Exercises

Problem Solving

• read the narration column first
• then do the exercises

Reading list

You do not need to consult all these books. If you can find one in your local library, concentrate on that author.

• Joseph George Mason, How to be a more Creative Executive, McGrawHill Book Co. Ltd., New York 1960
• N.R.F. Maier and J. J. Hayes, Creative Management, John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York 1962
• Weston H. Agor, Intuitive Management. Integrating Left and Right Brain Management Skills, Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall 1984
• Charles H. Kepner, Benjamin B. Tregoe, The rational manager. A systematic approach to problem solving and decision making, New York: McGraw-Hill 1965, 3. ed. 1991

narration

1. 1 When do we need problem solving?

Some people display a remarkable capability in dealing with problems. Natural talents and experience have made them good decision-makers. Their inborn gift of imagination and the initiatives they have previously undertaken have given them that genuine creativity and versatility of mind needed to solve problems effectively.

It is also possible that problems remain with us, that we feel incapable to face up to them or to find suitable solutions. It may be that we are searching in vain for ways and means to rid of ourselves of a difficulty without knowing precisely how to tackle the question. It is here that one spontaneously feels the need of some systematic approach to problem solving.

• How can we clear our minds regarding the first steps we should take?
• What is the best way to arrive at a responsible solution?
• What is the quickest and safest method to deal with problems that ask for an immediate decision or entail great future consequences?

The business world has developed certain guidelines for problem-solving that can be helpful to us in this matter. It is worthwhile looking at some examples.

Sale and manufacture

The ‘Pyramid Soap’ Company has been suffering heavy losses on account of the consumer’s rising interest in washing powder. The problem is: will this tendency continue?

• Will it be necessary to switch over from soapbars to a greater production of washing powder?
• Should this be done immediately?
• Will it be possible to capture this in washing powder market from other firms?
• Will the switch over in production pay off in spite of the great expenses foreseen?

The company obviously needs some systematic approach to solving this problem. And it is not just a question of doing some operational research, as we saw in the previous lesson. The managers will, in one way or other, have to do some systematic ‘problem-solving’.

Appointments

An assistant bank manager needs to be appointed in the Thrifty People’s Deposit Bank. The bank manager, who is a woman, may have three highly qualified persons on her staff who, at the first impression, would all be fit to become her assistant. The situation may be that the acting assistant manager is due to retire after two years, and that the higher management wants her to suggest the most capable persons to succeed her.

Here the director has a problem:

• Which of the three men should she select as the candidate?
• What qualities should weigh heaviest in making this judgement?
• To what tests should she subject the three men to arrive at a better evaluation of their merits?
• How is she to exclude personal preferences and likings from her judgement?
• How will her eventual choice effect her relationship with the others?

Some of such problems can be solved and are solved with the help of common sense, experience, natural talent and inborn initiative. But for many others a more methodical approach to find the solution is the right answer.

2. 2 The methodical approach to problem solving

‘Method’ is no more than ‘a streamlining of thought’. The systematic approach is really a refined way of using our common sense. If we want to use all our human power of intelligence to meet a challenge, we must do it in a rational, and thus a methodical, way.

The method of 'problem-solving' that has been worked out by human minds in the experience of the world of commerce, administration and education, can rightly be applied to many problems ordinary leaders meet. This methodical approach to problems involves five steps.

1. Are you a good problem solver?

Apply this scale to judge yourself. Put after each question ‘Yes’, ‘No’ or ‘At times’.
(Call to mind a problem you had to solve recently, and apply the questions to the way you went about solving it.)

1. Do you often ask yourself: “What am I trying to do? What is the precise nature of this problem?”
   
   
2. Do you put your problem before other people?
   
   
3. Do you react against generalising statements made by others about people or events?
   
   
4. Is it your custom to check the information you received on its reliability?
   
   
5. Do you always wait to make a decision until you have alternative solutions?
   
   
6. Are you prepared to accept solutions suggested to you by others?
   
   
7. Is it your habit to postpone important decisions, setting your self a time limit in advance?
   
   
8. When making a decision, are you adverting to the undue influence your habitual way of thinking may have on you?
   
   
9. Do you write down the alternative solutions to problems, with the pros and cons of each?
   
   
10. Have you adopted five new solutions for various (big or small) problems in the last month?

Evaluation : Give yourself two marks for every "Yes", one mark for every "At times" and no marks for every "No". Score: 15-20 excellent, 10-15 good, below 10 insufficient.

First Step.
Determine the precise nature of the problem

The first step consists in the accurate definition of the nature of the problem on hand. In many cases this stage might seem quite superfluous. We might be inclined to say: “But I know what my problem is!” However, experience and a few sober reflections teach us that this would be a false assumption.

