Possibilities of analytical thinking. Ways to develop analytical skills

Analytical thinking as a quality of personality - the ability to highlight in the analyzed object the details that are essential for it, unnoticed by a superficial glance, to find its hidden causal relationships; show practical intelligence, reason logically, investigate an object, the situation by breaking it down into smaller parts, or by following the premises of the situation step by step according to the principle of causality.

How does analytical thinking work? We are asked a question: "How many corners will the table have if one is cut off?" Someone will say that three (under certain conditions he will be right). And someone that five (this is not the only correct answer). A person with an analytical mindset and good analytical skills, before answering, will ask himself (or the questioner) the following questions that will help get to the bottom of the truth: What shape does the table have? How many corners does it have initially? After all, tables are not only square or rectangular, they can also have the shape, for example, of a triangle. How do we cut? The correctness of the answer directly depends on this (well, and on the shape of the table, of course). If square table cut off the corner not far from the edge, then 5 corners will remain, and if we cut it diagonally (in fact, we will cut off one corner, which does not contradict the condition), then 3 corners will remain.

Let's take a simple example: Two people go down a chimney. One got out with a clean face, the other with a dirty one. Which of them will go to wash?

This question was asked by the teacher to the student. “Well, of course, the one with the dirty face!” - Wrong answer. Think logically: after all, the one with a dirty face will look at the one with a clean face and decide that his face is also clean. And the one whose face is clean will look at the one whose face is dirty and decide that he himself is also dirty, and will go to wash. - Interesting idea! - admired the student. - And guess me, Teacher, another logical task! - All right, young man. Two people go down the chimney. One comes out with a clean face, the other with a dirty one. Which of them will go to wash? - But we've already figured it out, the one whose face is clean will go to wash! - That's not entirely true. They both go to wash. Think logically: the one with a clean face will look at the one with a dirty face and decide that his face is also dirty. And the one whose face is dirty, seeing that the partner has gone to wash, will understand that he also has a dirty face, and will also go to wash accordingly.

I didn't even think about it! Amazing - I made such a stupid logical error! Teacher, let's have one more question! - Okay. Two people go down the chimney. One comes out with a clean face, the other with a dirty one. Which of them will go to wash? - Well ... probably both will go to wash. - Wrong again. None of them will wash. Think logically: the one whose face is dirty will look at the one whose face is clean and will not go to wash. And the one whose face is clean will see that the one whose face is dirty does not go to wash. So he will understand that his face is clean, and also will not go to wash. The young man was taken aback by this answer. - Ask me about something else! - Okay. Two people go down the chimney ... - Oh Lord, give me strength! None of them will go to wash!!! - Not properly. Tell me, how can it even happen that two people go down the same dirty pipe, while one of them gets his face dirty, and the other does not?!

A person with demonstrated analytical thinking will not buy into the apparent simplicity of this question. First of all, the analyst will divide the information into separate components and begin to analyze these components comprehensively. After that, the analyst will do his best to generate the missing information through logical inferences and inferences. If this is a task, then based on the previous steps, he will outline several options for solving it. Next, the analyst will analyze each option separately, trying to weigh all its fat pluses and minuses. Ultimately, the best option is chosen.

Alexandra Marinina has a heroine, Nastya Kamenskaya, who has excellent analytical thinking. In the face of the most confusing and contradictory data, Kamenskaya does not give up. She starts with analysis. Analytical ability involves the ability to see and understand the little things, pay attention to the smallest details, highlight those of them that go unnoticed to a superficial glance, but are of significant importance for this case. Kamenskaya knows how to see both the whole and the details at once, quickly orients herself, is able to recognize and distinguish the most significant, often hidden in objects, phenomena, knows how to distinguish the visibility of an object, phenomenon from their essence, behind the facts to see the whole, connections, patterns.

Kamenskaya on new job begins to create an analytical department in the department of Sharpening. And one of her first tasks is to analyze the possibilities of penetration of criminal structures into the educational institutions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Analyzing data on unsolved violent crimes, Nastya discovers an interesting picture: in one of the districts of Moscow, the level of violence has dropped sharply, while in the neighboring one, on the contrary, it has increased, as a result, both of these districts form an infinity sign (∞), and the center of this “inverted eight” falls just one research institute. And then it becomes clear what kind of infinity the employee of this institute who committed suicide wrote about in his suicide note.

