Here are two mental frameworks that have served me well throughout my career: I am process oriented and find that my “abstract thinking” improved significantly

Here are two mental frameworks that have served me well throughout my career: I am process oriented and find that my “abstract thinking” improved significantly when I applied a somewhat consistent mental framework / process to questions, situations, challenges or projects (which are often just a series of questions) #1: the three to five “whys” Super simple, ask why or how three to five (or as many as necessary) times to try to unravel the root of a problem or issue. “Why did this happen, well why did that happen, how do we know that is why that happened, etc” #2 break problems or complex issues down into decision trees. Sales are down X%. Well, there are probably 3-5 core events that drive sales (inbound, outbound, retention, competition etc). Looking at the outbound tree, there are 3-5 core activities that drive outbound (phone calls, emails, in-person meetings, conferences, etc). The more you do this on paper, the easier you do this in your mind which is what I believe improves what others see as abstract thinking. Final thought: I don’t think improved abstract thinking has much to do with memory. You encounter a problem, employ a consistent process and get to a result. The better the process the better the result over time. Happy to elaborate on any of this further. I was putting together examples but it took away from the core message.