“If you define the problem correctly, you almost have the solution.”

– Steve Jobs

The human brain is an incredibly powerful organ. It is the source of revolutionary inventions, such as the airplane, the automobile, and the computer.

We all have our own ways of thinking, which make us unique individuals. Thinking allows us to identify and solve problems effectively. However, our thinking can also prevent us from making quality decisions and solving problems.

For those of us who are avid overthinkers, we often find ourselves slipping into a state of overanalysis and decision fatigue, which is unproductive and blocks creativity.

If you are reading this and thinking, “that’s me!” You aren’t alone. You can overcome overthinking. But the first step is to understand why you overthink in the first place.

Whether you are a repeat overthinker or if you are interested in exploring different ways of thinking to approach and solve problems, this article is for you.

In this article, I created a “cheat sheet” that outlines the different ways of thinking, when to use each one, and also a framework for problem-solving.

Why We Overthink

Overthinking… it can ruin lives.

Overthinking is representative of the law of diminishing returns. We overcomplicate things in our minds by rationalizing and obsessing about the perfect solution or decision. We spend too much time and mental energy thinking about the problem rather than solving it. When this happens, and we reach an impasse, overthinking takes over, and solving the problem is no longer productive.

The quality of our thinking, and therefore our decision-making and problem-solving abilities, is directly tied to our habits. Believe it or not, overthinking stems from habits. And if you tend to overcomplicate issues or problems, this can lead to procrastination.

Although it may seem counterintuitive or even counterproductive, sometimes the best way to solve a problem is to stop thinking about it. Take a mental break. Allow the information you have acquired to incubate. Focus on another activity or project and then revisit the problem later—a few hours, a few days, or even a few weeks.

Remember, we have a limited amount of cognitive energy in a day. Save it for real problems and things you can actually control.

Overcoming Cognitive Bias

I wrote and published an article on the different types of cognitive biases that humans often fall victim to. Although I wrote this article in the context of project management, these cognitive biases can affect any area of life.

Let’s look at how working memory functions as an example. As we observe events or experiences that happen in our lives and in our world, these experiences shape not only our knowledge but also how we perceive them. Experiences physically change our brains. This is known as top-down processing, the cognitive process of using previously stored knowledge gained from events and experiences to influence what we perceive from new experiences.

Top-down processing can affect our ability to solve problems. How? Our previous experiences with similar problems may lead us to describe or define the problem incorrectly. This is referred to as “errors of inclusion”. We might also assume that a solution may or may not work because of our past events and experiences. Rather than seeing problems for what they really are, we look at them through the “lens” of related experiences, events, and memories. We also naturally tend to “filter” information that contradicts our experiences and, therefore, our beliefs.

The moral of the story here? Even though we are highly intelligent creatures, our thinking is often flawed.

So, how do we avoid cognitive bias? This requires becoming familiar with the different types of cognitive biases and recognizing when you are at risk for bias (which requires activating “System 2”), which isn’t easy. However, by educating yourself on the different types of biases and also using a cognitive bias cheat sheet, you can learn to recognize the flaws in your own thinking.

18 Different Ways of Thinking (and When to Use Each One)

Learning about the different ways of thinking can improve your decision-making and problem-solving abilities. Here is a list of some different ways of thinking and when to apply each one:

1. Abstract Thinking

Abstract thinking relates to creativity, innovation, and learning to see things differently. When thinking abstractly, you are making connections between general ideas. It can also help you find workarounds and loopholes to solve unique challenges. This type of thinking can also help simplify complex issues and even relieve anxieties and tension.

On the other hand, according to an article published by the University of Texas at Austin, abstract thinking is prone to bias. It may create a false sense of understanding and restrict an individual’s viewpoint.

When to Use Abstract Thinking:

Abstract thinking works best when you need to be creative or when you need to see the bigger picture of a situation or problem you are trying to solve.

