An investigation of the thinking styles of agriculturalists and their use of information technology

Abstract

Taking as point of departure research on different preferential thinking styles that humans employ, the authors argue that there is no assurance that a particular decision arrived at by a person employing a particular thinking style (e.g. the synthesizer style) will be accepted by a person employing another thinking style (e.g. an idealist style). We further argue that by combining a range of critical thinking skills when drafting reports, for instance an Information Technology (IT) Strategic Plan presented to a group of strategic decision-makers that would most likely comprise of individuals employing different thinking styles, the chances are increased that such a plan would be acceptable to most of them. The authors also point out that, similar to the problem solving approach employed in scientific reasoning, the thinking style known as the critical thinking style should be used by IT managers, which entails first identifying an actual problem and thereafter employing modes of evidence gathering that aim to generate a solution to the problem. The paper points out that by consecutively wearing Edward De Bono’s metaphoric six differently coloured thinking hats, managers can obtain different perspectives on a particular problem. The paper finally recommends particular strategies that managers could employ to get IT recommendations accepted.