Thinkers in Business

Are you a thinker or a reactor?

I think I am both a thinker and a reactor. It all depends on what situation I am in. In an emergency situation I am a reactor especially when it involves a patient or my family. As a physician, when there is an emergency I have to react swiftly and decisively to the situation, because time could be the difference between life and death. However this reaction is not without some type of thinking but very brief. With years of training in medical school and residency teaches a physician what choices of treatment for a particular patient in a certain emergent situation is likely to save that patients life. There are well defined algorithms that physicians can choose from and are limited in an emergency situation. Therefore the decision we make in emergency situation is a calculated risk but a reaction none the less. Also emergency situation with my family I think I am a reactor as well. But most of the time that does not involve and emergency I am a thinker. I think about all my options and what they would mean for me, my life and the people around me.

In your experience which tend to be successful in management? Who makes it further, a thinker or reactor?

In my experience thinkers in management tend to be more successful but it really depends on what industry they operate in. Who will make it further will also depend on the industry the manager operates in. Thinkers take in to account as many factors that can affect the decision and evaluates the potential outcomes and then develop scenarios and possibility of success. Thinkers probably do better in industries or jobs where time is not important and where the decision can have a widespread and long lasting impact. For example, those who are charged with the decision to go to war or not when there is no immediate harm to the U.S need to be thinkers. In this case you would want management to think about the consequences of the decision and estimate who would be impacted and...