2. Specific Thinking

Specific thinking is the opposite of abstract thinking. It involves applying causal knowledge, asking why, and even thinking logistically. It makes your judgments about the quality of your causal knowledge more accurate.

For example, when an object or decision is far away, we often have an abstract mindset when thinking about it. However, when an object or decision is closer, we think more specifically and logistically about it.

When to Use Specific Thinking:

Specific thinking comes in handy for project managers or any type of role or challenges that require careful, in-depth analysis and planning, thinking logistically about the details of a particular decision or solution, and its impacts.

3. Systems Thinking

Systems thinking expands the range of choices available for solving a problem by broadening our perspective and helping us articulate problems in different ways. However, it can also have different meanings for different people and industries.

For example, in modern medicine, systems thinking is used as a diagnostic tool and a disciplined approach for examining problems more completely and accurately before making a decision or taking a specific approach.

Using a decision matrix is one example, and using analogies is another. Analogies help us describe something to teach others and identify gaps in our causal knowledge.

In another example, systems thinking involves describing how a particular “system” works, such as an application or a process, identifying all the elements and sub-processes that work together, and behavior patterns over time. It also involves understanding how different parts or elements interact with one another as well as with external systems.

When to Use Systems Thinking:

Systems thinking is about patterns and relationships to describe how things interact. Whether you are a physician or software developer, you can apply systems thinking to help diagnose a problem and understand how organs, symptoms, technologies, applications, or components interact.

Systems thinking can be applied at any organizational level. For example, business analysts, strategists, and executive leaders can use systems thinking to develop an organizational strategy.

Additionally, project managers can benefit from applying systems thinking. According to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) Guide, Seventh Edition, by the Project Management Institute (PMI), systems thinking is defined as “recognizing, evaluating, and responding to the dynamic circumstances within and surrounding the project in a holistic way to positively affect project performance.”

More specifically, systems thinking in the context of project management involves understanding how different phases and activities in a project intersect. It also involves understanding system interactions to leverage positive project outcomes.

Business analysts also use systems thinking to understand how people, processes, and technology interact within a specific domain or environment as well as the organization holistically.

4. Scientific Thinking

Scientific thinking involves seeking intentional information, which includes the following:

• Asking questions
• Testing ideas, hypotheses, and the quality of research
• Seeking facts and navigating through built-in biases in societal observations
• Learning from those tests and making observations
• Recognizing patterns
• Documenting data
• Making inferences
• Communicating thoughts

For example, as described in The Toyota Way: 14 Management Principles, Second Edition, by Jeffrey Liker, Toyota practices and teaches a scientific thinking pattern to managers and supervisors. Scientific thinking is at the center of the Toyota Way 4 Ps:

• Philosophy
• Process
• People
• Problem-solving

When to Use Scientific Thinking:

Believe it or not, scientific thinking isn’t just for scientists or students; it can be used in our everyday lives, such as when we experiment with mixing different ingredients when baking a cake or when we try to diagnose why our garden isn’t thriving this season.

Scientific thinking also plays a crucial role in business, particularly in problem-solving and decision-making.

5. Strategic and Critical Thinking

Strategic thinking enables you to use critical thinking to solve complex problems and plan for the future. Critical thinking involves actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating the ability to think clearly and rationally and understand the logical connection between ideas.

When we think about strategic and critical thinking, we might think, what is the difference? In short, one is an activity, and the other is a tool.

Strategic thinking is the activity. It involves thinking beyond the specific issue, task, or immediate goal. It involves looking at consequences, implications, and interdependencies in the short and long term.

Critical thinking is the tool, methodology, and process used during problem-solving, decision-making, leading, innovating, negotiating, and influencing activities. Critical thinking also extends into communication with others, which involves identifying assumptions and fallacies in arguments, which helps us dive deeper into the root causes of issues. It also involves examining rules or social norms and identifying opportunities to challenge the status quo.

