If you are new to the workplace, or you are often confused in your daily work, you may wish to take a look. I believe it will inspire you.

It is extremely important to have efficient logical thinking ability at work. It can help you find the key to the problem immediately and solve it.

Let me briefly talk about my understanding of logical thinking.

The process of logical thinking is to simplify the complex. Its purpose is to find a solution to the problem. Therefore, all information that has nothing to do with "solving" is useless and needs to be eliminated. I like the film The Godfather very much, and there is a sentence in it that I still remember: those who spend half a second seeing through the essence of things and those who spend their whole lives not seeing the essence of things are doomed to be completely different fates. For example, I often report PPT to senior leaders at work. This kind of PPT usually needs to be controlled within 10- 15 pages, because the taller the person, the more precious the time, and the more you need to understand and grasp the essence and key of things as soon as possible. People at the bottom can easily write hundreds of pages of PPT, and no leader wants to read it. On the contrary, I will think that your work ability is poor and you are full of nonsense.

He who penetrates the essence of things at a glance can seize the initiative. While others are still thinking hard, they are already analyzing and solving problems. Over time, it is natural to grow faster than others in the workplace. The following are four experiences that I have summarized in my daily work to improve my logical thinking ability. Let me talk about it separately:

1. becomes MECE.

MECE is taken from "mutually exclusive collective exhaustion", which means mutual independence and complete exhaustion in Chinese and is pronounced as "my opinion". MECE originated from barbara minto, a senior consultant of McKinsey. She first put forward this concept in The Golden Pagoda Principle (a book I strongly recommend Amway to buy for everyone), and it has become one of the important principles in the strategic consulting industry.

Independence means that the causes that can affect the problem are divided into clearly distinguished and non-overlapping factors. Thoroughly exhausted is comprehensive and thorough, without omission. Usually, the application of MECE starts with a top-level problem and is decomposed layer by layer. Make a list of the problems you need to solve urgently, and then divide them into sub-problems to ensure that they do not overlap and interfere with each other. At the same time, make sure you list all the sub-problems you can think of. In practice, you only need to ask yourself two questions: 1. Have I considered all possible factors and have I missed anything? If so, look again. 2. Is there any overlap between these factors? If it is, it is de-duplicated. For example. Suppose you are a marketer now, and now you have to think about why the beverage products you are responsible for are not selling well. At this time, your thinking logic follows the form of decreasing from top to bottom: a. What are the reasons that affect beverage sales? B. Are these reasons independent of each other? What are the impacts? C. What is the most important factor among these reasons? Draw this thinking process on paper, as shown in the following figure:

Precautions:

1. Top-down analysis, that is, start with the largest concept and decompose it layer by layer, and don't entangle the details of the implementation layer from the beginning; Always remind yourself that you have considered all possible factors. Whether there is any omission, if so, continue to look for it; 3. After listing all possible reasons, combine them and classify them to see if there is any overlap between these factors. If there is, it is necessary to eliminate repeated interference.

2. Induction and deduction

These are two basic logical laws of cognitive thinking. To put it simply: induction is to list things with some same attributes one by one, and then find the common ground of * * *. Deduction is to arrange the factors that influence each other in the order of cause and effect, time sequence or importance, and then find a breakthrough. A dragon gives birth to a dragon, a phoenix gives birth to a phoenix, and a mouse's son can make a hole. This is induction (dragon, wind and mouse are the same). For example, when you make an activity plan, you can use inductive logic (as shown below):

Tai Chi gives birth to two instruments, two instruments give birth to four elephants, and four elephants give birth to gossip. This is a deduction (starting from Tai Chi and recursing backwards). For example, when you are making statistical reports, you can use deductive logic (as shown below):

We can divide all the problems in our work into deductive or inductive forms. I like to call this process "deconstruction".

The induction, deduction and MECE mentioned above are often used together. In the process of induction and deduction, a complex problem can be decomposed into various single factors by adhering to MECE principle. This process is like peeling cocoons and smoothing a mess. The following is a thinking outline that I will follow when thinking about the problem. You can refer to: 1. What is the core question? There can only be one, if there are many, find the most important one. What is the background of this question? (Context, historical reasons) 3. What are the people and factors related to this problem now? (Remember MECE's law and list them by induction) 4. What is the key reason for this problem? 5. What is the secondary reason? 6. What are the solutions to this problem? Write down all the possibilities by induction. Find out the specific steps of each method by deduction) 7. What conditions or resources do you lack to solve this problem? 8. How to make up for these shortcomings? 9. What's your time plan? What to do first, then what to do, then what to do? 10. Last step, just do it. The above is the thinking method I usually follow when thinking about problems. After using it several times, you will unconsciously follow this logic to face any problems you encounter. Not only work, but also any complicated and overwhelming problems encountered in daily life can be easily solved. For example. Suppose you are an assistant now. Just now, the boss told you that you need to help her book a flight to Beijing on Sunday, but you found that almost all the tickets on Sunday were sold out. At this time, you still have three emails in your hand, and you have a meeting in the afternoon.

