ORIGIN OF GENERIC THINKING – HOW I UNFOLDED THIS PHILOSOPHY

Technology overwhelms us to the point that we miss out on its fundamental role.

This is a fascinating story of how Generic Thinking Philosophy took its origin while teaching undergraduate students at Korea University Business School and how I got nicknamed “Professor Generic”.

The Technological Distraction and Generic Thinking

I observed that the students were overwhelmed by technology to the point of missing its fundamental role as an enabler of underlying processes.

Technology as a Layer of Abstraction

I recognized during the exchange of thoughts that technology was serving as a layer of abstraction over more fundamental processes. When students (and professionals) become fixated on technological tools and features, they miss the essential processes these technologies enable or enhance. Generic Thinking, in this context, involves peeling back the technological layer to expose and understand the underlying processes.

The Process-Technology Relationship

We might articulate this relationship as:

• Processes are the fundamental activities, workflows, and operations that fulfil human and organizational needs

• Technology provides tools that enable, accelerate, or transform these processes

• Generic Thinking requires understanding processes first, then evaluating how technology serves them

  
  

From Tool-Centric to Process-Centric Thinking

My approach encouraged a shift from tool-centric thinking ("What can this technology do?") to process-centric thinking ("What fundamental process are we trying to enable or improve?"). This reframes technology from being the focus to being the servant of more essential aims.

Educational Applications

This insight has powerful educational implications:

• Curriculum design that teaches fundamental processes before introducing technological implementations

• Case studies that examine how the same underlying process can be enabled by different technologies

• Exercises that require students to "de-technologize" problems to identify core processes

  
  

Broader Philosophy Development

From this starting point, how I expanded Generic Thinking to other domains:

1. Recognizing that many seemingly different technologies enable the same fundamental processes

2. Understanding that technological changes often mask process continuities

3. Identifying when new technologies are truly transformative versus when they merely repackage existing processes

   
   

Contemporary Relevance

My insight from twenty years ago has only grown more relevant as technology has become more pervasive and complex:

• AI and automation discussions often focus on tools rather than the underlying processes being automated

• Digital transformation initiatives frequently fail because they focus on technology implementation rather than process understanding

• The "shiny object syndrome" of new technologies continues to distract from fundamental process questions

  
  

This foundation—recognizing technology as an enabler of underlying processes—provides a powerful starting point for Generic Thinking as a broader philosophy of identifying and addressing root causes across domains.

My insistence that they think fundamentally to resolve the issue was initially grudgingly  compromised till they became subconsciously comfortable with it. However, they had the last word and happily nicknamed me “Professor Generic”, which I heartily accepted.

The follow-up to this is “Generic Thinking: A Philosophy That Focuses On Fundamental Root Causes”