One of the many things that distinguishes the Rotman School of Management from other business schools is [Integrative Thinking]. I have been getting a lot of questions during prospective student interviews and at MBA fairs about this concept. Today I decided to write about it.

[Integrative Thinking] is a concept initially developed by our Dean, Roger Martin, based on his insight into how successful industry leaders solve business problems. Roger interviewed  more than 50 senior business people to understand how these successful leaders think. He discovered a pattern that he believed could be mapped out and taught, so that students could learn how to be fantastic problem-solvers too. Based on this insight, the Rotman School is transforming its curriculum to give you those tools. If this topic interests you, read Roger’s book the Opposable Mind . It is wonderful!

One very popular question is “How do you teach Integrative Thinking?” The answer is simple; we teach you how to think differently. At the end of the day, regardless of the type of industry you are in, you are working towards the same goal; to build, grow and sustain your business. Simply telling you how to solve a specific problem that is constraining a business’s ability to grow, for example, is not that helpful because you may never encounter that specific problem again. Business problems are rarely ever the same. So single-problem answers aren’t all that helpful. But providing you with a set of tools to diagnose a problem, to understand what caused it and then to generate creative ideas to solve it – now that is useful. That is the heart of integrative thinking.

You might be thinking about the admissions process and [Integrative Thinking]

What the admissions team is looking for in a candidate is a healthy mix of analytical and soft skills. You will need the analytical skills to crunch the numbers in the program. Like every business education, our program is revolves around numbers. Accounting and finance are not the only two functional areas that require basic math. When you study marketing, you will review profit and loss (P&L) statements. When you study operations, you will be calculating various costs such as overhead, transportation and inventory. When you study HR, you will be calculating indirect costs.

In terms of soft skills, we are looking for individuals who value excellence in whatever they take on, who are collaborative and open minded, who take accountability for their work and for whom integrity is important. We are also looking for individuals who are aiming to set the trend rather than follow the trends, and who see value in hearing diverse opinions. Your competitive edge will be your ability to balance analytical and soft skills wherever you go in life.

When you look at our curriculum, you will see that [Integrative Thinking] is woven in to the first year with an opening course called Foundations of Integrative Thinking and a closing class called The Integrative Thinking Practicum. In the second year, you can take further electives in business design and integrative thinking regardless of your major.

So at the end of the day, [Integrative Thinking] is a methodology that will be useful to you throughout your career. If you decide to come to Rotman, we will try our hardest to make you a problem-solver for the world! A new way to think awaits you.