Here are some questions to ask when applying critical thinking to an argument or solving a problem:

• What are the issues and conclusions?
• What are the reasons?
• What word(s) and/or phrase(s) are ambiguous?
• What are the value conflicts?
• What are the assumptions?
• Are there any fallacies present in the reasoning?
• How good is the evidence?
• Are there rival causes?
• Are the statistics deceptive?
• What information is omitted?
• What reasonable conclusions are possible?

All in all, strategic thinking is about how to think rather than about what to think.

When to Use Strategic and Critical Thinking:

We might use strategic thinking when deciding on new projects to tackle or planning long-term goals for a business. We use critical thinking to solve a problem, seek facts, perform root cause analyses, and learn new information.

6. Pragmatic Thinking

Pragmatic thinking is an approach to strategic thinking. It involves dealing with matters in a sensible, realistic, and practical manner rather than using theory or abstract principles. 

Pragmatic thinkers or leaders focus on the practical side of any project, task, initiative, or goal. It involves asking, “how do we get this done?” Sometimes pragmatists are seen as negative; however, they simply view the entire picture, including roadblocks and bottlenecks, to reach an end result. It’s a linear, practical way of thinking and “doing.”

When to Use Pragmatic Thinking:

When you are the only person in the group who can take charge and get the group to think about how to get things done. Pragmatic thinking is great for project managers and business leaders.

7. Divergent Thinking

Divergent thinking serves two primary purposes: ideation and clarification. It involves creativity, free association, and exploratory thinking. It enables you to brainstorm and generate multiple ideas and possible solutions to a problem and build upon those ideas. The goal of divergent thinking is to generate as many ideas as possible, and to strive for novelty. Think QUANTITY over QUALITY.

When to Use Divergent Thinking:

This type of thinking opens many doors to many possible opportunities, thoughts, ideas, and solutions. You can apply this type of thinking individually or in a group brainstorming session.

8. Convergent Thinking

Convergent thinking is the complete opposite of divergent thinking. Convergent thinking is more about evaluating the ideas generated during divergent thinking (or a brainstorming session) and narrowing them down to several good options.

When to Use Convergent Thinking:

Convergent thinking is best when you need to reach one concrete and well-defined solution to a problem rather than multiple.

One important thing to note about divergent and convergent thinking. As you may have gathered, the two go hand-in-hand, but it is a cardinal sin to do both at the same time.

9. Combinent Thinking

This type of thinking is a unique way to approach a problem and identify solutions that might not be apparent otherwise. A common approach to combinent thinking is by applying forced connections. This involves combining what seem like completely unrelated ideas, topics, or subjects together and seeing what new ideas emerge from that.

When to Use Combinent Thinking:

The purpose of combinent thinking is to evaluate ideas and possible solutions.

10. Design Thinking

Design thinking is a structured approach to solving a perceived or unknown problem. It is typically applied to the development of new products or services, particularly where those solutions need to be innovative and user-centric. Design thinking addresses cognitive biases and behaviors that can hamper innovation.

Design thinking also involves the ability to empathize with the end user or put yourself in their shoes.

When to Use Design Thinking:

When should you use design thinking? As stated in this article by Harvard Business Review, one example is a team overwhelmed with parsing through disorganized qualitative data. By applying design thinking, the team can make sense of data by organizing it into themes and patterns. This approach allows teams and innovators to gain new insights and possibilities as well as identify new opportunities.

Design thinking is often applied in agile environments. It is best used where the answer to a need or problem isn’t obvious. In many ways, design thinking is an evolution of agile. It focuses on the concepts of prototyping and testing solutions to progressively elaborate on that solution to find the ideal final product or service.

Project Management Institute (PMI) delivered by Stefano Setti, PMI-PBA, PMI-RMP, PMP
Founder & CEO, BluPeak Consulting at PMXPO 2024 on March 21st, 2024

Design thinking is visual and emphasizes prototyping. It requires teams to focus on understanding the user, dive deeply into the business problems that need to be solved, and understand what “success” will look like, even if the users themselves don’t know. This leads to the ability to define the problem in relatively simple terms, to simplify the problem in a way that allows the team to relate to it.

