Amazing traits of critical thinkers that we can learn from to succeed!

This is the era of thinkers, especially in the new digital age.Critical thinkers keep upgrading their knowledge, and they engage in independent self-learning. Let us examine their traits and learn from them. 

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Albert Einstein, Henry Ford, Marie Curie, Sigmund Freud and are people who have shaped our modern lives. These are the ones who think clearly and rationally, and make logical connections between ideas – and are crucial to exploring and understanding the world we live in. This is indeed an important trait. We spend so much time on various skills why can we not understand how we need to think, which is something we are born with. With the digital world already here, we need this more than ever before.

This is more than just the accumulation of facts and knowledge; it’s a way of thinking about all this is our mind to come to the best possible conclusion.

If we hope to reach our full potential to carve an identity for ourselves, let us examine these traits.

1. Observation

Observation is a critical thinking skills we learn as children -- it’s our ability to perceive and understand the world around usbservation includes our ability to note details, and collect data through our senses. Our observations will eventually lead to insight and a deeper understanding of the world.

2. Curiosity

Some people say curiosity killed the the cat, however being interested in the world and people around us is a hallmark of leaders who are critical thinkers. Instead of accepting everything blindly, a curious person will wonder why something is the way it is.

3. Objectivity

Good critical thinkers stay as objective as possible when looking at information or a situation. They examine the facts, and on the scientific evaluation of the information at hand. Objective thinkers seek to keep their emotions (and those of others) from affecting their judgment.

4. Introspection

This is the art of being aware of our thinking -- or, to put it another way, thinking about how we think about things. Critical thinkers introspect so they’re aware of their own degree of alertness and attentiveness, as well as their biases. This is an ability to examine our inner-most thoughts, feelings and sensations. This is also called self reflection and takes us to new heights.

5. Analytical thinking                                                                       

 Analytical thinkers are critical thinkers, and vice versa. The ability to analyze information is important when looking at any almost anything, whether it is a contract, report, business model or even a relationship.

For this we do need objectivity.

6. Identifying biases

Critical thinkers see the evidence that forms their beliefs. They then assess whether or not those sources are credible.

This is an important step in becoming aware of how biases intrude on your thinking and recognizing when information may be skewed.

7. Determining relevance

One of the aspects of thinking critically is figuring out what information is the most relevant, meaningful and important for our consideration. In many scenarios, we will be presented with information that may seem valuable, but it may turn out to be only a minor data point to consider.

8. Inference

Information often does not come with a summary that spells out exactly what it means. Thinker who are critical need to assess the information and draw conclusions based on raw data. This is where we need inference, the ability to extrapolate meaning from data and discover potential outcomes when assessing a scenario.  

9. Compassion and empathy.

Some people think, being sentimental and emotional can skew our perception of a situation. We need to know that the point of having compassion is to have concern for others and to value the welfare of other people.

10. Humility

Humility is the willingness to acknowledge one’s shortcomings and see one’s positive attributes in an accurate way without attaching ego into it. This opens one mind.

11. Willing to challenge the status quo.

 Questioning long-established business practices is necessary as change is the only certainty in life. This is an essential trait of a critical thinking.

12. Open-mindedness

Critical thinkers  step back from a situation and don’t get embroiled in one point of view. This makes them have a broader view with acceptance of all perspectives.

13. Aware of common thinking errors.

They don’t allow their logic and reasoning to become clouded by illusions and misconceptions. Some things others do are :-.

• Cognitive shortcut bias, in which one stubbornly sticks to a favoured view or argument when other more effective possibilities or explanations exist.
• Confusing correlation with causation. This is asserting that when two things happen together, one causes the other.

14. Creative thinking

Critical thinkers are  also creative. They think out of the box. They experiment with different methods and consider different viewpoints.

15. Effective communicators

Very often, problems with communication are based on an inability to think critically about a situation or see it from different perspectives. With critical thinking, we coherently build our thoughts and express them.

16. Active listeners

Critical thinkers engage in listening actively and      hear others’ points of view. Instead of being a passive listener, they actively try to participate. They ask questions and gain insight.

In Sum

Particularly now when the world is changing a lot and becoming digital, we all definitely need to apply all of the above to remain relevant and successful. SMEs need to keep applying the above traits and students need to learn it as soon as possible to become future leaders.  Let us then move to a successful and vibrant world with critical thinking.

Ref: www.entrepreneur.com