Becoming a Critical Thinker - Business Decision Making - ثاني ثانوي

Lesson 3 Chapter 3 www.ien.edu.sa Becoming a Critical Thinker Developing your thinking and problem-solving skills is a gradual process that requires conscious effort on your part. Changing your thinking habits and prac- tices is a long-range project and something you should commit to throughout your life. Table 3-2 identifies the do's and don'ts for becoming a critical thinker. Figure 3-4 illustrates the habits of critical thinkers. case After analyzing your premises and data, you conclude that the new tour assistant for Dammam tours needs training to improve her time and customer management skills. This should result in greater enrollments on the tours. You meet with Omar to make your argument, confident in your critical-thinking abilities. TABLE 3-2: Becoming a critical thinker do's and don'ts Guidelines Develop intellectual humility Be critical Have confidence in your critical thinking Do Recognize the limits of your own knowledge and understanding • Be aware of your biases and limitations • Be inquisitive and open minded while also being empathetic and respectful of other people Challenge your own assumptions, ideas, and beliefs •Practice critical thinking • Accept solutions that are good enough instead of perfect Don't • Don't grow overconfident about your habits or conclusions • Don't be cynical when you should be critical • Don't be negative or distrustful • Don't be intolerant of uncertainty 82 3 Chapter رة ا Ministry of Education 2024-1446 95198_book_PP1.indb 82 FIGURE 3-4: Critical-thinking habits Inform or decide Discover and observe Question assumptions Test and revise Evaluate arguments 07/05/2024 10:57

وزارة التعليم Ministry of Education 2024-1446 Business Decision Making S1 S2 S3.indb 83 Essential Elements 1. Develop intellectual humility Intellectual humility is defined as recognizing the limits of your knowledge and understanding of a situation. It includes an awareness of your biases and limitations in your thinking. When you are intellectually humble you become more open to other ideas, different viewpoints, and potential solutions to problems. You are also better able to avoid the effects that false beliefs and habits of mind tend to have. 2. Be a critic, not a cynic Becoming a critical thinker is not the same thing as being a cynic or critical person. A cynic is generally negative, scornful, and distrusting of other peo- ple. Cynics are often self-righteous and quick to point out flaws in other people's arguments. It is because of this that cynicism and critical thinking are sometimes confused. A critical thinker is neither negative nor distrustful. Rather, you should be inquisitive, questioning, and open minded in your thinking while also being empathetic and respectful of other people. 3. Challenge your assumptions and beliefs Sometimes we put our own blinders on and limit our ability to think critically. You can overcome this by not only challenging other peoples' arguments, but your own assumptions, ideas, and beliefs as well. Don't always believe and accept everything you see for the first time. Ask yourself what you want to see or hear and how that influences any incoming information. Hold your- self to the same intellectual standards that you have for other people. 4. Work through complex issues and problems Critical thinking is certainly hard work; however, it is also an important part of being a professional. There are no simplistic solutions to complex human problems, and you need to be prepared to work through complex issues. Don't become comfortable with the easy answers or give up when you become frustrated. 5. Have confidence in your reasoning ability Know that you can learn to be a critical thinker and that your reasoning and decision-making abilities can improve with practice. Trust yourself and give yourself permission to think openly and honestly. Know that your ideas and solutions may not always be optimal, but in most cases they will be "good enough" and better than they would otherwise have been. Thinking Critically 83 30/06/2023 14:28

Guesstimating is critical thinking One way to become a critical thinker is to 'guesstimate'-giving approximate answers to mathematical questions such as the amount of space required to gather all the people in the world in one place. In fact, you could fit the entire world's population into an area the size of Riyadh with plenty of room to spare! While, by nature, it is imprecise and involves some degree of speculation, the ability to guesstimate is an invaluable skill for any critical thinker. According to the traditional Arabic proverb, "Ask the experienced, not the learned." Guesstimating can be viewed as a technique that bridges the gap between what one has learned (the known facts) and what one has experienced (one's intuition and ability to make a judgment based on their practical interactions in the real world). Guesstimating should not be relied upon for making big decisions that will have a significant impact on the final outcome of a result, especially when there is sufficient time in the schedule for collecting and interpreting all the relevant information. However, it is particularly useful in situations such as business meetings, when a quick judgment is needed to 'get a sense' of the current state of play in the short- term before the full facts are established. YOU TRY IT Practice becoming a critical thinker by identifying the habits of critical thinkers. Complete the following steps. 1. Get ready Read the following statements and consider whether each one describes a critical thinker. 1. It is unlikely that any overseas tour assistant will ever develop good cus- tomer service skills. 2. I assumed that the new tour assistant does not value promptness, but after talking to her, I think that assumption is wrong. 3. Based on my limited knowledge of business management, I recommend additional training for the new tour assistant. 4. I'll try to help the new tour assistant improve her time and customer management skills. But if that doesn't increase tour enrollments, I give up. Someone else can tackle this problem. 2. Now you try it Decide whether each statement describes a critical thinker. Identify which habit each critical-thinking statement demonstrates. 84 Chapter 3 Ministry of Education 2024-1446 Business Decision Making S1 S2 S3.indb 84 30/06/2023 14:28

REVIEW QUESTIONS 1. Which one of the following is not a habit of critical thinkers? a. Intellectual humility b. Methodical reasoning c. Cynicism d. Questioning assumptions 2. What quality do you have when you understand the limits of your own knowledge? a. Intellectual humility b. Scientific reasoning c. Valid arguments d. Social conditioning وزارة التعليم Ministry of Education 2024-1446 Business Decision Making S1 S2 S3.indb 85 Thinking Critically 85 30/06/2023 14:28