Critical thinking as a part of work
Critical thinking is essential in all aspects of my line of work, imports, and exports, or more generally referred to as international trade. Attempts to persuade people are everywhere (Kemp, 2005). My line of work exchanges goods across international borders while outsourcing plays a major role. The environment is similar to the more commonly known domestic trading because the principles are still the same, however, there are some important differences to note.
International trade is commonly more expensive because of export taxes and additional time which so often must be invested to make deals. Language problems are often common as well, however, the solution to this particular situation does not require a significant amount of critical thinking. The most common problem I face is in choosing how to organize teams for outsourcing. To manage my business I often hire teams online to handle smaller subtasks such as sales, accounting, leads, business communication, customer service, and some finer areas of inventory as well. Handling these teams and people requires an extensive amount of critical thinking.
Why do I need critical thinking?
My thinking is normally more casual in everyday life, however, when I must think critically I tend to think about my thinking processes. I often wonder if I am correctly perceiving my business and if I need to better use my employees to accomplish certain tasks to reflect certain changes. On average I handle organizing teams well as I am not overly experimental and have learned much from my experience.
I have a strong ability to learn the most from all situations and recall similar situations that I have been in before in an attempt to decide what to do. I am also educated in my areas, so I have the knowledge required to consider all aspects and business outcomes when designing a team. My results in the past have been mixed but all above average, so I know that I am at least doing some things right, which also suggests that I do have some skill in implementing effective methodologies.
I understand that critical thinking requires persistence as well as the ability to recognize problems. I consider myself to have a strong ability for detecting problems in potential employees through their resumes and communication skills. I tend to disregard employees which have a lot of ‘fluff’ or material that would only sound nice in another area when I consider resumes.
Also, when an employee is to be working in a team if he is hired, I know that if he cannot bring himself to speak openly with me or anyone else he may have spoken with previously in the company then it would be foolish to hire him. Whether or not interviews make people nervous is irrelevant in this situation. Critical thinking requires a great deal more besides this, such as testing conclusions, building beliefs on experience, and finding accurate information which others can use.
The role of critical thinking
Critical thinking commonly asks serious questions to serious problems, though oftentimes a solution may not require little more effort than applied critical thinking. Someone skilled in critical thinking is regarded as skilled in being able to communicate as well. In the hiring teams for my outsourcing project, I must seek knowledgeable and friendly people or else consider working alone. There was an instance in the past where team members were attempting to go on strike asking for more money. Since they had the potential to damage the internet site in question, I had to be careful that I did not let the cons outweigh the pros. I was able to block their access to all web materials through administrative settings, and then fire both of them.
Critical thinking is considered to be part of a bigger picture of scientific skepticism, and while not always dealing with science, critical thinking can be said to use the scientific method in an attempt to locate the most knowledge. In my work, there are often people who will not show their skills or take the head of the direction, and for these people, I must consider taking an alternate route than firing them. I typically must choose between assisting the people myself and directly or only monitoring them and helping in a less dedicated manner.
The importance of critical thinking in the international trade business is that it lets people think about what it is they desire and how they can take steps to achieve it. This includes the identification of several psychological traits.
While easier than managing people in person, managing people over the internet is difficult to work. One can only hope for the confidence in those hired, or when that fails, that at least it’s been a good negative experience. The decisions involved in building a team, in addition to what has been mentioned, include choosing creative, generally intelligent, social, and happy people. While applicants may be qualified, this is no proof of their ability to do a job. Traits such as these must be analyzed with my skills.
Conclusion
International trade is arguably a good thing for the economy, to most people anyway. As our team outsources, it has a unique perspective on the other countries’ ways of life and methodologies. Making decisions when forming a team may include affecting a project so seriously that it fails (or must be canceled) however, this rarely happens. It can be prevented with only a little preparation.
Knowing the difference between learning, writing, and thinking is important in this area, as is having different views towards anyone else’s creative thinking (Moon, 2007). It is nice that someone has thought critically enough to make outsourcing possible, however it would be even nicer of course if one were able to naturally think critically, with no attempts. In any case, I must continue to employ the processes of critical thinking to build the most effective teams in the international trade business.
References
Kemp, G. (2005). Critical thinking: a concise guide. Routledge.
Moon, J. (2007). Critical Thinking: An Exploration of Theory and Practice.Routledge.