How does God feel about analytical thinking? God says: ““One who knows that the goal of philosophical research can also be achieved in the process of devotional service, and understands that the method of analytical study of the material world and the method of devotional service are on the same level, he sees things in their true color ... As long as a person is not completely liberated, he must use the sword of analytical knowledge, the body is like a tree, and analysis is like a branch of a tree, an ax on which spiritual knowledge is put on - an ax to cut down the very tree of the body that has grown out of ignorance. When one is liberated and the tree of material identification is cut down, the devotee should lay down this ax of analytical knowledge and not touch it again.”

A person with demonstrated analytical thinking will not fall into the trap of the apparent simplicity of situations.

Many consider themselves psychoanalysts, but at the same time they do not know how to prioritize and draw the right conclusions from their actions.

Fruitful analytical thinking is the lot of a muscular mind.

Petr Kovalev 2015

Analytical thinking is the ability of a person to analyze and synthesize information. In its action, this type of thinking is closely related to logic and manifests itself in the careful consideration of a problem or a specific situation, its analysis, weighing all the positive and negative sides. About what it is, what are the ways of its development and will be discussed in this article.

Analytical thinking: what is it

Analytical thinking is necessary for the best understanding, memorization, processing of information in the mind, its memorization and subsequent reproduction and application in practice. Analytical people are able to make plans, forecasts, make accurate and thoughtful decisions based on their past experience, which is very much appreciated by many employers. Such thinking must be developed to plan your future based on the analysis of past successes and failures in life.

It includes two main processes:

  • formal, in which a person analyzes information, synthesizes it, draws conclusions and fixes the results in his memory. Such a process is based on the laws of physics and mathematics, which are characterized by clear structural properties, signs of material objects and objects.
  • creative during which a person is looking for new information. It is distinguished by the ability to perceive aspects of the non-material world that are outside the experience and knowledge of a person (intuition).

IMPORTANT! The analytical type of thinking is based on a comprehensive and systematic study of issues and problems that have certain criteria. This type of thinking is characterized by careful and methodical work with the details of the problem.

Analytics skills are needed to memorize information, analyze it in order to draw a conclusion and make a decision. In particular, it helps:

  • solve complex everyday, professional problems;
  • quickly identify the main and secondary, pluses and minuses in events;
  • systematize the experience gained;
  • draw conclusions based on the information received;
  • plan further activities based on decisions;
  • divide the process of achieving the goal into stages and consistently implement them.

Development of analytical thinking (exercises for training)

The development of analytical thinking is a rather interesting process. This helps to solve problems in physics, mathematics, solving crossword puzzles, rebuses, charades, puzzles, playing chess, mahjong, computer games on logic (passing quests, strategies), reading books of a detective nature.

Psychologists have developed special exercises for its development, which must be performed daily. They help develop the ability to analyze, systematize life and achieve success in certain areas.

Here is some of them:

  1. Solution. You should come up with a not very difficult problem and set a goal for yourself to solve it quickly and efficiently. To do this, you need to come up with several solutions, analyze them, determine the most understandable and close ones for yourself. To do this, you need to ask yourself a lot of questions (the origins of the problem, your attitude to it, what will happen if you solve the problem in a specific way, how others will react to it, what will be the consequences for them and for you). Based on the answers to these questions, it is necessary to draw a conclusion whether it is worth developing such a solution to the problem. Of all the options, you need to choose the best one and analyze it.
  2. Transfer. It is worth learning to analyze the actions of other people, the situation in the world, your own actions. To do this, you must first practice on your favorite book or movie characters. You should put yourself in their place and think about why they acted one way or another in certain situation how it could have been done better and what would have happened in the end. Over time, the tendency to analyze will be fixed, it will be much easier to analyze any situation if you understand why they happened in life.
  3. Modeling the situation. You can think of both real and unreal situations. For example, you need to develop your business from scratch. You should think about where to start your business, where to go for initial information on this issue, what will be the starting capital, where to find it, and so on. Then think about what obstacles will prevent you from starting your business. At the end, decide whether you need to start your own business at all, and if so, draw up in detail the steps to achieve the goal, based on an analysis of all the information received.
  4. Antiposition. The analysis of the opposite position helps a lot. This will require a partner and a small jury of 2-3 people. The purpose of the training is to argue two people on a given topic. First, one expresses his arguments for or against the proposed situation. The other must analyze the data received and build his speech in such a way that none of the jury could understand who is the author of the argument.
  5. Games. Analytical thinking skills can be developed in game form. Picking up puzzles helps a lot, which, in addition to analytical, also develops creative thinking.

