Why is integrative thinking so important?
Many managers spend their careers taking actions that produce outcomes that are perplexing and unsatisfying. There are consistent gaps between aspirations and outcomes, which I will define as ‘error’ – a gap between the aspiration of the actor in question and the outcome they achieve with their chosen set of actions. Why are errors prevalent? The world is a messy place where the links between cause and effect are not clear. Many factors are in play. In this respect, the business world is no different than the world at large. People do not like error. They despise it, because error often feels like losing — and people hate to lose. Taking action expecting to produce one thing and instead producing a different, less desired outcome feels out-of-control – and people hate to lose control. In the face of feeling out-of-control, people take preventive action. The tactic is to simplify and specialize. That is, to take the messy world they face and simplify it to the point that they feel conf
