Integrative thinking
Encyclopedia
Integrative Thinking is a field in Applied Mind Science which was originated by [Graham Douglas] in 1986.
for solving complex or wicked problems. That theory was originated by Roger Martin
, Dean of the Rotman School of Management
, at The University of Toronto and collaboratively developed with his colleague Mihnea C. Moldoveanu, Director of the Desautels Centre for Integrative Thinking.
The Rotman School of Management
defines integrative thinking as:
The website continues:
, AG Lafley, Nandan Nilekani
), the arts (Atom Egoyan
, Piers Handling) and the not-for-profit world (Victoria Hale
). He spoke with these leaders, some for more than 8 hours, about the decisions that they had made over their careers and about how they thought through those decisions. What he found was that some of them had a distinct common characteristic - "the predisposition and capacity to hold two diametrically opposing ideas in their heads. And then, without panicking or simply settling for one alternative or the other, they're able to produce a synthesis that is superior to either opposing idea."
. Rather than limiting the possible causal relationships to simple, linear, one-way dynamics, they entertain the possibility that the causal forces may be multi-directional (i.e. circular) and complex. Third, integrative thinkers approach problem architecture differently. Rather than try to deal with elements in piece-parts or sequentially, they strive at all times to keep the whole of the problem in mind while working on the individual parts. Finally, when faced with two opposing options that seem to force a trade-off
, integrative thinkers strive for a creative resolution of the tension rather than simply accepting the choice in front of them.
, the falsificationism of Karl Popper
and the management theories of Chris Argyris
and James March.
It is also related to the work of Thomas Kuhn
, Imre Lakatos
, Bertrand Russell
, Ludwig Wittgenstein
and others.
. Its mission is threefold. First, it conducts fundamental research in the basic mechanisms of perception, inference, calculation and communication related to integrative thinking in business. Second, it develops new courses, course modules and interventions to teach the basic discipline of integrative thinking to MBA students. Third, it develops and offers executive education programs for developing the core skills of integrative thinking in the senior managers of business organizations.
The Director of the centre is Mihnea C. Moldoveanu.
The Desautels Centre for Integrative Thinking was founded by a donation from Dr. Marcel Desautels, a Canadian entrepreneur and businessman. Desautels was trained in the Jesuit College of St. Boniface, Manitoba, Canada, and later at the University of Manitoba School of Law. After founding and running Creditel, a credit reporting agency, Desautels established the Canadian Credit Management Foundation as a charitable organization that has made significant contributions to higher education in Canada, endowing the Desautels Centre for Integrative Thinking, the Desautels Faculty of Management at McGill University
and the Desautels Faculty of Music at the University of Manitoba
. For his exemplary philanthropic efforts, Desautels was awarded the Order of Canada
in 2008
effect. The body of work is also incomplete, because the studies in question did not look at integrative thinkers who failed and non-integrative thinkers who succeeded in similar situations.
Definition
Integrative thinking is a discipline and methodologyMethodology
Methodology is generally a guideline for solving a problem, with specificcomponents such as phases, tasks, methods, techniques and tools . It can be defined also as follows:...
for solving complex or wicked problems. That theory was originated by Roger Martin
Roger Martin
Roger Martin is Dean of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto and an author of several business books. Martin has originated several important business concepts in use today, including integrative thinking...
, Dean of the Rotman School of Management
Rotman School of Management
The Joseph L. Rotman School of Management commonly known as Rotman School of Management is the University of Toronto's business school, located in St. George Street in Downtown Toronto. The school, named after Joseph L...
, at The University of Toronto and collaboratively developed with his colleague Mihnea C. Moldoveanu, Director of the Desautels Centre for Integrative Thinking.
The Rotman School of Management
Rotman School of Management
The Joseph L. Rotman School of Management commonly known as Rotman School of Management is the University of Toronto's business school, located in St. George Street in Downtown Toronto. The school, named after Joseph L...
defines integrative thinking as:
"...the ability to constructively face the tensions of opposing models, and instead of choosing one at the expense of the other, generating a creative resolution of the tension in the form of a new model that contains elements of the individual models, but is superior to each."
The website continues:
"Integrative thinkers build models rather than choose between them. Their models include consideration of numerous variables — customers, employees, competitors, capabilities, cost structures, industry evolution, and regulatory environment — not just a subset of the above. Their models capture the complicated, multi-faceted and multidirectional causal relationships between the key variables in any problem. Integrative thinkers consider the problem as a whole, rather than breaking it down and farming out the parts. Finally, they creatively resolve tensions without making costly trade-offs, turning challenges into opportunities."
