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College Success Chapter 3.4: Problem Solving and Decision Making - Coggle…
College Success Chapter 3.4: Problem Solving and Decision Making
Learning Objectives
Learn to understand the problem.
Learn to combine creative thinking and critical thinking to solve problems.
Practice problem solving in a group.
For coming up with a solution and deciding what to do, follow the same basic steps.
Define the problem.
Use your analytical skills.
What is the real issue?
Why is it a problem?
What are the root causes?
What kinds of outcomes or actions do you expect to generate to solve the problem?
What are some of the key characteristics that will make a good choice:
Timing?
Resources?
Availability of tools and materials?
For more complex problems, it helps to actually write out the problem and the answers to these questions.
Can you clarify your understanding of the problem by using metaphors to illustrate the issue?
Narrow the problem.
Many problems are made up of a series of smaller problems, each requiring its own solution.
Can you break the problem into different facets?
What aspects of the current issue are “noise” that should not be considered in the problem solution? (Use critical thinking to separate facts from opinion in this step.)
Generate possible solutions.
List all your options.
Use your creative thinking skills in this phase. Did you come up with the second “right” answer, and the third or the fourth?
Can any of these answers be combined into a stronger solution?
What past or existing solutions can be adapted or combined to solve this problem?
Choose the best solution.
Use your critical thinking skills to select the most likely choices.
List the pros and cons for each of your selections.
How do these lists compare with the requirements you identified when you defined the problem?
If you still can’t decide between options, you may want to seek further input from your brainstorming team.
Brainstorming
is a process of generating ideas for solutions in a group. This method is very effective because ideas from one person will trigger additional ideas from another. The following guidelines make for an effective brainstorming session:
Decisions, Decisions
To be effective in your decision making in different circumstances it is helpful to understand some principles about decision making.
Define who is responsible for solving the problem or making the decision.
In an organization, this may be someone above or below you on the organization chart but is usually the person who will be responsible for implementing the solution.
Once you define who is responsible for making the decision, everyone else will fall into one of two roles: giving input, or in rare cases, approving the decision.
Understanding the role of input is very important for good decisions.
Input is sought or given due to experience or expertise, but it is up to the decision maker to weigh the input and decide whether and how to use it.
Input should be fact based, or if offering an opinion, it should be clearly stated as such.
Finally, once input is given, the person giving the input must support the other’s decision, whether or not the input is actually used.
The approval role in decisions
This is very common in business decisions but often occurs in college work as well (the professor needs to approve the theme of the team project, for example).
Approval decisions are usually based on availability of resources, legality, history, or policy.
Key Takeaways
Effective problem solving involves critical and creative thinking.
Brainstorming is a good method for generating creative solutions.
Understanding the difference between the roles of deciding and providing input makes for better decisions.
The four steps to effective problem solving are the following:
Define the problem
Narrow the problem
Generate solutions
Choose the solution