Mihnea Moldoveanu Desautels Professor of Integrative Thinking Rotman School of Management

1. How Do We Select for, Train and Evaluate Integrative Thinkers? Sessions 8 and 9, Shantou University Mihnea Moldoveanu Desautels Professor of Integrative Thinking Rotman School of Management University of Toronto

2. What ‘Higher Education’ Selects for VALUE AS FUNCTION OF SELECTION CRITERIA: General intelligence(0.37-0.4); HIGH SCHOOL (12 YRS) GRADES (g,c) Conscientiousness (0.25-0.32) COLLEGE (4 YRS) THE DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITY SAT (g), GRADES (g,c) WORK ASSIGNMENT (2-4 YRS) COLLEGE GRADES, REFERENCES GRADUATE SCHOOL(2 YRS) TEST SCORES (GMAT, LSAT, MCAT), REFERENCES, GRADES GRADES, REFERENCES Rat Race 2 t

3. What Top Recruiters Want From Graduates… source: Deep Dive™ Project (ongoing) 3

4. Analog Circuit Design SUPPORTING DISCIPLINES RF Circuit Design Logic Circuit Design EXPLICIT EXPERTISE RF Antenna Design RF system design Hardware systems design System Testing TACIT EXPERTISE Competitive Analysis Strategy negotiate motivate Network Theory Network Design INTEGRATE Market Demand Analysis communicate Programming Languages and Logics Marketing Software Design Financial Analysis Financial Reporting Operating System Design Accounting Science Finance Theory Auditing Science The Integrative Gap We Need to Fill… Linear Systems Theory SUPPORTING BASIC SCIENCES Boolean Logic Electromagnetic Wave Theory Statistical Analysis Game Theory Queuing Theory Psychology Logic Sociology Linguistics Stochastic System Theory Microeconomics 4

5. The Problems of the World: A Map “Complex” “Simple” • Well specified, multi-dimensional goals and metrics; • logically deep pathways from statement to solution • Many dependant and independent variables • Convergence tests are either clearly defined or definable as a function of resource availability and problem complexity; fulfillment is independent INTEGRATIVE THINKING: RECOGNIZE WICKED PROBLEMS AND TURN THEM INTO (LOCALLY) TRACTABLE PROBLEMS • Well specified, uni-dimensional goals and metrics; • logically shallow pathways from statement to solution • Few dependant and independent variables • Clearly defined convergence tests and criteria whose fulfillment is independent PROBLEMS THE AGE OF SCIENCE THE AGE OF DESIGN “Wicked” • Goals and objectives have multiple, potentially incommensurable and conflicting specifications • Logical sequence from statement to solution depends on specification and choice of logic • Number of variables depends on specification and can change as a function of the solution process • Solution criteria are negotiated; their fulfillment conditions are “user-dependent” 5

6. TRANSFORMATIONAL “Algorithmic” Total New Jobs 1998 – 2004 N = 6.4MM “Super-algorithmic” The Market Opportunity for the High Value Decision Maker NEW JOBS, 1998-2004 (Adapted from Johnson, Manyika & Yee, 2004) TRANSACTIONAL TACIT 6

7. The Integrator’s Gap in Close-up ENGINEER’S VIEW MARKETER’S VIEW CLASH • Core ‘argument clinchers’ or ‘anchors’: • Provability • Optimality • Deductive logical closure • Core ‘argument clinchers’ or ‘anchors’: • Face validity (smell test) • Appropriateness to multiple constraints • Inductive logical closure “Understanding” and “real communication” require not only “suspension of disbelief” but also familiarity with alternative modes of discourse, representation and justification and cross-disciplinary discourse management. 7

8. Tough- mindedness: Experiment with and enact new model without defensiveness. The Integrative Thinker: A Conceptualization Nimble-mindedness: Recognize radical difference and otherness of different models Big- mindedness: Behold radically different models without paralysis. Integrative thinking: “the ability to think and act responsibly and responsively in the face of multiple, incommensurable and possibly conflicting models of oneself, the world and others” 8

