Five Thinking Styles

Thinking is more interesting than knowing, but less interesting than looking Johann Wolfgang von
Goethe
You improve your communication with others when you can match their thinking style.
You can also avoid rubbing your boss the wrong way by paying close attention to how they approach the
tasks of the day.
In Coping with Difficult Bosses, Robert Bramson identifies five thinking styles to categorize our modes of
thinking and problem solving we use most frequently.
Key Take Aways
Here are my key take aways:
Seek first to understand, then to be understood. The more you understand somebody, the better
you can adapt your style. I think the five thinking styles are a helpful framework in addition to
understanding somebodys learning style ( auditory, visual, or kinesthtic), their NLP meta-programs,
their motivation (towards pleasure or away from pain), their values, their "rules", their extraversion and
introversion tendencies, their passive or aggressive tendencies, whether they are more "task-
centered" or "people-centered", their decision making style (consult-and-decide or build consensus),
and their management styles (Autocratic,Paternalistic, Democratic, and Laissez-faire.)
Establish rapport. I think the heart of identifying the five thinking-styles revolves around establishing
rapport. Rapport is the key to communication, influence, and trust.
Know the anti-patterns. Its probably more important to know how to avoid rubbing somebody the
wrong way, than getting the preferred or ideal communication style exactly right.
Wear different hats. I think you can use the Six-Thinking Hats concept to switch your hat based on
who you are working with. Each hat you put on or take off can represent a different thinking style.




Five Thinking Styles
According to Bramson, the five thinking styles are:
Synthesists
Idealists
Pragmatist Thinkers
Analyst Thinkers
Realist Thinkers

Synthesists
According to Bramson, "Synthesists are creative thinkers who perceive the world in terms of
opposites. When you say black, they think white, when you say long, they think short."
To connect with Synthesists, Bramson suggests "listen appreciatively to their speculation and dont
confuse their arguing nature with resistance."
Idealists
According to Bramson, "Idealists believe in lofty goals and standards."
To connect with Idealists, Bramson suggests "associate what you want to do with these goals of quality,
service, and community good."
Pragmatic Thinkers
According to Bramson, "Pragmatic thinkers are flexible, resourceful folk who look for immediate payoff
rather than for a grand plan that will change the world."
To connect with Pragmatists, Bramson suggests "emphasize short-term objectives on which you can get
started with resources at hand."
Analyst Thinkers
According to Bramsom, "Analyst thinkers equate accuracy, thoroughness, and attention to detail with
completeness. They are likely to gather data, measure it, categorize it, and rationally and methodically
calculate the right answer to any problem you come up with.
To connect to Analysts, Bramson suggests "provide a logical plan replete with back-up data and
specifications."
Realist Thinkers
According to Bramson, "Realist thinkers are fast moving doers who know that reality is what their senses
sight, sound, taste, smell, and touch tell them it is and not that dry stuff that one finds in accounting
ledgers, or the insipid pages of manual of operations."
To connect with Realists, Bramson suggests, "If you communicate with Realist bosses as if they were
Analysts, you will never get their attention. Rather than gobs of computer-printouts and other detailed
information, Realists want a three-paragraph Executive Summary which tells briefly what is wrong and
how you propose to fix it. For rather complicated reasons, they will often take you at your word if they see
you as a qualified expert. You become an expert in their eyes when they know that youve assembled a
store of facts in which they are interested, and you have proposed a set of actions that they already
believe are the best things to do.
How To Use the Five Thinking Styles
Take the time to place your boss or who you need to interact with into one or two of the five thinking-style
categories. Keep in mind that while one or two styles predominate for most people, about fifteen percent
use all five styles equally. Those who do are seldom difficult bosses. Once youve identified their
preferred categories, figure out how you can change your approach to better suit their style.
List of thought processes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a list of thinking styles, methods of thinking (thinking skills), and types of thought. See also the List of
thinking-related topic lists, the List of philosophies and the Portal:Thinking.
Abductive reasoning
Abstract thinking
Adaptation
Adaptive reasoning
Analogy
Argument
Association of Ideas
Analysis
Assessment
Autistic thinking (see Glossary of
psychiatry)
Backcasting
Belief
Brainstorming
Causality
Calculation
Casuistry
Categorization
Chunking (psychology)
Code
Cognition
Cognitive restructuring
Cognitive space
Cognitive style
Common sense
Expectation
Experimentation
Explanation
Extension (semantics)
Forward thinking
Fuzzy logic (fuzzy thinking)
Generalizing
Gestalt psychology
Heuristics in judgment and decision
making
Higher-order thinking
Historical thinking
Holism
Hypothesis
Idea
Inductive reasoning
Inference
Inquiry
Instinct
Intelligence
Intentionality
Interpretation
Integrative thinking
Introspection
Intuition
Personal experience
Persuasion
Philosophical analysis
Philosophical method
Planning
Po
Preconscious
Prediction
Premise
Problem finding
Problem shaping
Problem solving
Projecting
Proposition
Rationality
Reason
Reasoning
Recognition primed decision
Repair
Rethinking
Reversal
Self-reflection
Sapience
Semantic network
Semantics
Communicating
Concept
Concept-formation
Concept map
Conceptual metaphor
Conceptual thinking
Concrete concepts
Conjecture
Constructive criticism
Conversation
Creative thought processes
Creativity
Creativity techniques
Critical thinking
Decision making
Decision-making processes
Deconstruction
Deductive reasoning
Definition
Dereistic thinking (see Glossary
of psychiatry)
Design (and re-design)
Diagrammatic reasoning
Dialectic
Discovery
Distinction (philosophy)
Distributed cognition
Emotion
Entrained thinking
Emotionally-based thinking skills
Emotions
Estimation
Evaluation
Inventing
Judging
Kinesthetic learning
Language
Lateral thinking
Learning
Linguistics
Logic
Logical argument
Logical assertion
Meaning (linguistics)
Meaning (non-linguistic)
Meaning (semiotics)
Memorization
Mental calculation
Mental function
Meta-analytic thinking
Metacognition (thinking about
thinking)
Meta-ethical
Metaphor
Methodic doubt
Mind's eye
Mind map
Mindset
Mnemonics
Morphological analysis
Multiple intelligences
Multitasking
Natural language processing (NLP)
Nonduality
Object pairing
Organizational thought
Semiosis
Semiotics
Sensemaking
Situational awareness
Six Thinking Hats
Storytelling
Stream of consciousness
Subconscious
Suspicion (emotion)
Substitution (logic)
Syllogism
Synectics
Synthesis (synthetic)
Systems thinking
Theories
Thought
sonorization (see Glossary of
psychiatry)
Thinking
Thinking processes
Thinking outside the box
Thought
Translation
Thought experiment
Thought disorder
Trial and error
TRIZ
Unconscious mind
Understanding
Vertical thinking
Visual thinking
VPEC-T
Working memory
Parallel thinking
Perceptive processes