Design thinking can also be used as a method for transforming business processes as well as achieving outputs or solutions.

11. Lean Thinking

Lean thinking is a philosophy that focuses on speed, velocity, and continuous flow. It’s about assessing existing processes and identifying areas where “waste” can be removed to increase speed and efficiency. In this context, “waste” refers to steps in the process that do not provide value to the end user or customer. It means doing fewer things, doing the right things, and eliminating bottlenecks.

At its core, lean thinking is about delivering value to customers and end users, minimizing waste, adapting to change, and implementing and adopting a continuous improvement mindset to achieve the best possible outcomes.

When to Use Lean Thinking:

Lean thinking is often used in business; however, it can be applied to everyday life as well. Lean thinking specifically relates to processes.

For example, if you are trying to minimize the number of steps to walk to your coffee pot in the morning, or if you are dealing with angry or dissatisfied customers or end users, then it’s important to perform a root cause analysis to understand the source. Lean thinking is not only a method of thinking that involves putting the customer first but also a practice.

12. Structured Thinking

Structured thinking provides an “anchor”. It involves breaking down problems and solving them in smaller pieces. This approach helps prevent worry and falling victim to the bias of past assumptions.

The word “structure” seems counterintuitive. It might seem like we are removing creativity from the thinking process when, in actuality, the opposite is true. By applying rules and boundaries, creativity can flourish.

When to Use Structured Thinking:

Structured thinking can help you solve a big problem you are overthinking and worried about. Ask yourself trivial questions about the problem, such as, “why is THIS THING a problem?” and observe how you answer them. This will help you become aware of your approach to answering questions and enable you to recognize areas for improvement, explore alternative ways of thinking, and become a more effective problem-solver.

13. Visual Thinking

Note that visual thinking is different than design thinking, which we discussed above. Visual thinking involves communicating complex ideas through various visual representations, such as graphs, concepts, models, and diagrams.

One of my favorite visual thinking exercises is using “ideatoons”. Begin by stating the challenge. Then, cut up a few pieces of paper or use index cards and draw pictures representing each element of the challenge. You can use free association to draw pictures related to each element. Next, shuffle and rearrange the cards in a random order. See what new ideas come to mind.

When to Use Visual Thinking:

One of the biggest mistakes we often make as professionals is assuming our audiences understand what we are talking about. Remember, not everyone is a doctor, scientist, engineer, lawyer, or analyst.

If you need to communicate complex ideas, research, or solutions to your audience, visual thinking can be an excellent skill. Visual thinking enables audiences to learn difficult or abstract concepts and ideas more quickly, as evidenced by increased productivity.

14. Conceptual Thinking

Conceptual thinking is understanding the linkage between contexts, solutions, needs, changes, stakeholders, and value. It involves connecting and understanding information and patterns that might not be obviously related, both at an abstract level and a holistic level. It also involves leveraging past experiences, knowledge, creativity, intuition, and abstract thinking to generate alternatives, options, and ideas to solve a particular problem.

When to Use Conceptual Thinking:

When we receive large amounts of detailed and possibly disparate information, applying conceptual thinking can help us understand the linking factors to an underlying problem or opportunity. Applying conceptual thinking can also help teams and organizations with change management.

15. Negotiative Thinking

Okay, I don’t think “negotiative” is a real word, so I admit I made it up. But it has real context here. What I’m calling “negotiative” thinking is a tactic you can implement to change others’ ways of thinking.

It is also the pattern of thinking centered around the belief that everything is negotiable. And it is. Once you identify the forces operating and present in your challenges, they can be negotiable. You can either learn to live with the negatives by limiting your options and/or compromising your goals, or you can change their position, change your thinking, find workarounds and opportunities to negotiate.