According to the above outline, your idea can be like this: 1. What is the core question? The boss is going to Beijing on Sunday, but the plane tickets are all booked up. 2. What is the background of this question? (Context, historical reasons) This Sunday, the company will have an important publicity activity in Beijing for two days. So the boss must arrive before Sunday. Besides, the boss will have a meeting on Friday morning, and he will be fine in the afternoon. So Friday afternoon to Saturday is the time when the boss can go to the airport. 3. What are the people and factors related to this problem now? (Remember MECE rule and list them one by one by induction) You are the boss's only assistant, and you are the only person in charge of this matter. The boss wants to fly, so the key factor is the flight schedule and remaining seat information of major airlines flying to Beijing on weekends. 4. What is the key reason of this problem? You know it too late and missed the best booking time. 5. What is the secondary reason? Recently, it is the tourist season, and there are many people going to Beijing on weekends, which leads to tight flights. But it's impossible to reschedule. 6. What are the solutions to this problem? Write down all the possibilities by induction. Find out the specific steps of each method through deduction. ) A. Book your own tickets. Spend an afternoon sorting out the information of all domestic airlines and travel websites, and make a statistical table of the remaining seat information of flights to Beijing on Friday and Saturday, including take-off and landing time, cockpit class, airport information, ticket price, etc. B entrust your friend in the travel agency to help you search for the last ticket of the flight, and also record this information according to the departure and landing time. Prepare alternatives. If the flights to Beijing on Sunday are fully booked or the time is not good, then search the high-speed rail timetable instead, and record the departure and arrival times and other information. 7. What conditions or resources do you lack to solve this problem? Time. Because I missed the best booking time, I need to search the rest of the flight seat information online as soon as possible. You can't do it alone. You need help. 8. How to make up for these shortcomings? Ask colleagues or interns in the same group for help, tell them the urgency of the matter, find someone who is temporarily free to help you find it, and then you do information summary. 9. What's your time plan? What do you do first, then what do you do, then what do you do? Today is Tuesday. I need to send three emails in the morning and have an emergency meeting before 2 pm. You have time after three o'clock until you get off work. So now entrust colleagues to help search flight information, and you can continue to do the next work and information summary after three o'clock. 10. the last step: complete proposal remember, when you confidently propose your solution to your boss, don't say, "boss, let me book you a plane ticket at 8 o'clock on Friday night." Believe me, your assistant won't last long if you answer like this. The intelligent assistant will first make the information collected before into a simple and clear table, including the departure time of all flights, airports, airlines and other information, as well as high-speed rail as an alternative. When she gives this form to the boss, she will say:

"Boss, according to my research, I think the most suitable time for you to go to Beijing on weekends is 3 pm on Friday or 3: 30 pm on Saturday. Because you have an important meeting on Friday morning, you can catch the plane at the airport after the meeting and land in Beijing just in time for dinner. On Saturday, you usually get up late. If you take off at 3: 30 in the afternoon, you can have a good lunch at noon, and the time from home to the airport is just right, so you won't worry. The airlines of these two flights are also the ones you used to take, and I believe you will be satisfied with their services. If you think these two times are not good, other flight times will be awkward, so I have prepared an alternative plan, if you don't recommend taking the high-speed rail. " There is a crucial principle to give advice to the boss, which is to reduce his time cost. Put the conclusion directly in front of him and let him choose, not let him think.

We can do this well by using the logical rules of inductive romance. Note: 1. Induction and deduction are usually combined, so when you analyze the problem, you should first make clear whether the subject thinking should adopt induction or deduction; 2. Get into the habit of outlining, build the overall situation of the problem according to the basic framework of what to do/why to do/how to do it before analyzing the problem, and then improve the content of each section respectively.

3. Improve the ability to propose: say the conclusion first

This is a very practical experience. Say the conclusion first and throw out the ideas you want to say at the beginning, which can save everyone's time. McKinsey has a famous elevator theory: sell your solution to customers within 30 seconds of entering the elevator. In such a short time, no one will listen to irrelevant nonsense, so the first sentence conveys our core view: what is our plan and why it is the best choice. Remember that according to the principle of total score, throw out the core idea first, that is, "what should we do?" This may be a few words, but these words have condensed a lot of your thinking and spent a lot of time studying and analyzing.

