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Styles of ThinkingThe basics of human behavior are founded in attitudes, which in turn are formulated from thoughts. It is reasonable therefore to derive that the style of ‘thinking’ adopted by an organization ultimately leads to its behavior, and its outcomes.
Styles of ThinkingThere are three main streams of ‘thinking’:
Vertical ThinkingTraditionally we have been vertical thinkers – we build on old ideas in a sequential process of progress. Each step must be justified in terms of those preceding it. Brain PatternsAs we are exposed to new knowledge our brains create patterns, making the knowledge more readily available for recall in the future. It also anchors the knowledge pattern in the context of the environment in which it was revealed. Whilst this can be a good thing in terms of assisting our recall, it can also bias the information making it harder for us to separate individual items of logic from both the pattern and the old context. The problem with sequential reasoning or vertical thinking is that each piece of new information or each new idea must conform sufficiently to fit into the old pattern – thereby extending it. Whilst this may be possible for a certain number of events, there comes a point where the new idea will NOT if into the old pattern and it is discarded as being inappropriate. Not for BusinessIf we were to go back down through each previous build step and break apart the old pattern, we may likely find that we can in fact create a totally new ‘shape’ or perspective that does accommodate the new idea. This may mean going back right to the first piece of information or idea and re-evaluating how that idea was ‘arranged’ in the context of the business environment and business questions requiring answers at the time of its inception. This is an incredibly lengthy and complex process, and no business today has time for such reflection. In addition, most humans are resistant to doing so, as they inevitably take ownership of previous items of information introduced into the schema. This is the basis of self-limiting beliefs and self-maximizing systems. In other words, selective protectionism is most likely holding back many new advances in technology and business, where humans alone are relied upon to accept new data. BI tools do not possess this human limiting characteristic and can simultaneously disassemble old patterns into elements of logic and regroup them to include new data. This may or may not also involve the discarding of old elements that are no longer deemed relevant. This is where thinking processes such as humor can be invaluable. Humor gives us permission to step outside the boundaries of business logic into the realm of ridiculous and evaluate ideas in an entirely different way. Business Intelligence - Guided LogicConsider a man jumps off a 20 floor skyscraper. As he passes each level he can quite comfortably tell himself – “so far so good”. His expectation is built level upon level until the inevitable occurs and a new force comes into play – the ground. Yet this is exactly how many businesses operate. And until the introduction of BI tools, it was the only option we had available. Where the ground is not in sight or is a totally unknown element we can pass through 19 iterations of success before coming to a life defining moment – and the business collapses completely. Simulations and modeling help us identify the presence of the ground and the likely outcome of hitting the ground from a height equivalent to 20 stories. Armed with this information do you think the man would now jump if his goal was to live and improve his life. Next: Lateral Thinking |
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About Gail La Grouw
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