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Critical thinking
Critical thinking is increasingly important in our personal as well as our professional lives. When we consume information (online or in person), we have to be able to discern between what is factual and that which is not. This becomes especially important when you navigate a space that is filled with misinformation and fake news.
METHULI MBANJWA, FORETHOUGHT AFRICA
Methuli Mbanjwa is a Co-founder and Director at Forethought Africa and Partner at Embedding Impact. Methuli holds an MBA from UCT, a Master’s degree in Chemistry and a number of professional qualifications, including completion of the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership’s Prince of Wales Business and Sustainability Programme for Senior Executives.
Critical thinking aids in your judgement of the information you consume. It helps you to know which advert on your phone is worth checking out. It’s what helps you know whether you have really won 2 million dollars with that random SMS or not. It teaches you to check where the source of a news headline is coming from. And, in a job, it gives you the ability to weigh up information, scrutinise it and form a logical conclusion. Be active in thinking about information – do not simply follow a take-in and respond approach. There are many examples out there of what happens when an action is taken without deliberately thinking through the information and the potential impact of an action – think, for example, of how decisions made for global economic progress over the years have contributed to negative social and environmental outcomes. A courageous leader needs to be able to examine the facts and come up with lasting solutions. Although there is substantial evidence on the need for critical thinking as a skill, there is still limited focus on it in education. In my personal experience, fresh graduates tend to be great at researching, absorbing material and reproducing it. The key skill required, however, goes beyond this – it is necessary that a person is able to “process” the information beyond just the superficial and formulate their own conclusions and opinions. What emerging ideas can you observe from the information? Are they connected with each other or any other information or themes outside of the source? Is there some logical process towards a logical conclusion? In the end, the most valued team member is the one who can solve complex problems. At the very basic level, can you differentiate between idea, fact or opinion? When someone makes a claim about a study, are you able to determine whether it is valid? There are a number of tools and methods that can be used to either guide or ingrain critical thinking processes. Our thinking on a daily basis is not critical, and the opposite is not automatic.
24 / CAREERS SERVICE GUIDE 2021
