Thinking skills refer to the mental processes used to make sense of experiences. Better thinking skills help improve learning and prepare one for life challenges. The document outlines basic steps in thinking like identifying problems and evaluating solutions. It discusses tools like parallel thinking and Edward de Bono's Six Thinking Hats model to optimize thinking skills. The document emphasizes that developing thinking skills is a gradual process requiring practice over years. It identifies six stages of critical thinking development from unreflective to master thinking. The definition of intelligence has evolved with technological advances and our understanding of the learning process.

1. THINKING
SKILLS
…WHAT MAKES ONE STEP AHEAD OF OTHERS
Yash J Bhakat : 16BME0649

2. THINKING SKILLS, WHAT IT MEANS..
• Thinking skills are the mental processes that we apply when we seek
to make sense of experience. Thinking skills enable us to integrate
each new experience into the schema that we are constructing of
"how things are". It is apparent that better thinking will help us to
learn more from our experience and to make better use of our
intelligence.
• It has always been the central aim of education to improve the quality
of thinking because better thinking will not only enable us to become
more successful at learning but will also equip us for life, enabling us
to realise our own potential and to contribute to the development of
society.

3. BASIC STEPS IN THINKING
SKILLS
Identify the central problem, question or goal .
Analyze the situation .
Evaluate or ponder possible solutions, answers
or plans .
Make a choice based on your evaluation .
Evaluate the results of he actions taken on the
choice you made .

4. IF ONE OPTIMIZES HIS THINKING SKILLS
Maximize productive collaboration and minimize counterproductive
interaction/behavior
Consider issues, problems, decisions, and opportunities systematically
Use Parallel Thinking as a group or team to generate more, better ideas and
solutions
Make meetings much shorter and more productive
Reduce conflict among team members or meeting participants
Stimulate innovation by generating more and better ideas quickly
Create dynamic, results oriented meetings that make people want to
participate
Go beyond the obvious to discover effective alternate solutions
Spot opportunities where others see only problems
Think clearly and objectively
View problems from new and unusual angles
Make thorough evaluations
See all sides of a situation
Keep egos and "turf protection" in check

5. DE BONO'S SIX THINKING
HATS
Used with well-defined and explicit Return On
Investment success in corporations worldwide,
Six Thinking Hats is a simple, effective parallel
thinking process that helps people be more
productive, focused, and mindfully involved. A
powerful tool set, which once learned can be
applied immediately!
You and your team members can learn how to
separate thinking into six clear functions and
roles. Each thinking role is identified with a
colored symbolic "thinking hat." By mentally
wearing and switching "hats," you can easily
focus or redirect thoughts, the conversation, or
the meeting.

6. SIGNIFICANT APPLICATIONS FOR THE
PARALLEL THINKING PROCESS OF SIX
THINKING HATS
•Leadership Development
•Team Productivity, Alignment and Communication
•Creative and innovative thinking
•Meeting leadership and decision making
•Product and Process Improvement, and Project
Management
•Critical, Analytical Thinking and Problem-Solving
•Organizational Change/Performance
•Wherever High Performance Thinking and Action is
needed

7. THINKING SKILLS
REDEFINED...
DEVELOPMENT IN THINKING REQUIRES A GRADUAL PROCESS
REQUIRING PLATEAUS OF LEARNING AND JUST PLAIN HARD
WORK. IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO BECOME AN EXCELLENT
THINKER SIMPLY BECAUSE ONE WILLS IT. CHANGING ONE’S
HABITS OF THOUGHT IS A LONG-RANGE PROJECT, HAPPENING
OVER YEARS, NOT WEEKS OR MONTHS. THE ESSENTIAL TRAITS
OF A CRITICAL THINKER REQUIRE AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF
DEVELOPMENT.
HOW, THEN, CAN WE DEVELOP AS CRITICAL THINKERS? HOW
CAN WE HELP OURSELVES AND OUR STUDENTS TO PRACTICE
BETTER THINKING IN EVERYDAY LIFE?

9. FIRST, WE MUST UNDERSTAND THAT THERE ARE
STAGES REQUIRED FOR DEVELOPMENT AS A
CRITICAL THINKER:
STAGE ONE: THE UNREFLECTIVE THINKER (WE ARE UNAWARE OF SIGNIFICANT
PROBLEMS IN OUR THINKING)
STAGE TWO: THE CHALLENGED THINKER (WE BECOME AWARE OF PROBLEMS IN
OUR THINKING)
STAGE THREE: THE BEGINNING THINKER (WE TRY TO IMPROVE BUT WITHOUT
REGULAR PRACTICE)
STAGE FOUR: THE PRACTICING THINKER (WE RECOGNIZE THE NECESSITY OF
REGULAR PRACTICE)
STAGE FIVE: THE ADVANCED THINKER (WE ADVANCE IN ACCORDANCE WITH OUR
PRACTICE)
STAGE SIX: THE MASTER THINKER (SKILLED & INSIGHTFUL THINKING BECOME
SECOND NATURE TO US)

10. WHAT ABOUT
THIS…
A New Definition of Intelligence…Why has the
definition of intelligence changed? The definition of
intelligence has changed because we have
discovered more about the processes of learning.
And you might say these discoveries have happened
in the nick of time. Currently, we live in the
Information Age, and in the Information Age
intelligence has become more than just the ability to
process information, general knowledge, and
rational thinking. While these factors still play a
significant role in intelligence, our prospective on
intelligence has expanded.
Over time, what is considered intelligence has
evolved not only because of technological advances
we’ve made in the past two centuries, but also due
to how those technological advances were achieved,
and what we can accomplish with technology.

11. "THE WORLD WE HAVE CREATED IS A PRODUCT OF OUR
THINKING; IT CANNOT BE CHANGED WITHOUT CHANGING
OUR THINKING.”
….ALBERT
EINSTEIN