Critical & Creative Thinking

What Are Critical and Creative Thinking?

The use of critical and creative thinking skills is an important part of learning and living. In the past, most work was done by hand, and individuals followed their bosses instructions. Today more and more employers look for workers with good thinking skills.

People work in teams; they use highly technical equipment such as computers, robots, and communications links; and they often make decisions that were assigned to supervisors only a few years ago. This new workplace requires brainpower; that is employees who have skills in critical and creative thinking–people who can decide what needs to be done and create ways to do it.

When you use critical and creative thinking, you think about your thinking. This is called metacognition.

Critical and creative thinking are similar yet different. the following explanations will help you understand the difference.

  1. Critical Thinking means thinking about thinking in order to decide what to believe and how to behave.
  2. Creative Thinking means thinking about thinking in order to bring something new into existence, such as an idea, and event, or an object.

Both types of thinking ask you to stop, reflect, plan before you act. When you see critical thinking, you think about things that already exist, and you wonder how to react to them. For example, when a doctor decides which critically ill heart-transplant patient should get an available heart, he or she uses critical thinking. when you think creatively, you think about the need for something that doesn’t yet exist! Inventors are a good example of people who use creative thinking.

Common Characteristics of Critical and Creative Thinking

Critical and creative thinking share five attributes. knowing these common characteristics will be helpful.

  1. Both critical and creative thinking are processes (ways of doing things) that are used to solve problems.
  2. Both critical and creative thinking are time consuming.
  3. Both critical and creative thinking aim for solutions or outcomes.
  4. both critical and creative thinking can be improved through knowledge, practice, and coaching.
  5. Critical and creative thinking work together for effective problem solving.

Thinking Takes Time

Thinking is a time-consuming process that involves doing something. Effective thinking often takes time,  yet you are used to things happening quickly in life. Because technology allows the events of everyday life to move at a fast pace, you usually get fast results. Stopping to think can feel dull and boring.

Metacognition can help you here. When you are involved in tasks requiring critical and creative thinking and you get feelings of “too slow,” “boring,” and too much trouble, ” use these feelings as signals that you need to slow down. Be metacognitive, and tell yourself that your reactions are normal but out of place when you need to solve a complex problem or reach a difficult decision.

Here are more articles to increase your understanding of using your Critical and Creative Mind. Just click on link and enjoy!

The Critical Mind

How Do You Think Critically?

Mistakes in Critical Thinking

The Creative Mind

How Do You Think Creatively

Divergent and Convergent Thinking

The Brainstorming Process

The 20-Minute Problem Solving Model

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