The Art of Making Effective Decisions

You are in a dilemma of making a tough decision and you have limited information and time.  You wonder what could drive you to make the right choice.  It is not a yes or no decision, but rather a more complex one that needs a strategic move.  You lead a team and the time is running out for making the call. Everybody is looking at you and asking what are the next steps. Everybody is expecting you to decide immediately. You have nothing to answer, except for “I have no clue, what do you think?”.

These are the difficult moments that need a decision or questions to move the situation forward. At these moments you need a secret weapon for making smart decisions, while others rely on you. These are the moments when you need critical thinking to support you with your decision-making process.

In this article, you will learn about critical thinking and how it can help you make better decisions.  Having the tools and tips for cultivating your critical thinking can turn you into a better decision-maker. We focus on practical guides, examples, and tips to make you think further and change the way you approach decisions.

What is Critical Thinking?

Critical thinking is the process of analyzing and evaluating information, assumptions, and evidence objectively to form a well-reasoned judgment. It is more like having an internal detective who questions your thoughts, and assumptions and examines evidence before concluding.  

In critical thinking you need to ask the right questions, looking at the issue from different angles and not making decisions only using one perspective. When you think critically, you are not making decisions based on gut feeling. You think thoroughly about all options, you take a distance and start to challenge your assumptions and biases.  You weigh the pros and cons and you make the decision based on logical evidence.  

Ways to cultivate your critical thinking

You have to consider your critical thinking as a mental muscle that needs training and continuous reinforcement. How can you achieve or even improve your critical thinking to make better decisions? 

Ask Tough and Open Questions

Do not be satisfied with the first answer you get.  Also, do not stop at the first answer you get from yourself.  Ask deeper questions that would lead to more insights.  A good technique is to ask five times “Why?”, known as the “5 Whys” technique from lean management.  Asking again and again why triggers different responses and targeting to the root cause.  Also, you can make the other think deeper to answer your next “Why”. Try to ask as many open questions, as open questions can generate more broad answers with more information.  

Investigate Multiple Perspectives

You have to always check multiple perspectives and sides before you can conclude on an issue.  Always consider the source of the information and the motives of the people giving this answer. Is the source reliable? Do the people try to achieve another goal with their answers?  Consider always an alternative direction and practice active listening. Active listening will confirm your understanding and also show appreciation for the views of others.

Reflect on Your Past Decisions

Overcoming your biases on a topic can be hard and requires developing self-awareness.  Try to step out of your “ego”. We are biased based on previous decisions, as we do not want to show that they were wrong.  We want to protect our “ego” and we fear losing credibility.  See previous decisions as past experiences, for collecting information.  Based on this information you are now to make a different or new decision.  These experiences from the part will help you improve your critical thinking skills.   

Be ready to take Risks

Now every decision is easy.  There is no decision with all the information given. Quite often, making the best decisions need balancing the risks and handling the “gray zones”.  You have to feel confident without having all the answers.  Remember that if you do not make the decision, somebody else will do it for you.  Therefore, you need to be brave enough and listen also to your inner instinct for taking calculated risks.  Critical thinking is all about taking calculated risks.  

Critical versus Analytical Thinking: Is it the same?

Analytical Thinker as Organizer of Details

Analytical thinking is a linear thinking process of taking a problem and decomposing it into smaller manageable pieces.  You can use analytical thinking in complex problems, that can be solved step by step.  Think of analytical thinking as a method to solve a puzzle. With analytical thinking, you are examining each component systematically and defining the problem situation.  Then you identify patterns, trends, and cause-and-effect relationships.  This gives you the facts and analyzes complex problems for making conclusions.  The solution comes based on available data and the depth of the analysis.

Critical Thinker as Big Picture Evaluator

Critical thinking is a more holistic approach to stepping back trying to see the big picture and asking why the problem exists at all. Then you sit back and evaluate the information that can be summarized in assumptions and judgments.  Then critical thinking involves questioning these assumption, based on logic and experience.  You have to consider multiple perspectives and alternative viewpoints. Important to the critical thinker is to evaluate the credibility of the related information. So it is like standing in front of a puzzle and trying to solve it from multiple perspectives or to question if it makes sense to solve it.  

Different or Complimentary Thinking Approaches?

We can say that the two processes are different and complementary at the same time. Analytical thinkers can be combined with critical thinkers to enhance the decision-making process. The analytical thinker breaks down complex problems, identifies key issues, and uses synthesis to formulate solutions.  The critical thinker comes with an open mind and curiosity.  She tries to generate alternative solutions and question assumptions based on emotional intelligence and biases.  

Practical examples of Critical versus Analytical Thinking

To make the difference more concrete and understandable we have to analyze real-world scenarios.  These scenarios can expose more differences and synergies between the two ways of thinking.  

Sales Data Analysis

• The analytical thinker examines the sales figures and trends.  Identify the differences compared with last year and make conclusions about sales strategy effectiveness based on data.  
• The critical thinker is evaluating the sales strategy based on the sales figures.  Makes assumptions if the strategy is effective, and tries to conclude on the external factors affecting sales.

