Thinking and Decision Making - Assignment Example

Thinking and Decision Making Abstract This paper examines three different thinking styles by comparing them and examining how they affect the critical-thinking process. Thinking styles can effect how and why people make decisions the way they do. Examples of several thinking styles at work will be given and their affect on the final decisions examined. 1. No two people think exactly the same. It is well known that people from different cultural and religious backgrounds approach decision making differently and come to different conclusions. This is because their religious and cultural beliefs influence their decisions. Sound decisions are made without violating religious or cultural beliefs. In the book The Art of Thinking1 the authors break down thinking into styles. These are: Analyst Idealist Pragmatist Realist Synthesist Spiritually Guided This Paper will focus on the spiritually guided, the realist, and the analyst. Although most people use only one style when making a decision it is possible to train oneself to use other styles in different situations. The Spiritually Guided individual depends on guidance from God and believes that any result is because: that’s what God wants for that person. These individuals believe that anyone can receive guidance from God. When decisions have consequences the Spiritually Guided individual believes that it is the will of God. In addition, these individuals are deeply committed and are confident in their ability to makes decisions based upon their spiritual beliefs. These individuals are hard to sway to another point of view because their beliefs/values are held deeply in the core of the individual. The Spiritually Guided also believes that they can change other’s lives for the better by sharing their beliefs with others. The Realist believes that facts are facts2. They make decisions based upon the facts available. They also make decisions based upon observation and personal experiences. The realist is often perceived as hard headed or stubborn. They rarely change their opinion based on another’s input. And, the Realist has a “let’s get going” point of view and is aggravated when a project is delayed. The Analyst is the thoughtful one who takes his/her time making a decision. They have a “let’s take a look at the situation” point of view. Their results are predictable because of the thought and information gathering put into the solution. The analyst is the information gatherer who seeks out as much information as possible to make a logical decision. This type of decision maker takes a great sense of pride in the results of his decision making and views his way as the best way. These three types of decision makers would be a nightmare in a boardroom meeting where an actual decision had to be made. The Realist would already have the decision made, the Spiritualist would be evaluating the situation based upon his beliefs, and the Analyst would be asking for more information so that they carefully plan their decision. The realist would be arguing that he has done this many times and that his approach will work. The Spiritualist would be looking for spiritual guidance (praying) and would act as mentor or arbiter in the meeting. The meeting would end with the Analyst asking for a follow-up meeting to allow time for information gathering and analysis. 2. It is easy to imagine different scenarios and what would happen if a different type of decision maker were in charge. In the corporate world the best way to approach problem solving at the corporate level is to have as many different style decision makers present. Remember that boardroom? There is one person that sits and listens to all parties and guides the group through the decision making process. That person is most likely the chairman of the board. He spends most of his time listening and writing questions down on his tablet. Another member of this team is the scribe/note-taker who writes down all the ideas. Way back in the day the chairman of the board made all the decisions, but that has changed to board meetings that function more as a collaborative team. Ideas are shared and the final decision is based on the collaborative effort. Another example of using thinking style in the workplace has to do with customer service. The customer service representative trained to recognize thinking styles when speaking to customers can gear a conversation towards making the sale. The CSR (customer service representative) can gently guide or influence the customer. The CSR would be able to make more sales using this technique. Also, the customer profile can be added into the database where it can be easily retrieved by any CSR if another contact is made with the same customer. This is called “profiling” and is a technique used to increase sales. Knowing the thinking styles of your audience can help when creating a presentation. Gearing your presentation to the thinking styles of your audience makes the presentation a more successful experience. A presentation geared to a group of scientists (analysts) would not have a good outcome if given to a group of battle ready soldiers (realists) who need the facts now and a decision now! Matching thinking styles to specific jobs can have positive outcomes for both the worker and clients. The Spiritually Guided thinker may be better suited for a job as a mortuary assistant who counsels families of the deceased. The realist may better suited for jobs in law enforcement or corrections where jobs require quick thinking based upon facts readily available. The Analytical thinker may be better suited to jobs in construction were his skills can be applied to bridge and road building. There are some pretty nice bridges out there that someone put great thought into. The analytical thinker is good at planning and coordinating projects. He is the guy you want to ask: What’s next? 3. Conclusion. There are many thinking styles. Understanding that thinking styles can influence decisions or project outcomes and can help management decide who should work on certain projects or in certain departments. If a business is outcome oriented, then applying thinking styles to different jobs may make the outcome much better. Screening employees for thinking styles would help organizations better match employees to jobs. Having a CSR that can recognize a clients thinking style can make a sale for the company. References American Psychological Association (2001). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Harrison, Allen F. and Robert M. Bramson. The Art of Thinking. 1987. Berkley Publishing Group, and Be Jo Sales Inc. USA. Thinking Styles. Using Thinking Styles. Cognitive Fitness. Retrieved 02/14/2007 http://www.cognitivefitness.co.uk/thinking_styles/using.htm Read More