STRATEGIC THINKING (II)

Prof.Dr.Dr.Dr.H.C. Constantin Bratianu

Faculty of Business Administration
Academy of Economic Studies
Bucharest, Romania

Inertial thinking

STATIC / INERTIAL THINKING

The simplest model of thinking
TIME is not included in this model
Things and events are almost the same. They do not
change, or change is not significant
Think of Pyramids. Same image anytime
When things do not change we get a feeling of
security, since we can control events
Static or inertial thinking opposes any change. It is
like a resistance

DYNAMIC THINKING
Time is a fundamental variable
Time has only an extensive dimension, measured as
duration (in seconds, minutes, hours, days, etc.)
That means that in this model, time has no direction
It is actually the physical time
Things and events change in time. Processes
develop in time
Processes are reversible
For reversible processes time direction is not
important

V=S/T

T=S/V

ENTROPIC THINKING
Time is a fundamental variable characterized by:
duration and direction
Duration = quantitative dimension (seconds,
minutes, hours, etc.)
Direction = qualitative dimension (past, present,
future)
For irreversible processes time has direction
past >>> present >>> future
Entropy is a measure of irreversibility
Entropic thinking is the most powerful thinking
model from time point of view

Time observer
metaphor

Future

The observer is
moving
Event 3

Event 2
Event 1

Past

I shall come to you next week.

Time observer
metaphor

Future

Time is moving
Event 3

Event 2
Event 1

Past

Time flies by
Time for action has
arrived

What is the taste of the Big Mac?

Taste of bread

Taste of meat
Taste of salad

Taste of bread

Taste of meat

Taste of cheese

Taste of bread

Chicken soup with vegetables

LINEAR AND
NONLINEAR
THINKING

Sagrada Familia, Barcelona

Antonio Gaudi

Manhattan, New York

The Wall Street, New York

Opera din Sydney

Hundertwasser, Viena

LINEAR THINKING
representation
The
Input (X)

Process
constant (K)

Output (Y)

Y = kX
Where K is a process constant.

The output is proportional with the input.

LINEAR THINKING (I)

Outputs are proportional with inputs
Processes are described by linear equations
Linear thinking is the most frequently used approximation
in our daily life
In linear thinking one sequence of any activity starts only
when the previous sequence ends
Complex problems can be decomposed into simpler
problems. Each simple problem can be solved and got a
solution. By assembling all of these simple solutions we
get the solution of the initial complex problem.
In linear thinking we can sum up objects or events and get
the final result

LINEAR THINKING (II)

Measuring systems are based on linear thinking
E.g.
5 kg apples x 2 $/kg = $ 10
2 kg + 7 kg = 9 kg
Budgetary salaries are based on linear thinking
E.g.
40 hours x 5 $/hour = $ 200
Democracy is based on linear thinking
Language is based on linear thinking
In Europe, getting university Diplomas is based on
linear thinking

NONLINEAR THINKING (I)

Life processes, natural processes, social processes are
not linear
For instance, biology demonstrates that people dont
have qualities whose values to be proportional with
their age. Just think of the situation in which the
tallness of a person would be such a quality
Outputs are related to inputs by nonlinear equations, of
different forms
E.g. Y = a + bx + cx + dx
Y = log x
Scientific discoveries, Engineering innovations,
A scientific discovery cannot be proportional with any
other entity

NONLINEAR THINKING (II)

Intellectual work, artistic performance and knowledge
processing are strongly nonlinear processes
For nonlinear processes summation is not valid
Complex problems cannot be decomposed into simpler
problems since problems will change their nature
For nonlinear processes integration is the most
important characteristic (e.g. Big Mac and a chicken
soup)
Friendship, love, happiness, excellence, performance,
quality etc. are strongly nonlinear

The butterfly effect

If a butterfly is producing a perturbation of the air in
New York, we may have a tsunami in Tokyo.