- September 26, 2021
- Posted by: Shafqat Jilani
- Categories: Blog, Business Consulting, Business plans, Business Troubleshooting, Human Resource, Innovation, Marketing, SME, Training and Development, Uncategorized
A CEO guaranteed that his business was the leader in the market. Clients will never leave him because the cost is too high to switch. One day he was shocked, as Procter was not sure whether to renew his contract with the company. Too many business leaders do not think through issues and do not give themselves enough time to solve them. They jump to the conclusion they see. In worse cases, the C-suite leader just selects the proofs and evidence that are giving them benefits. There is a lack of metacognition, making them super confident. Critical thinking is a skill that can be learned. We will suggest three simple steps to improve your critical thinking skills based on my experience and some research.
The three major and effective things are:
- Assuming questions
- Taking out logic through reasons
- Expanding and diversifying the thoughts
You might think that you already do that. Doing this deliberately and thoroughly makes a bigger impact. If you cultivate these habits like critical thinking, which we will explain in the topic, then it will help you in a long run. You will increase your skills in the market.
Assuming Questions
We noticed one important thing: the companies presumed their customers had more disposable income than they thought. So they overpriced their products and services, which resulted in decreased sales. They could make millions more if they had low prices, but they were overconfident in their beliefs. It’s sometimes difficult to question the smallest detail of your everyday life. Do I eat a balanced diet? Is the sky blue? How can we predict that the economy will not explode in the future?
The first step in critical thinking is to question assumptions, and after this, figure out how to question them. A questioning approach is helpful when there are risks or when you are in win-lose situations. There is much Customized Corporate Training you can take to work on decisions. If you’re discussing long-term business goals, you should start by asking the basic questions which will help benefit the business and will answer your beliefs. How do I increase the profits of the business? What do you think about the future of the market? Have you stepped into the customer’s shoes and seen how they will think after buying your product or services?
You can also consider alternatives to questioning your assumption. What if our customer base decreases? What if the suppliers will not work with us? These questions will help you gain an important perspective that will sharpen your thinking. Asking these types of questions will help you engage in critical thinking effectively.
Taking out logic through reasons
Most companies make the mistake of drawing a conclusion based on insufficient evidence, and overly broad generalizations. The companies believe that most customers have the same interests and preferences, they don’t believe in critical thinking, and as a result, they don’t see what their customers want. They neglect the fact that different countries and customers have distinct preferences and tastes. If they believe that customer interest plays a vital role in the business’s success, they will have a huge profit. Paying close attention to the chain of logic plays an important role in an organization. Ask yourself some questions: Is the idea constructed in every way to support the evidence? Do all shards of evidence, every piece of evidence, add up to form a conclusion? Common misinterpretations and fallacies will also help you in thinking logically. For example, people believe in post hoc thinking. People think A caused one event like B as it took place after A. We will clear most effectively like a sales manager thinks that a sales agent is doing effective sales because of the motivational speeches we make him listen to on that day. Until that assumption is tested the manager will think in the same way, he doesn’t have any way to know if his belief is accurate or not.
Expanding and diversifying the thoughts
People sometimes don’t immune to groupthink. When they are around people who are similar in age, religion, or beliefs they try to solicit different perspectives. In this way, they become a better thinker and mast the key of critical thinking. It’s natural to be around people who have the same interests and beliefs as you. Social media also with the help of algorithms show us the things in which we are interested. This becomes a problem when people around us think in the same way as us then we will not adapt to new things and it will become difficult to change our beliefs and thoughts because we don’t get new information. In this way, we will not be able to think out of the box. You can surround yourself with people who can have different interests. Like if you are in accounting, you should make the friends in the marketing group. If you always enjoy the company of your senior staff then you should go for lunch with junior staff.
Train yourself in this manner to help you escape your usual thinking and gain better insights. When forming your team, ask employees to express themselves independently while still being influenced by the group. Ask team members to email the notes to the managers separately. This will help prevent people from participating in groupthink. These tactics will help you in the business world. Your company will get successful when you will think smart. @sk IKTAR to help your business teams in progressive and critical thinking.
