Impacting Self
Using critical thinking to affect your own understanding, learning, and decision-making.
Example behaviors at this level
- Question your own assumptions and explore alternative perspectives
- Analyze information from multiple sources before forming your own opinion
- Break down complex problems to understand them more clearly
- Identify gaps in your own knowledge and seek out information
- Reflect on your thinking process and how you reach conclusions
Impacting Relationships
Using critical thinking in ways that affect interactions and collaborative work with others.
Example behaviors at this level
- Help a team evaluate options and reach sound decisions together
- Ask questions that deepen group discussion and understanding
- Challenge ideas constructively while maintaining respectful relationships
- Facilitate collaborative problem-solving sessions
- Help others see connections or patterns they might have missed
- Navigate disagreements by focusing on reasoning and evidence
Impacting Systems
Using critical thinking in ways that affect organizations, communities, or broader systems.
Example behaviors at this level
- Design decision-making frameworks or processes that organizations adopt
- Identify and address systemic problems or root causes
- Develop analytical tools or models that others use
- Influence organizational strategy through rigorous analysis
- Create structures that improve how groups think and solve problems
- Challenge institutional practices or policies with evidence-based alternatives