The New Book “Thinkingaire” Introduction: Chapter 12 Mind vs. Mind

People are different, not because we look different, but more crucially, we think differently. The variety of thought makes the world diversified, innovative and sophisticated. It’s hard to say when we can make an “apple to apple” comparison of mind vs. mind. The truth is that each of us is a complex blend of contrasts: positive and negative; intuitive and logical with imperfect judgment. When we use our different perspectives to complement each other’s thinking, we can overcome common challenges facing humankind.
Fixed vs. Growth Mind: In a traditional organizational setting, people are hired to do their job with compliance, and managers are hired to manage people or projects with control. However, businesses large or small are nw faced with rapid changes and digital disruption. Such static management practices based on the fixed mindset, are no longer sufficient to adapt to the changes. Fixed mindset refers to those who approach the work with the assumption that their abilities are innate and not subject to change, while accelerator or growth mindset refers to those who solve problems or target the goals with growth mind - the belief that their ability level is nothing more than a snapshot in time and eminently changeable as they continue to learn and develop. If a fixed mindset is OK to survive in the industrial ear because both the business and the world still live in the silo with the slow pace of changes; and now, with increasing changes and continuous digital disruptions, growth mind is in strong demand because it is audacious, adaptive, aggressive and digital imperative, and digital professionals with growth mind can step out of their own comfort zone easily, walking the talk and leading change confidently.
Systems Thinking vs. Strategic Thinking: Systems Thinking looks at things holistically, with in-depth understanding of interconnectivity and parts and the whole. Strategic Thinking involves the application of unique business insights and opportunities intended to create customer bonding and competitive advantage for an organization. Systems Thinking looks at the whole, where the parts are never as important and should always work to benefit the whole. Strategic Thinking is analytical, decision-oriented, and directional. A strategy would be enhanced by Systems Thinking because it looks at each part of the business to the profitability and long-term success of the whole organization. Strategic Thinking is about where you are, where you want to be and how to close the gap. You cannot have a strategy without first understanding the system and you cannot have a system without first developing a strategy.
Critical Thinking vs. Creative Thinking: Critical Thinking is the mental process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating information to reach an answer or conclusion. Creativity is an inward process to produce novel ideas and build unique value. Both Critical Thinking and Creative Thinking are vital in a workplace. The more creative you are, the better you are at solving problems. Creativity and intuition are the key skills, but both of them depend on critical thinking as well. Because current economy demands new and innovative ways to look at things. Creativity deals with any sort of idea necessary to solve a situation which definitely requires a critical analysis skill. These skills, hand in hand, help drive the growth of an organization and its employees as well as enabling effectiveness, efficiency, and agility in solving problems and making decisions.
Approaching problems at behavior level only helps us to fix symptoms, but digging through the mindset is the way to cure the root cause. So we should approach problems at mindset level, and mind assessment is about evaluating multidimensional intelligence and cross-disciplinary transcendence. It is the mind that allows us to learn, understand, grow, and mature.Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu