We All Can Be Critical Thinkers After All: My February Experience At The Studentbuild Incubator
After January at the StudentBuild Incubator, I earnestly looked forward to February for the very reason that you are about to find out.
I must inform you though that this article is for you if you struggle to overcome the thinking block with conceptualizing the creative ideas that solve a problem. Take it from me, as someone who has had one of the most terrific thinking blocks there is, you too can become a critical thinker.
So, you understand that my case was no better than yours, let me tell you a brief story about me.
When it comes to thinking deeply and critically about any subject, I was that person most likely to be the first to throw in the towel. I always comforted myself with the fact that there are no new ideas on the surface of the earth. At other times, I just think that creative thinking isn’t for me.
My thinking block was so much that I avoided, like a plague, anything that would make me think outside the norm. I did not have much energy to spare, I thought.
I guess low confidence in my thinking ability was beginning to set in. I no longer believed in the originality of my thoughts.
This was my story before February at the StudentBuild Incubator.
Before February at the StudentBuild Incubator, I have never considered the possibility of me being able to think critically let alone coming up with creative solutions to problems. I had the popular misconception that critical thinkers were born to be that way. I thought they were born to think. I saw it as some form of ‘unfair advantage’ that only a select few had access to.
Going through the pedagogies on critical thinking and problem solving for a whole month did not only changed my perception of the whole subject but also, has equipped me with the basic tools needed to start my journey as a critical thinker.
I began to enjoy questions that require me to think deeply and analyze them from all aspects. Although, I might not have the answers to these questions and I might spend some time before I can come up with something, the process alone is a whole lot of fun for me.
Looking back, I am proud of myself and grateful to StudentBuild Incubator for my liberation.
I have outlined below the exact steps that helped me to move from a zero critical thinker to beginner critical thinker.
1. Having a mindset shift
In retrospect, the major problem that I had was not the fact that I could not think critically but the fact that I had my mind made up that critical thinking was not for me.
The cause of this could be traced back to my years in high school. When I was in high school, while my teacher teaches, sometimes questions will pop up in my head, but I will always wave these questions aside. I thought to myself that I could get the answers to my questions from the textbooks later. Most of the time, I didn’t get the answers from the textbooks. I did not know why I made those decisions, but I made those decisions, anyway.
Fast-forward to my first year as an undergraduate of the University of Lagos, I noticed that these questions began to pop up very less often and terribly enough they stopped popping up altogether.
In hindsight, I might just have killed the curious part of me, and this went a long way in solidifying my mindset that critical thinking was not meant for me.
The first hurdle that I had to jump was the hurdle of my limiting mindset. I had to silence those ‘you cannot do it’ inner voices.
So, the first step to my liberation was my ability to identify that I had a big problem — my mindset. I was also truthful to myself. This singular step helped me to prepare my mind to learn even before the February digest session on critical thinking.
Note that the StudentBuild Digest Session is a monthly virtual session where students can interface directly with industry savvy professionals acting as mentors around a central theme for the month. Experts from different fields walk us through core areas that are important for success after school and through life’s journey in general. So far, topics such as the science of happiness, effective professional communication in the workplace and critical thinking have been discussed.
After the digest session, tasks were assigned that keep us busy for the entire month on the topic discussed during the digest session. These tasks aim to expose us to real-life problems on the topic of discourse.
When StudentBuild gave us our assignment for the month on critical thinking, it was a problem case and we were asked to provide solutions to it using critical thinking tools.
2. Work with a team
When Feyi Olabiyi — Product Manager, Andela mentioned that some people are primary thinkers and that some could be secondary thinkers, I thought she was referring to me. It was soothing to hear her say that it was fine if we started as a secondary thinker but terrible if we remained as a secondary thinker and refused to advance to the stage of primary thinking.
Secondary thinkers as used in this context, means people who might have a problem coming up with creative ideas to solve a problem at first but could transition into generating ideas if someone gave them a push or an idea to run with.
Working with a team was the push that I needed and the idea that I needed to run with.
In working within a team, it is important everyone on the team feels as safe as possible to air their opinions.
Dare Oduale - certified Agile Coach (ICP-ACC) and Professional Scrum Master (PSM) was sure to emphasize this and he termed it ‘psychological safety’.
He stated an environment where everyone on the team can be free to air his opinion and not made to feel stupid was extremely important.
This psychological safety was what I felt when I began to see myself participating fully in the design thinking process.
3. Get the right critical thinking tools, knowledge and information
The meaning of the famous Abraham Lincoln quote — “If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend the first six of them sharpening my axe”, finally made sense to me.
You cannot do what is right when you do not know what is right and what is wrong in the first instance.
Understanding the basics of critical thinking is paramount to taking a step in the direction of critical thinking. At least, for me it was.
Basic understanding of things like the design thinking process, thinking traps, assumptions, interference of personal biases with the thinking process and why it is important to ask questions even if these questions are as basic as ‘The 5 Whys’ are all critical knowledge necessary to start.
As an example, I was fascinated when I began to study thinking traps. I realized that a lot of the thoughts of an average human originates from thinking traps. These things are innate and difficult to control.
However, knowing what these traps are can help you pinpoint one and identify it as a thought that one should not be having.
Although you don’t need to have a 100 percent understanding of a problem before you start creating a solution (because you could acquire this knowledge in the process of coming up with the solution), it is necessary that at least, some level of knowledge is available— Amauche E.
4. Brainstorming with a critical thinker
At some point in our team project, we got stuck trying to provide a solution to what might not even be a problem in the first instance, we decided to jump on a Zoom call with our mentor who was in the UK.
After about a few minutes of discussing with our mentor, we realized that the initial problem that we were tackling was not a problem and that we needed to look deeper into solving other areas of the problem.
This one call made us go back to our drawing board and re-strategize. We started our whole design thinking process all over again tackling an entirely different problem this time.
When you or your team are stuck or faced with a problem, it would do a whole lot of good to let other people analyse and think about the problem with you.
Never stop asking people about their opinions or views of the problem that you are trying to solve as the information that you will get might just lead you to the solution that you are looking for.
5. Practice! Practice! Practice!
Every mentor on the StudentBuild program who spoke on the subject of critical thinking all emphasized on one thing:
Critical thinking is not developed in a day. It takes years of persistently and consistently asking the right questions, seeking to question the norm and seeking to improve upon processes.
If anything, this taught me that Rome truly was not built in a day and therefore I have to be patient in learning to think outside the box and ask questions.
As for me, I am determined to always ask questions even if it’s as simple as the ‘The 5 Whys’
