Effective problem solving requires a complex group of intellectual and emotional activities, such as planning, organizing, creative decision making, and coordinating work with the work of others. Individual thinking styles and attitudes play an important role in our ability to effectively carry out these different responsibilities. Behavior results from sensing information in the environment, processing this information by thinking about it, and them responding based on our perception of the information. This process is directly linked to the internal processes known as attitudes and thinking styles. Our thinking styles emerge based on our accumulated experiences and have a significant impact on our motivation and resulting behaviors. When approaching problem solving our decisions are based not only on rational analysis and choice, but also a group of deeply ingrained personality traits and attitudes. Because of this, in order to improve our effectiveness at problem solving we must broaden our awareness of how our personality traits impact our behavior. Once we understand the impact of our attitudes on our behavior, we are able to choose alternative courses of action by thinking before we act.
There are many different personality types such as humanistic, conventional, apprehensive, oppositional, competitive and others. These personality types often overlap. My own personality type with respect to problem solving tends to a cross between affiliation and perfectionism. This creates some unique advantages and disadvantages for me because of the conflicting aspects of these two personality types. My affiliation qualities make me skilled in teamwork and collaboration. I trust others and interact and communicate well in group settings. I also like for people to get along and favor what is good for the team. I am willing to play a variety of different roles and try to find middle ground through discussion and debate. Howe...