Analytical Thinking Definition
The process of analytical thinking is the art of addressing a problem and figuring out how to fix it. Thinking analytically helps an individual to find the causes and effects of a situation and make a wise decision.
As an employer and HR manager, you may look for candidates with both hard and soft skills. Out of all, analytical thinking is one of the most required skills.
Analytical thinking helps a person sort through data effortlessly, solve complicated issues, and form a mindful opinion.
Knowing about this skill can help you get your hands on the best candidates for your organization.
Here, we will discover:
What is Analytical Thinking?
Let’s understand the analytical thinking meaning first!
In simpler words, it is the ability to analyse things more mindfully. If a person is an analytical thinker, s/he will be able to spot problems and their answers in no time, take the right steps at the right time, use data to find solutions and point out the problem’s root cause.
Analytical thinking is the ability to observe and solve problems, which can help businesses be more productive generally.
Many fields need people who can think analytically, and this skill is usually listed as a requirement in job descriptions.
Importance of Analytical Thinking
The Future of Jobs Report says that companies think analytical thinking skills will become 72 percent more important in the coming times.
Of late, more and more organizations want to hire individuals with analytical skills because technological progress is making jobs more difficult. Automation is making it easier to analyse technical data, but it’s taking a lot longer to automate thinking and decision-making. This means that companies think that in five years, we’ll have a lot of data but not enough people to figure out what it all means.
Jobs That Use Analytical Thinking
People in the following jobs need to be able to think analytically to do their work:
Business Analysts:
Given that business analysts look at business challenges and come up with possible answers, they need to cultivate analytical thinking skills to work strategically.
Criminologists:
For the uninitiated, criminologists use analytical thinking to investigate several issues and come up with action plans to keep crimes at bay.
Economists:
Economists also use analytical thinking skills to understand different trends and happenings in the economy.
Software Developers:
Being able to think analytically helps software developers make the right decisions while making programs and putting them into action.
Accountants:
Accountants check and manage their clients’ financial data, and they use their analytical minds to help their clients find and fix issues.
Difference Between Critical Thinking and Analytical Thinking
Here are four ways that analytical thought is different from critical thinking:
Use of facts
Both the skills look at facts to analyse to comprehend data, but they do so in different ways. People who use analytical thinking to look at a situation back up their proof with facts. Critical thinkers, on the other hand, use facts to decide and to check if an idea makes sense or not.
Purpose
Analytical thinking can help you figure out how to solve complicated problems and understand a situation. People can use this skill to come up with new thoughts.
If someone is trying to form an opinion or view about an idea, critical thought usually works better. People can use this skill to help them support a case from a certain point of view. Critical thinking skills can also help them figure out what drives them and what their goals are.
Thought Process
Analytical thinking is more focused and straight. On the other hand, critical thinking is more circular. People who think analytically tend to move from one thought to the next in a straight line. People who think critically usually keep going back and forth on an idea until they make a decision.
Factors
To help someone make a decision, these two thinning methods also use different factors. People who use the analytical thinking process try to avoid biases and assumptions, while people who use the critical thinking process look at opinions and biases more. Analytical thinkers use their logic to solve problems, while critical thinkers look at things from different points of view.
There you go!
Now you have a clear understanding of analytical thinking.
If you get your hands on people with this skill, your company will be able to address and solve serious problems more effectively. You can also use HROne advanced Analytics to help you make sense of the workforce data and take meaningful decisions in time.