“If I am paid for my thinking and problem solving skills, how I can become better in this?” – this is a question that I ask myself from time to time.
A book “Think Smarter” provides clear definition of key stages of critical thinking process (clarity, conclusions and decisions) and gives step by step instructions what to do on each of the stages.
Some ideas and instruments can look pretty obvious and well-known but a value of the book in systematic process that author created.
Among multiple things taht I liked in the book are:
- Visual representation of decision making process – how expiriences, observations, facts and assumptions form our conclusions and how to distinguish fact from observation
- Definition of “outside the box” thinking. “What is “the box” in thinking?” is a first question to ask to understand
- Explanation what is premise and why it can be weak or strong. This is important knowledge to measure confidence of the conclusion
- Abductive thinking – how my conclusions will change if some of my assumptions are wrong? Or how would I think about it if I had not some of my expiriences?
My next step for the topic “Critical Thinking” is to write an article that will apply critical thinking to customer’s requests prioritization.
So, a lot of interesting ideas written in easy to read language. Totally recommend to read.
Check out series of my articles how critical thinking framework applies to prioritization.
Overall rating – 5 out of 5.