fragmented thinking

Examples of fragmented thinking in the following topics:

• The Systems Viewpoint

  • In business, management also involves systems thinking.
  • In this type of fragmented thinking, problems are addressed without considering the context, environment, or the impact of similar problems.
  • Fragmented thinking often results in solutions that cannot be applied to multiple situations and are unlikely to remain relevant over time.
  • Only a systems-thinking approach can lead to this realization because systems thinking provides insight into how problems that manifest in a specific location can spring from distant, seemingly unrelated locations.
  • Only a systems-thinking approach can lead to this realization because systems thinking provides insight into how problems that manifest in a specific location can spring from distant, seemingly unrelated locations.

• Intellectual Skills of Successful Managers

  • Conceptual thinking is difficult to define but could generally be considered as the ability to formulate ideas or mental abstractions in the mind.
  • When combined with a variety of information, as well as a degree of creativity, conceptual thinking can result in new ideas, unique strategies, and differentiation.
  • While all levels of management benefit from conceptual thinking, upper management spends the most time within this frame of mind (as opposed to thinking more technically—looking at and working with the detailed elements of a given operation or business process).
  • Collecting the results of conceptual thinking represent a feedback loop.
  • Conceptual thinking allows for accurate and timely feedback and organizational adaptability.

• The Role of Management in an Organization

  • Organizational design is largely a function based on systems thinking.
  • Systems thinking involves identifying the moving parts within an organization that add value and ensuring that these parts function together as an effective and efficient whole.
  • Perspective is essential in systems thinking: a manager's role in organizational design is to refrain from thinking of departments, individuals, processes, and problems as separate from the system and instead think of them as indivisible components of the broader organizational process.

• Fulfilling the Planning Function

  • Planning is the process of thinking about and organizing the activities required to achieve strategic objectives.
  • Planning is the process of thinking about and organizing the activities required to achieve a desired goal.
  • Draw-See-Think-Plan: Draw – What is the ideal image or the desired end state?
  • Think – What specific actions must be taken to close the gap between today's situation and the ideal state?

• Cognitive Biases as a Barrier to Decision Making

  • Decision making is inherently a cognitive activity, the result of thinking that may be either rational or irrational (i.e., based on assumptions not supported by evidence).
  • By categorizing individuals in terms of four dichotomies—thinking and feeling, extroversion and introversion, judging and perception, and sensing and intuition—the MBTI provides a map of the individual's orientation toward decision making.
  • Biases in how we think can be major obstacles in any decision-making process.

• Considering Cultural and Interpersonal Differences

  • Managers who are interested in developing the capacity to think about and isolate differences between people must be open to immersing themselves into as many cultures as possible.
  • Intercultural exchange drives both manager and employee to think further about what predispositions each holds and how best to maximize the positives and minimize the negatives.
  • To attain a high level of cultural awareness, along with intercultural communication skills, requires thinking about and understanding different people and their respective cultures.

• Team Roles

  • We think of these as leadership roles, since what they do can stimulate others to achieve goals.
  • Idea-oriented roles involve generating new approaches, analyzing information, and thinking critically about the team's work.

• Emotional Leadership

  • Public expressions of mood affect how group members think and act in relation to other group members.
  • Those signals influence how followers think about their work, which can benefit their work together.
  • The model proposes that individuals vary in their ability to process information of an emotional nature and in their ability to connect those emotions to how they think.
  • Using emotions – The ability to harness emotions to facilitate various cognitive activities, such as thinking and problem-solving.

• Fostering Innovation

  • If they think something is important and has the potential to create a financial payoff for the company, let them follow their idea.
  • People perform best when they are driven by inspiration and encouraged to push their boundaries and think outside the box.
  • Employees need to feel independent enough to own their innovative thinking and to pursue the ideas they are passionate about.
  • Make it clear that compensation and promotions are tied to innovative thinking.

• Introduction to Entrepreneurship

  • Schumpeter's idea encompasses more than single innovations, as he further explains how innovative thinking allows for a sustainable and long-term economic growth for societies that enable it.
  • Innovative thinking allows for so-called disruptive innovations—innovations which make leaps and bounds over existing products.