Critical Thinking

Interesting question Luis.

I like this definition of "Critical Thinking":

“ an intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information that has been gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication”

It's an essential and important skill for PMs to analyze all available facts objectively, with no judgements or biases (i.e. Open to everything and attached to nothing), and apply the knowledge/skills to solve the problems.

Here are some of the articles I liked on this subject:

https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/criti...complexity-5933

https://www.projex.com/critical-thinking-skills-project-managers/

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-import...ng-skills-islam

Luis,

I studied mathematics as a student but rarely applied it in my professional career. Nevertheless the thinking style of mathematics allowed my to become analytical, evidence driven, rational, creative, problem solving and open minded (taking on challenges). Add communicative to these and you have defined critical thinking.

It helped me well, but I am not sure it is one skill only, or needed by everyone more than e.g. emotional intelligence, empathy, influencing, decisiveness, being a team player or ethical decision making or courage.

To your specific question: yes, rationality and critical thinking are similar.

Good question. The best critical thinkers I've seen are able to draw a clear line of sight between the need and a rational solution that attacks the root cause of the need. An example:
"It's cold in here, turn up the heat" may provide an answer to the problem of "it's cold", but what if the door to outside is wide open and it's freezing? "It's cold in here, shut the door" addresses the root cause.

But the door may be open for a reason - ventilate hazardous gases. Then again it may be necessary for it to be cold in here - keep critical and noxious compounds from uncontrollable expansion. Critical thinking requires one to drill down into the less obvious. In my experience failure to define the underlying problem is the root cause of bad decisions and actions. "Why is it cold? Why is the door open?

"...failure to define the underlying problem is the root cause of bad decisions and actions."
That must have been a fun exercise in root cause analysis!

Luis -

I'd suggest that critical thinking is a critical attribute for successful PMs as we are dealing with uncertainty and complexity so the ability to break a problem (or project) down such that we improve clarity for stakeholders and are able to keep our heads when everyone around us is losing theirs is important.

I'd suggest that critical thinking goes hand-in-hand with another key competency: good judgment.

Kiron

To me Critical Thinking is to be able to objectively analyze and be able to weight out any issue before arriving at a decision. It is essentially applying available tools and techniques to understand the problem and arrive at a logical solution instead of using your "gut" feel to take decisions.
You develop this through academic knowledge and work experience including discussions with colleagues and professional contacts.
To me it is indispensable to Project Management since not all situations that a Project Manager will face can be taught. He has to leverage his knowledge and experience to apply them intelligently to the new problems. Crtitical Thinking will be a key driver on how effectively, past learning help tackle new problems, since you will have to intelligently align (modify/tweak) those learning to solve new problems.