For example, the following three sentences: 1. Your company should reduce 50% of its capital investment in field A; 2. We should give up the bidding for this client project; 3. We need to strengthen investment in digital media;

Explain the core point of view and express a clear attitude in the form of subject+predicate. This is a typical "proposal speech". However, this is not over yet. After expressing your opinion, the next thing you need to explain is, "Why did you do this?"

Just like writing a paper, the first is the core argument, the second is the sub-argument supporting the core argument, and then the second-level sub-argument, which is arranged downwards in turn.

No matter who you are, you will like this statement. This is why, when you report your work to the leaders, they will never listen to your lengthy explanation and analysis. They will only listen to your conclusions or solutions. When they are interested, they will ask for details, while when they are busy, they only need to hear the most important things.

For example, when you want to suggest a solution to a customer, you can say, "Hello, Mr. Wang, I suggest you consider our company's IT system solution. Our biggest feature is strong stability, which can support the huge information and data circulation. Q company, W company and K company in the industry are all using our products. At the same time, we have 24-hour dedicated maintenance personnel, who are always on standby if there are any problems. And our system construction and commissioning online time can be controlled within 5 days, but the overall price is 20% lower than that of peers. " In the above example, we can strengthen your argument by showing numbers (24 hours, 5 days) and comparison (20% lower than peers).

And when you get into this habit, believe me, your leaders will enjoy listening to your report. Because he will think "you and I are on the same channel".

Note: 1. Analyze the problem from the bottom up and support the final conclusion by looking for different arguments. However, when making suggestions, we should talk about the final conclusion from top to bottom, which will arouse the curiosity of the other party and interest in continuing to listen. 2. Get into the habit of planning the logical order put forward on paper first, gradually cultivate the "feeling" of speech, and finally keep it in mind.

4. Cultivate insight into life

This is my personal favorite experience. My understanding of epiphany is: the truth, law or reason behind a thing.

For example, I always thought I liked advertising, but later I found that "advertising" was just the external expression of my self-worth. What I love is actually to express and present my inner creativity and ideas. This is not only an analysis of the reasons for self-interest, but also an insight.

For another example, many people often met "strict father's loving mother" when they were young. If you want to buy a new toy, you won't agree to go directly to dad. Go to your mother and let her put in a good word in front of your father. It might be useful. "Mom is easier to talk to than dad" is not only a universal law in life, but also an insight.

On the surface, you think so, but in fact, it is. This is what insight brings us. It reflects the essence of things. But unfortunately, there are no theories and models to learn from. I prefer to blame it on the habit of thinking hard in daily life. When you first started working, you were in a team, working on a project. What you can think about is the laws, similarities and differences, common practices and special practices between different projects, why you do this, what are the driving factors behind it and so on. When your position is promoted, your employees will start to manage people. At this time, what you can think about is how to live in harmony between people, what kind of personality you are, what kind of people you are suitable for working with, how to arouse people's enthusiasm for work and so on. When you have been immersed in an industry for a long time, you will have your own understanding of this industry. At this time, you can think about whether this industry is suitable for you, what problems exist in this industry, why such problems occur, what will be the future development of this industry, and so on. Different positions need to see different things. At this time, you need to open your heart, don't set limits for yourself, and think about it: 1. What is the status quo of things? 2. Why is this happening? What is the reason? 3. What are the objective and subjective factors? 4. If one of the factors is changed, how will things develop? 5. What will happen if two of these factors are changed? This is my usual habit of thinking. To cultivate insight, we should not only rely on logical reasoning, but also use imagination. However, imagination cannot be trained, and it depends on usual accumulation and diligent thinking. Ask yourself why, if so. What will happen? In that case? What will happen? Over time, your mind will become extremely active.

One of my experiences is that cultivating insight needs to be "nourished". This nourishment is your observation of life. With observation, thinking and imagination, it can finally become insight. I usually have a "database" myself. When I see good articles, good pictures, good videos, good ideas and even good jokes, I will collect them. In this way, you always keep something fresh in your mind, and there will be a steady stream of inspiration when you are looking for insights.

This is a process of accumulation.

Note: 1. Insight into the essence behind things is to find the reasons for the formation of facts and discover the laws of * * * between different things. 2. Insight comes from life and is higher than life. It is your excavation and summary of the phenomenon, not your retelling. Don't fall into a situation where people follow suit, that is by no means your insight.

Let's call it a day. On how to cultivate logical thinking, I finally sum up four points: 1. Bemece2. induction and deduction; 3. Improve the ability to propose, and say the conclusion first; 4. Cultivate insight into life;