The Thinking Lens

A Diagnostic for Team Performance

See how thinking preferences shape the way your team collaborates, decides and performs.

High-performing teams are made up of capable, motivated people.
And yet, even good teams experience friction, slower decisions and moments where collaboration feels harder than it should.

In most cases, this isn’t a skills issue. It’s a thinking issue.

The Thinking Lens is a short, executive-level diagnostic designed to help leaders reflect on how different ways of thinking may be influencing team performance.

This is not a personality test.
It’s a strategic reflection tool.

By working through The Thinking Lens, you’ll be able to:

  • Reflect on how your team currently approaches decisions and problem-solving

  • Identify dominant thinking patterns and potential blind spots

  • Understand why collaboration can feel effortful at times

  • Recognise where greater awareness could unlock performance

  • Consider how thinking differences may be impacting communication and change

The value comes from insight, not scores.

WHY thinking PREFERENCES MATTER

How people prefer to think influences how they:

  • Interpret information

  • Prioritise what matters

  • Communicate ideas

  • Respond under pressure

  • Collaborate with others

When these differences remain invisible, teams often work harder than necessary.

High-performing leaders understand not just what their teams do, but how their teams think, and they lead with that awareness intentionally.

How to use The Thinking Lens

This diagnostic is designed for leaders and people managers.

You’ll be asked to respond to a series of statements based on what you most commonly observe in your team, using a simple frequency scale.

There are no right or wrong answers.
The goal is to notice patterns, not to judge performance.

Once complete, you’ll be prompted to reflect on where your team appears strongest and where different ways of thinking may be under-represented.

The Thinking Lens is designed for:

Business owners

Senior leaders

People managers

Leadership teams

Organisations navigating growth, complexity or change

It’s particularly valuable for teams who are capable, committed and ready to work together more effectively.

When teams understand how they think they then...

  • Communicate more clearly

  • Reduce friction in decision-making

  • Leverage diversity of thought intentionally

  • Collaborate with greater ease

  • Improve performance over time

Ready to apply this across your team?

The Thinking Lens is a starting point.

If you’d like to explore how these insights could be mapped clearly across your team using individual HBDI profiles and a facilitated team session, you’re invited to take the next step.


HBDI® Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument | Whole Brain Thinking

WHAT IS HBDI?


Once an individual understands their thinking style preferences, the door is open to improved teamwork, leadership, customer relationships, creativity, problem-solving and many other aspects of personal and interpersonal development.

HBDI identifies your preferred approach to emotional, analytical, structural and strategic thinking by profiling your preferred thinking style. Our thinking preferences impact almost everything we do from our communication to decision-making, problem-solving and management style.