Use These 8 Elements of Thought for Making Objective Decisions You Won’t Regret
A checklist for reasoning your way through difficult problems
When I went to school — from high school to law school — I realized schools never really formally taught me how to think.
Sure, I learned it de facto when reading and writing, but never as a standalone subject to apply on moment’s notice to everything and anything.
Here are 8 elements of thinking I wished I knew a long time ago.
Purpose
When you’re thinking through something difficult, what’s the first thing you should probably ask?
- What’s the goal here?
- What’s the overall objective?
Your answers will guide your thinking.
Examples:
- To raise capital for real estate deal
- To successfully execute work presentation
- To write academic article of publishable quality
Question(s) at issue
You know your purpose, now, what’s the issue or issues that need to be resolved to get to your objective?
- What are you trying to answer?
- Can you partition what you’re trying to figure out into sub-questions or sub-issues?
- Is this a one answer question or can it have multiple answers?
Examples:
- To raise capital for real estate deal: Where are the investors located? How much money do we need to raise? Do the investors need to be accredited?
- To successfully execute work presentation: What is the audience like? How many people will be in attendance?
- To write academic article of publishable quality: What sources do I need to consult? What order of steps do I need to take to tackle this project? Has the topic been written about before or is it novel?
Assumptions
These are usually the things we take for granted, things we’re presupposing.
- What assumptions are you making about this problem?
- Are you distorting your perspective in how you’re seeing the problem?
- Are your assumptions justified?
Examples:
- Investors will commit to providing funds at closing. No major issues will be found in the property during the due diligence phase. We have enough cash reserves in case of unexpected emergencies.
- Audience will like the presentation. Attendees will show up. There will be no major IT issues.
- I will meet the deadline to submit the articles to the academic publications. I’m also assuming that the sources I’m consulting have been well researched.
Point of view
All reasoning is done from a specific lens or perspective.
- What’s the perspective you’re using to handle this issue?
- Are there other perspectives you can reasonably view the issue from? If yes, what are its strengths and weaknesses?
Examples:
- From the perspective of the investor, we need to present the deal in a manner that is convincing with realistic numbers.
- From the perspective of the audience, we need to make sure our message resonates and is persuasive enough to convince them.
- From the perspective of the reader, we need to show logical analysis and the research backing it up.
Data, information, evidence
When making a decision or solving a problem, there’s going to be some body of data.
- Is your reasoning supported by adequate data?
- What data are you using to arrive at your reasoning or conclusion?
- Is the data clear and relevant to the issue at hand?
Examples:
- Are the numbers we’re crunching for this real estate deal too optimistic?
- Is the data we’re using for this presentation outdated or up-to-date?
- Are the sources we’re using to back our analysis in the article outdated? Do we need fresher sources?
Concepts and theories
These can include definitions, laws, principles, models, and so on.
All reasoning will be expressed in some way through concepts and theories.
- What principles or concepts are guiding your reasoning?
- Are alternative outcomes possible using the same principles?
- Are you being objective in using the relevant concepts and theories to the problem?
Examples:
- Are we using the correct rates of return and formulas to arrive at our deal analysis numbers?
- Are we using the correct principles to inform our analysis in the presentation we’re about to provide?
- Are the laws and theories being used to write this article the correct and relevant ones? Are there other more relevant concepts that apply to the issue?
Inferences, interpretations, and conclusions
All reasoning contains inferences and conclusions.
- Does the data support the conclusion(s) being drawn?
- Are there other reasonable conclusion(s) that can be drawn from the data being used?
Examples:
- Do the final numbers follow from our analysis in this real estate deal?
- Do our conclusions and forecasts in this presentation follow from the data being used?
- Is the stance being taken in this article reasonable in light of the data being used?
Implications and consequences
All reasoning leads to some sort of consequence or implication. The conclusions drawn lead here.
- What are the implications or consequences from the conclusions being drawn?
- What are the likely implications or consequences from your current line of reasoning?
Examples:
- With the numbers crunched, what are the consequences for this real estate deal? Is it a go or no go? What happens if it’s a go?
- If our principles and data are correct, what’s the final message being sent to our audience in this presentation? What are the implications?
- What are the implications of writing and publishing this article? What effect will it have on the readers and in the overall topic being written?
If you want to learn more about the skill of critical thinking, take a look at the Foundational for Critical Thinking and the Center for Critical Thinking along with their many published books.