Let us begin by considering the human mind. It is essential for the mind to concentrate on one thing when thinking. However fast it may switch its focus of attention from one subject to another, it can only concentrate on one of them at a time. This necessarily entails that the mind will tend to dwell on one aspect of the question and overlook other important aspects. This will all the more readily happen when in the course of time we have acquired habits of thinking, or when we have become emotionally attached to a particular way of considering things. Is this exaggerated? Let us take some concrete instances.

Medical care in people’s homes

A district nurse in a rural area feels that her new assistant has become a problem case. This young nurse proved quite enthusiastic and active on her arrival from nursing college. She took her share in visiting the homes of the sick with all the dedication and willingness one could have expected. But then a decline set in. The assistant began to show signs of reluctance to go out to people on the normal rounds of visitation. Whenever possible she leaves it to her superior to do this work. She tries to find excuses for her unwillingness to look after the sick in their own homes. The nurse in charge experiences this as a kind of resistance to her authority, as an escape from duty, as an unfair dodging of a common task. In short: the assistant has become problematic to her and she may not know what to do about it.

She may report to headquarters that Nurse So-and-so had better be appointed somewhere else in a hospital or clinic, since she proves unwilling to go out to people’homes. Frequently, the true nature of such a problem has not been understood. It is quite possible that the nurse in charge has jumped to her conclusions without sufficient investigation.

If she allows her feeling of resentment to predominate she may simply attribute the young woman’s reluctance to a basic lack of commitment and care. Or she may overlook other aspects, as she cannot imagine the difficulties the other woman may experience. The reasons given by the assistant will then be looked upon as empty excuses and not as the rea! source of trouble.

But suppose that the district nurse does not start presuming that she knows the real nature of the assistant’s problem. Suppose she begins with the methodical assumption that she still has to determine where the problem lies, then she might find out, for instance, that the assistant feels incompetent to do her work through lack of a proper knowledge of the local language spoken by the people. The assistant may or may not realise this herself.

From friendly conversations and a real attempt to discover the woman’s difficulty, it may emerge that she feels depressed by her inability to speak the local vernacular. Perhaps people have been commenting on it. Perhaps she has begun to grow annoyed at her stumbling over words when asking people for symptoms or when giving advice. After some time she may have grown self-conscious about it. Speaking that language has grown into a real ordeal. She has begun to look upon her round of visitation as a burden which she tries to escape in every possible way.

It is obvious that the discovery of the real nature of the problem will show the way to the proper solution. The district nurse will now be able to present headquarters with a different kind of report. She may suggest that her assistant be given support to overcome the language problem. In this way she will have tackled the difficulty effectively and saved another nurse from degradation and, perhaps, from a life of shame and failure.

After-hours dance school

It is surprising to see how often we imagine we know the precise problem we are dealing with. I remember a case of a teacher in a high school who wanted to start dance classes. The response to her many invitations was very poor. At the first meetings that were organized some children turned up, but after a while very few remained. The teacher did everything possible to improve the situation. In class she often harped on the beauty of dancing and she appealed to her pupils to come forward. All to no avail. In the end she came to the conclusion that there was something wrong with the girls. She attributed to them a total lack of normal energy and vitality.

Fortunately she had the good sense to call in a professional dance teacher. This person soon came to the conclusion that the teacher herself was the real problem. She herself stood in the way of the scheme. With all her good intentions she had made the grave mistake of dominating the proceedings right from the beginning. The girls had immediately sensed that the dance classes were going to become an exact replica of her regular classes and so they backed out.

The full-time organizer advised the teacher not to attend the dance events at the beginning. Participation immediately went up. After some time, when with outside help the dabce instructions had begun to function normally, she was advised to be present, but not to interfere. In this way the after-hours ‘dance school’ was gradually established until she could take her normal share as sponsor and adviser.

All through she had imagined that the problem lay with the girls. In actual fact it lay with her. The determination of the real problem was the first step to a systematic solution.

1. Select a real problem in your own life, your family, your area of work or your neighbourhood.

2. Try to solve the problem methodically by going through the five steps outlined in this lesson.

3. Write a report on your findings on each of the five steps.

Second step.
Collect facts about the problem

It is well known how much we are inclined to generalise and formulate overall statements which are actually only based on one or two isolated instances. The secular fields of problem solving have established beyond doubt that the greatest obstacle to an effective approach in the matter often lies in our ignorance of the true facts.

