In a world where Generative AI tools are becoming ubiquitous, knowledge workers face a critical challenge: How to stay relevant. I believe that the answer lies not just in learning how to use these tools but in cultivating three core cognitive skills that transcend technology. These skills—Critical Thinking, Creative Thinking, and Structured Thinking—are the bedrock of effective knowledge work. Without them, the potential of Gen AI is not fully realised, and the human contribution to knowledge work diminishes.
Critical thinking enables quality
Critical thinking sharpens our ability to spot assumptions and biases, crucial when evaluating Gen AI outputs that might seem convincing but are fundamentally flawed. In the Gen AI-driven workscape, it’s not enough to generate content; we must rigorously question the validity of that content. Critical thinking helps us identify superficialities needing more depth, gaps that need filling, and philosophical positions that may be problematic or poorly defended. This is particularly important when working with Gen AI, as the technology can often produce results that are confident but incorrect. By honing our critical thinking skills, we ensure that Gen AI-generated work meets appropriate standards of quality and accuracy.
Creative thinking navigates uncertainty
Creative thinking, especially imaginative thinking, is the ability to envision something that does not yet exist. It’s about starting with a blank page and generating new ideas. It’s about looking to the past, to reimagining what already exists so it can be repurposed in new ways. It’s looking in the present at disparate things and finding useful connections between them to create new possibilities. It’s using resource constraints and obstacles as opportunities to find an unexpected path to evolve or resolve a situation.
In the context of Gen AI, creative thinking is essential for formulating innovative prompts, exploring what you don’t know, envisioning new applications of the technology, and solving knowledge work problems in novel ways. This skill is not just about artistic-like creativity; it’s about the ability to think beyond the obvious, play with and test hypotheses and assumptions, and to challenge the status quo. When paired with Gen AI, creative thinking allows knowledge workers to overcome obstacles, push the boundaries of what is possible, leading to breakthroughs and new paths to take.
Structured thinking helps design delegatable work
Structured thinking, including procedural thinking, is the ability to break down complex tasks and ideas into logical, manageable parts. This skill is essential when designing work that can be effectively delegated. In the age of Generative AI, structured thinking enables knowledge workers to identify which aspects of their work can be handed off to AI tools or other collaborators and which require a human touch.
Valuable skills for collaborations
I have always valued this triple set of thinking skills—Critical, Creative, and Structured—when collaborating with someone or delegating parts of a project. Here’s how this worked in practice:
I want to write an article. I have some random thoughts about what the article could contain. I dump these random thoughts into writing so I can pass them to someone else to develop further. This person would first digest the thoughts I provide, allowing for new insights they might generate (Creative Thinking). They would then begin playing around with possible versions of how these thoughts might hang together in a sensible pattern or flow (Structured Thinking). Next, they would look over those patterns, identifying any gaps where there wasn’t sufficient information to provide a coherent narrative, particularly within constraints like word limits, audience type, or format (Critical Thinking). They might then generate a question for themselves about what would be useful to know to fill the gap, or hypothesise something valuable to include (Creative Thinking). Finally, they would rework the whole in consideration of the new information and provide a viable draft to me (Structured Thinking).
This approach is extraordinarily valuable to me because:
a) It allows me to focus on Developing Knowledge, while my collaborator handles Producing the knowledge. This division of creative labour is strategic, enabling me to go deep into conceptualising without the burden of censorship or the friction of using tools that require attention to function over form. For a deeper exploration of this strategic division, you can refer to my article series on Developing vs. Producing Knowledge.
b) My energy and well-being are better maintained by avoiding constant context switching between Developing and Producing phases. When I feel better, I have more capacity to be conceptually creative. This is particularly important when the part I have delegated is just one piece of a larger whole that requires my ongoing creative input.
c) I benefit from the cognitive capacity of another, which can bring fresh energy, insight, and perspective. This often results in a better-quality output than what I can create on my own.
As I have been getting fluent in using Gen AI tools, specifically using Chat GPT as collaborative partner, I see these skills play out. A picture is emerging of what my human contribution is, and can be, and where Gen AI can support my knowledge creation activity.
Cultivating these skills is a strategic imperative
As knowledge workers, developing fluency in these three thinking skills is not optional—it’s a strategic imperative. Whether you’re working alone, collaborating with a human colleague, or interacting with a Gen AI tool, these cognitive abilities will determine your effectiveness and relevance in the modern workscape. By prioritising the cultivation of critical, creative, and structured thinking, you can ensure that your contributions remain valuable and you are employable and able to navigate the complexities of a Gen AI-enhanced world.
Author
Helen Palmer is Founder and Knowledge Producer at Quello. She’s been innovating with knowledge since an attempt to make a new kind of cookie without a recipe when she was nine. She’s been tinkering with Generative AI because she is curious about new ways of doing things and challenging the status quo. She shares her ideas and thoughts to inspire others to make meaningful change in their corner of the world.
Attribution
This content is released under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 International licence so it can be freely shared with attribution to the creator (Quello); it cannot be used for commercial purposes; and it cannot be modified.