The analytical mindset

When presented with a supposed fact, what is your approach?

The partisan mindset: If it confirms my prejudices, I accept it and immediately share it.

The contrarian mindset: If it seems wrong, I find reasons to reject it and most likely, denigrate whomever shared it.

Neither of these mindsets improves human knowledge.

The analytical mindset

I trained my mind with mathematical thinking. This kind of approach demands logic, rigor, and care. It examines and weighs evidence before reaching conclusions, and treats those conclusions as tentative and subject to later revision.

Then, fortunately for me, I got the chance to spend two decades as an analyst at a research company. This enabled me to build on my mathematical training and develop an analytical mindset.

When presented with a supposed fact, the analytical mindset asks questions:

• What is the evidence for this fact?
• If this fact were true, what additional evidence would support that?
• Who benefits from sharing this fact?
• If this fact were false, how would you prove that?
• Who knows the most about this, and what do they think?
• If this fact were true, what else might be true?
• What would be the nonobvious consequences of this fact?
• What new ideas could be created based on the truth of this fact?
• What should I look out for to learn more about the truth of this fact, and the consequences that it leads to?

The analytical mindset is always looking to learn more, extend knowledge further, and see what else might true. It’s similar to a scientific mindset, but applied to business, politics, or other fields.

Analysts are sometimes wrong, but always looking to think further and deeper.

Thinking like an analyst — and then writing about it — is my most valuable quality. It keeps me from lapsing into hackneyed, old, partisan, prejudiced modes of thinking. It’s not comfortable, but it is endlessly interesting.

Try on the analytical mindset. Your mind will never return to its original dimensions.