Eight barriers to critical thinking

Too often we fall prey to comfortable thinking patterns without analyzing their effectiveness. When this happens, we may not get the desired results because we haven’t asked the right questions or done enough to come up with the best answer to a problem.

Researchers and management specialists have identified more than 100 different barriers that impede effective critical thinking, but there are eight obstacles that all executives should memorize. To help you remember these eight, here is an acronym for them: CAT MAGIC.

1. Confirmation of bias –

bending the evidence to fit one’s beliefs. How many times do executives look for information that supports their point of view instead of looking for evidence that is individual or group “neutral”? “The best way to combat this natural temptation to confirmation bias is to actively seek information that refutes your beliefs.

2. Attribution (or self-interest) bias:

the belief that good things happen to us due to internal factors and that bad things happen to us due to external factors, while the opposite occurs with others. This bias causes us to pigeonhole the actions of others, especially bad behavior, as strictly the fault of the individual and not of circumstances.

3. Reliance on testimonial evidence –

the fallacy of believing someone else’s information, even if there is no evidence to support your claims. Studies have consistently shown that people are more likely to buy something on the recommendation of others than by force of advertising or some other marketing effort, yet how many of those same people actually know the veracity of those recommendations?

4. Memory lapses –

While this barrier appears on the surface to be fairly self-explanatory (everyone has memory gaps), its danger lies in the common human trait of filling in memory gaps with information that may or may not be true. In other words, we make things up as we go along, which often prevents us from reaching more fact-based decisions.

5. Accept authority without question –

a behavior documented by researcher Stanley Milgram’s famous experiments in which many people were willing to administer increasingly powerful shocks to other people on the orders of an authority figure, although they weren’t sure it was the right thing to do. This failure of critical thinking continues to manifest itself today in the blind acceptance of people with questionable degrees or experience.

6. Generalizing from very few observations:

a common practice in consumer marketing in which a small group of people in a focus group determine the direction of multi-million dollar ad campaigns, although the opinions of those people cannot be projected onto a larger population. The same is true when a small group of executives or board members discuss an issue. We must constantly resist the temptation to take these informational shortcuts. For example, one way to counteract the bias inherent in small groups is to look for unadorned employee information further down the org chart.

7. Ignorance and not admitting it –

Related to that leads to fabricated information and wild speculation. Nobody wants to appear foolish, so instead of admitting their lack of knowledge, a person can pretend and then explain the falsehood in a way that seems true. Beware of those who are quick with answers or slow to admit they don’t know something.

8. Coincidence (or the law of really big numbers) –

the mistaken belief that pieces of information are causal when, in fact, they are the result of sheer coincidence or the law of large numbers. Any large block of data will show connections, but those connections probably have no other meaning. For example, some hospital CEOs may have red hair, but no other link can be made between being CEO and being a redhead. However, we often attach causal links to events or dates where there are no links.

Like any other worthwhile behavior in life, good critical thinking is about turning ideas into habitual behavior. You must first recognize that your critical thinking skills may not measure up, and then you must improve them. Only when you start applying those news skills over and over to a variety of circumstances will the skills stick and generate results. Critical thinking should become a force of habit for top leaders, just like your breathing. It must become part of your leadership core.