Mastering Critical Thinking: How to Improve Your Analytical Skills - Issue 227

A guide to mastering the analytical intuition and problem-solving techniques for data-driven decision-making

Welcome to the Data Analysis Journal, a weekly newsletter about data science and analytics.

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Analytics is more than SQL queries or knowing how to calculate key metrics. At its core, effective analysis is about framing problems, drawing insights, and making informed decisions based on critical thinking.

This type of thinking is difficult to develop, especially if you are self-taught. It takes time and practice to train your mind. 

This is the main reason why many skilled analysts fail with technical challenges during interviews. Not because they don’t know how to write SQL, calculate LTV, or sort arrays in Python, but because they are distracted with details, pick the wrong algorithm, and (most commonly) miss signals provided in their task or input data.

This publication continues from Introduction To Problem-Solving And Critical Thinking, published last year. If you're new here, I recommend starting there to learn: 

1. The basics of problem-solving and informed decision-making.

2. How to develop critical thinking and strengthen your analytical intuition. 

3. The lifecycle of analysis - its steps and process. 

4. Common methods and types of analysis. 

Today, I want to take you behind the scenes of analytics, walking you through methods of critical thinking and showing how to integrate them more into day-to-day projects. 

Since my previous piece on problem-solving was more “theoretical,” today I’ve grouped concepts into the top 10 easy-to-understand techniques to improve your analytical thinking. I’ll keep it short and light.

Most importantly, I want to reiterate 2 key messages:

1. Your success as an analyst depends on your analytical intuition — nothing else matters. PMs, data engineers, and other roles transitioning into analytics often struggle, regardless of their SQL skills or understanding of event relationships, because they lack analytical thinking.

2. Contrary to popular belief, analytical intuition can be developed and improved. Below, I will show you how.