Post by Elena Romero on Feb 11, 2016 22:26:36 GMT
Many of the factors that can get in the way of people thinking critically have to do with the scrutiny and thoroughness in looking at situations from many different angles. That may even include angles within our own emotional landscape. One of the most interesting things I read was from the IQ Matrix online article and it had to do with critical thinking that includes different viewpoints. A few of the key questions were "Have you considered the opposite viewpoint" and "What would someone who disagrees with you say". I found that upon reading these questions I IMMEDIATELY felt defensive! I wasn't even addressing an issue or problem, but simply the thought of an opposing view made me feel this way. That was a huge lightbulb for me in the ways that critical thinking HAS to expand to all fields of thought and how EMOTIONS can affect and cloud my own critical thinking in ways I didn't even realize.
Personal Example: Early on in becoming a supervisor there were some key changes implemented in our department. We met as management and decided on these changes and then took them to the team to implement. The reception was fairly negative. After speaking with some team members it occurred to me that had I included them in the decision making, hashing out some of the details and looking to them for guidance on implementation not only would I have gotten their buy into the process as a whole, but I would have fully thought through some of the kinks that only their perspective made me aware of. I thought I had thought of the process from every angle, but I lacked the perspective of those that were dealing with the day to day interactions with clients. It was an extremely important lesson to learn, and allowed for me to being growing as a supervisor AND as a team member in my department.