Critical Thinking in the Workplace - Essay Example

CRITICAL THINKING IN THE WORKPLACE Presented By goes here] To and number] of the paper]Critical Thinking in the Workplace Before going to discuss the importance and benefits of critical thinking in decision-making processes, let us get a better understanding of what critical thinking actually is. Upson (2011) states, “Critical thinking is the ability to apply reasoning and logic to unfamiliar ideas, opinions, and situations”. Critical thinking is a process, which helps people take correct decisions by analyzing and evaluating both tangible and intangible world.

Critical thinking requires a person to think rationally instead of bringing in emotions and favoritism while taking any kind of decision. Let us now discuss an example to show how critical thinking can be applied to work-related decisions.Applying Critical Thinking to Work-Related Decisions One of my friends, James, was working as assistant manager in an event management firm. A conflict arose when one of his senior employees, Steve Hudson, refused to supervise a campaign on religious grounds.

Hudson had to taste meat in front of the public to launch the campaign. The HR manager consulted the issue with James in order to find a proper solution to the problem. They came up with four options to resolve the issue. Those options included assigning Austin to a low-profile campaign, terminating Hudson’s services on the grounds of disobedience, switching place of Hudson with some other supervisor, and promoting one of Hudson’s subordinates to lead this campaign for this specific event.

James and his manager analyzed all options and selected fourth option because that option was the most suitable one to resolve the issue. James and his manager gave preference to the religious views of Hudson over any other thing and did not terminate him on the grounds of disobedience because he was a very skilled and talented employee of the company.Importance and Benefits of Critical ThinkingCritical thinking plays a considerable role in decision-making processes. It makes people aware of all aspects of the issue, which helps them take most appropriate decisions based on the analysis of all aspects.

Decision-making is the process of choosing the best alternative from the pool of choices. A person needs to look at all possible consequences of all choices before selecting the most suitable choice. The process of critical thinking is unbiased in nature and provides assists decision-makers in taking unbiased decisions. Critical thinking means to let the past assumptions go and embrace new ideas based on proper evaluation and reasoning. Upson (2011) states, “Critical thinking can help people to excel in their professional lives, allowing for clearer, more concise thought processes”.

A person can never take a suitable decision without exploring the issue properly. Critical thinking allows a person to explore the issue deeply to examine all visible and hidden aspects of the issue before finalizing the decision. Critical thinking is based on reasons, skepticism, and rationality. All of these elements assist a person in taking correct decisions. Decision-making process is an unbiased process, which depends on facts and reasons instead of emotions. A person may include emotions in his/her decision-making process but if he/she does not make use of critical analysis, then the use of emotions can lead the person towards a biased decision.

Therefore, a good way is to keep away from the use of emotions while taking a decision on any specific issue. ReferencesUpson, M. (2011). What is Critical Thinking?. Retrieved from http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-critical-thinking.htm