The most common board games I help analytics. The Monopoly game is perfect for this, in which you need not just roll dice, but do complex calculations to conduct your business, monitor the actions of your competitors, analyze them, assuming how the situation will develop and what needs to be done. That is, to develop tactics and strategy.

The ability to analyze thoughts is quite possible to develop. For its development, it is worth doing small exercises in everyday conditions.

Namely:

  • systematize your life based on the analysis of daily events;
  • try to see a pattern in every event;
  • count in the mind, draw conclusions, look for the causes of events occurring around;
  • perceiving any information, you need to highlight only important facts from it, compare them, trying not to be distracted by emotions.

Gradually, one will notice that thinking becomes more flexible, the tendency to analyze has developed, it has become easier to understand what is happening in life and why it happened.

It is believed that it is more difficult to develop than the ability to be creative. The ability to analyze implies the ability to divide information into parts, analyze parts of information and all of it as a whole, supplement the missing links by logical conclusions. Without this, it is impossible to rationally build your future, based on experience, analysis of your life, the general situation in the country and the world.


When hiring employees, employers often include analytical skills in the list of the most important ones. And this is no accident - today, workers of many professions need to be able to work with large amounts of data, analyze and highlight the main thing. and, writing reports, solving technical problems, and even conversational skills are just a few of the areas where analytical skills are needed. If you think that this is boring and dull, then know that the developed also requires these skills.

How strong are your analytical skills at problem solving? Not too sure of your answer? With regular practice they can be strengthened and developed. Let's talk about that next.

What are analytical skills

Analytical skills are the ability to visualize, formulate, conceptualize and resolve problem situations by taking smart decisions given the information available. Here is a short list of skills and abilities that make up and at the same time contribute to the development of analytical skills.

Break down problems into their component parts

Many people get stuck when they try to solve big problem. Analytical skills help break down problems into smaller pieces that are easier to solve. This saves time and energy.

Collect and evaluate information

Also known as information literacy, this skill allows you to separate the wheat from the chaff. In the literal sense, this is the ability to select and operate with relevant and correct information, work with sources, and draw reasonable conclusions.

Effectively manage information

Today it is important to be able to manage large quantity information. This set of skills includes both working directly with information and developed organizational skills.

Look for alternatives and solutions

Over time, each person realizes that there are many paths leading to success in life and business. With advanced analytical skills, you will be armed with effective tool to find solutions and alternatives.

In general, analytical skills are used in the following situations:

  • To solve complex problems
  • Making informed decisions
  • Generalizations of statistical data
  • Trend detection
  • Ordering processes
  • Efficient project execution
  • Analysis and diagnosis of the problem
  • For research or data analysis

If you are not a scientist, detective, or mathematician, what good is analytical skills for you? In personal life, you can identify trends and patterns of behavior in order to better understand the world around you, communicate effectively with people, set up life experiments, and explain your point of view.

When you learn to think analytically, you will automatically improve your creative thinking skills. And you will also be valued by employers for your ability to solve difficult problems. We will cover the last point separately.

What questions are asked in an interview?

Here are some typical interview questions to test a candidate's analytical skills.

