Think before you act!
Have you ever had a moment where you instantly regretted what you said or did? We have all been there but it doesn’t have to be that way. In this article, we will explore the importance of evaluated thinking before an action, and how it can set you up for success and prevent you from making mistakes.
What Is Evaluated Thinking?
Let’s first understand what evaluated thinking is. Evaluated thinking is a disciplined approach to analyzing a problem and coming up with a practical solution. The goal is to be creative while also being critical and objective. Whether it’s making a decision or solving an issue, evaluated thinking can help you come up with new and prolific outlooks and can boost your performance in many areas of your life.
The Benefits Of Evaluated Thinking
The importance of utilizing evaluative thinking when making decisions has been well documented in the literature. According to T Archibald, G Sharrock and J Buckley in their 2018 work, ‘A Framework for Evaluation’, evaluative thinking is the process of considering multiple criteria before making a decision. This allows the individual to consider a variety of perspectives and the implications of each decision.
The benefits of evaluative thinking before making decisions include:
- improved decision-making
- increased effectiveness and efficiency
- better performance
- improved problem-solving ability
- enhanced creativity
- Improved insights
(Archibald et al., 2018)
Evaluated Thinking in Practice
When making decisions within a team setting, evaluative thinking can help to identify the most effective and efficient options for the team to move forward with. It also allows for the consideration of potential risks and rewards associated with each option and helps to ensure that the best possible outcome is achieved. Furthermore, when making decisions independently, evaluative thinking allows for increased self-awareness and understanding of the implications of each decision.
In their study, Bonney et al. (2009) found that when individuals were asked to assess the potential consequences of a decision before making it, they were more likely to make decisions that were in their best interest. This suggests that assessing the potential consequences of our decisions can help us to make better choices and can lead to more positive outcomes. Moreover, this assessment process can help us to identify potential risks and can help us to take the necessary precautions to ensure that our decisions do not have negative ramifications. Therefore, it is important to take the time to assess the potential consequences of our decisions before making the best possible choices.
Developing Evaluated Thinking
To improve the effectiveness of your decision, try to first comprehend your situation and prioritize the key aspects that need the most logical approach. Next, document all the possible outcomes for your problem and start analyzing its immediate and long-term consequences. Remember, not every conclusion will be effective in the long run, so take your time to think, evaluate and validate your approach and thought process. Explore the risks and uncertainty of your thought results and once you eliminate these ineffective approaches, you’ll be left with a thoughtful solution that will guarantee you success no matter what aspect.
Evaluative thinking can also help you avoid making mistakes. It can be helpful to explore how you make mistakes in addition to how you solve problems. Many mistakes are simply incorrect assumptions. By identifying what assumptions you’re making and how you’re coming up with them, you can find ways to avoid making the same mistakes again, hence reaching a desirable solution.
Conclusion
To sum things up, thinking before acting is an important skill to develop to successfully navigate life and make informed decisions. Evaluating the options available and understanding the potential outcomes of action helps to ensure the best possible outcome. Taking the time to deliberate and reason through current issues and tasks can help to prevent issues before they even occur, and thinking first allows for greater efficiency and productivity in tasks. This skill is beneficial for any individual and is especially important for learning and success on any level.
