methods to excel critical thinking skills

Hopefully, through this article, you have understood what critical thinking is and the importance of this skill. Try to improve your critical thinking to solve every problem, even the smallest, and don't forget to share the article to more people.

In addition, do not forget to follow the Linkedin page and the Fanpage of Navigos Search to always catch up with the labor market information, hot industries and many other great tips. And more importantly, please share the article if you find it useful. Thank you readers for always accompanying Navigos Search!

Navigos Search - Vietnam's leading middle and high-level talent hunting company


Registration Form For Subscribing To Latest Advices
backtotop