Staying
grounded in reality is not easy these days. We are bombarded with so much
noise, misinformation and flashing news alerts. It’s easy to get distracted
from what is truly important. Getting grounded in reality requires a very sound
principle known as Critical Thinking. If more people would simply think in a
critical way, they would break through the clutter and see the truth.
It all
starts with listening to various viewpoints and asking questions. A good
framework for asking questions is to cover the W’s and the How: Who, When,
Where, Why and How. Your goal is to aggressively dissect the issue from various
sources and through a series of questions you filter out what is false and
retain what is true. Take for example a
small child who is always asking questions about how things work – they have a
natural curiosity of seeking the truth. Decisions are deferred until you
compile enough evidence to reach an objective and rational conclusion. The
challenge is to remove your prejudice feelings and just like a child, remain open-minded,
finding your way to the answer.
In order to
reach a sound conclusion, you will have to apply reasoning. This typically
takes two forms:
Deductive Reasoning
(top down) and Inductive Reasoning (bottom up). Deductive reasoning is when you
arrive at an answer and you decide to apply it. For example, you have concluded
that nasal spray is a better way of treating your allergies as opposed to
taking pills. When you get an allergy you try it and see if your deductive
reasoning is correct. Inductive reasoning is the opposite – you are not sure
why the problem is taking place and you try to identify the reasons. Perhaps
you develop a list of things that could be causing your allergies. One by one
you test and work through the list until you find the items that are causing
the problem.
Reasoning is
not easy. There are so many ways of getting derailed. Here are 18 areas to
watch out for per The Thinker’s Guide to the Art of Strategic Thinking
by Linda Elder and Richard Paul:
1. Jumping to conclusions
2. Failing to think about the
implications of your decision
3. Not staying focused on the goal or
objective, wandering off
4. Not grounded in the reality of your
current situation, too idealistic
5. Not recognizing contradictions or
evidence that says the opposite
6. Asking vague questions or giving
vague answers to questions – If you don’t know, just say so
7. Reliance on information that is
incomplete, inaccurate or not relevant
8. Inferring something about the
situation from your own experiences, but it doesn’t fit this particular
situation
9. Distorting information or evidence
to advance an agenda
10. Not recognizing your assumptions
11. Spending too much time on things that
are minor or insignificant to the decision
12. Not aware of your own bias or short
comings
13. Unable to communicate effectively
14. Improper use of words
15. Key ideas were not recognized
16. So called experts are not qualified or
really experienced with the subject
17. Over simplifying what is essentially
very complicated
18. Forming concepts that are too
theoretical and not practical enough
If we
leverage this list and distill it down, then it becomes important to follow a
set of principles. These principles include:
1. Clarity – Remove the ambiguity to
put focus on the problem. You can better understand a problem by comparing it
to similar problems or re-phrasing the problem.
2. Accuracy – Don’t accept what someone
tells you. Make sure it is true or false before accepting it. You want your
decision to be based on accurate evidence. In some cases, you may have to
validate it.
3. Precision – It can help to be
precise with statements. For example, by quantifying a statement you bring
increased precision to what you are saying. For example, it is accurate to say:
All human beings have a limited life span. It is more precise to say: Human
beings have an average life span of 69 years. By providing more details, you
become more precise.
4. Consistency – When you take a
position, it should not be in conflict with known facts. Your decision should
be consistent with the evidence that supports the decision. For example,
Politicians are often criticized for making statements to one group and then
changing the statement to fit another group. You need to be consistent in what
it is you say or decide.
5. Relevance – You should focus on
those things that are relevant to the decision. It is not unusual to spend
excessive time on noise and other information that has nothing to do with your
problem or issue. There should be a connection or relationship with the
information that is under consideration regarding a decision. You also may have
to consider the significance of the evidence to your problem. Some variables or
factors are much more important than others.
6. Sound Evidence – Critical thinkers
look for good evidence and ask: Why should I accept this? Examples of evidence
include: Samples, Observations, Testimonials, Comparisons, Research,
Experiences, Subject Matter Experts and Expert Witnesses.
7. Good Reasoning – When you make a
decision or take a position, you should have good reasoning behind the decision
or position. Your thinking has support behind it based on observations and
factual evidence.
8. Depth – Your viewpoint, position or
decision should speak to the problem or issue. It must be deep enough to
explain it or possibly solve it. You sometimes may fall short of not going far
enough. Perhaps your analysis was cursory and incomplete. You have to speak to
the issue and not avoid it.
9. Breadth – Critical thinkers consider
various viewpoints. They seek to remove bias by considering other opinions. A
wide net is cast in how a problem is viewed – we enlisted Engineers, Artist,
Women, and others to uncover different perspectives.
10. Fairness – It is important to be fair
to all sides. For example, if you spend all of your time listening to liberal
viewpoints without listening to conservative viewpoints, then you are not being
fair. You cannot let your own personal feelings or viewpoints cloud your
decision.
Finally, as
you gain more experience and knowledge across a wide range of situations, you
can start to act on intuition. This is the advanced level of decision making
whereby you have mastered the principles described in this article. This
requires a lot of experience with decision making across a wide range of
situations. Two books that can help give you insights behind intuition are: Blink
by Malcolm Gladwell and The Go Point: When It’s Time to Decide by
Michael Useem.