Background
To develop the theory of integrative thinking, Martin interviewed more than 50 successful leaders, from the fields of business (Jack WelchJack Welch
John Francis "Jack" Welch, Jr. is an American chemical engineer, business executive, and author. He was Chairman and CEO of General Electric between 1981 and 2001...
, AG Lafley, Nandan Nilekani
Nandan Nilekani
Nandan Nilekani born is an Indian entrepreneur. He currently serves as the Chairman of the new Unique Identification Authority of India , after a successful career at Infosys Technologies Ltd...
), the arts (Atom Egoyan
Atom Egoyan
Atom Egoyan, OC is a critically acclaimed Armenian-Canadian stage director and film director. Egoyan made his career breakthrough with Exotica...
, Piers Handling) and the not-for-profit world (Victoria Hale
Victoria Hale
Dr. Victoria Hale founded the nonprofit pharmaceutical company The Institute for OneWorld Health in San Francisco, California in 2000 and was its chairman and CEO until 2008. She remains on the iOWH board as Chair Emeritus...
). He spoke with these leaders, some for more than 8 hours, about the decisions that they had made over their careers and about how they thought through those decisions. What he found was that some of them had a distinct common characteristic - "the predisposition and capacity to hold two diametrically opposing ideas in their heads. And then, without panicking or simply settling for one alternative or the other, they're able to produce a synthesis that is superior to either opposing idea."
Theory
Integrative thinkers differ from conventional thinkers among a number of dimensions. First, they tend to consider most variables of a problem to be salient. Rather than seeking to simplify a problem as much as possible, they are inclined to seek out alternative views and contradictory data. Second, they are willing to embrace a more complex understanding of how those salient features interconnect and influence one another, a more complex understanding of causalityCausality
Causality is the relationship between an event and a second event , where the second event is understood as a consequence of the first....
. Rather than limiting the possible causal relationships to simple, linear, one-way dynamics, they entertain the possibility that the causal forces may be multi-directional (i.e. circular) and complex. Third, integrative thinkers approach problem architecture differently. Rather than try to deal with elements in piece-parts or sequentially, they strive at all times to keep the whole of the problem in mind while working on the individual parts. Finally, when faced with two opposing options that seem to force a trade-off
Trade-off
A trade-off is a situation that involves losing one quality or aspect of something in return for gaining another quality or aspect...
, integrative thinkers strive for a creative resolution of the tension rather than simply accepting the choice in front of them.
Influences
Integrative Thinking is influenced by and connected to a number of intellectual traditions. Most notably, it is influenced by the pragmatism of Charles Sanders Peirce and his notion of abductive reasoningAbductive reasoning
Abduction is a kind of logical inference described by Charles Sanders Peirce as "guessing". The term refers to the process of arriving at an explanatory hypothesis. Peirce said that to abduce a hypothetical explanation a from an observed surprising circumstance b is to surmise that a may be true...
, the falsificationism of Karl Popper
Karl Popper
Sir Karl Raimund Popper, CH FRS FBA was an Austro-British philosopher and a professor at the London School of Economics...
and the management theories of Chris Argyris
Chris Argyris
-Bibliography:* Chris Argyris: Personality and Organization, 1957* Chris Argyris: Some Limitations of the Case Method: Experiences in a Management Development Program.” Academy of Management Review 5: 291–298, 1980...
and James March.
It is also related to the work of Thomas Kuhn
Thomas Kuhn
Thomas Samuel Kuhn was an American historian and philosopher of science whose controversial 1962 book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions was deeply influential in both academic and popular circles, introducing the term "paradigm shift," which has since become an English-language staple.Kuhn...
, Imre Lakatos
Imre Lakatos
Imre Lakatos was a Hungarian philosopher of mathematics and science, known for his thesis of the fallibility of mathematics and its 'methodology of proofs and refutations' in its pre-axiomatic stages of development, and also for introducing the concept of the 'research programme' in his...
, Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, and social critic. At various points in his life he considered himself a liberal, a socialist, and a pacifist, but he also admitted that he had never been any of these things...
, Ludwig Wittgenstein
Ludwig Wittgenstein
Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein was an Austrian philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language. He was professor in philosophy at the University of Cambridge from 1939 until 1947...
and others.
Desautels Centre for Integrative Thinking
The Desautels Centre for Integrative Thinking is a research, development and educational centre at the Rotman School of ManagementRotman School of Management
The Joseph L. Rotman School of Management commonly known as Rotman School of Management is the University of Toronto's business school, located in St. George Street in Downtown Toronto. The school, named after Joseph L...
