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Mirror, mirror on the wall... Am I a critical thinker after all? - Laila Bougria - NDC Porto 2023
Learn the skills and strategies to develop critical thinking, improve decision-making, and overcome biases, with actionable tips from expert speaker Laila Bougria at NDC Porto 2023.
- Critical thinking is not something you’re born with, it can be learned and developed.
- Key to critical thinking is to frame the problem correctly and understand the stakeholders’ needs.
- Identify and understand your stakeholders, their needs, and how they connect to the specific problem you’re trying to solve.
- Use collective pronouns to boost collaboration and avoid finger-pointing.
- When making decisions, consider the available facts and evidence, observations, and analysis.
- Be aware of the words we choose and how they can influence the outcome.
- Reduce complexity by breaking down the problem into smaller parts and iteratively solving them.
- Avoid making assumptions and try to find opposing evidence to your statements.
- Encourage diverse perspectives and challenge your own assumptions.
- Use tools like the five whys technique to drill deeper into the problem.
- Quantify risks and make sure that you have a clear understanding of what is at stake.
- Evaluate the potential impact of each decision and consider the smallest possible change.
- Frame the problem in terms of the stakeholders’ needs, interests, and constraints.
- Consider multiple perspectives and do not assume you are right.
- Keep an open mind and be willing to change course if needed.
- Look for alternative solutions and consider the potential consequences of each.
- Make sure each solution aligns with the problem statement and is based on the evidence.
- Evaluate the decision based on the available data and consider the potential risks.
- Encourage feedback and consider the perspective of others.
- Overcome biases and avoid emotional decision-making.
- Recognize that critical thinking is a skill that can be developed with practice and patience.
- Cultural and social norms can influence decision-making, and we should be aware of these biases.
- In complex systems, consider the potential consequences of each decision and how they might interact with other parts of the system.
- Make decisions based on evidence and evaluation, rather than assumptions and gut feeling.