Before I even start, I would like to know how many of you have regretted the decisions made by you in the past?
How many times have you felt that you made hasty decisions, only to regret them later?
Were you able to realize why those decisions went wrong?
The current situation in your life is an outcome of the decisions you have already made. Well, this article isn’t focusing on decision-making, however, it is related to an important aspect of decision-making that can significantly influence the outcome of your decision, which is Multidimensional thinking.
What is Multidimensional Thinking?
From the context of synched harmony, multidimensional thinking involves considering a situation from various angles and understanding the perspectives of each view. It involves looking at a situation from different viewpoints and grasping aspects that your limited perspective might not be able to comprehend otherwise. Multi dimensional thinking means understanding the context more comprehensively and comprehending the relationship between different perspectives.
Now many people might confuse it with knowing others’ perspectives and mindsets. Still, I want to clarify to the audience that there is a slight difference between the two as knowing other’s perspectives is about listening to their thoughts and opinions without judging or deriving any inferences from them directly. At the same time, Multidimensional thinking involves deep thinking from different lenses with the intent of making things clear and identifying the root cause of the problem. If you haven’t read about perspective and mindset, please do read my other blog post where I have covered these topics in brief.
What is an example of Multidimensional thinking?
Let’s understand this principle of synched harmony with an example, Nowadays, frequent arguments between the mother-in-law and her daughter-in-law are common regarding household chores. Often, these arguments escalate into bigger issues without realization. In such cases, it’s not always possible to be familiar with every situation, but by the time you get some clarity on the matter, the situation has already escalated.
When you try to decipher what happened, both start pointing fingers at each other, indicating the mistakes the other person has made. In such circumstances, making hasty decisions with limited perspectives and thinking could prove to be wrong, and there’s a high chance of regretting it in the future, this highlights the importance of multidimensional thinking as it assists you in comprehending the situation fully and helps in breaking down a larger problem into multiple smaller and manageable components where each component can be addressed one by one.
Another such example can be a situation where deciding whether to live in a joint family setup with your parents and siblings after marriage or to live separately like a nuclear family would require you to utilize multi-dimensional thinking abilities to assess the long-term consequences before you make any such decisions. Here, you’ll need to consider the following things:
- How would your parents and other family members react to this news?
- Will your wife be able to maintain the relationship as it is today after separation?
- Will it prove to be a wise decision in the long run?
- Will it lead to strains in relationships?
- What impact will it have on the upcoming generation in your family?
- Will your relationship bonds with everyone in the family get weakened?
- In the end, Will you remain happy with this decision?
It’s hard to imagine how many more such questions will arise in your mind from just this one situation. Adopting an attitude of “let’s see what happens next” can sometimes lead to disappointments and that highlights the need to deeply contemplate any situation before making any important decisions in life.
Multidimensional thinking techniques?
Thinking from several lenses is a complex process, and it’s not something you can grasp in one go. It can take several days, and having a calm demeanor and a positive mindset are crucial aspects of it. You can approach Multidimensional thinking in various ways:
- Brainstorming: Brainstorming is a good way to trigger multidimensional thinking. However, it’s important to understand that you may not want to directly brainstorm ideas with those who are directly involved in the conflict. Instead, you should brainstorm with someone who has no involvement with the people involved in the conflict and who can provide unbiased opinions about the situation.
- Perspective Taking: Perspective-taking can also trigger multidimensional thinking where you first listen to the viewpoints of others and then consider them from different scenarios and perspectives that can help you gain a better understanding of the overall situation.
- Mind Mapping: With mind mapping, you visualize the situation in your mind and then try to fit all the scenarios in place accordingly. This allows you to think in various ways and helps you frame your perspective about that situation. Mind mapping is all about your thoughts, which can change after learning about the viewpoints of others.
- Scenario Analysis: Scenario analysis is about imagining different scenarios connected to the situation and then deeply contemplating each scenario to form your perspective on it. For instance, in a particular scenario, you think about what happened, why it happened, what triggered it, and what potential consequences could arise from it.
- Cross-disciplinary Insights: With the help of cross-disciplinary insights, you can utilize knowledge from other fields to foster multi-dimensional thinking. For instance, by learning about the psychology of human minds, you can approach problems with a new perspective where you will be in a better position to handle people’s mindsets and behavior.
- Expert Advice: Consulting with experts in the field or individuals with relevant experience can also help in gaining diverse perspectives. They can provide guidance that others might not be able to, and they can help focus your attention on aspects that you might not have thought of yourself.
