Transcription
What if the biggest thing holding back your career isn't your effort, but how you think? I'm going to show you exactly what critical thinking looks like with a three-step framework you can start using immediately. Critical thinking skills will turn you into someone others see as a strategic leader rather than just a hard worker.
This is part two in a series about the top soft skills all professionals should have. As I put out each part, I'll update the links in the description below so you can easily find each piece.
Critical thinking is one of the most cited soft skills in the workplace today. It's also the least understood. It shows up constantly in job descriptions, performance reviews, but most people have no idea what it actually means to demonstrate it consistently. At its core, critical thinking is about being more careful, disciplined, and systematic in how you interpret information, dissect arguments, and make judgments.
In professional settings, one of the most practical frameworks for doing this is the RED model of critical thinking that was developed by Pearson Talent Lens. It's been around for almost 20 years and has been studied in academic journals across various fields of study. RED stands for three core skills: recognize assumptions, evaluate arguments, and draw conclusions.
First, recognize assumptions to identify what's being taken for granted. This first step is about spotting what's being assumed. Many people treat their own assumptions as facts even though their assumptions may have never been verified. In the workplace, unexamined assumptions drive a surprising number of big decisions. If your assumptions are wrong, then your conclusions are likely wrong as well.
Here's an example. Let's say a team member says, "Our customers don't want this feature." That sounds reasonable on the surface, but that claim may be built on assumptions rather than data. In many professional settings, if someone speaks up with confidence, most people in the room will assume the speaker has good reasons behind what they believe, especially when the leader says it in the room. Good critical thinking means asking questions to get past those assumptions. If somebody says that customers don't want this feature, good questions might be, "Which customers? Based upon what data?" Strong critical thinkers slow down and ask themselves and the group, "What assumptions are we making here? What evidence supports that assumption? What might be be missing?" Questions like these will improve the quality of thinking in the room and position you as a rigorous critical thinker.
So, here's my question for you. How often do you stop and question the assumptions behind a decision instead of just going along with it? Good critical thinkers pause and examine the assumptions beneath the message.
Number two, the E stands for evaluate arguments to make sure the reasoning holds up. Once assumptions are on the table, the next step is evaluating the person's argument. And when I say argument, I don't mean people are fighting. An argument in both professional and academic settings is simply a claim supported by reasons and evidence. Some professionals will articulate a clear position, use strong evidence, and explain things with sound logic, and that's the way you should do it. Others, however, will express an opinion with very little data or evidence to back them up.
As a critical thinker, here's what you should be listening for. Clarity is important. Is the person's overall position clear? Quality of evidence. Are the data, examples, and supporting materials credible and relevant? Logic. Do the conclusions follow naturally from the evidence? And potential bias. Is anything being selectively included, excluded, or interpreted?
Here's an example. Somebody says confidently, "We should invest in this strategy because our competitor is doing it." That may sound persuasive, but there's not much backing it up yet. Good critical thinking questions here might be, "What results is the competitor getting from that strategy? How similar is their situation to ours? How would that strategy help us specifically?"
I was once observing a meeting where a professional spelled out the top four priorities their clients wanted, and they presented the list with a lot of confidence. For a few minutes, that confidence seemed to be driving the conversation, but then someone started asking very simple questions. "Where do these four priorities come from? How do we know this is what clients actually want?" Within a few minutes, it became clear that there was no evidence backing up those priorities. The speaker just felt strongly about it personally. The critical thinker in that room saved the team a lot of time and effort.
Here are a few more questions you can ask to dig into the evidence. What evidence supports that? How strong is the data behind this? Can we walk through the reasoning step by step?
I'd like to make one important note. On paper, these questions can come across as pretty blunt and direct, but you don't want to sound like you're a lawyer cross-examining a witness. Soften tough questions with supportive, curious attitude and composed nonverbal communication. If you strike the right balance, you should come across as someone who genuinely wants to understand, not someone who wants to be pushing back and putting people on the hot seat.
So, question for you. When you hear a strong opinion at work, do you usually just accept it, or do you take a moment to examining the reasoning behind it? And when you ask good questions, you're helping the team. Think about it that way. As they say, if you have a question, other people usually have the same question.
Number three, draw conclusions you can support. This is where critical thinking becomes most visible. When the analysis and the questions have run their course and you've looked at the issue from every angle, it's time to draw a conclusion, make a judgment call, and offer a recommendation. A good critical thinker will concisely and clearly explain their position. They'll explain their why. You want to show how you've weighed the evidence carefully, you acknowledge key uncertainties, and then give a clear bottom-line recommendation.
Instead of saying, "We're going to go with option B," a strong critical thinker says, "Based on the data and constraints, I recommend option B because it reduces risk while maintaining flexibility." Explaining your why demonstrates a higher level of contribution and makes a stronger case for your conclusion.
Here's a simple framework you can use to explain any decision, recommendation, or judgment call. Structure your message in just a few sentences using these three starter statements. Here are the options, and that's about what you're choosing between. Here are the core tensions and what matters most. In other words, the key tradeoffs driving the decision. Here's my recommendation and why.
Let's fill that in with an example. Here are our options. Tool A is cheaper. Tool B costs more upfront, but it's a much better tool. In terms of the core tension, tool A saves us money in the short run and it's easier to use, but it doesn't do everything we need. So, the key question is, do we save money now, or do we get something that actually works long-term and fills the reporting gap we've been dealing with? What I'd recommend is that we go with tool B. It costs more upfront, but the reporting gap is already costing us time, and our time literally translates to money. Fixing it once and for all is the better option.
Now, you can obviously change the wording of your lead-in sentences to fit your style. Just make sure you frame your talking points around the options, tradeoffs, and the reasons for your bottom-line recommendation. That's the sound of a critical thinker.
Here's a summary of the RED steps of critical thinking. There are lots of ways that you can put this into practice immediately. And as mentioned, this is part two in a series on the top soft skills that all professionals should have. The next video looks at how to improve your problem-solving skills. Until next time, thanks, God bless, and I'll see you soon.