Critical Thinking Application - Description of Critical Thinking

Critical Thinking Application

Critical thinking provides mental discipline required for decision making and situation analysis. It involves analyzing and assessing a situation for its "clarity, accuracy, relevance, depth, breadth, and logicalness" (Paul & Elder, 2006, p. xxiv). Critical thinking is essential for organizations who make business decisions and individuals who make personal decisions in their daily lives. This paper will describe critical thinking, provide an example of an experience in applying critical thinking, and describe the importance and benefits of critical thinking.

Description of Critical Thinking

"Critical thinking is a mode of thinking - about any subject, content, or problem - in which the thinker improves the quality of his or her thinking by skillfully taking charge of the structures inherent in thinking and imposing intellectual standards" (Foundation for Critical Thinking, 2009, para. 10). A critical thinker is open-minded and communicates effectively when figuring out difficult issues. Critical thinking helps to develop confidence in an individual's ability to figure issues out. The best thinkers are those who think for themselves, ask important questions, and analyze alternatives (Paul & Elder, 2006).

Many negative factors can affect an individual's critical thinking. Some factors are resistance to change, stereotyping, and hasty conclusions. Resistance to change is a natural feeling of fear and a sense of insecurity. The major problems with resistance to change in critical thinking are that it creates unclear judgments and it stops creativity (Palo Alto College, 2005). Critical thinking creates improvement for a situation so a resistance to change decreases growth. Stereotyping gives an individual a fixed opinion of someone or something. It causes a person to choose sides. It also creates destructive competition and injustice. Stereotyping can be avoided by examining the facts before coming to a conclusion (Paul & Elder, 2006). Hasty conclusions occur when sufficient facts are not obtained before a decision is made. Hasty conclusions exclude the idea of using alternatives in the decision making process. It is a bad habit that can lead to ineffective critical thinking (Palo Alto College, 2005). Negative factors of critical thinking must be addressed so that decisions can be made rationally and objectively.

Example of an Experience in Applying Critical Thinking

Critical thinking plays an important role in the military services. The Army's analytical approach to critical thinking is a tool called the Military Decision-Making Process (MDMP). The MDMP is a process that helps leaders to apply "thoroughness, clarity, sound judgment, logic, and professional knowledge to reach a decision" (Department of the Army, 1997, p. 5-1). These are the same characteristics of critical thinking. Military leaders use the MDMP daily for strategic planning and logistical operations. When a military leader encounters an issue, he or she must identify the problem, decide how to fix it, analyze alternatives, and resolve the problem.

Advantages and disadvantages affect the MDMP and critical