- Time dimension Analysis: In time dimension analysis, you attempt to understand how any problem or situation has evolved. Alongside, you try to comprehend when it originated first and how far it has escalated. This helps you recognize patterns that might have been observed beforehand which are of repeating nature that could also be the potential root cause of the issue.
- Risk and Benefits Evaluation: In a risk vs. benefit analysis, you assess the potential risks and benefits of a decision before making it. It’s essential to thoroughly understand all aspects so that you’re aware of the associated benefits of the choice you’re about to make and the potential risks it entails.
Multi Dimensional Thinking – How do you think from different angles?
If I talk about myself, while thinking from different angles, it’s more important for me to understand why people reacted like that in the first place instead of focusing on what they did wrong. It’s possible that listening to other’s perspectives can uncover a few valid arguments that need to be addressed first.
Multidimensional thinking encourages you to go beyond your narrow perspective and consider different dimensions of thought. You will be able to contemplate and understand scenarios that might not be feasible in an ideal case. You will empathize with the pain of others and consider possible solutions on what can be done to alleviate their pain. This approach has to be consistent with both parties, we need to think about whether it is possible to move forward together or not.
These things can’t just be done in your mind alone, you might need a pen and paper to write down your thoughts and ideas. It’s necessary to break down the problem and write down the pain areas of each problem segment. I follow this approach, where I try to understand a problem and segregate it into smaller problems, if possible.
Then, I list down the perspectives and pain areas of both the parties which provides a comprehensive view of the entire problem, making it easier to think about potential solutions.
- First and foremost, consider what can be done to allow things to resolve on their own without your direct involvement. This will result in the matter resolving itself, and you won’t have to bear unnecessary stress.
- Then, try to understand the circumstances they might be going through that led them to behave unusually due to inbuilt frustration. I also attempt to understand that even if we accept their perspectives and mindset for a moment, would their actions still be justified?
- I also focus on what my perspective says after understanding everyone’s viewpoints. I use the multidimensional thinking techniques listed above to develop my perspective of the situation.
- After that, the most important thing is to approach things with a positive mindset. Your goal isn’t to make things worse but to improve the overall situation. If you don’t think with a positive mindset, you won’t be able to find a proper solution. Thinking with a positive mindset also involves thinking beyond perspectives and considering long-term impacts, where your intention is not just to resolve the conflict for the short term, but to provide a permanent solution.
- Finally, after considering all the factors, it’s possible to arrive at a conclusion that might not be in everyone’s immediate favor. You might need to think about how to convince them individually so that your decision, which may seem wrong today, can prove to be beneficial in the long term.
- Here’s a bonus piece of advice, When you’re unable to comprehend something on your own, discuss it with a trustworthy individual who has no common connection with the people involved in the conflict. There are two benefits to this approach. First, you can have an open conversation with them, and second, they can offer an unbiased opinion about the issue.
Why it is important to look through different angles?
We often find ourselves in situations that we have no clue about, and we get pulled into them involuntarily because the people involved in that situation are dear to us and we care about them. You’re not aware of what happened and using multidimensional thinking can gradually help clarify many things that often remain unknown. This allows you to take a step in the right direction to normalize conflicts and resolve them.
Avoiding a complex situation every time can weaken the relationship bonds within the household, so it is necessary to handle them properly and maintain an equilibrium at home, it is important to understand how to tackle it in a manner that avoids unnecessary drama and at the same time resolves the problem peacefully which relates to a famous saying, “Kill the snake without breaking the stick.”
Thinking from a different lens can expose several truths that may uncover hidden aspects of the problem and the root cause of the situation. The approach of multidimensional thinking is based on a thorough understanding of the situation without any biases involved. The ability to listen to others and comprehend things is a skill that not everyone possesses.
Listening requires patience on your part, and it is equally important to refrain from asking too many questions while listening to others. Simply listen to them and allow them to express their feelings and emotions. When you actively listen and grasp others’ true perspectives, your ability to think in the right direction improves. You need to determine the direction in which you want to align your thinking and your focus is to bring peace and restore harmony, so whatever you think, it should be aligned with this objective.
Conclusion
To conclude, multidimensional thinking is an important factor that influences decision-making and plays a huge role in resolving relationship conflicts. There are various ways through which thinking from different angles can be triggered and the most common one is perspective-taking. In the end, approaching the problem with a positive mindset and having a thorough understanding of the situation can help in bringing balance to relationship equilibrium and achieving synced harmony.
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