Erin Meyer — Are You a Holistic or a Specific Thinker?

A traditional tenet of Western philosophies and religions is that you can remove an item from its environment and analyze it separately. Cultural theorists call this specific thinking.

Chinese religions and philosophies, by contrast, have traditionally emphasized interdependencies and interconnectedness. The Ancient Chinese thought in a holistic way, believing that action always occurs in a field of forces. The terms yin and yang (literally “dark” and “light”), for example, describe how seemingly contrary forces are interdependent.

Here’s what one of my Chinese participants said after we’d discussed the fish and photo studies: “Chinese people think from macro to micro, whereas Western people think from micro to macro. For example, when writing an address, the Chinese write in sequence of province, city, district, block, gate number. Westerners do just the opposite. In the same way, Chinese put the surname first, whereas Westerners do it the other way around. And Chinese put the year before month and date.”

This affects the way business people view each other across the globe. As Bae Pak from the Korean motor company Kia told me: “When we work with Western colleagues, we are often taken aback by their tendency to make decisions without considering the impact on other business units, clients, and suppliers.”

Harvard Business Review — HBR Blog Network
Are You a Holistic or a Specific Thinker?
Erin Meyer
Here's a list of opposites that require integration in holistic thinking. Interestingly, it is bilingual and bicultural children of Eastern and Western parents that get this naturally, as was explained to me by a student of mine some years ago.

structural functional

static dynamic

analytic synthetic

essentialism existentialism

nature path

figure ground

individual whole

element system

isolated contextual

fixed flexible

angular curved

mechanism organism

expansion growth

ontic ontological

matter consciousness

ideological pragmatic

separate integrated

focal balanced

independent interdependent

kataphatic apophatic

scientific mystical

math music

rational non-rational

observation experience

perception sensibility

fact value

reason inspiration

logic intuition

head heart

external internal

masculine feminine

yang yin

opposition complementarity

exclusion inclusion

diversity unity

detail overview

drop ocean

particle wave

either-or both-and

quantitative qualitative

cognitive affective

two-value logic fuzzy logic

drops ocean

simplicity complexity

closed systems open systems

literal symbolic

science art

precision nuance

centrifugal centripetal

anchored centered

active passive

result-based process-oriented

work play

criticism creativity

make it happen let it be

control the process trust the process

rule-based spontaneous

correctness rectitude

actual potential

actualize visualize

freedom community

life is rational life is experimental

individual utility common good

self-interest love

strict father nurturing mother

Almighty Father Divine Mother