If you take a few moments to think about and study ANY idea, you will begin to view the idea differently, allowing you to change your viewpoints and perceptions of it.

When to Use “Negotiative” Thinking:

We may find ourselves in a position where we need to solve a problem that requires collaborating with another person or team to accomplish a task. Simply telling or demanding them to do it is unlikely to work. By employing some simple negotiation tactics, or what Bob Burg, in his book The Art of Persuasion, described as using “third-party explanations”, you have a greater chance of getting another person or team to do something without forcing, demanding, manipulating, or intimidating.

Third-party explanations are simply examples or stories where you put yourself in the other person’s shoes, with you being corrected by another knowledgeable source or person.

16. Linear Thinking

This type of thinking employs a structured, step-by-step, and often predictive approach to solving problems.

When to Use Linear Thinking:

Process optimization projects, such as streamlining a manufacturing line, is a good example of when to use linear thinking. Why? Each step in the process builds on the previous one. Analyzing bottlenecks or inefficiencies step by step allows for more targeted interventions and solutions.

17. Non-linear Thinking

Non-linear thinking, essentially the opposite of linear thinking, is reaching a solution by not necessarily following one step, direction, structure, or pattern. The view is that there are multiple starting points from which one can apply logic to a problem.

When to Use Non-linear Thinking:

Non-linear thinking is commonly used in agile or adaptive environments, such as developing a new product or piece of software. This typically involves exploring user needs, behaviors, and desires that aren’t clearly defined. Ideas may emerge from analogy, inspiration, or divergent thinking.

18. Visual Thinking

Visual thinking involves taking attributes from a challenge and drawing pictures or visuals as a substitute for words.

When to Use Visual Thinking:

Visual thinking is a great creative problem-solving tactic. It forces your brain to think differently about a problem using visuals rather than words.

Practice Makes Perfect: Adopting Smart and Sophisticated Thinking

To sum up, all the different ways of thinking really boil down to one simple category—smart thinking. However, this concept of smart thinking is different than intelligence. Smart thinking is the ability to solve new problems using current knowledge.

Smart thinking is not an innate quality. Like the other methods of thinking we looked at in this article, smart thinking takes practice and requires adopting new habits—smart habits. Learn more about smart habits here.

Develop a Problem-solving Framework

Here are some examples of problem-solving frameworks that apply different ways of thinking:

If you are stuck on how to solve a problem, lack motivation, or feel like you are in a constant state of overthinking, try following this process:

1. Study the problem.

Write out the problem statement. It could be a single sentence to the question: “What is the issue I’m facing?” While defining and writing out the problem, it can be helpful to imagine a future, desired state.

Phrase and frame problems as creative questions. A creative question is the definition of a problem and provides an alternative view of what the problem is and drives at the root cause. This also allows you to identify the problem, not the symptom.—Write out the problem statement. It could be a single sentence to the question: “What is the issue I’m facing?”

2. Gather facts and data.

Separate the facts from the emotions. Flag or highlight the emotions that are present. Identify and list out any assumptions.

Here is an example of lean thinking in practice. Try following the A3 Problem-solving Methodology:

1. Clarify the goal, purpose, or objective.
2. Define the problem or opportunity. (You can ensure you define the problem accurately by following this framework: “Presently______________ that or who supplies______________ to______________  does not______________ which causes______________ and results in______________.”)
3. Gather facts and analyze.
4. Brainstorm solutions and assess the best.
5. Develop an action plan and implement it.
6. Evaluate.

3. Categorize and organize.

List out all possible attributes to a problem. Using free association, create clusters, groups, or categories. This allows you to make “forced connections”, where you can make connections, links, and relationships between seemingly isolated and unconnected pieces of information related to a particular problem. A mind mapping exercise helps with this.

You will likely find that as you create maps connecting different attributes, you will begin to form ideas and build upon those ideas. You will notice your map becoming larger and more complex.

Once you have clusters, groups, and/or categories, organize and prioritize them.

