An Inquiry into the Thinking Styles of IT Executives and Professionals

This paper reports the results of a study of the thinking styles of mid-level and senior information technology (IT) executives from the United States. Contrary to popular belief, this population scores significantly lower than would be expected in the “analyst” thinking style and significantly higher than would be expected in the holistic or “idealist” thinking style. We proceed to argue that this misperception is gravely prejudicial to the career interests of the IT executives and limits the contribution that they can make to the corporation as a whole. To correct the misperception, we prescribe three major strategies that IT executives can use, and also, discuss how IT executives can use knowledge of others’ thinking styles to be more influential and effective.