Critical Thinking Is a Process

Critical thinking is a process by which information is gathered, synthesized, analyzed as a guide to belief or action. Critical thinking is described as having two main components. The first is the set of information and belief generating and processing skills and the second is "the habit, based on intellectual commitment, of using those skills to guide behavior" (Scriven & Paul, 1987).

Critical thinking is an important skill for decision-making for a number of reasons. Critical thinking allows you to properly evaluate the situation. Moreover, the use of critical thinking in decision-making allows you to properly assess not only the situation at hand but also the ramifications of the different potential decisions. Understanding all of the potential consequences of the different decisions with which you are faced allows for a better decision to be made in the first place (Schachter, 2006).

The critical thinking process works because it contains all of the steps necessary to ensure that one's decisions are as sound as possible. Critical thinking demands that information be gathered -- making hunches based on half-truths is not acceptable. The second step in the critical thinking process is that it demands the information be synthesized and analyzed. This forces the thinker to consider all of the data that has been gathered, not simply a few parts that best support his or her established views. Lastly, the process of critical thinking itself supports better decision-making. Because critical thinking is a defined process, it is conducted in the same way every time. This consistency, and the discipline on the part of the thinker to apply this model in every instance, will lead to decisions that are more consistent, more easily justified and ultimately stronger. The set of the person's decisions over time will not have as many inconsistencies and those decisions can reasonably be expected to build on one another.

My role is as a team leader in the loan center of a financial institution. One instance where critical thinking was required was when an employee of mine, who had worked for me for several months without incident, arrived for work late several times over the course of a couple of weeks and performed poorly on the job. My team is fairly large, so I conduct most of my evaluations on the basis of productivity reports.

Normally, the level of performance that this employee demonstrated was so poor as to warrant a written warning, the first step in the process towards dismissal. However, I applied my critical thinking skills to the situation. The person's current behavior was inconsistent with her past behavior. I decided to gather information. The next morning I noticed that she was late again, and I monitored her behavior. I continued monitoring over the course of the day. I now had more information to go on, but it was not enough. I caller her in to speak to her directly. Information gathering is essential to critical thinking. I learned that she had some profound personal issues that were distracting her, and making it difficult for her either to be punctual or to perform at an acceptable level. I gathered more information from my fellow team leaders about the best ways to handle such a situation, and I consulted the company's policy manual. I processed all of the information I had gathered and was able to use that data to formulate a decision. While her level of competence was unacceptable, and would likely continue to remain that way until the personal problem was resolved, I knew I had a good employee and it would cost us more to replace her than to give her leave to find a solution for her problem. I made her that offer. She accepted the offer, even though we could not pay her for the time away. She was able to resolve the situation, and eventually returned to work. She has acquitted herself wonderfully since returning and has now been promoted into another department. The company retained a valuable asset and the employee was able to deal with her problem free from distraction -- outcomes that might not have occurred had I simply made a gut decision based on inadequate information.