Top-Down Bottom-Up

Thinking

Thinking in hierarchical and bureacratic ways often means that those at the top do the more abstract and strategic thinking, whilst those at the bottom focus on practical and operational matters.

For most people in organisations today, this distinction still holds strong - managers have the big ideas and staff sort out what has to be done to make things happen. But things are beginning to change. Linking thinking much more closely to the action is a growing trend as the speed of change increases. As a result, what determines whether thinking moves 'up' to the abstract, or 'down' to the specific, depends on the issue and it's context, not on the status of the persons involved.

In general, we view 'why' questions moving 'up'and 'how questions moving 'down'. This can be applied to activities or information. It is assumed that having clarity of purpose (knowing why) helps you answer the question (knowing how) by offering new alternatives and ideas - it takes you into a zone or thinking space where change is possible.

Try analysing activities and facts relevant to your work activities, using both 'how?' and 'why?' questions to get you thinking more creatively and logically.

Examples of Top-Down - Bottom-Up thinking in action are:

Peter Senge's - Ladder of Inference

?????? - How-Why Test

????????? - The Five Why's

Mike Pedler's - Helicopter Mind