If you can’t reconstruct how a decision was formed, what assumptions were accepted, what alternatives were rejected, and where human judgement intervened, you don’t really have a decision at all. You have an artefact: a thing that exists, but one that can’t defend itself. In regulated sectors, that’s a compliance issue waiting to happen. In unregulated ones, it’s a reputational risk that just hasn’t found its trigger yet.

Critical thinking isn’t just a buzzword. It’s the backbone of every invention, every new idea, every breakthrough product or service. It’s the ability to see connections that others miss, to ask ‘why’ when others say ‘that’ll do’.

But it’s not something that can be downloaded or automated. It’s a muscle that needs constant exercise.