  1. What steps need to be taken to study the problem and then make the right decision?
  2. Tell me about a case from your previous work when you found more effective method to perform a typical task.
  3. Can you give me an example of a small problem that you identified and solved before it became a major problem?
  4. Describe the challenges you have faced in the past and required analytical skills.
  5. Recall a problem situation that requires a quick solution. How did you resolve it.
  6. Have there been times when your analysis of the situation and decision worsened her condition and you failed? What would you do differently now?
  7. What is the most difficult analytical task you have ever completed?

The answers to these questions will partly determine whether you will be hired. Moreover, it will be assessed not so much your experience as the ability to reason right now: the construction of phrases, the logic in the narrative and the ability to make the right conclusions.

12 Principles of Analytical Thinking

Keep the following principles in mind when faced with a problem and trying to find an effective solution:

  • Gather information that is related to a topic or issue.
  • Focus on facts and evidence, not opinion and speculation.
  • Read the information carefully.
  • Give precise definition problem.
  • Divide complex information into simple chunks.
  • Look for patterns and spot trends.
  • Determine cause and effect.
  • Learn to understand the connections between concepts and their relationship.
  • Eliminate redundant and extraneous information.
  • Organize information.
  • Draw reasonable conclusions.

Some problems do not require following these principles because they are too simple and obvious. Others are complex and take a very long time to resolve. But by following these principles, you significantly increase the chances of ultimate success.

How to develop analytical skills

Play analytic games

There are many games that will help you improve your analytical skills. Some of the most popular:

  • Chess
  • Puzzles
  • Backgammon
  • Sudoku
  • Various puzzles

There are many online games, exercises and simulators for developing analytical thinking. There are, for example, in our program "", and are also included in.

Make lists, mind maps and spreadsheets

We all face a lot of problems, most of which are related to each other. How not to get confused in this array of information and how to see intersections and trends? To do this, there are lists, mental maps and tables. These practical tools will help you manage yourself and become more organized.

You can train analytical skills by creating lists like this:

  • List of your values ​​and life rules
  • To-do list
  • List of things not to do
  • Reading List
  • List of films
  • List of habits to instill in yourself
  • List of habits to get rid of

In the same way, you can make tables of your expenses and incomes or your diet. Think about an area of ​​your life where there is a lot of information and categories. Then make a table or graph to make it easier.

You can learn more about mental maps from.

Use the Five Whys Technique

This simple and powerful technique will allow you to focus on what really matters.

Find the root cause of the problem. Ask yourself the question "Why?" whenever you encounter something incomprehensible or difficult. The reason may be hidden so deep that it takes a very long time to find it. For example, the reason for poor sales may not be in the quality of services or goods, but in the fact that the site takes a long time to load or applications are processed for a long time.

Use the SWOT technique

Created by Albert Humphrey back in the 1960s, the tool has stood the test of time and is still useful. You can use it in two ways - as a simple icebreaker (so-called icebreaker) to help the team get together to start developing a strategy, or more in a complicated way, how serious tool to solve a whole range of problems.

By using this technique, you create an entire strategy, rather than trying to deal with one problem.

Let's see how you can use this analytical tool for self-development.

Strengths

Ask yourself the following questions:

  • What are your benefits?
  • What do you do better than anyone else?
  • What unique and cheap resources can be used?
  • What do other people consider to be your strengths?

By answering them, you can evaluate your personality in terms of skills.

Weak sides

  • What can you improve in yourself?
  • What should you avoid?
  • What do other people see as your weaknesses?

The third question is especially important. We are so used to knowing everything about ourselves that we ignore the opinions of others. From the outside, some problems are easier to see.

Capabilities

Answer the following questions:

  • What opportunities do you currently have?
  • Can you turn your weaknesses into strengths?
  • What global trends in self-development exist and what can be used?

To see opportunities, you need to explore a lot of information, classify it and draw conclusions. The concept of "trend" means that you carefully study the whole picture and try to find something in common in it.

Threats

Answer the following questions:

  • What threats are you facing?
  • Will your skills and knowledge be in demand in 5 years?
  • Can technological change hurt your life and career?
  • Do you have debts?

When conducting your analysis, be realistic and rigorous. The more honest the answers are, the more correct conclusions you can draw.

The SWOT tool can also be used to analyze and create a strategy for your business.

