Critical Thinking and Managerial Decision-Making Reflection Report

This report is a reflection on a critical thinking and managerial decision-making module, covering key concepts and their practical applications. The report begins with an introduction to critical thinking and its importance in daily life, followed by a discussion of automatic versus critical thinking, and the ten points of clarity. It then delves into logical reasoning, including inductive and deductive logic, and explores the role of creativity and innovation in decision-making. The report also emphasizes the importance of self-awareness and includes a self-development plan with SMART goals to improve decision-making abilities. The course has been highly informative and it has helped in gaining insight about various nuances of decision making. Overall, the report highlights the benefits of the course in enhancing decision-making skills and promoting self-improvement, including how to better manage people, make decisions, and understand oneself.

Critical Thinking and Managerial Decision Making
Reflection

Introduction
Critical thinking is something that is an essential part of our everyday life. We make several
decisions. We make some decisions on a day to day basis. While we make certain decisions
on a longer term arena. This course has been effective in helping us understand the
importance as well as the process of decision making. Most important thing that we have
learnt through the course is the different ways of thinking, communicating, reaching
conclusions and even has helped me in making a self-development plan for myself
(Antonakis & Day, 2017).
There are several facets of critical thinking that I have been able to learn through this course.
It was a 9 week module and this report highlights upon my specific learnings from five most
important weeks of the course. I have also tried to mention how the learning has impacted me
as well as how can I employ the same in my everyday life. Most importantly, I have been
able to reflect upon myself through this course and look back upon my learning. Not only
was I able to revise through the whole course, but also I was able to understand how I can
implement these learning practically in my behavior and attitude (Cameroon & Green, 2015).
Topic 1: Automatic vs. critical thinking
During the first week I had learned the difference between automatic thinking and critical
thinking. The very first thought I had while studying this topic was the realization that I have
always resorted to automatic thinking in every aspect of my life. Through this course I have
been able to learn that critical thinking is a very purposeful method that can be used to
accelerate the thoughts behind every day thinking. This helps in the decisions that one needs
to make on a daily basis (Crockery, 2018).
I also learnt about argument, argumentation and understanding the premise and conclusion
for critical thinking especially that defined by Kallet. I came to realize that arguments are not
always disagreement between two people. The idea is to always put forward a set of ideas to
depict that the conclusion is correct. As a result of this topic, I have started focusing more
upon deploying critical thinking as opposed to automatic thinking that I used to do earlier.
For example, during a project, if I feel that I am not comfortable working with certain
members of my team, I prefer having honest communications with them in order to ensure
the efficacy of the project. Earlier I used to simply ignore them or contribute less. However,

this critical thinking helped me in keeping the project in the bigger light and ensuring the
success of the project (Doppelt, 2017).
Topic 2: 10 points of clarity
I learned about the ten tools of clarity within the second week of association with this course.
These ten tools have been identified in order to attain clarity out of any situation.
1. Emptying your bucket. The first step to clarity is to always empty all your thoughts
and not allow the blockage of judgment and stereotype cloud your thought(Eriksson
& Fundin, 2018).
2. Inspection: The second step involves inspecting on the present.
3. Understanding the why: In the third step, understand why the situation exists.
4. So what: how the situation can impact.
5. What is the need
6. Anticipatory thinking: Anticipating the situation in a manner to make the most of it.
7. What else: What else can be done
8. The ingredient diagram: make a mind map of the entire situation (Grant & Smith,
2018).
9. Vision: Draw a clear vision that you wish to achieve through the situation
10. Thinking: Think back on the entire process and make the most of it
Understanding the ten points of clarity has firstly helped me understand the importance of
clarity of having clarity regarding everyday situations of daily life. This allows me to make
better decisions. For example, whenever I face any kind of conflict in my life, I now tend to
understand the issue and gain clarity over the same. This helps me reflect upon the conflict
efficiently and also address it in a manner that is helpful in the longer run.
Topic 3: Logical Reasoning – inductive
During this week, I learnt about logical reasoning, inductive, appreciating the underlying
premise, 5 components of the premise, and the process of coming to a conclusion and the art
of influencing as well as persuading. I understood that one of the processes of logical
reasoning is deductive logic. Herein arguments are deductive in nature (Hornstein, 2015).
The truth of the argument is assured by the truth of premise. However, not all arguments

