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DON’S KOLUMNE
The Role of Critical Thinking
Die folgende Gastkolumne von Prof. Dr. Donald B. Ardell (Florida) - auch diesmal in seiner Muttersprache gedruckt - befasst sich mit der wichtigen Wellnessdimension Beruf / Arbeitsplatz. Thematisch stellt die Journal-Redaktion dadurch bewusst eine Verbindung zu dem Bericht - mit Foto - über Kanada her.
 Why is critical thinking (CT) so important for wellness purposes? How does it fit as a health issue, also at the worksite?
CT fits as a wellness issue because it affects life quality; it is a health issue only if you perceive wellness as a concept transcending fitness, nutrition and stress management.
For starters, it appears that the richest elements of the wellness concept are not part of health promotion programming. Yet. Things can and will change if leaders are convinced of the need for changes and see that a shift in the agenda of worksite education will contribute to improved performance and increased profits.
In my view, the most promising elements for wellness promotion are CT skill-building married to lifelong learning, a focus on the elements of emotional well-being, job redesign and the quest for added meaning and purpose at work and a mindset conducive to personal responsibility. A level of personal quality consistent with this kind of wellness is presently out of reach for vast numbers of employees, specificallly those not accustomed to engaging in sound thinking due to the neglect of such skill development in their formative years. Like other wellness qualities, CT is a discipline that should have been taught at home, in schools and reinforced in society. Thus, the worksite could become the last resort for remedial wellness education. Perhaps under a banner of existential wellness, innovative worksite personal quality programs will provide a „teachable moment“ situation for employees to gain CT skills, at least for specific job functions. Later, such discerning thought patterns can have an impact on larger matters affecting life quality.
In addition to the health of the workforce (personal quality) and improved effectiveness for specific job situations, critical thinking may also be tied to business ethics.
Professor G. J. Rossouw in Johannesburg, S.A. and other researchers identified an association between business ethics/moral decision making and critical thinking skills.
- Argumentation skills: In order to provide the information on which the ultimate decision will be based, the various arguments for and against the issue under dispute should be identified. This implies that one should know what an argument is and have the ability to formulate arguments.
- Identification of moral arguments: Moral decision can only be based on moral arguments. It is therefore important that participants should also be able to distinguish moral arguments from amoral and immoral arguments.
- Clarity and coherence: Information is only useful when it is clear and intelligible. This implies that arguments should be stated clearly.
- Intellectual tolerance: In order to give all arguments that meet the three preceding criteria due consideration, participants also need intellectual tolerance.
- An ability to separate an argument from the motives behind the argument.
- A capacity to identify the practical consequences of arguments and to distinguish positive consequences from negative ones.
- The ability to make compromises: Participants need to find a way out of the impasse created by conflicting viewpoints.
- Other creative thinking skills such as brainstorming, opposites, visualization, forced association can and should be taught. Each strategy situation demands specific thinking skills in order to apply the strategy properly. Worksite-focused strategies to reach otherwise unavailable populations with quality of life information has served to promote lifestyle reforms (learning to exercise regularly, eat better, deal with stresses and so on). Perhaps the time had come to seek even higher returns from health promotion.
Can the future workplace wellness agenda include moral education via critical thinking? Might inculcation of a healthy dose of skepticism help people avoid the perils of “new age” and traditional therapies alike? Can critical thinking educational breakthroughs assist employees resist the appeal of cults, charlatans and ethically- challenged power players? These are, after all, the same skills needed to self-manage, and any company that uses teams will already value this discipline. Does it not seem likely that exposing workers to applications of CT would tend to empower them for well, worthy and even more ethical life AND work situations?
My own view is that the ways to well workplaces are more numerous than we have suspected or explored. Among them, CT appears well marked and promising – and essential to a wider appreciation of fitness, sound nutrition and other established elements of wellness education.
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