Thinking Critically
- 6 Courses | 2h 24m 11s
- 9 Books | 18h 49m
- 4 Audiobooks | 27h 21m 49s
Leaders use critical thinking to make the best decisions for their organizations. Leverage analytical techniques to better assess information.
COURSES INCLUDED
Welcome to the Skillsoft Leadership Development Program
Whether you are an aspiring, new, or experienced leader who leads people or projects, we've designed this curriculum to meet you where you are in your own leadership journey.
1 video |
4m
Badge
Developing Your Critical Thinking and Cognitive Flexibility
It often seems like the whole world is on information overload. Each day, we encounter massive amounts of new false, or dubious information, alongside a steady stream of data that may, or may not, be relevant to our needs. As a leader, your critical thinking skills are essential for deciding what is important and making the best decisions for your organization. This course will help you improve your critical thinking skills. You'll learn about the intake, investigate, and act stages of critical thinking, as well as how to use analytical techniques to assess information. Finally, you'll learn the advantages of keeping an open mind through cognitive flexibility.
8 videos |
47m
Assessment
Badge
PMI PDU
Leadership Insights on Critical Thinking
Although it might seem counterintuitive, a systematic approach to critical thinking facilitates the creative process that is so valuable to problem solving. Use these ideas to boost your skills and the skills of those around you.
9 videos |
26m
Badge
Critical Thinking: Challenging Assumptions
Every day, we make hundreds of assumptions based on facts, observations, and experiences. Some are useful time savers, but some are based on a weak premise or poor data and can lead to jumping to a conclusion without asking questions or listening to other people's input. When a decision is based on assumptions and prejudices, it mitigates the opportunity for innovation and creativity. Examining your assumptions requires small changes, but the payoff is significant. In this course, you'll learn how assumptions manifest and what power they have on decision making and innovation. You'll learn practices to redirect automatic assumption-based thinking into critical thinking as well as questioning techniques to identify assumptions so you can mitigate their impact. You'll also learn techniques to help you investigate assumptions thoroughly and how to systematically test them, which will give you the best chance of making the best decisions.
6 videos |
23m
Assessment
Badge
Critical Thinking: Investigating Arguments
Every day, people put forth their ideas or points of view. After all, at the heart of every great change, lies a great argument someone has used to influence others. The basis of an argument is expressing a point of view and supporting it with enough evidence to persuade someone to accept a conclusion. How can you determine what's fact, what's opinion, and how to get to the truth of a matter? Part of critical thinking is being able to identify, construct, and evaluate arguments, because only then will you be able to reach logical conclusions and solve problems. In this course, you'll learn how to use arguments in the right situations and explore what makes up an effective argument. You'll also learn to recognize the common types of logical fallacies that can derail an argument, and how to employ reasoning skills against arguments that use tactics of manipulation.
6 videos |
22m
Assessment
Badge
Critical Thinking: Drawing Sound Conclusions
Humans excel at coming to quick judgments based on mental shortcuts. People like definite answers and an end to uncertainty, so sometimes they jump to conclusions based on minimal information and driven by past experiences, social norms or rules of thumb, or emotions. People are jumping-to-conclusions experts. And while that can work in some situations, such as when automatically driving the best route to work every day, you can't fix complex problems with fast decision-making or insufficient information. In this course, you'll learn how to gather and assess the evidence you need to reach a sound conclusion, and what visual tools can help you understand the evidence more clearly. You'll also learn to use lines of questioning to consider the impact and validity of your evidence, as well as techniques to arrive at, evaluate, and implement the logical conclusions you come to.
6 videos |
21m
Assessment
Badge
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EARN A DIGITAL BADGE WHEN YOU COMPLETE THESE COURSES
Skillsoft is providing you the opportunity to earn a digital badge upon successful completion on some of our courses, which can be shared on any social network or business platform.
Digital badges are yours to keep, forever.BOOKS INCLUDED
Book
MIT Sloan Management Review on Critical Thinking and Cognitive FlexibilityIn this collection of articles from MIT Sloan Management Review, you'll learn some of the best ways for modern executives to process information, as well as how managers and business leaders gather and interpret information effectively.
