“Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why so few engage in it”, said the American entrepreneur Henry Ford, founder of Ford Motor Company, and Thomas J Watson Sr. of IBM agreed: “All the problems of the world could be settled if people were only willing to think. The trouble is that people very often resort to all sorts of devices in order not to think, because thinking is such hard work.” This column normally discusses creative thinking, but today we’ll look at analytical thinking — what it is, how it’s done, and why it’s needed to complement creative thinking.

What is analytical thinking?

Analysis is the “detailed examination of the elements or structure of something, typically as a basis for discussion or interpretation”, and also “the process of separating something into its constituent elements.” As such, analytical thinking means to examine, or think about, the different parts or details of something in order to better understand or explain it, or to work logically and systematically to resolve an issue or case.

In contrast, creative thinking describes cognitive processes that lead to ideas, solutions, conceptualizations, artistic forms, theories or products that are new.

What are examples of analytical thinking?

You engage in analytical thinking when you

• examine complex systems to better understand how they work, both as a whole and in detail (e.g., investigating the financial markets of a country and how they connect to the global financial system),
• break complex projects down into smaller, more manageable parts (as when planning the global launch of a new product by considering facets such as product roll-out and campaigns, stakeholders, budgets, schedules, and locations),
• decompose a process into sequential steps (like specifying the sequence of thinking steps when using an ideation technique),
• clarify the sequence of events in a project (e.g., during a training course, the sequence of events may be registration, welcome remarks, introduction, instruction and related exercises, final presentations, awards ceremony, farewell and closure),
• identify information needed to effectively work on a project and resolve issues (as when you become aware of — and work to close — gaps in your knowledge),
• check on the accuracy of knowledge and assumptions (e.g., assessing the reliability of market share information, and examining assumptions about how competitors will respond to your launch of a new product),
• investigate and reconcile data inconsistencies (e.g., resolving differences between the monthly revenues reported by different divisions and the overall revenues shown by the corporate accounting system),
• process numerical data and compute numeric solutions (such as calculating the mean in a time series of monthly revenues),
• examine the relationships between different variables or parts (e.g., how do female literacy rates and infant mortality correlate, and why),
• examine cause and effect relationships,
• look at what-if scenarios (e.g., predicting the effect of different prices on sales and profits),
• try to discover the possible causes of an observed event (e.g., why did sales of your products suddenly drop),
• identify similarities and differences among various factors (e.g., Asian consumers in different countries may have similar functional and emotional needs from a new product, but they may want the launch campaigns to be specific to their local culture),
• assess the pros and cons of various alternatives (e.g., raise funds either with a citywide walk-rally, or with an indoor reception at a hotel),
• anticipate consequences of an action (e.g., legislators looking at the consequences of a new law), or
• try to identify supporters or opponents of a proposed change (e.g., the advent of the ASEAN Economic Community).

Why do analytical and creative thinking need to support each other?

Analytical thinking is the focus of business school and of many daily business activities. But excellence in analytical thinking is not enough, just as relying solely on creativity will not get you very far. Analysis and creativity need to go hand in hand.

• While working on a project, especially an innovation project, you need to alternate between convergent thinking, which is mostly analytical, and divergent thinking, which is largely creative.
• Although pop psychology separates the brain, and people, into creative and analytic parts, the greatest geniuses, such as Leonardo da Vinci or Albert Einstein, embodied the ideal of integrated whole-mind thinking. They made good use of their entire brain and felt equally at home employing both their analytical and creative faculties while working on a challenge. We would do well to try to follow their example.

© Dr. Detlef Reis 2015. This article was published in parallel in the Bangkok Post under the same title on 14 May 2015.