Critical thinking: the human algorithm that still beats the bots
The handbook "Foundation for Critical Thinking" defines it as a process of conceptualisation, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of information.
Critical thinking is airport security for your ideas: every assumption goes on the conveyor belt, evidence X-rays it for hidden biases, suspicious claims get frisked with tough questions, and only the facts that truly check out get clearance to fly.
When LEGO found itself haemorrhaging cash in 2004 with hundreds of products, over-hyped theme parks and a TV show nobody watched, new CEO Jørgen Vig Knudstorp gathered every department to perform a “brick autopsy.” Team after team asked, “Which product actually makes money?” They slashed pet projects, halved the catalogue and doubled-down on the classic 2×4 stud. Eighteen months later revenues were up 19% and profits 30%, turning near-bankruptcy into an HBR (Harvard Business Review) turnaround legend.
The hard-dollar case for rigorous thinking
If cash is king, decision quality is the royal mint. PwC’s 28th Annual CEO Survey shows companies with disciplined decision frameworks enjoy significantly higher profit margins after controlling for size, sector and geography. CEOs who work off evidence-based decisions instead of ‘winging it’ aren’t just a little richer; the regression in PwC’s data puts them several profit-margin points ahead.
The upside compounds when leaders back their choices with dynamic resource re-allocation: move the right people to the right projects (aka leaning into team strengths) and the average margin in PwC’s model climbs from 11% to 14% equating to a 27% uplift that drops straight to the bottom line.
Demand is skyrocketing
“Critical thinking” now sits in the top five “must-win” skills list, next to heavy-hitters like Analytics and People Management according to LinkedIn Learning’s 2025 Workplace Learning Report. Add in the surge of leadership playlists that pair Critical Thinking with AI fluency, and you get a skill trending harder than generative-AI demos at a tech expo.
The AI paradox
Generative AI autocompletes sentences brilliantly; it interrogates premises terribly. It is, in fact, best at the average task. A 2025 MDPI study of 666 participants found a strong negative correlation (r = -0.68) between heavy AI-tool use and human critical-thinking scores due to cognitive off-loading. Steve Pearlman’s TEDx talk hammers the point home: “Every time you let an algorithm answer for you, you’re paying in cognitive currency—interest rates apply.”
Better questions, better products
SAGE research tracking 400 corporate employees linked high critical-thinking disposition to measurably higher innovative behaviour and idea-sharing. Translation: smart questions make cool stuff.
Five proven ways to sharpen your critical-thinking muscles
1. Run a “Five Whys” on every hiccup.
Toyota’s legendary root-cause drill forces teams past surface symptoms to systemic fixes. Lean Enterprise Institute case studies show chronic problems - from jammed conveyors to mental-model myths - disappear when the fifth “why” finally bites.
2. Hold a pre-mortem before you hit “launch.”
Psychologist Gary Klein’s “assume we already failed - now list why” flip legitimises dissent while changes are still cheap. Projects using the method drastically cut schedule overruns and budget blow-outs.
3. Practise Pearlman’s “Two Truths and a BUT.”
In the TEDx talk, Pearlman urges teams to surface two supporting facts and one contradictory possibility for every proposal - training the brain to seek disconfirming evidence, not confirmation bias.
4. Rotate roles to refresh perspective.
A Frontiers in Psychology meta-analysis spanning 46 studies reports that structured task rotation significantly lifts problem-solving capacity and learning agility while reducing burnout. Or. Spend a day observing a colleague in a completely different function or customer setting. A 2025 NSW Department of Education paper notes that well-structured shadowing enhances critical thinking and personal growth by exposing professionals to unfamiliar constraints and decision paths.
5. Schedule reflection plus peer debate.
Incorporating both reflection and peer debate is a highly effective method of improving critical thinking skills. Reflection allows for deeper analysis of one's own thought processes, while peer debate fosters the development of logical reasoning and communication skills.
Why now?
At Maxme we joke that AI can draft an email, but it can’t decide whether that email should exist. Critical thinking is the human skill telling every other skill when to clock in. It rescues brands in crisis (ask LEGO), fattens margins in good times (ask PwC’s top-quartile firms) and - crucially - keeps humans in the drivers’ seat of the AI revolution.
So before you let ChatGPT finish your next deck, pause for a “why,” run a pre-mortem, and maybe jot down a reflection line. Your stakeholders - and your neurons - will thank you.
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