Learn to Program

Knowing how to "communicate" with machines is one of the most valuable skills a person can have today. Programming also enhances cognitive and analytical skills.

Everything we talked about in this article is involved in writing code.

Play the game "Argument - Counterargument"

You don't even need a partner for this, although it is desirable. Write down on a piece of paper all your beliefs or opinions that you are sure of. Back it all up with arguments. Now find ten counterarguments to each of them. Try to defend the opposite point of view.

According to Scott Fitzgerald, this is what you achieve with this exercise: “You pass the first-class intelligence test when you can hold two opposing ideas in your mind and still retain the ability to think.”

Experiment regularly

Become a kind of scientist who spends, collecting information of various kinds. Write down your assumptions about how you intend to prove or disprove the theory, and then run them.

For example, figure out how to deal with conflict in order to resolve it. Can:

  • Reply with reproach
  • Keep calm
  • To ask questions
  • Tell jokes
  • Refrain from criticism

Each such action has its consequences. Write down in detail what this or that tactic led to. Analyze what all this could mean. This will help you find effective ways to communicate with other people.

Review 100 articles on a specific topic and write down the main points

This is a great exercise for getting the big picture of a particular topic and broadening your horizons. As you browse articles, pay attention to repetitive and unique ideas in the structure, semantics and clarity of the language.

Imagine that after the work done, you will have dozens of points of view on one issue. It is not necessary to agree with them, it is important to know that they exist. This gives a huge advantage in polemic and defense of one's point of view.

Analyze what is happening in a room full of people

Especially if you don't know them. Analyze the relationship between them, intentions, certain words and gestures. Imagine yourself as a detective who is trying to understand what is going on in the room. You can play this game in a club, in a waiting room, or anywhere else when you are in a group of people.

Describe the various processes in your life

Want to keep your memory as fresh as possible throughout the day? One way to achieve this is to analyze the processes that happen to you in a day. Everything is important: actions, phrases, events, behavior, conflicts.

When you collect information, do not try to interpret it in any way. Just write it down. At the end of the week, certain conclusions can be drawn. In this way, you will improve your analytical skills, as well as begin to understand what is happening in your life.

Create a strategy for your life

The greatest generals were strategists and possessed excellent analytical skills. They constantly changed the angle of view and considered the situation in detail, then as a big picture.

To play any strategy game, you must understand the rules (and which ones you can break), the other players, and their goals. It takes a smart strategy to get what you want. Sometimes you have to sacrifice momentary pleasure. But be inspired by the fact that all great people have done this. They knew how to endure and wait to appear on stage at the most important moment.

The methods of development of analytical abilities listed and described above are the most common. Here is a list of additional tips:

  • Try to draw the idea or problem you are thinking about right now.
  • Try to make graphs of different trends by year or month.
  • List the various arguments for implementing some of your ideas.
  • Explain complex concepts plain language using metaphors and analogies.
  • Create pros and cons lists for any decision.

The more you practice, the more your brain gets used to analytical thinking. Don't forget that practice makes perfect.

Books

The development of analytical skills requires reading, especially complex reading. The following books will help you move to new level. Remember: it will be hard.

  • "How people think" Dmitry Chernyshev.
  • “Brain development. How to Read Faster, Remember Better, and Achieve Bigger Goals by Roger Sipe.
  • "Puzzles of Sherlock Holmes" Richard W. Galland.
  • "Teach Your Brain to Work" by Matthew McDonald.
  • "Japanese system for the development of intelligence and memory" Ryuta Kawashima.
  • “Charging for the brain. Raise your IQ by Joel Levy.
  • "5 minutes to think" Yan Perelman.
  • "Quick Count" Jan Perelman.
  • "Entertaining problems and experiments" Yan Perelman.
  • "Developing Critical Thinking" by Diane Halpern.

Creativity will help you get brilliant ideas, create impressive things and be unique. They help you stand out. But creativity and innovation must always be backed by the right strategy and perfect execution. That's when analytical skills will help you. They are the basis for building a flexible plan and mechanism feedback, which will bring to life even the most complex and incredible solutions.

