Integrative Thinking – When can we use Integrative Thinking? – Sales Management 23
Integrative Thinking starts on the premise that you are open to learning from another persons’ idea, even if his idea is in conflict with your own. This mind set allows you to consider the value of opposing views from more than one perspective
Integrative Thinking is the ability to face constructively the tension of opposing ideas and, instead of choosing one at the expense of the other, generate a new idea that contains elements of the opposing ideas but is superior to each.
Integrative thinking gives you a new way to think about the situation. It is a pathway to better decisions and outcomes.
Integrative thinking is a mindset, a methodology and pedagogy for critical thinking and even for problem solving.
When you commence the practice of integrative thinking you will see your idea as only one small piece of a much larger jigsaw puzzle.
It is the assembly of oddly shaped interlocking and mosaiced ideas from all. Each tiny idea when assembled will produce a complete picture – a different new thought.
As Elizabeth McCracken writes in Washington Post “In a jigsaw puzzle of a novel, a man realizes that his version of the past may be based on his own faulty memories and quest for self-preservation.”
You need to accept that your ideas only tell a small part of the story. And it could be based on a faulty mindset, a faulty idea, a faulty memory.
Integrative thinking will force you to consider how others interpret the same situation – especially when other people have a different and opposing point of view.
Through integrative thinking, your knowledge gets broadened. Integrative thinkers uncover the unexpected and create new worlds.
Adapted from the book: THE OPPOSABLE MIND: HOW SUCCESSFUL LEADERS WIN THROUGH INTEGRATIVE THINKING – By Roger l. Martin
Final Thought
Integrative thinking is important because it provides a way out of your natural inclination to lose sight of the bigger picture by taking entrenched positions or to opt for shoddy compromises..
Integrative thinking helps you to generate fresh solutions. They might reveal creative solutions that you might have overlooked Integrative thinking can preempt easy but ultimately shortsighted, ineffective, and hackneyed solutions.