Quick decisions based on wrong assumptions lead to quick trouble. Quick decisions based on a faulty analogy do the same. “Ready, fire, aim” is a prescription for poor marksmanship.
Richard Neustadt asks, “are you facing a problem that can be solved or a condition that must be treated?” Mistaking one or the other can be painful.
Are you using a flawed analogy? Assumptions that are not true? Are you asking “what should I do about this?” before you ask “how should I think about this?” If you are, you get only the solution to the wrongly defined problem.
These are the essentials of critical thinking. And there are a couple more:
* Being extro-spective: seeing the bigger picture beyond the immediate situation
* Looking around the corner: having a sense of what could happen later
* Having the ability to view doing nothing as one of the possible choices
Click to Add the First »