We wish you good luck!

Practically every day we use such concepts as “analytical thinking” or “logical mindset”, but very rarely we can give a clear and understandable answer to the question of what kind of thinking it really is. This is what will be discussed next.

This type of thinking can be considered both from a theoretical point of view and from a practical one. In the first case, such a mindset is seen as the ability of an individual to use logic when making decisions and perceiving information.

A person with such a mindset is free to realize the essence of his actions and thoughts. In addition, he divides his conversation into stages and easily copes with a clear transfer of information to a third party.

From a practical point of view, such a process looks like this:

  • the individual divides information into blocks (separate components);
  • does general analysis all information, and then studies each block separately;
  • if there is not enough information to complete the picture, then restores the missing parts through logical conjectures and inferences;
  • sees several options for solving the problem;
  • evaluates the pros and cons of each possible outcome;
  • chooses the best option.

Thus, the owners of this mindset are always more successful, productive and have pronounced leadership qualities.

How to know the type of thinking?

In order to find out what type of thought prevails in a particular person, it is necessary to pass a test for the level of development of analytical thinking. This can be done at an appointment with any psychoanalyst, psychologist, or you can find diversified different variants on the Internet. As a rule, many of them give a fairly clear result. Do not be upset if the test showed that you have an intuitive mindset. It's not bad at all!

Presentation on the topic: "The concept of critical and analytical thinking in scientific knowledge"

Man engages in his life different types thinking:

  • A task logical thinking lies in the generalization of ongoing situations and finding consistency in relationships.
  • Deduction is similar in its properties to logical, but has differences in the generation of inferences. In this way, deductive thinking does not compare what is happening, but itself defines a bunch of processes and realizes what it leads to.
  • The analytical mindset is inextricably linked with the logical one and is characterized by the ability to find and make the most optimal solution.
  • Creative thinking involves the centers of imagination. The generation of ideas and unique thoughts is the basis of this type of thinking.
  • Induction is a subspecies of logical thinking and is responsible for summing up.

It is interesting that logic and analytics accompany a person throughout his life until the brain completely atrophies.

Each has its own charms. But, if you really really want to develop logic and analytics, then this is quite possible. Pass online test and identify which type of thinking you have more developed, and which you will have to work on in order to achieve results.

We develop analytical capabilities

Surprisingly, analytical warehouse mind will be useful to everyone: a mathematician, a manager, a writer, and an artist, because it is thanks to logical chains that you can analyze your result and success.

So, develop similar type thinking is very simple.

For children, for example, it is enough to go to school and regularly attend algebra classes, take various tests in physics and other technical areas.

But with adults, everything is not so simple, but it is also possible.

  • Charging for the brain - chess. Here you have both pleasure and learning. You will have to develop a strategy, analyze baking sheets, carry out various operations in your mind.
  • If you don't like chess, you have mahjong. A fun game for adults and children that will teach you how to memorize combinations and draw logical chains.
  • Computer quests and strategies. This is for lazy people. But, nevertheless, at right approach analytical skills can be developed well.
  • Personal studies, study of information, comparison of facts, etc. Here everyone is his own boss. You can study scientific transmissions, read facts from books, and then all line up in one big logical chain.

After passing the mindset test, you can choose techniques that will not only strengthen, but also develop the analytical mindset. However, one should not forget the main rule of brain development - everyday training. Classes 1-2 times a week will not bring the effect that you might expect. You should devote at least 15 minutes a day to passing an online test, playing chess, backgammon and other games. With this approach, the results will be visible in a month.

Why and to whom it would be useful to develop analytical skills?

Such a skill is useful to anyone who wants to succeed in life, career, business and other areas of life, because it will allow you to solve any task faster, better and more efficiently. Provides an opportunity to look at the situation different sides and don't jump to emotional conclusions.

This ability will be useful in everyday life.

For example, when browsing the news, getting additional information you can always analyze and take for yourself only the most necessary, discarding negativity and slander.

In addition, you can apply logic during a conversation, building various kinds of chains, and predict the opponent's answer.

