What is Thinking?
Thinking is a very crucial aspect for leadership to be effective. To understand what ‘Thinking ability’ really means, we use the framework of a Swiss psychologist - Jean Piaget, who has done extensive work in the area of child development
According to Jean Piaget, humans have the hunger for acquiring concrete information, but simultaneously, at times they have moments where they get into the imaginative mode in order to see the world from the angle as to how they would like to see it.
Jean Piaget went on to provide a structure to understand thinking. He said that human thinking is characterised by 3 strands:
Analytical Thinking
Conceptual Thinking
Intuitive Thinking
How will the awareness of your thinking orientation help you?
A thought is a skill that can be developed. Only with understanding one’s thinking abilities can we truly understand the variables that can be used towards success. There can be no affirmative action without effective thinking. A leader with good thinking ability can ensure both: alignment with organisational goals and the accountability for results.
It is known that ambition and thought help drive vision and understanding. There can be no action without thought. Hence, it becomes extremely crucial for one to be aware of his/her thinking orientation. This awareness would facilitate you to explore the more prevalent thinking orientation in you and guide as to in which contexts should you restrain this dominant thinking side and where you must release it. Knowing your thinking style also helps you at work. Just as how it is important for you to understand and be aware of your own dominant thinking style, it is equally important to know the thinking orientation of your colleagues. This impacts the overall efficiency of the work team.