Abstract Thought

After the sale of the company I work for we have been building the accounting data base for the entire company spread amongst about a half a dozen accountants and admin people. We are a $500M a year in revenue company and we are building the data base by hand. This is nuts. Sometimes I feel like George Clooney amongst the rest of the convicts as their understanding of abstract thought sometimes is lacking.  Most of the other convicts in the group are the center convict just going along for the ride and not putting to much thought in it, though a few are the left convict who think they know more than they do and are proved lacking daily. I'm not sure where to categorize the software guy. He's knowledgeable but can't seem to remember all the intricacies of his own product. I've come across several items where there is problems and then he remembers them. He'll tell me one way to do something and when I do it I find a problem with his way. I would think a man who does several if not more installations each year would have this down pat. He's been with the software development company for 20+ years.  

abstract thinking

The  final, most complex stage in the development of cognitive thinking, in which thought is characterized by adaptability,flexibility, and the use of concepts and generalizations. Problem solving is accomplished  by drawing logical conclusions from a set of observations, for example, making hypotheses and testing them.This type of thinking is developed by 12 to 15 years of age, usually after some degree of education.In psy-chiatry, many disorders are characterized by the inability to think abstractly. Compare concrete thinking, syncretic thinking.

Mosby's Medical Dictionary, 9th edition. © 2009, Elsevier.