People mostly rely on intuition, although the ability to analyze allows you to choose the right answers more often. Analytical skills are the ability to evaluate information in a set of details and see a problem from different perspectives.

How would you answer this simple question? The tennis racket and ball cost $1.10 together. A tennis racket costs $1.00 more than a ball. How much does the ball cost?

If your answer is 10 cents, you deserve congratulations! That's what most people would say. Your intuition told you the answer, and despite the fact that the answer is wrong, you are among the majority of people who rely on their intuition when making decisions.

If you answered 5 cents (the correct answer), then you also deserve congratulations! Your case is quite rare - so rare that even more than 50% of Harvard and Princeton students answer this question incorrectly. This is the so-called, which consists of only three questions. In solving these problems, people, as a rule, rely either on intuition or solve with the help of analysis. The way they do it does not affect their intelligence in any way, it is rather a matter of habit.

People are programmed to rely on their own for the most part. If we were to analyze every decision, right down to what to order from the restaurant menu, it would be a rather laborious and time-consuming process that would eventually lead to analytical block and the impossibility of making a decision.

Analytical skills

You probably already know what strong analytical skills and analytical thinking are. What exactly are analytical skills? Analytical skills are the abilities to collect, visualize and analyze information in detail. They also include the ability to see a problem or situation from different perspectives. To begin with, several components of analytical thinking should be distinguished.

1. Ability to collect correct information

What information you have, decides the outcome of the situation. If you gather the right information, you will be more likely to solve the problem. If you collect incorrect or useless information, it will Negative influence the entire analytical process, and the solution to the problem may not be correct.

2. Mathematical ability

Mathematics is a science that plays a key role in the careers of people involved in technology, finance, IT, banking, engineering - professions associated with analytical thinking. Basic mathematical skills include understanding the relationship between numbers, calculating, perceiving and organizing numerical information, analyzing data, planning, budgeting and a number of other tasks, the understanding of which is necessary for making the right conclusions and decisions.

3. Strategic thinking skills

It's the right prioritization, flexibility and knowing what you want to achieve and in what ways. At the business level, strategic thinking means you can develop effective plans to solve a situation or achieve a company goal.

4. Attention to detail

Attention and concentration on one subject gives you the opportunity to see hidden details and connections between components in the analysis of situations, which allows you to minimize the risk of errors.

Thus, the components of analytical thinking together allow you to solve complex problems, making decisions in the most effective way. That is why analytical thinking has become one of the most important skills for employees of companies and people who play an important role in business. For example, you are a business management developer, your main goals are to find opportunities for market growth and increase sales.

To achieve this, you must be able to collect and analyze information about the current position of the company and build a plan and. If you do not have general analytical skills, this will not be possible. Fortunately, analytical skills can be learned or improved.

How to improve your analytical skills

Analytical competence develops if everyday problems and tasks are solved in a certain way: for example, news and events in the world should be perceived with critical point vision - do not stop at one version, analyze the facts, draw your own conclusions, look for cause and effect relationships. Make plans, calculate steps, work out different options for action. Try to find a connection between two completely different objects, such as a table and a chair. What common? What are the differences?

To develop your math skills, try making charts of different trends over several months or years. Practice daily with apps, games, books, reading specialized articles with graphs and analysis, and more.

To improve strategic skills, you can try playing games that develop strategic thinking, familiar to everyone with early age. These are puzzles, sets of constructors, tasks with schemes, planning, speech strategies aimed at developing the plot. Include in your list of hobbies chess, mahjong or other strategy games that require analytical activity. Quests and puzzles can be included in this list. Not only will they help you improve your analytical thinking skills, but playing them alone or with friends is fun.

Learn to be more observant - use every good moment to observe the situation and your surroundings. Such opportunities may present themselves in a park, a store, social events, concerts, etc. As you read, pay attention to the finest details mentioned in a book or newspaper. When observing a person’s behavior and reactions, think about what exactly served as the prerequisites for such behavior, how another person would react in a similar situation, what would be the outcome. When we look at things beyond the visible, we use observation and improve our analytical abilities. Remember that to analyze means to use the possibilities of the brain to the maximum.