Adult literacy centre

A Centre established to promote adult literacy in a backwards rural area, complains of a lack of response on the part of its readers. Whatever booklet they produce, only a few copies are sold. They have attempted various improvements, such as reduced prices, more attractive covers and better paper. Nothing seems to help. The director of the Centre may conclude that their work is a waste of time and resources.

Very frequently you may find that in such circumstances nothing further is done to get more information, more reliable data about this lack of response. Any advertizing agency will tell us that the marketing of a product requires a good deal of research.

• What are the expectations of the consumer?
• Where to find the best areas of distribution?
• Is the lack of response universal? Or does it affect only certain sectors of the readership?
• Have new publications been sufficiently brought within easy reach of the reading public?
• What kind of needs are keenly felt by the reading public so that a response would be natural?

It is no use continuing with any literature programme without assessing at least such basic facts. Even if it were to involve some expense, this research should be undertaken. No problem can be solved without an adequate supply of reliable data.

Third step.
Search for new ideas and alternative solutions

Of all the animals on our earth, human beings excel in creativity. We alone, by the use of our mind can, as it were, ‘create’ new combinations on earth. The very world in which we live and in which we have grown up witness to the power and success of human creative thinking.

It is obvious that such ‘creativity’ is the right human response to the solving of problems. A brief survey of modern science will convincingly demonstrate this. All the new forms of transport arose in response to the human need to escape from being bound to place and to conquer distance. This problem urged people to solutions which each in turn were truly revolutionary and creative: the use of animals as means of transport, then chariots and wagons, motorcars, steamers, aeroplanes and rockets. Think of the field of communication. People were faced with the problem of conveying messages to other persons. In the course of time this problem gave rise to such wonderfully new creations as writing, the alphabet, ink and writing paper, printing, the telephone and telegraph system, radio, and television. In every human field of life, be it building, war, agriculture, medicine, administration or industry we find innumerable examples of human creative action.

It would be a fatal mistake to restrict this creativity merely to the extraordinary new inventions made from time to time. Creativity is a normal element in our daily life. It is an absolute requirement in the solution of our ordinary problems. Perhaps we have not given thought to this.

Emergency services

Suppose a phone call comes through to a doctor that one of her patients who lives ten miles away, has suffered a heart attack. This is an isolated rural area with no hospital ambulance that can be called upon.

The doctor would like to rush to the patient’s house, but it so happens that her car is out of order. What should she do?

• She may first think of her neighbour who possesses a motorbike. Suppose the neighbour proves to be away at an association meeting, so that it is difficult to reach him.
• The doctor might then phone to a good friend and ask for the use of his car.
• Or she might consult the time-table of the bus-services to the place in question.
• It may be that in the end she has to adopt a combined solution: she may contact a friend who lives near the hall where the neighbour is attending the meeting and ask him to pass on the message to her neighbour.

After rapidly surveying all the alternative solutions the doctor will select what seems to be the most practicable one, and often this will give real credit to her ‘creativity of thought’. The problem concerns just a momentary lack of transport, and yet quite a considerable amount of imagination has been exerted in a short time.

It is necessary to understand the function of our imagination in this process of looking for a new solution. It is our power of imagination that offers alternative solutions. It was the doctor’s imagination that told her: “Try your neighbour!”; “Phone your friend Edward Morris !”; “Look up the bus time-table !”; “Ask Frank Sequiera to send his son to the meeting with a message to my neighbour!” The imagination does no more than suggest possibilities. It opens new doorways. It searches for new light. It concentrates on the presentation of what is new, what could be, what is likely to be forgotten. And this is a very valuable service to us. Woe to the person who has no imagination! He or she will find it extremely difficult to see a way out of even the humdrum daily stresses of life.

At the same time, however, we should realise that the imagination does not possess the power of critical judgement. The need for a critical assessment comes after the alternative solutions have been proposed. In our concrete case: after the suggestion of the imagination “Try your neighbour”, the doctor may come to the judgement: “This solution does not work because my neighbour is out!”

The grave mistake which we normally make is not to give enough room to our imagination and, therefore, to our creativity. We allow our power of judgement to interfere before the imagination has had its time to suggest all the alternatives it can think up.

The lesson we should learn lies mainly in this point. In the solution of a problem of any gravity, we cannot afford to pass over a serious search for ‘new alternatives’, for ‘new ideas’, for true ‘creative solutions’. On no account should we begin to exclude alternatives right from the beginning. We should patiently list them. We should allow our imagination to have its full say before we apply the power of our critical judgement.

