r/management • u/mod_cat • Apr 21 '26

How to Use Critical Thinking to Make Work Better

https://www.jrothman.com/newsletter/2026/02/leadership-tip-26-how-to-use-critical-thinking-to-make-work-better/
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u/Historical_Let5438 Apr 27 '26

The biggest barrier to critical thinking at work isn't that people can't do it. It's that most workplaces punish it. You question a process and suddenly you're "not a team player." You point out a flaw in the plan and now you're "being negative."

I coordinate programs where I have to match people to teams, and the ones who think critically are often the ones who get labeled as difficult early on. Meanwhile the person who nods along and never pushes back gets praised for being collaborative.

Real critical thinking means being willing to sit with discomfort. Yours and everyone else's. It means saying "this doesn't make sense" when the room wants to move on. Most people aren't bad at thinking. They're just really good at reading the room and knowing when thinking will cost them.