Using a Structured Logical Approach Helps Us Make Better Decisions

What is the Logical Thinking Process and why is it useful?

Every human organization is a system. And as systems grow, they become more complicated. What characterizes such a system is that an event that takes place in one area affects other areas of the system, and the way this happens is very often not evident. In other words, there is always a chain of causality, and this chain is not always easy to follow. This means that decisions we make can often have effects that are not easily predictable. Sometimes, formal organizational structure and chains of command cloud the true causality and create incentives that direct us away from trying to understand it.

Secondly, it is common - far too common - that our decisions are based on wrong assumptions. Wrong assumptions are harmful, for they reflect an incorrect view of reality. Sometimes those assumptions are tacit - we do not realize we make them. Sometimes we are fully aware of them, but we do not understand the negative impact they have on our decisions, and hence on our system. Finally, we can be aware of the paradigms and also aware of their harmful consequences, but unable to find an alternative. Deciphering the causality, unearthing false assumptions and removing the conflicts behind false paradigms. This is what the Logical Thinking Process helps us to do.

If you want to find out more, my book, From Symptoms to Causes – Applying the Logical Thinking Process to an Everyday Problem, describes the logical decision-making process and its foundations using a simple example everyone can relate to.