Analytical Problem-Solving

Learning Objectives

• Increase proficiency in analytical problem-solving.
• Recognize personal conceptual blocks.
• Enhance creativity by overcoming conceptual blocks.
• Foster innovation among others.

A Model of Problem-Solving

• Step 1: Define the Problem.
  • Differentiate fact from opinion.
  • Specify underlying causes.
  • Tap everyone involved for information.
  • State the problem explicitly.
  • Identify what standard is violated.
  • Determine whose problem it is.
  • Avoid stating the problem as a disguised solution.
• Step 2: Generate Alternative Solutions.
  • Postpone evaluating alternatives.
  • Be sure all involved individuals generate alternatives.
  • Specify alternatives that are consistent with goals.
  • Specify both short- and long-term solutions.
  • Build on others’ ideas.
  • Specify alternatives that solve the problem.
• Step 3: Evaluate and Select an Alternative.
  • Evaluate relative to an optimal standard.
  • Evaluate systematically.
  • Evaluate relative to goals.
  • Evaluate main effects and side effects.
  • State the selected alternative explicitly.
• Step 4: Implement and Follow Up on the Solution.
  • Implement at the proper time and in the right sequence.
  • Provide opportunities for feedback.
  • Engender acceptance.
  • Establish an ongoing monitoring system.
  • Evaluate based on the problem solution.

Constraints on the Analytical Problem-Solving Model

• Step 1: Defining the problems.
  • Lack of consensus on the problem.
  • Acceptance of problem definition.
  • Symptoms are often confused with the real problem.
  • Confusing information.
• Step 2: Generating Alternatives.
  • Alternatives are evaluated as they are proposed.
  • Few possible alternatives are usually known.
  • The first acceptable solution is usually accepted.
  • Alternatives are based on what was successful in the past.
• Step 3: Evaluating and Selecting an Alternative.
  • Information on alternatives is limited.
  • Search for information occurs close to home.
  • The type of information is constrained by other factors.
  • Gathering information is costly.
  • Preferences for the best alternatives are not always known.
• Step 4: Implementation and Follow Up.
  • Acceptance is not always forthcoming.
  • Resistance to change.
  • Uncertainty about what part of the solution to monitor.
  • Political and organizational processes must be managed.
  • It may take a long time to implement a solution.

Impediments to Creative Problem-Solving

• Most people assume that creativity is one-dimensional.
• Almost everyone has created blocks that inhibit our creativity.

Conceptual Blocks

• Each of these four different approaches to creativity can be inhibited.
• Mental obstacles that constrain the way problems are defined.
  • Overcoming blocks:
    • Percy Spencer’s Magnetron – a special radar detector, led to the invention of the microwave.
    • Spence Silver’s Glue led to the development of the enormously popular Post-It Notes.
• Constancy can inhibit some kinds of problems and consistency can sometimes drive out creativity.
• Commitment presents problems that are seen as variations of past problems.
• Compression occurs when not filtering out irrelevant info, creating artificial constraints, or narrowly defining a problem.
• Complacency occurs when not filtering out irrelevant info, creating artificial constraints, or narrowly defining a problem.

DeBono’s Ways of Thinking

• Vertical Thinking
  • Continuity
  • Chooses
  • Stability
  • Searches for what is right
  • Analytic
  • Where the idea came from
  • Develops an idea
• Lateral Thinking
  • Discontinuity
  • Changes
  • Instability
  • Searches for what is different
  • Provocative
  • Where the idea is going
  • Discovers the idea

Multiple Thinking Langauges

• The more languages available to problems solvers, the more creative the solution will be:
  • Words
  • Symbols
  • Sensory(smell)
  • Feelings and emotions
  • Visual imagery

Other Problem Examples

• Perceptual Stereotyping: Defining present problems in terms of problems that have been faced in the past.
• Ignoring Commonalities: Creativity is blocked when not finding thread that exists between dissimilar problems.
• Examples of Complacency:
  • Non-inquisitiveness which includes an unwillingness to ask questions.
  • Bias against thinking including an inclination to avoid doing mental work.

Stages in Creative Thought

• Preparation
• Incubation
• Illumination
• Verification

Ways to Improve Problem Definition

• Make the strange familiar and the familiar strange—Synectics
  • Use analogies: personal, direct, symbolic, and fantasy
• Elaborate on the definition by elaborating two different plausible definitions and think in the plural
• Reverse the definition by turns the problem upside down

Ways to Generate More Alternatives

1. Defer judgment—Brainstorming
2. Expand current alternatives- subdivision
3. Combine unrelated attributes- relational algorithm and morphological synthesis

Rules of Brainstorming

1. No evaluation of ideas is permitted.
2. Wild ideas are encouraged.
3. Quantity before quality.
4. Build on the ideas of others.

Morphological Synthesis

1. The problem is written down.
2. Attributes of the problem are listed.
3. Alternatives to each attribute are listed.
4. Different alternatives are combined from the attributes

Relational Algorithim

• Applies connecting words that force a relationship between two elements in a problem

Hints to Faciliate Creative Problem-Solving

• Give yourself relaxation time.
• Find a place where you can think.
• Talk to other people about ideas.
• Ask other people for their suggestions about your problems.
• Read a lot.
• Protect yourself from idea-killers.

Three Principles for Fostering Creativity

1. Pull people apart; put people together.
2. Monitor and prod.
3. Reward multiple roles.

Behavioral Guidelines

• Follow the four-step procedure for analytical decision-making.
• When approaching a difficult or complex problem, remember that creative solutions need not be a product of revolutionary and brand-new ideas.
• Try to overcome conceptual blocks.
• To enhance creativity, use technologies that elaborate problem definition.