Critical Thinking

Critical Thinking Application

Dwane Anthony

University of Phoenix

MGT/350

March 14, 2011

Nancy “Oni” Boston

Critical Thinking Application

According to Criticalthinking.org (2009), "Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action” (Defining Critical Thinking, para. 3). Simply stated, when an individual gathers enough information to analyze a situation and couples his or her knowledge or life experiences to determine a reasonable outcome or develop an educated answer or plan.

In the workplace individuals use critical thinking to accomplish many tasks. The outcome of these decisions made during the critical thinking process may affect others in the workplace. These affects may be either positive or negative.

Personal Work Experience

Plan for the worst and hope for the best was taught in basic training. As soldiers moved from basic training to their perspective units the training continued. Arriving at Ford Ord, California, the suspense continued to build. Meeting everyone in the unit was overwhelming. The person in charge of the unit, the commander, was briefing all new soldiers on preparing for combat. This was just another day in the life of a soldier in the military.

As soldiers progressed throughout their careers the training received was tuff, realistic, and necessary. Every soldier went through required training prior to deploying to combat. These tasks trained were relevant to the area of operations he or she was deploying to. One such task taught was problem-solving skills. This class taught the soldier how to identify the problem, break it down into smaller portions, analyze it, and determine a viable solution that would save lives and resources (Mind Tools, 1996-2011). This...