Back to the adult literacy centre

A practical example is in place here. The editorial board of the centre mentioned above had agreed on bringing out a series of six booklets for guidance to housewives. After some initial difficulties competent writers were found for five of the booklets. Attempts to find an author for the sixth one failed. The editorial board was summoned to an emergency session as the time for the appearance of the booklets drew near. Many solutions were proposed as to who should be asked to be the sixth author. There were serious obstacles in the way of all suggested names. Finally, it was decided to list all the alternate solutions. One member then suggested simply dropping the sixth booklet, incorporating its contents into the five preceding ones. Of all the alternatives this one first evoked the strongest resistance. On further inspection, however, it proved a very easy and acceptable solution, so that it was adopted by unanimous agreement. When reflecting on this problem afterwards, it was found that much time had been wasted on account of the fact that all had fixed their minds on having six booklets. Taking this for granted, the obvious solution of reducing the series to five booklets was not even seen as an alternative. And not seeing alternatives is a block to the mind.

The Big Boys show the way

Business and government administration have realised the value of ‘good ideas’ and ‘useful suggestions’.

• The Government of the U.S.A. has opened a special branch to collect ‘new ideas’ concerning matters related to the army or the administration. In this “Incentives Awards System” it collected more than 294,000 suggestions in one year. Of these it was found that 79,000 could be made use of. Awards to the amount of $ 2,365,000 were granted for these suggestions and it saved the Government at least $ 200 million through greater efficiency.
• General Motors, one of the greatest American industries, collects over 30,000 practicable new ideas from its employees every year and has registered great advances on their account.
• The electrical engineers of the Thompson Products, Inc. (Cleveland, U.S.A.) struggled in vain to find a solution to a very costly problem : leather straps that were used for polishing in the factory kept tearing at the edges. Emma Gabor, a girl who worked at one of the machines, suggested applying nail polish as she had found that this was also a good way to stop ladders in her nylon stockings. The idea brought her the award of $ 6000 dollars and it saved the company more than $ 43,000 dollars a year!

If the solution is to be ‘creative’ in the true sense of the word, we may expect most benefit from suggestions that do not spring to mind in the beginning. In many an instance we do well to write down all the alternative solutions we can think of ourselves and all the possibilities suggested to us by others.

Fourth Step.
Take some time for 'brooding' over the problem

There are a good number of problems with which we have to deal immediately on the spot. Afterwards, when the mind has time to consider the problem again in a more leisurely manner, we may then recognize that we might have adopted another solution had we been given time. The human mind cannot give its best judgement when it is under strain or hemmed in by the urgency of the moment.

In the solving of serious problems we should accustom ourselves, therefore, to allow our minds time to do research, to digest the information and to generate the alternative suggestions that lie hidden in our subconscious imagination. It will be found that the decision is much lighter if the problem has ‘matured’ in our mind and if the possible solutions have ‘grown to stature’ in our understanding.

In the methodical approach to problem solving this will mean that we will deliberately postpone the taking of the decision with some days.

The name of a product

A particular company was looking for an appropriate name for a new product. Finding the right name was important because a name influences the customer’s perception of a product, and once adopted it cannot easily be changed.

A competition was held among prominent staff members of the company and among customers to collect suggestions. This resulted in a list of forty-two possibilities. The board of the company devoted a lengthy discussion to the merits and dements of the names suggested. Some thirty were rejected outright, but it was difficult to come to an agreement regarding the remaining twelve. A heated exchange of opinion took place, which revealed some deep-seated difference of view among the members of the board.

The chairperson took a wise decision. She decided that the list of twelve alternative names should be taken up for final discussion at another meeting scheduled to take place after a month. Meanwhile the members were requested to think the matter over.

When the board met again the question was resolved within a short time. It turned out that the opinions expressed on all sides had had time to mature. There was a remarkable unanimity on the merits of the name that was finally adopted.

In decisions it is wise to follow a leisurely procedure whenever we can. Hasty decisions usually lead to regret. Giving time to ourselves to 'brood' over the problem does not mean indefinite delay, however. We should set ourselves a time-limit. We should fix the day when we shall pronounce the verdict and make our selection from among the alternative suggestions.

Fifth step.
Evaluate the alternatives

The final decision depends on weighing up the pros and cons of each alternative. It is here that our power of critical thinking must come into play.

• What is the actual inherent value in each of the alternative solutions?
• How are we to weed out the impracticable ones and select the one that will serve our purpose best?
• Which person is most suited for a certain appointment?
• Which site should be selected for a new school?
• In what manner should we go about collecting funds for a project we want to undertake?

The alternatives lie before us and we may wonder how to do the elimination. Here we can learn from sport.

The impartial referee

There is nothing that fills us with so much indignation as a referee who shows partiality to one team. We all expect the referee to give his decisions according to well established rules. We want her to be objective and to pronounce judgement in strict harmony with the norms of the game.