4. Identify possible solutions.

Input solutions into a decision matrix, or develop a pros and cons list for each solution. Regardless of the problem-solving method you choose, you don’t need a super high-powered and robust business intelligence or analytics platform.

Develop 3-5 ideas for potential workarounds or solutions. Ask the question: “In what ways might we solve [PROBLEM]?” What resources are available to help me solve the problem?” You can do this by following the SCAMPER checklist, which involves the following steps:

• Substitute something
• Combine it with something else
• Adapt something to it
• Use it for something else
• Eliminate something
• Reverse or rearrange it

Then, perform an alternatives analysis to identify and develop any other possible solutions, loopholes, or workarounds.

5. Choose a solution

After developing possible solutions to your problem, the next step is choosing a solution. Be sure to make an unbiased decision. Identify your values and principles, if appropriate. Using a decision matrix is a great resource.

What To Do When You’re Stuck

Rethink Your Approach

Remember that there is no single right or wrong way to look at a problem. In fact, like looking at a photograph or a piece of art, looking at a problem from different angles and applying different types of thinking can help you find creative ways to solve it.

Experimentation is key. Like moving around and organizing puzzle pieces, experimenting with resources, focus, and scope in various ways may highlight different aspects of a problem and allow us to see a solution or workaround more clearly.

Find a Workaround

Believe it or not, workarounds come in many forms, and with a little creativity and innovative thinking, they are right in front of us. The first step is to develop a workaround attitude, which involves learning to leverage different ways of thinking to look at a problem from multiple angles, refusing to accept the “status quo”, questioning the rules and social norms we conform to, and being willing to push the boundaries of what is possible.

In the problem-solving framework steps above, I noted that the first step is to thoroughly define and write out the problem. This is certainly helpful; however, to find a workaround solution to a problem, we don’t necessarily need to know or understand everything about the problem. We can begin by just writing down what we know, what we don’t know, and any known obstacles. This is especially effective for complex problems because it allows us to view the problem with a “clean slate”, so to speak.

Challenge the Default

Sometimes, the way we interpret a problem or a risk is a problem in itself. You can question the status quo and challenge the default by applying critical thinking.

Solving Problems Begins with Your Own Thinking

We all might be tempted to avoid a difficult problem. The problem might be so big and severe that it might cause fear. However, despite how much we might avoid it or pray that it just… disappears, it’s unlikely. And in most cases, avoiding the problem just makes it bigger and sometimes worse to deal with.

Believe There is a Solution

The biggest takeaway here? The best way to find new ways to solve problems is to address them head-on and change how you think about them. Like anything, it requires a change in mindset.

For example, if you are constantly “stewing” over a problem, and you tell yourself, “This is impossible… I’m never going to solve this.” Then, you’re right. You won’t. You might need to step away from a problem for some time, focus on another activity, and then return to it later. This will allow you to come at the problem from a different angle or approach it with a different mindset.

In addition to changing the way you think about problems specifically, it’s also important to believe that you already know the solution. It lies and waits deep down in your unconscious mind. You just need to learn how to see them. This is a shift from thinking, “IS there a solution?” to “WHAT is the solution?” You will likely have to relax your mind in order to do this, but it is possible and very effective.

Tap into Your Intuition

Our own intuition is a powerful mechanism for solving problems. It helps us to understand when a problem exists, to synthesize data related to a problem, and to develop a quick solution. However, tapping into your intuition takes practice. Become aware of your intuition on a daily basis.

One technique for using your intuition to solve problems is with “brainwriting”. This technique uses free association: You relax, write down questions related to the problem, and then write ANY solution that comes to mind. The goal is to not overthink them, but to just get them down on paper. Quantity over quality.

Practice Makes Perfect

It might sound silly, but practice thinking about your thinking. Learn to challenge and question your own thoughts and thinking. Develop a framework and process for problem-solving. Allow yourself to make mistakes and learn from them.