follow this structure. In certain cases, the truth of the premise does not guarantee the truth of
the argument (Hayes, 2018).
For examples, if most Indians eat spice. Rashmi eats spice and hence Rashmi is an Indian.
This is not valid. Rashmi could be from anywhere in the world. But there premises are not
enough to conclude. Now this is where inductive logic comes into the picture. An inductive
arguments states that this conclusion is likely to be true. This states that even if all the
premises are true, the conclusion may still be false. I realized that we mostly indulge in
inductive thinking and we also understand that a stronger premise will enhance the
probability of the conclusion. This does not mean that inductive arguments are inferior to
deductive arguments. This just means that they are different. This particular topic helped me
understand that both kinds of conclusions are different and we use them both in everyday life.
The essential point is to understand when to use what.
Topic 4: Conclusion and Innovation
I found this topic extremely interesting because I have always considered myself to be a very
creative person. I understood that creativity essentially allows us to come to a different
conclusion which also leads to a positive result (Mak & Chang, 2019). For example a brand
new product launch or a new policy adopted by organizations in order to keep employees
happy are all results of creativity and innovation. Needless to say, creativity comes from the
process of thinking out of box and deriving conclusions that have not been seen before but
are still profitable (Paulus & Nijstad, 2019).
I have learned through this topic that a conclusion involves five elements, Assumptions, facts,
observations, experiences and beliefs. Now I try my best to make sure that I am well aware of
these five elements and can clearly draw them out in all my conclusions (Reiche & Bird,
2017). I also understand that out of box thinking is predominantly what is required in order to
be creative and reach new conclusions that have not been seen before.
For example, organizations put several creative minds into their advertising because it is a
creative process. The entire advertising team sits and every members aims to introduce out of
box ideas that can gain customer awareness and enhance the value of the brand. We see
different ads everyday on various platforms like hoardings, TV, newspapers etc. Some ads
stick with us and some don’t. Every time we buy a product, we often think of the ad. Some
ads have such a significant impact on our minds that if we remember the ad of the product, it

is very likely that we will end up buying the product of that particular brand. Therefore
creativity is not just an aspect of our everyday lives, it is also an essential part of businesses
that run today. This topic has largely helped me in understanding the importance and value of
being creative in the present day scenario (Shrivastava, Shrivastava & Ramasamy, 2017).
Topic 5: self-Awareness
One of the most important thing in the life of every individual is to know oneself. This entire
process and is known as awareness of self. Several leaders mention that self-awareness is the
key to success. More importantly, within the entire gamut of leadership, self-awareness plays
a significant role (Toves, Graf & Gould, 2016). Awareness of self suggests knowing one’s
weaknesses and strengths as well as working towards combating weaknesses (Yao et. al.,
2018).
Through this entire course, we took several online self-awareness tests which helped me in
understanding my personality in a better manner. I have understood that my biggest strengths
are my ability to communicate with people, manage people and also I am a very punctual
person. My weakness includes my impatient nature and the fact that I lose my temper pretty
fast which makes it difficult for me to take effective decisions. Ever since I have learnt the
importance of self-awareness, I have been able to understand the importance of being full
well aware of my personality attributes. This has helped me take better decisions and improve
upon my skills (Zaugg & Warr, 2018).
For example, I have often felt that whenever I lead a project, there are often issues between
team members. This is often because each member has a different personality and may not
get along well with everyone. Now I understand the importance of self-awareness and it
would be better if team members would work towards being self-aware. This would help
them know each other and hence overall become an effective team.
Self-development program
From whatever I have read and fathomed from the module of critical thinking, I have planned
to build a development plan for my own self, a self-development plan. This would help me in
working more efficiently and would develop sincerity for my future endeavors. Therefore, I
am setting the targets that I have to achieve in the form of SMART goals. Through these, I
can measure the goals that I have set, my performances and set deadlines for myself. This

would bring clarity in my head of what I want to do, how, and by when. I believe it would aid
me to achieve my targets well within time.
Goal Action Evidence of
Achievement
Target Date
Increasing the time
allotted for studying
to 45 hours per
week
Thorough studying
and keeping a
record of the
number of hours
devoted
Using Post it Notes
Creating a schedule
to follow
Completing study
targets; at least 45
hours of study;
finishing assignments
given
Starting from the
end week of May
2019
Work at a Research
agency and learn
more about Primary
research (Neilson)
Applying for work
experience early by
taking a decision on
the basis of Critical
thinking
I would be having the
Work certificate for
the experience in the
mentioned field
July 2020-2021
Gaining thorough
insights about the
industry through
research internships
(fields could be
Business and
Management)
Taking use of the
critical thinking
lessons, applying
and deciding early
for research
internships
Internship certificate
taken from the
organization/concerned
person
Applying in June
2019
Starting right from
July

Conclusion
This entire course has been highly important for me to focus upon my decision making
abilities. This module helped me in broadening my horizon towards the importance that
critical thinking holds in the life of people. Every week, we have learnt something new. My
most important learnings were understanding the difference between automatic thinking and
critical thinking. I learned the art of effective decision making as well as the ability to
differentiate between deductive logic and inductive logic. I also learnt 10 points of clarity.
This course has also helped in learning various facets of decision making. At the same time,
this has also helped me in making a self-development plan for my future. Overall the course
has been highly informative and it has helped in gaining insight about various nuances of
decision making. I will make sure that I remember the learnings from this course and
effectively deploy them in everyday life. I am sure this will assist me in managing people
better, take decisions and understand myself in a better manner.

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