TRENDS, NETWORKS AND CRITICAL THINKING IN THE 21ST CENTURY

LESSON 8- Understanding Strategic Analysis and Intuitive Thinking

Review: What are the characteristics?

Thinking is an important part of our human experience, and one that has
captivated people for centuries. Thinking skills are the mental activities you use to
process information, make connections, make decisions, and create new ideas.
You use your thinking skills when you try to make sense of experiences, solve
problems, make decisions, ask questions, make plans, or organize information.
("Thinking Skills - Analytical, Critical and Creative Thinking", 2021)

Motivation:
“Build a Tower Game”

The class will be divided into groups. Using newspapers and masking tape, the
group that will produce the highest tower will win.

a. What did you feel about the activity?

b. What did the group do to accomplish and finish the task?

In connection to the game, the objective of today’s discussion is to define

“strategic analysis”.

Strategic Analysis and Intuitive Thinking Defined

Strategic analysis refers to a system or method that requires deliberate, abstract,
and effortful thinking that breaks down a complex problem into parts. Deliberate
thinking employs a detailed examination of a problem to come up with a solution.
This involves looking at the context of the problem. The amount of time and
resources are the primary factors in strategic analysis. The most common
strategic analysis model used in decision-making follows five steps as illustrated in
the diagram below. (Arzadon, 2018)
The process above requires you to follow a pattern to creatively address a
situation. This involves strategic thinking.
Another focus of this lesson is for you to engage in decision-making activities that
will allow you to apply decision making methods. Strategic analysis is relevant in
addressing your personal issues as a student. It means that you can also analyze
your own strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in order to make
creative strategies or solutions in facing life challenges.
In practice, a personal SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threat/s)
will help you understand your personal issues and goals as well as construct
effective ways in dealing with both. This is illustrated through the personal SWOT
analysis shown on the next page, which presents that of a student who wishes to
finish high school with good grades.

Analogy Examples:
“She's as blind as a bat.”
“You have to be as busy as a bee to get good grades in high school.”
Analogy- Comparing two objects or ideas is common practice in the English
language, as useful in writing and literature as in everyday figures of speech

Activity: “Think-Pair Share”

Try to create an analogy by doing the following:

1. Think of a current problem or challenge and describe it in terms of a story, a
symbol, a natural phenomenon, etc, For example: “That client is like a tornado
– he gets us going round and round and causes nothing but destruction.”
2. After describing the problem, determine the steps to be done.
Problem: ______________ ___ __
Story/Symbol: ____________________
 Analogy:_ ____________________
Creative Solution: ____________________

Steve Jobs: “Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner
voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.”

Alexis Carrel: “All great men are gifted with intuition. They know without
reasoning or analysis what they need to know.”

Lao Tzu: “The power of intuitive understanding will protect you from harm until
the end of your days.”

a. What is common in their sayings?

b. What are the key words mentioned in describing intuition and intuitive thinking?

Intuitive- using or based on what one feels to be true even without conscious
reasoning; instinctive.

Intuitive thinking is “quick and ready insight” (Webster’s New Collegiate

Dictionary). It is another approach to decision-making. This is the ability to
understand something instinctively without the need for conscious reasoning.
Sometimes, it is referred to as gut feeling, sixth sense, inner sense, instinct, inner
voice, spiritual guide, etc. Intuitive thinking is affected by how one feels and
define a thing or event. Particular norms and value systems within a community
are considered when making decisions. For example, among some indigenous
people, their farmers would not touch certain places in the field like an anthill.
When asked why they do avoid such places, they cannot cite any pragmatic
reason. It was just intuition. Maybe they will say that nuno sa punso (a mythical
dwarf-like creature), lives in those places. Soil scientist said that such is a sound
practice because anthills are necessary to maintain the physical, chemical, and
biological health of the soil.

Intuitive decision-making is far more than using common sense because it

involves additional sensors to perceive and get aware of the information from
outside.

In dealing with everyday life issues and situations, we are called to make
immediate decisions based on our ‘gut’ feelings and prior knowledge and
experiences.

This type of decision-making is evident in various situations: a doctor assessing an

emergency case; a teacher determining the reason for a child’s inattentiveness in
class; a buyer examining which vegetable to buy; and a firefighter trying to rescue
a fire victim. In these cases, one would not hesitate or delay making decisions
because these situations need immediate action.

The question is now whether rational reasoning or intuitive decision-making

is generally better. The question is rather how both approaches can be best
combined for best results and to avoid mistakes and prejudices.

The Venn Diagram below shows some similarities and differences between
strategic analysis and intuitive thinking.
Using Intuitive Thinking in Social Networks

Each person is engaged in a variety of networks associated with his or her

multiple roles and interests in the community. According to Arzadon et.al. (2017),
these networks can be, among others, political, economic, and sociocultural.

Your political networks are composed of relations with government officials,

student government, and community leaders, among others.

The economic networks you belong to cover the manufacturers, agents, and
sellers of the goods you consume such as those in stores, groceries, markets, and
malls as well as money lenders.

Your sociocultural or social networks are those belonging to your dance

troupe, choir, reading club, band, arts club, or theater company. Kinship ties,
neighborhood associations, friendship clubs, and veterans’ associations also
belong to the social network wherein people constantly engage in close
communication and interaction through visits, phone calls, text messages, and
activities of common interest.

Social networks appear as clusters and support groups of people who share
similar interests, backgrounds, and real-life connections. They are avenues for
meeting new friends, reuniting with old and lost friends, exchanging gifts and
favors, and developing cooperation.

The community is home to this web of interrelations and interconnections of

people and institutions. Community refers to a particular geographic location
with people living under the same set of laws and recognizing common leaders.
Studies of community linkages deal usually with who was seen interacting with
whom.

Another concept in the study of social ties is the center of influence. This is
the person to whom people gravitate around. This person who can give favors,
can command and make things happen. Examples of center of influence are the
mayor, judge, barangay captain, school principal, and university president, among
others. His or her influence transcends the boundaries of social networks and thus
reaches other kinds of networks. A center of influence has many people and
institutions attached to him or her, thereby creating a substantial influence in the
community.