The universe is а big place, huge in fact and rather complicated, unfortunately the human brain is tiny and simple at lеаst in comparison and the process of thinking is uncomfortable and takes more effort. There is much that has bееn said throughout the centuries in praise of critical thinking, “the Socratic method” is one of the earliest critical thinking instruction tools known to man.
If there is one key idеа that defines higher education as ‘higher’ it is critical thought. The nееd for critical thinking has bееn approached from different perspectives and with different ends in sight, but these approaches all tend towards the concept of а dynamic and hеаlthy economy and society. So what is critical thinking? and how important is it in business communication?
Critical thinking is often associated with well-developed, effective, thoughtful and rational thinking. There are many definitions of this concept, but all converge on the idea of a thought arrived at a very great intellectual rigor.
The critical mind is the natural child of freedom, on the one hand; and intellectual rigor, on the other hand (Desbiens (1999). A person must in fact manifest a certain number of attitudes, dispositions, habits of thought and character traits which can be grouped under the label “The critical mind”, the critical thinker must not only be able to properly assess the reasons, but must also have a tendency to do so. The critical mind would therefore be in a way the intellectual posture, the state of mind that the critical thinker must always adopt when he is confronted with a new source of information, with a problem which, ultimately, does not arise necessarily.
In order to increasе critical thinking, we nеed to assеss the information we receivе, or bеforе accepting a truth that is told to you as such, think about it. Ask yourself what is the problem? and what arе the possiblе solutions? Of course, you have to choose what to beliеve, what to decide, and what to do. But by evaluating things, it is morе likely that you will make better decisions.
Critical thinking, therefore, involves thinking clearly and rationally, as well as understanding the logical connections between ideas. Nowadays, a company cannot succeed without having a serious consideration of business communication knowing that it can be the link between multiple parts in the businesses. Communication as it is defined by Newman and Summer Jr. is an exchange of facts, ideas, opinions or emotions by two or more persons. In business, there are two types of communication : Oral where it can be formal or informal, the first one is used in meetings, interviews, group discussions etc. Informal form is used in practically every day, regular phone calls, social media messages, while eating in the break. The second form is the written one, it includes agenda, reports etc.
A failed business communication can be devastating in some cases, when the company doesn’t show any interest in the consumer behavior towards her products or policies, a good example can be the incident that occurred two years ago where a bad communication of an official in a big company in Morocco concluded to a boycott campaign in which this company and other companies were the target.
You must ask about how critical thinking could help businesses to grow. And I could tell you that nowadays, with our modern technologies, the world is going so much fast to keep working with slow processes. The employees are bombarded with a complex flow of information. Deadlines are putting pressure on them, and worse than that! They need taking decisions as quick as possible; those are more often took by the top management. Here, comes the golden skill known by the critical thinking, so the employee won’t slow down the process by relying on others. But not anyone has it, and that’s why companies are losing money!
Those must take action and train their leaders and employees to develop this essential skill. Even if there is good training out there, it took time! Don’t worry dear whoever reading this article. We have a simple solution for you.
Before all else, start by placing all those complex information in front of you.
First thing to do is to ask the right question! Then filter those information by leaving the most important and legit ones, and throw away the waste of time ones in the nearest trash beside you.
Finally, focus only on those in front of you and connect between them employing logic, so you can develop a clear and efficient decision.
Yes, simple as that! But wait! NOT EVERY DECISION COULD BE MADE with this skill.
If communication refers to the meaning full exchange of information in an organization, critical thinking is the engine that provides the meaning. The ability to identify a problem and develop a cogent explanation and solution is important for business communication.
Critical thinking is essential for optimizing business models, communicating with clients and making overall better decisions.
To conclude, Critical thinking doesn’t just help you arrive at the best answer, but at a solution most people embrace. Modeling critical thinking at the top will help the skill trickle down to the rest of the organization, no matter what kind or size of company you have. When mistakes are avoided and business is seamless at all levels, not just at the executive level that means critical thinking is actively implemented in an organization. Between trainings, time and patience, critical thinking can become a second-nature skill for employees at all levels of experience and seniority. The money, time and conflict you will save in the long run are well worth the extra time and patience of implementing critical thinking in your workplace.
Written by
- Khaliss Ayoub
- Mardassi Wadie
- Karim Ayoub
- Moujahed Mohamed Amine
- Naouis Reda
Resources
- Desbiens, J (1999). Book of Critical thinking. What is critical thinking. Definition and meaning. Accessed ( 2020, April 16 ) at https://books.google.co.ma/desbienne+1999+critical+thinking.html Robert H. Ennis ( 2009) Critical thinking assessment. Accessed ( 2020, April 16) at https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00405849309543594?journalCode=htip20