9. N The Integrator’s mind: mile wide, mile deep The Integrative Thinker’s Mind is Broad andDeep Inch-deep, mile-wide mind How many things you think about Integrative thinking training path Inch-wide mile-deep mind K possible links among N variables How deeply do you think about it K 9 N variables

10. The Integrative Thinker Has a “Bi-stable” Mind, i.e. E Mono-stable mind Bi-stable mind 10

11. Bi-stability in Action: Inside the Mind of the CEO …using reasons X would accept as valid given my knowledge state How to persuade X to do Y… …using reasons X may not accept as valid given my knowledge state “X as a Mind” CO-REASON WITH X’S MIND Problem Statement: “How to get X to do Y” MANIPULATE X’S BRAIN “X as a Brain-Neuron-Muscle Machine” …using consciously designed behavior How to cause X’s body to behave in such a way as to produce Y… …using unconsciously produced behavior 11

12. The Other as a Machine or Mechanism... 12

13. The Other as Mind/Soul 13

14. Flipping the Mind’s Eye 14

15. Flipping the Mind’s Eye 15

16. Flipping the Mind’s Eye 16

17. Flipping the Mind’s Eye 17

18. Flipping the Mind’s Eye 18

19. The Power of Bi-stability: CEO’s Mental Model of “Organization” “Knowledge power counts for more than people think. I am held up by ‘experts’ half the time I have to make a decision.” CEO2 “By and large, position matters. It gives (them) both more visibility and greater leverage.” CEO1 Range of “normal” views of the organization (from CXO’s office) New space created by considering extreme views in pure form New space created by considering extreme views in pure form ORGANIZATION AS A PURE MARKET (information = $) ORGANIZATON AS PURE HIERARCHY 19

20. Componential Analysis of Integrative Thinking ASSOCIATIVE REASONING (Correlational speed and informational breadth) EMPATHIC ACCURACY (Theory of mind) DEDUCTIVE REASONING (Logical depth) AFFECTIVE FLEXIBILITY (Adaptiveness of mood or emotion) Integrative thinking: “the ability to think and act responsibly and responsively in the face of multiple, incommensurable and possibly conflicting models of oneself, the world and others” PERCEPTUAL ADAPTIVITY (Adaptive focus of sensory attention) • EXECUTIVE FUNCTION • Recognition of emotional conflict • Resolution of emotional conflict • Self-command • DIVERGENT/LATERAL THINKING • Generation of options • META-COGNITIVE VERSATILITY • Adaptive modes of justification • Adaptive concepts and models 20

21. The Integrative Brain: Can we “See” Integrative Thinking? [Etkin, Egner, Peraza, Kandel, Hirsch, Neuron, 2006]: Resolution of emotional conflict associated with rostral anterior cingulate cortex, whereas emotional conflict experience is associated with amygdala, dorso-lateral pre-frontal cortex and dorso-medial pre-frontal cortex, suggesting that an ‘integrative capability’ can be observed and potentially measured neurologically (fMRI). 21

22. Similarly, we can localize and measure other brain functions on which integrative skills supervene... Right pre-frontal cortex  reasoning (Kroger et al, 2008) Left pre-frontal cortex  calculation (Kroger et al, 2008) Affective flexibility  amygdalar response time constant (Cunningham et al, 2008) Semantic processing  Broca/Wernicke areas Empathic Understanding/Theory of Mind  ‘mirror neurons of the visuo-motor cortex [Rizzolatti, 2004] Visual short term memory  posterior parietal cortex (Todd and Marois, 2004) 22

23. Stop, Think, Reflect, Discuss 23

24. Can We Not Only Select, but Develop Integrative Thinkers? Development Path: “Education” 24

25. N The Integrator’s mind: mile wide, mile deep The Integrative Thinker’s Development Path Inch-deep, mile-wide mind How many things you think about Integrative thinking training path Inch-wide mile-deep mind K possible links among N variables How deeply do you think about it K 25 N variables

26. “Yes We Can” – to Quote Obama: Mind/Brain Is Plastic and Adaptive to Learning Task Transient changes in brain activation pattern induced by learning to juggle [Dragansky et al, Nature, 2004] Development Path: “Education” 26

27. Stop, Think, Reflect, Discuss 27