50m
By MIT Sloan Management Review
Book
MIT Sloan Management Review Article on Think Critically About the Wisdom of ExpertsThis article from MIT Sloan Management Review reveals some lessons about assessing the claims of people whose opinions seem unassailable.
9m
By Andrew A. King
BOOK SUMMARY
Winning the Brain Game: Fixing the 7 Fatal Flaws of ThinkingWinning the Brain Game outlines the common pitfalls people run into when presented with a challenge and offers methods to retrain your brain to approach problems differently. In this Summary, we discuss the salient points of the book based on our interpretation of its contents.
9m
By Matthew E. May
Book
Think Smarter: Critical Thinking to Improve Problem-Solving and Decision-Making SkillsPresenting a pragmatic set of tools to apply critical thinking techniques to everyday business issues, this book is filled with real world examples that demonstrate how the tools work in action and includes dozens of practice exercises applicable across industries and functions.
3h 17m
By Michael Kallet
Book
A Practical Guide to Critical Thinking: Deciding What to Do and Believe, Second EditionPursuing an interdisciplinary approach to critical thinking, this book is a unique presentation of the formal strategies used when thinking through reasons and arguments in many areas of expertise.
5h 45m
By David A. Hunter
Book
The Critical Thinking Tool Kit: Spark Your Team's Creativity with 35 Problem Solving ActivitiesWith an aim to get employees thinking better and faster with hands-on activities and ready-to-use assessments, this book helps team members work on challenging assumptions, brainstorm divergent ideas, and then pinpoint the ones that best benefit an organization.
2h 54m
By Marlene Caroselli
Book
An Introduction to Critical Thinking and Creativity: Think More, Think BetterOutlining the tools needed to become a critical as well as creative thinker, this book introduces relevant theories in conjunction with real-life examples and findings from cognitive science and psychology to illustrate how the theories can be applied in fields and careers.
5h 21m
By Joe Y. F. Lau
Book
Critical ThinkingOffering a highly usable framework that can be utilized in many different circumstances, this book provides useful insights into critical thinking and helps readers put some of the best prevailing ideas into practice.
18m
By Jon C. Warner
BOOK SUMMARY
Six Thinking HatsSix Thinking Hats gives you directions and details on how to use the "six hats" to achieve efficiency during work time, and in decision-making processes. In this Review, we discuss the salient points of the book based on our interpretation of its contents.
6m
By Edward de Bono
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FREE ACCESS
AUDIOBOOKS INCLUDED
Audiobook
Winning the Brain Game: Fixing the 7 Fatal Flaws of ThinkingThis audio edition will lead you to better decision-making, higher levels of creativity, clearer strategies, and overall success in business, work and life.
4h 30m 11s
By Matthew E. May
Audiobook
Thinking for a Living: How to Get Better Performances and Results from Knowledge WorkersThis audio edition presents a unique framework for matching specific types of workers with the management strategies that yield the greatest performance.
6h 47m 28s
By Thomas H. Davenport
Audiobook
Standard Deviations: Flawed Assumptions, Tortured Data, and Other Ways to Lie with StatisticsThis audio edition demystifies the science behind statistics and makes it easy to spot the fraud all around.
9h 19m 59s
By Gary Smith
Audiobook
Is This Wi-Fi Organic?: A Guide to Spotting Misleading Science OnlineThis audio edition is a playful investigation of popular opinions and consumer trends that permeate our society. Read by the Author.
6h 44m 11s
By Dave Farina
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FREE ACCESS
SKILL BENCHMARKS INCLUDED
Leading the Business
Becoming a successful business leader means more than just directing and motivating your people. It also requires understanding the business you're in and making sure that you're making decisions that will help your company meet its goals. In this Leading the Business Unit Benchmark, you'll be able to make a frank assessment of your current skills in strategic planning and execution, identifying your strengths and recognizing areas of weaknesses that will benefit from further learning and growth. This benchmark evaluates your understanding of this topic. Being aware of potential knowledge gaps allows you to better understand your current competency and areas for improvement, so you can find suitable content and curate your own learning path. The courses recommended at the end of this benchmark can help you fill potential gaps in your knowledge.
7m
| 7 questions