Problem Solving and Decision Making (Solving Problems and Making Decisions)© Copyright Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, Authenticity Consulting, LLC. Show
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What is Your Personal Decision-Making Style?There are many styles of making decisions, ranging from very rational and linear to organic and unfolding. Take this online assessment to determine your own style.
Do you want to improve or polish your style? Consider the many guidelines included below. Guidelines to Problem Solving and Decision Making (Rational Approach)Much of what people do is solve problems and make decisions. Often, they are “under the gun”, stressed and very short for time. Consequently, when they encounter a new problem or decision they must make, they react with a decision that seemed to work before. It’s easy with this approach to get stuck in a circle of solving the same problem over and over again. Therefore, it’s often useful to get used to an organized approach to problem solving and decision making. Not all problems can be solved and decisions made by the following, rather rational approach. However, the following basic guidelines will get you started. Don’t be intimidated by the length of the list of guidelines. After you’ve practiced them a few times, they’ll become second nature to you — enough that you can deepen and enrich them to suit your own needs and nature. (Note that it might be more your nature to view a “problem” as an “opportunity”. Therefore, you might substitute “problem” for “opportunity” in the following guidelines.) 1. Define the problemThis is often where people struggle. They react to what they think the problem is. Instead, seek to understand more about why you think there’s a problem. Define the problem: (with input from yourself and others). Ask yourself and others, the following questions:
Defining complex problems:If the problem still seems overwhelming, break it down by repeating steps 1-7 until you have descriptions of several related problems. Verifying your understanding of the problems:It helps a great deal to verify your problem analysis for conferring with a peer or someone else. Prioritize the problems:If you discover that you are looking at several related problems, then prioritize which ones you should address first. Note the difference between “important” and “urgent” problems. Often, what we consider to be important problems to consider are really just urgent problems. Important problems deserve more attention. For example, if you’re continually answering “urgent” phone calls, then you’ve probably got a more “important” problem and that’s to design a system that screens and prioritizes your phone calls. Understand your role in the problem:Your role in the problem can greatly influence how you perceive the role of others. For example, if you’re very stressed out, it’ll probably look like others are, too, or, you may resort too quickly to blaming and reprimanding others. Or, you are feel very guilty about your role in the problem, you may ignore the accountabilities of others. 2. Look at potential causes for the problem
3. Identify alternatives for approaches to resolve the problemAt this point, it’s useful to keep others involved (unless you’re facing a personal and/or employee performance problem). Brainstorm for solutions to the problem. Very simply put, brainstorming is collecting as many ideas as possible, then screening them to find the best idea. It’s critical when collecting the ideas to not pass any judgment on the ideas — just write them down as you hear them. (A wonderful set of skills used to identify the underlying cause of issues is Systems Thinking.) 4. Select an approach to resolve the problem
(The nature of this step, in particular, in the problem solving process is why problem solving and decision making are highly integrated.) 5. Plan the implementation of the best alternative (this is your action plan)
(An important aspect of this step in the problem-solving process is continually observation and feedback.) 6. Monitor implementation of the planMonitor the indicators of success:
7. Verify if the problem has been resolved or notOne of the best ways to verify if a problem has been solved or not is to resume normal operations in the organization. Still, you should consider:
Rational Versus Organic Approach to Problem SolvingRationalA person with this preference often prefers using a comprehensive and logical approach similar to the guidelines in the above section. For example, the rational approach, described below, is often used when addressing large, complex matters in strategic planning.
A major advantage of this approach is that it gives a strong sense of order in an otherwise chaotic situation and provides a common frame of reference from which people can communicate in the situation. A major disadvantage of this approach is that it can take a long time to finish. Some people might argue, too, that the world is much too chaotic for the rational approach to be useful. OrganicSome people assert that the dynamics of organizations and people are not nearly so mechanistic as to be improved by solving one problem after another. Often, the quality of an organization or life comes from how one handles being “on the road” itself, rather than the “arriving at the destination.” The quality comes from the ongoing process of trying, rather than from having fixed a lot of problems. For many people it is an approach to organizational consulting. The following quote is often used when explaining the organic (or holistic) approach to problem solving. “All the greatest and most important problems in life are fundamentally insoluble … They can never be solved, but only outgrown. This
“outgrowing” proves on further investigation to require a new level of consciousness. Some higher or wider interest appeared on the horizon and through this broadening of outlook, the insoluble lost its urgency. It was not solved logically in its own terms, but faded when confronted with a new and stronger life urge.” A major advantage of the organic approach is that it is highly adaptable to understanding and explaining the chaotic changes that occur in projects and everyday life. It also suits the nature of people who shun linear and mechanistic approaches to projects. The major disadvantage is that the approach often provides no clear frame of reference around which people can communicate, feel comfortable and measure progress toward solutions to problems. Additional Guidelines for Problem Solving and Decision MakingRecommended Articles
Additional Articles
General Guidelines for Decision Making
Various Tools and Methods for Problem Solving and Decision Making(Many people would agree that the following methods and tools are also for decision-making.)
General Resources for Problem Solving and Decision Making
Learn More in the Library’s Blogs Related to Problem Solving and Decision MakingIn addition to the articles on this current page, also see the following blogs that have posts related to this topic. Scan down the blog’s page to see various posts. Also see the section “Recent Blog Posts” in the sidebar of the blog or click on “next” near the bottom of a post in the blog. The blog also links to numerous free related resources.
For the Category of Innovation:To round out your knowledge of this Library topic, you may want to review some related topics, available from the link below. Each of the related topics includes free, online resources. Also, scan the Recommended Books listed below. They have been selected for their relevance and highly practical nature.
What are the 5 stages of problem solving?5 Steps to Better Problem-Solving. Step 1: Identify the Problem.. Step 2: Generate potential solutions.. Step 3: Choose one solution.. Step 4: Implement the solution you've chosen.. Step 5: Evaluate results.. Next Steps.. What are the steps of the problem solving process?8-Step Problem Solving Process. Step 1: Define the Problem. What is the problem? ... . Step 2: Clarify the Problem. ... . Step 3: Define the Goals. ... . Step 4: Identify Root Cause of the Problem. ... . Step 5: Develop Action Plan. ... . Step 6: Execute Action Plan. ... . Step 7: Evaluate the Results. ... . Step 8: Continuously Improve.. What are the 4 key steps of problem solving?The four basic steps to problem solving are:. Define the Problem. It's common to conflate symptoms of a problem with the problem itself. ... . Create Alternatives. Once you know the problem you're facing, it's good to consider possible solutions. ... . Choose a Solution. ... . Implement the Solution.. What are the 7 steps in the problem solving process?Thank you for submitting your email.. 7 Steps for Effective Problem Solving. ... . Step 1: Identifying the Problem. ... . Step 2: Defining Goals. ... . Step 3: Brainstorming. ... . Step 4: Assessing Alternatives. ... . Step 5: Choosing the Solution. ... . Step 6: Active Execution of the Chosen Solution. ... . Step 7: Evaluation.. |