Product Development

• The analytical thinker is breaking down the features, and requirements.  Then he concludes with the KPIs for the specifications and proceeds with the product development.
• The critical thinker is evaluating first if the product requirements align with the market needs and trends.  He examines different scenarios to predict future trends and then decides on the strategic direction for product development.

Employee Performance Review

• The analytical thinker makes the performance review based on KPIs and project results. He collects all the information per target and makes the evaluation piece by piece based on numerical results.
• The critical thinker makes a holistic evaluation of the employee’s overall performance.  He evaluates the dynamics in the team, attitude, and growth potential.  He makes assumptions based on KPIs and decides on the evaluation and the next career steps.

Challenges in the Decision-Making

Every decision you have to make is different.  There is not a decision that you can repeat without assessing the information.  Moreover, there are multiple challenges that you may need to overcome to improve the quality of your decisions.  You must be aware of such challenges in decision-making.

Confirmation Bias

Our brains are hardwired to take the most familiar and “safe” shortcut.  This is good for gaining efficiency in our brain capacity but can be very bad for the quality of our decisions. Our biases are based on previous experience, personality, and beliefs.  The so-called “confirmation bias” is the tendency to confirm assumptions and information that are familiar to us and we feel safe with them. Critical thinking can support us to recognize these biases and try to overcome them.

Analysis Paralysis

We live in the information world, saturated with information.  By collecting so much data, it can create a lot of “noise” in our decision-making process.  This means that we may have a lot of irrelevant or conflicting information, that would make us difficult to decide. Critical thinking is coming to set you a step back and assess the situation from a higher level.

Group Thinking and Peer Pressure

Have you been in a big meeting, in which everybody agrees on a decision and you have objections? That is the groupthink effect, where there is no debate or not all the information is evaluated correctly. You may value your cohesiveness to the group, rather than make objections and debates.  So your opinion is not taken into account.  Critical thinking brings healthy skepticism and diversity of viewpoints.     

Time Pressure

When decisions must be taken very quickly there is the risk that you may be forced to decide without all the data and viewpoints.  This is especially true during crisis management when you do not have the time to implement analytical methods of decision.  Critical thinking is coming to make you see the big picture and judge the situation.   

Emotional Engagement

Have you been in a meeting where you had to make difficult decisions affecting negatively other people?  Then may have triggered negative emotions that force you not to make the decision.  Emotions play a big role in our decisions and how we formulate them.  Critical thinking is coming to challenge such assumptions based on emotions, by looking from the opposite direction.  

So how critical thinking can systematically help us against these challenges?  Critical thinking needs effort and practice repetition to build habits.  Here we provide some methods for overcoming these challenges in your decision-making process.

Do not proceed too fast

Slow down the whole process as much as possible.  If you are in a meeting and there is a need for a decision, wait until the next day if you have this possibility. More information may come or other ideas will be raised. With critical thinking, you need to avoid knee-jerk and emotional reactions to a situation.  Give as much as possible time to the decision-making process to avoid false judgments.  

Seek Diverse Perspectives 

You have to look for multiple opinions before you make a decision.  Do not rely on a single source of information and always ask for the opposite side. Using critical thinking you ask for more ideas and you are open to further perspectives.  This will help you avoid cognitive bias and make more balanced decisions.  

Encourage Dialog and Debate

If you are in a meeting with group thinking, then stop the discussion and encourage people to share different opinions.  In that way, you may encourage some participants to speak up and give their opinions.  If you see some signals for opposition, then start the debate. With critical thinking, you encourage an environment of dialog and anybody can challenge the group thinking. 

You can also encourage using techniques such as “Devil’s Advocate” sessions and “Six Thinking Hats”. In the “Devil’s Advocate” session you ensure that there is always an opposition to challenge the decision.  In the “Six Thinking Hats” technique, developed by Edward de Bono, you assign different roles to people that must ensure different perspectives to the decision discussion.  Both techniques can improve the quality of the decision, and provide hidden insights.  

Find the Root Cause 

Finding the root cause of a problem can lead you to better decisions.  Targeting the root cause of a problem will ensure that the problem will not come to the surface again.  The most common method is the “Five Whys” technique.  In this technique, you ask why continuously until you find the root cause of the problem.  Every “Why” can reveal a layer of information closer to the root cause.

Visualize and Document Decisions

By visualization of the path that led to the decision, can provide more clarity and alignment in the group.  Decision journals and mind mapping are the most common methods of documentation.  These methods will enforce your critical thinking and help you seek different perspectives. 

Become a Better Decision-Maker with Critical Thinking

Decisions are important for setting the direction and forcing us to move forward. Making the correct decision at the right time will transform you into an effective leader. That is what makes critical thinking so important.  It enables you to avoid mistakes, challenge assumptions, and take into account multiple perspectives.

By improving your critical thinking skills, you can solve complex problems without all the data analysis.  You can make more informed and rational decisions based on the big picture. Critical thinking will support you in taking calculated risks. This will foster innovation and creativity in your team when uncertainty is high.  It will also make you more flexible in challenging and dynamic environments.  

Next time you have to make a critical decision, embrace critical thinking, and make the right choice. Set yourself and your team for success.

---

FAQs