When about to select the best alternative we should be in the same frame of mind. For our power of reason is the referee. Our selection and evaluation should be based on objective norms, such as the good of the institution we serve, the inherent promise of development, the particular goal we want to reach. Too often we allow personal preferences, personal fears, personal ambitions or pet ideas to keep a stranglehold on our mind and its decisions.

In many a case this may not happen intentionally. We may be so much ‘possessed’ by the undercurrents of our personal involvement that we hardly notice the large share which emotion or liking has in our decision.

Commercial ‘problem solvers’ face the same difficulty. They have proved that it pays to determine the norms on which the decision is to be based before the alternatives are taken up for selection. This procedure will force us to see the alternatives in a more objective light.

Architectural office

Suppose that the designers in the drawing studio hail from two distinct language groups. Working on the same project has caused serious misunderstandings between the two groups. Various solutions as to dividing tasks have been tried, but without complete success. It so happens that the office needs to be extended anyway, with a branch established elsewhere.

The manager of the studio now finds herself faced with some clear alternatives

1. divide the work force geographically so that both new offrices have an equal share of each language group;
2. divide the work force on linguistic basis, so that either office is staffed byone language group;
3. divide the work force mainly geographically, but in such a way that either office contains one language group as a large majority.

There will be innumerable factors that will enter into the making of such a decision: the preference of the groups involved; the consequences of the decision for the overall good of the firm; the strength of talent in each language group, and so on. The manager will not be able to proceed until she has laid down for herself the norms that count for most: whether it is the accessibility of the office (workers live nearer), team cohesion (those belonging to one language group may work better together), or the professional output expected, or other considerations.

Fine-tuning the solution

Another helpful technique for the process of evaluation developed by big business is the procedure of discussing the various alternatives in ‘rounds’.

There is a first more superficial ‘round’ in which the alternatives are grouped under various categories: the more likely solutions, the improbable solutions, the apparently useless solutions, and whatever category may suggest itself.

This provides a rough division that can serve as the basis for the second round in which each alternative is taken up for a detailed examination.

Once one of the alternatives has been lifted out as the most acceptable solution, there is still a third round to consider whether this solution can be modified in harmony with the good points of the rejected alternatives. Let me give an example.

Accommodation for students

There is a demand for a hostel for immigrant students in a large city. The administrative staff of the university are asked to examine the question of student accommodation for them. The administrator and his consultors have determined that there are quite a number of possible solutions:

1. Foreign students could be housed in local families as ‘paying guests'; this could be organised through a central office.
2. A special hostel for foreing students could be built as a private enterprise.
3. The authorities in the university could be asked to assign one of the existing university hostels.
4. It might be possible to allow the foreign students to take their place in the ordinary hostels, along with the local students, but special provision could be made for a more intense visitation and pastoral follow-up.

In the first round of discussion no. 3 might be labelled as ‘unlikely’, no. 2 and 4 as ‘less likely’ and no. 1 as ‘the most likely’ solution. A closer examination in the second round might eventually turn the scale of judgement. No. 1 proves impracticable because of the lack of a sufficiently numerous foreign population. No. 2 may have to be ruled out because of the high costs. No. 3 would seem to project the wrong image on the university campus No. 4 remains, therefore, as the solution that promises the best results.

Now the turn has come for the third round in which the solution might be modified as follows: for the time being foreign students shall continue to seek their own accommodation in the hostels that are available. But the following steps will be taken to counteract any untoward influences they might experience in those hostels: (a) a service centre will be established which shall keep track of all foreign students and which will organize regular contact with a students’ counsellor; (b) a list will be drawn up of those hostels that have proved to be decent, reasonable in price and providing a degree of moral security to foreigners; (c) for girl students a certain number of places will be obtained in local families so that they can stay with them as paying guests.

It is obvious that the final solution arrived at combines good elements that were found in several separate alternative suggestions! It proves that all the alternatives have been carefully weighed and that the last drop of usefulness has been squeezed out of each one of them!

Conclusion

Having read the above description of how problems are to be solved in a methodical approach, one might feel inclined to say : “But it is only common sense to do it in this way!” The reply is: Yes and No. It surely is common sense, because a methodical method is fundamentally nothing else than a more elaborate form of what our mind (and, therefore, common sense) dictates. That is why natural decisionmakers will often follow the described procedure in a spontaneous way.

Yet in another meaning of the word, the methodical approach is not just 'common sense'. For this approach has been tested and tried like any other scientific method and has thus acquired the status of a far more reliable tool.

Solving

Research

Path

Strategy

Image

Face to Face

Consulting