Decision-Making & Innovation

According to Paul & Elder, “critical thinking is the art of analyzing and evaluating thinking with a vision of improving it.” Their argument for the need to utilize critical thinking is the fact that without focus, most of the thinking done by people is partial, many times uninformed, biased, distorted, and prejudiced. What is not easily recognized is the fact that the very fabric of life is

To survive in such a multifaceted and diverse world we as people must possess the ability to think critically in highly complex situations. The world is an extremely challenging place, all of us are forced to adapt by constantly challenging existing principles and performing certain methods to ensure our growth both physically and mentally. Many claim that contemporary society needs a skill called critical thinking to adapt and survive. Critical thinking is a higher level of intellectual progression that makes use of diverse information, skills and attitudes in interpreting situations and confronting problems. Critical thinking is done

B. the reduction in the amount of inventory needed by manufacturing firms due to technological improvements in inventory management.

For many years many organizations were often quick to use a problem-based approach to helping their clients, and for a long time this was accepted and part of the norm. However, in the past few decades the focus now revolves around that of strength and empowerment (Cowger, 1994). From a social service management point of view, it is this focus that has been to strong an issue to ignore. It is the client, who even with being overwhelmed with other life challenges, when given the opportunity, can play a major role in the organizational decision making process. For they can bring a different view point to the forefront, as most are situations many deal with on a daily basis. It is a known fact that in the social work or the social services arena, decision making is an important task on every level. Understanding that critically, decision regarding the goals of the agency and its interaction within the community as well as how the agency is maintained can and usually made on an administrative level.

Over the course of the last six weeks, I have come to realize that critical thinking is an important asset as I continue my journey in life. I have found this course to be both challenging and rewarding. Most importantly, I find myself viewing problems and conversations in a completely different light. While I would not consider myself an expert at critical thinking, I would assess myself in as a Beginner Thinker. Paul and Elder point out in the beginning thinker stage an individual actively begins to take command of their thinking process across multiple facets of their life (Paul and Elder, 2012). Furthermore, we recognize that there are problems in the way we think and begin to consciously attempt to better understand we can improve our thinking.

Furthermore, after mum explained the events which had unfolded I can understand the reason for her distrust of social workers. Mum feels that social services appoint ‘blame’ and work against her and her partner. Mum talked about being lied to and deceived, as opposed to ensuring the parents feel involved and empowered in decisions which affect the family. However, I am aware that the need to safeguard the children may have accounted for disallowing the parents from having too much influence or say in developments.

Contextual thinking involves having an expansive outlook on a situation, relating back to personal experiences, religion, and or culture. In addition, being able to see more than just a small picture but involves the ability to analyze a small concept and develop variations of theories and reasoning reveals critical thinking skills. From past experiences and lessons, I approach interdisciplinary studies from an analytical standpoint. The use of interdisciplinary studies is significant in today’s society. Interdisciplinary studies involve creating your own pathway and constructing knowledge gained in one discipline to another. Being a critical thinking enables me to develop and synthesize ideas in-depth and from varied disciplines. My perspective on interdisciplinary studies is that it functions as an alternative way of acquiring knowledge. Often time’s society focuses on traditional practices of learning, however, who I am as a person allows me to approach interdisciplinary studies from a non-traditional standpoint. From a background nursing, I have acquired efficient knowledge in sciences that allows me to research reasoning and theories through the scientific method to inductive and deductive

Child protection concerns play a large part in Social Work practice, which is underpinned by law, policy, organisational procedures and public enquiries regarding how the Government try to prevent abuse from going unseen (Hothersall 2010).

Critical thinking is a vital task that must be done in our everyday lives. In “Becoming a Critic Of Your Thinking” found at criticalthinking.org, Dr. Linda Elder and Dr. Richard Paul explain critical thinking as “the disciplined art of ensuring that you use the best thinking you are capable of in any set of circumstances”. Even tough there are many different types of methods to achieve a better quality of critical thinking, Dr. Elder and Dr. Paul discuss four specific ones in the article. All strategies, however, force you to put yourself in an uncomfortable and difficult position to develop a better quality of thinking.

Critical thinking is defined by Victor-Chmil as “the cognitive processes used for analyzing knowledge” (2013, para.1). Critical thinking is knowledge based and

The process of critical thinking requires you to ask more questions of both others and of yourself before a decision or determination is made. In order to successfully evaluate data in a critical manner, you must have a system in place to assess information as it is presented. In any situation whether you are having a conversation, observing others, or material you have read, you must be ready to probe deeper and ask the right question at the right time.

The main concepts presented in the article are the varying definitions of each author on the concept of critical thinking. The information the author uses are definitions which are the opinions of varied authors and are similar in foundation in that to apply critical thinking one must be able to identify a problem, pose a question(s), provide valid supporting evidence, and come to a conclusion. Although the author’s definitions do not identify a problem, questions, evidence, or conclusions, the relationship Petress (2004) shows is that the reader must apply this process themselves as it is not always given. The information used does appear to be relevant, significant, and valid. The references the author listed does provide enough information for me to come to this conclusion. Since this work is a literature review and not a case study, numerical data are not necessary to determine validity of the information.

There are said to be six stages of critical thinking, the unreflective, challenged, beginning, practicing, advanced, and accomplished thinker. The unreflective thinker is unable to asses their thinking skills while in the second stage of challenged thinkers, they are becoming aware and figuring out problems. The beginning thinker is similar to concrete thinking, which contains no depth, it regards to the facts and thinking in the periphery. At the fourth stage, the practicing thinker is developing the knowledge for systematic practice, while the advanced thinker now has good habits and can actively analyze information. Lastly, the accomplished thinker can access their intuitiveness and take a position on things in everyday life(Edler, Paul).

Every day as an instructional aide I use my critical thinking skills when deciding whether an impending conflict will escalate to violent behavior, deciding on how to approach a student Everyday many employees of organizations use their critical thinking skills in countless decisions, critical thinking skills are not the only skills used by employees, but they are the most important. As an employee I use my critical thinking skills when applying to the policies and procedures of my organization, making determinations, making predictions and problem solving more so on-the spot decision making, and

The concepts of critical thinking and creative thinking are both gaining increasing importance in the world today. Critical thinking allows people to understand difficult concepts in a manner that is clearer and more defined. They can more readily understand those concepts if they employ critical thinking. In all portions of everyday life, a person is expected to make independent judgments. Those judgments are based on experience and knowledge. Without the ability to think critically, every situation that a person comes across would have to be considered in isolation from all other situations. When a person encounters a problem that is a new one, he or she may be able to use critical thinking to solve those problems.