. Its mission is threefold. First, it conducts fundamental research in the basic mechanisms of perception, inference, calculation and communication related to integrative thinking in business. Second, it develops new courses, course modules and interventions to teach the basic discipline of integrative thinking to MBA students. Third, it develops and offers executive education programs for developing the core skills of integrative thinking in the senior managers of business organizations.
The Director of the centre is Mihnea C. Moldoveanu.
The Desautels Centre for Integrative Thinking was founded by a donation from Dr. Marcel Desautels, a Canadian entrepreneur and businessman. Desautels was trained in the Jesuit College of St. Boniface, Manitoba, Canada, and later at the University of Manitoba School of Law. After founding and running Creditel, a credit reporting agency, Desautels established the Canadian Credit Management Foundation as a charitable organization that has made significant contributions to higher education in Canada, endowing the Desautels Centre for Integrative Thinking, the Desautels Faculty of Management at McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
and the Desautels Faculty of Music at the University of Manitoba
University of Manitoba
The University of Manitoba , in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, is the largest university in the province of Manitoba. It is Manitoba's most comprehensive and only research-intensive post-secondary educational institution. It was founded in 1877, making it Western Canada’s first university. It placed...
. For his exemplary philanthropic efforts, Desautels was awarded the Order of Canada
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
in 2008
Criticism
Integrative thinking as devised by Roger Martin is open to the criticism that the theory was created using a non-scientific research approach; by simply interviewing successful leaders, and positing a theory for their success, Martin and his colleagues may have been subject to a confirmation biasConfirmation bias
Confirmation bias is a tendency for people to favor information that confirms their preconceptions or hypotheses regardless of whether the information is true.David Perkins, a geneticist, coined the term "myside bias" referring to a preference for "my" side of an issue...
effect. The body of work is also incomplete, because the studies in question did not look at integrative thinkers who failed and non-integrative thinkers who succeeded in similar situations.
See also
- Critical ThinkingCritical thinkingCritical thinking is the process or method of thinking that questions assumptions. It is a way of deciding whether a claim is true, false, or sometimes true and sometimes false, or partly true and partly false. The origins of critical thinking can be traced in Western thought to the Socratic...
- CausalityCausalityCausality is the relationship between an event and a second event , where the second event is understood as a consequence of the first....
- Design ThinkingDesign thinkingDesign Thinking refers to the methods and processes for investigating ill-defined problems, acquiring information, analyzing knowledge, and positing solutions in the design and planning fields...
- ParadoxParadoxSimilar to Circular reasoning, A paradox is a seemingly true statement or group of statements that lead to a contradiction or a situation which seems to defy logic or intuition...
- Systems ThinkingSystems thinkingSystems thinking is the process of understanding how things influence one another within a whole. In nature, systems thinking examples include ecosystems in which various elements such as air, water, movement, plants, and animals work together to survive or perish...
- Thesis, antithesis, synthesisThesis, antithesis, synthesisThe triad thesis, antithesis, synthesis is often used to describe the thought of German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. Hegel never used the term himself, and almost all of his biographers have been eager to discredit it....
- ThoughtThought"Thought" generally refers to any mental or intellectual activity involving an individual's subjective consciousness. It can refer either to the act of thinking or the resulting ideas or arrangements of ideas. Similar concepts include cognition, sentience, consciousness, and imagination...
- Cognitive dissonanceCognitive dissonanceCognitive dissonance is a discomfort caused by holding conflicting ideas simultaneously. The theory of cognitive dissonance proposes that people have a motivational drive to reduce dissonance. They do this by changing their attitudes, beliefs, and actions. Dissonance is also reduced by justifying,...
Further reading
- Douglas, G. B. (1994). "The Revolution of Minds".Ipswich, AIPS
- Douglas, G. B. (2006), "Achieving Sustainable Development: The Integrative Improvement Institutes Project" Presented at the Inaugural All China Economics Conference, Hong Kong.
- Martin, R. L. (2007). The Opposable Mind: How Successful Leaders Win Through Integrative Thinking. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
- Moldoveanu, MC and Martin RL. (2008). "The Future of the MBA: Designing the Thinker of the Future." London: Oxford University Press.
External links
- "Definition of integrative thinking".
- Roger Martin on Integrative Thinking.
- E. Pastor & GK VanPatter, 2010, Humantific's Integrative Thinking Research Initiative 2002-2010 / Design Thinking Made Visible Project, Humantific Publishing, Virtual Book Series. http://issuu.com/humantific/docs/humantificthinkingmadevisible