Thinking and Decision Making Paper
Thinking and Decision Making Paper
Kim Abrahamson, Tom Kish
University of Phoenix - MGT 350
Karen V. Amabile
October 8, 2007
Thinking and Decision Making Paper
Introduction
Thinking styles and decision making, as we can see in today’s world there are many different types of people and as such there many different ways to think and come to decisions. However, thinking styles can traditionally be categorized into four groups: persuasive, creative, scientific and logical. It is by using these different methods of thinking that individuals are able to make decisions in both their personal and professional life. The way individuals approach various methods of thinking can be attributed to what they learned as children, experiences that they were either involved in or witnessed and also what they are taught in formal settings (i.e. classes, mentoring). Throughout this paper we will be examining similarities and differences between three of the four thinking styles: persuasive, creative and logical. It is by learning more about the different thinking styles that we become better equipped to analyze situations and make decisions.
Logical Thinking
Logical thinking is one of the most useful thinking styles available in the business world. Unlike optimistic and pessimist thinking styles, logical thinking does not attempt to put any positive or negative slant on the results, but rather to find the results or outcomes to a problem that are the most likely to occur. Whereas the other two thinking styles might focus on the best case or worst case scenarios, logical thinking should consider all of those as possible outcomes, and also to decide which is more likely to occur. Because of this, more informed decisions can be made with a lower likelihood of coming to an incorrect conclusion. In this sense, it is very similar to scientific thinking, in that all possible scenarios need to be analyzed.
A good example of a situation where logical thinking is the most
Kim Abrahamson, Tom Kish
University of Phoenix - MGT 350
Karen V. Amabile
October 8, 2007
Thinking and Decision Making Paper
Introduction
Thinking styles and decision making, as we can see in today’s world there are many different types of people and as such there many different ways to think and come to decisions. However, thinking styles can traditionally be categorized into four groups: persuasive, creative, scientific and logical. It is by using these different methods of thinking that individuals are able to make decisions in both their personal and professional life. The way individuals approach various methods of thinking can be attributed to what they learned as children, experiences that they were either involved in or witnessed and also what they are taught in formal settings (i.e. classes, mentoring). Throughout this paper we will be examining similarities and differences between three of the four thinking styles: persuasive, creative and logical. It is by learning more about the different thinking styles that we become better equipped to analyze situations and make decisions.
Logical Thinking
Logical thinking is one of the most useful thinking styles available in the business world. Unlike optimistic and pessimist thinking styles, logical thinking does not attempt to put any positive or negative slant on the results, but rather to find the results or outcomes to a problem that are the most likely to occur. Whereas the other two thinking styles might focus on the best case or worst case scenarios, logical thinking should consider all of those as possible outcomes, and also to decide which is more likely to occur. Because of this, more informed decisions can be made with a lower likelihood of coming to an incorrect conclusion. In this sense, it is very similar to scientific thinking, in that all possible scenarios need to be analyzed.
A good example of a situation where logical thinking is the most
References: Harrison, K. (2007). Cutting Edge PR. Four Steps in Persuasive Communication at Work. Retrieved October 4, 2007, from http://www.cuttingedgepr.com/articles/empcomm_foursteps.asp Kirby, G. R., & Goodpaster, J. R. Thinking (4th ed.). (2007). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall