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1.Difference Between Problem Solving and Decision Making • Categorized under Language | Difference Between Problem Solving and Decision Making

Problem Solving vs Decision Making

Life is filled with complexities, and one of them is to know the difference between problem solving and decision making. People tend to use ‘problem solving’ and ‘decision making’ interchangeably. Although they are somewhat related, these two phrases are not synonymous and are completely different. The major difference between the two is; problem solving is a method while decision making is a process.

Problem solving, as the name implies, is solving a problem. Meaning, it is a method wherein a group or an individual makes something positive out of a problem. Decision making, on the other hand, is a process that is done many times during problem solving. Decision making is the key that will help in reaching the right conclusion in problem solving. Problem solving is more an analytical aspect of thinking. It also uses intuition in gathering facts. Decision making, on the other hand, is more of a judgment where, after thinking, one will take a course of action. However, these two need a certain set of skills for each to be more effective.

To understand the differences between the two a little better, it is best to define each of them. With the definition of each term, it will be easier for you to distinguish one from the other.

Problem solving is more of a mental process. It is included in the larger problem process, namely, problem finding and problem shaping. Problem solving is the most complex process among all the intellectual functions of a human being. It is very complex. It is considered a higher order of the cognitive process. It is very complex in that it needs regulation and modulation of the basic skills of a human being. When an organism or artificial intelligence system is undergoing a problem and needs to be transferred into a better state to achieve a certain goal, then this needs problem solving.

Decision making is concerned on what action should be made. It is still a process of cognitive function, but it focuses on what action to take and what alternatives are available. Decision processes will always

end up with a final choice; this choice may be an action or an opinion about a certain issue. When looking at decision making in a psychological aspect, the decision of an individual is based on his or her needs and the values that a person is looking for. When looking at decision making in a cognitive aspect, it is a continuous process related to the interaction of the person and his or her environment. In the normative aspect of decision making, on the other hand, it is focused more on the logical and rational way of making decisions until a choice is made.

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SUMMARY:

Problem solving is a method; decision making is a process.

Decision making is needed during problem solving to reach the conclusion.

Decision making will lead to a course of action or final opinion; problem solving is more analytical and complex

2. WHAT ARE THE CONSIDERATIONS IN ARRIVING A WIS DECISION? 8 Factors You Really Need to Consider Before You Make Any Big Decision by

ALEX HONEYSETT decisionFront and Center by Alex Honeysett Last year I participated in a 12-month coaching training program, and here’s the most interesting thing I learned: The key to making better life and business decisions is actually pretty simple—you need to ask yourself better questions.

When you live a super fast-paced life, it’s easy to be consumed with inventing and creating and doing stuff all the time. Because of that, when it comes to working, you’re efficient and streamlined, and your productivity is through the roof. But you know what you (and the rest of us humans) typically aren’t so great at? Noodling. Marinating. Pondering.

And that’s an important skill when it comes to big life decisions. In order to make smart, informed choices, you need to be able to logically think and emotionally feel through your options from several different angles before actually deciding.

If you’re on the cusp of making a big decision—like whether to accept a job you’ve been offered or introduce a new product to the market—here are eight factors you can use to help you evaluate your options, inspired by Tony Stoltzfus’ book, Coaching Questions: A Coach’s Guide to Powerful Asking Skills.

1. Rationality First, run this decision through the rational, analytical part of your brain. Make a list of the pros and cons of your options. If you’re making a decision about whether to take a new job, for example, you might list “more money” as a pro and “less time at home” as a con.

2. Intuition When you find yourself wavering between multiple options, your intuition is one of your most powerful decision-making tools. To hone in on your gut feeling, stop for a moment and don’t think about anything else. Simply sit in a quiet place for a few minutes and reflect on the decision. What feelings bubble up? Happy ones? Or the heebie-jeebies?

3. Relationships Whether you’re married or single, have kids or don’t have kids, live by yourself or with six roommates, your decisions affect the people closest to you. To help you weigh the decision you’re about to make, think about how the decision would affect those around you.

For example, would the new job mean less time at home with your partner? Or would it mean your husband could quit his job because of the pay increase?

4. Alignment You want any decision you make to be aligned with your passions, values, and priorities—or I guarantee it’s not going to feel like you made the right choice. But before you can figure out if the decision is in alignment with the things that mean the most to you, you first need to get clear about what those passions, values, and priorities are. Then, make a list of all the ways your decision aligns (or doesn’t align) with them.

5. Counsel You’re clear about how your decision will affect other people in your life. But what do those same people think about how the decision you’re about to make will affect you? Talk to your partner, family, friends, colleagues, and mentors about your options. What do they think?

6. Negative Drivers A lot of times, people make decisions based on fear. Maybe you’re afraid you’re not ever going to find a job you’re really thrilled about, so you take the one you feel less passionate about because you already have the job offer in hand—it’s a sure thing. Or, maybe you’re afraid no one is going to sign up for your company’s first conference, so you postpone it a year.

What fears are playing into your decision? You don’t have to solve for them all right now, but understanding how your fears are affecting your decisions will help you evaluate your options more objectively.

7. Cost While money may not be the ultimate driver in many decisions, it’s an important factor to consider. How does your decision affect your finances? What resources will you need to execute on your decision? What would this decision cost in terms of time?

For example, if you’re the founder of a business and you’re deciding whether or not to introduce a new product to the marketplace, how much would it cost to build the product? Would you need to hire a team of one or 10? How much of your own time would you need to devote to successfully getting the product built and out into the world?

8. Risk and Reward Finally, think about the risks associated with your options. What’s the safest decision? What’s the riskiest one? Are there any steps you could take to minimize the risk of that option? And then, on the other side, what are the potential rewards of each option? Sometimes the extra risk is worth the reward.

It’s really hard to slow down when you’re used to doing things at a million miles an hour. To make sure you actually give yourself the space to work through your options with these considerations, I suggest giving yourself a deadline to make your decision by. That way, the nagging part of your brain—and anyone waiting on your decision, like a potential employer—will know there’s a decision date in sight, giving yourself the time to explore your options and pick the best, truest one. 3. CITE A PARTICULAR EXAMPLE OF NON-ROUTINE DECISION. RELEVANT COSTING Types of Non-Routine Decisions inShare

One of the primary functions of management is decision-making which involves selecting future courses of action.

Strategic decision-making involves setting long-term goals and ways to achieve them. It is the responsibility of the top executives of the organization.

Tactical decisions involve medium-term decisions that are set and implemented by the middle-level management. Operational decisions involve day-to-day affairs and activities of the organization.

Tactical decisions may be repetitive or non-repetitive (non-routine).

Non-routine Decisions The following are examples of non-routine decisions.

1. Accept or Reject a Special Order

There are times when a customer places a special order for the company's products at prices lower than usual. If the company has excess capacity, the acceptance or rejection of the order depends upon the incremental revenues and incremental costs. If incremental revenues exceed incremental costs, the order is accepted. In the event that the company has no excess capacity, incremental costs must include the effect of lost sales as a result of sacrificing regular sales to fill up the special order.

2. Make or Buy a Product Component

The business must choose the option that results in lower costs. Generally, the variable costs of producing the product component are compared with the purchase price of buying it from an outside supplier. Also, avoidable fixed costs and opportunity costs are considered depending on the case.

3. Sell or Process Further

Companies may be faced with the decision to sell the product as is or process it further to be sold at a higher price. The product should be processed further only when the increase in selling price is higher than the additional cost to process the product further.

4. Add or Drop a Segment or Product Line

A business segment or product line should be continued if revenues exceed its costs. In calculating the costs, allocated organization-wide costs should not be considered since these costs will still be incurred by the organization with or without the segment or product line.

5. Product Combination in Maximizing Scarce Resources

When faced upon a decision to choose which product to manufacture and sell in the presence of limited resources (i.e., labor hours, machine hours, space, etc.), the company should choose the product that will generate the higher (or highest) contribution margin per unit of the scarce resource.

Conclusion Take note that all of the above types make use of relevant costing concepts. Only costs that differ in choosing one alternative over the other are taken into account. These types of non-routine decisions are discussed in separate lessons within this unit. 4. .CHOOSE ONE PARTICULAR DECISION MAKING MODEL STYLE AND DISCUSS HOW EFFECTIVE THAT MODEL STYLE IN DEALING PROBLEM

DECISION MAKING

Decision Making 75 Photo by: Galina Barskaya The essence of management is making decisions. Managers are constantly required to evaluate alternatives and make decisions regarding a wide range of matters. Just as there are different

managerial styles, there are different decision-making styles. Decision making involves uncertainty and risk, and decision makers have varying degrees of risk aversion. Decision making also involves qualitative and quantitative analyses, and some decision makers prefer one form of analysis over the other. Decision making can be affected not only by rational judgment, but also by nonrational factors such as the personality of the decision maker, peer pressure, the organizational situation, and others.

Management guru Peter F. Drucker, as quoted in Association Management, identified eight "critically important" decision-making practices that successful executives follow. Each:

Ask "What needs to be done?" Ask "What is right for the enterprise?" Develop action plans Take responsibility for decisions Take responsibility for communicating Focus on opportunities rather than problems Run productive meetings Think and say "we" rather than "I" POSING THE PROBLEM CORRECTLY According to Ralph L. Keeney, professor at the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business and co-author of Smart Choices: A Practical Guide to Making Better Decisions, managers commonly consider too few alternatives when making difficult decisions. When approaching a problem, decision makers need to regularly consider, starting at the outset, "Is this what I really need to decide?" In addition, the nature of the problem may change during the decision-making process, as either the situation changes or the decision maker's insights into the situation change.

By not formulating the problem correctly, decision makers risk missing a whole range of other alternatives. Decision makers can improve the chances of asking the right question by probing objectives, goals, interests, fears, and aspirations. They also need to consider very carefully the consequences of each alternative. They can devise new alternatives through brainstorming and imagining as many options as possible, keeping in mind objectives, but not necessarily being entirely practical at first. In practice, action-oriented decision makers tend to focus on solutions without

considering whether they are working on the right problem. Instead of choosing from decisions selected by others, decision makers need to review what decisions they should be addressing.

Managers in a corporate setting tend to view decision making differently than entrepreneurs. Since they are typically given a fixed amount of budgeted resources to work with, managers tend to define a problem in terms of what can be done with the resources at hand. Entrepreneurs, on the other hand, will likely pose the problem in terms of an objective—"This is what I want to get done"—and then worry about finding the resources to accomplish that objective. As a result, entrepreneurial decision makers will lay out a wider range of alternatives from which to choose. They feel less constrained by a lack of resources. To develop more alternatives, decision makers should release themselves from existing constraints, think imaginatively, and brainstorm with others, all the while keeping objectives clearly in mind and being honest about what they really need or desire.

SYSTEMATIC ANALYSIS VS. INTUITIVE ANALYSIS Entrepreneurs are famous for making "seat-of-the-pants" decisions, which means they make quick decisions based on a gut feeling or intuition. They are often forced to make decisions under conditions of uncertainty and without all of the necessary information. While some entrepreneurs are good decision makers, others need to be more cautious about the intuitive approach. One case against intuitive decision making comes from the credit industry. For example, some banks use scoring models for consumer and small business loans, but at times individual bankers override the automated system because they intuitively disagreed with the computer model's results. These loans, however, invariably have higher delinquency and charge off rates than loans approved by the computer model.

In some cases a person's intuition will be in conflict with the results of a more formal or systematic analysis, resulting in an uncomfortable feeling for the decision maker. What should a decision maker do then? Howard Raiffa, Harvard Business School professor emeritus, recommended in Inc.: "You should review both sides of the ledger to see if your intuition holds up when it is informed with some systematic analysis. And if your analysis seems wrong intuitively, don't accept the analysis, just keep on probing." The uncomfortable feeling may be sending a message to the decision maker that it's not quite time to act, that perhaps a little more thinking about the problem is required.

Emotions are one of several nonrational factors that play a role in decision making. According to Raiffa, decision makers should pay attention to emotions and feelings when making decisions. By partially committing to one alternative, decision makers can give themselves a chance to "sleep on it," which

then becomes a way of testing different alternatives. In spite of practical recommendations to not let emotions play a part in decision making, emotions do come into play because the decision maker cares about the consequences that may occur as a result of any decision made.

Making quick decisions, something managers are often required to do, does not necessarily mean sacrificing systematic decision making. Managers can prepare themselves for making quick decisions by practicing pre-decision making. This involves keeping in mind a decision-making structure, such as a series of probing questions that must be answered, as a contingency plan in the event a quick decision is needed.

UNCERTAINTY AND RISK Many decisions must be made in the absence of complete information. Decision makers often have to act without knowing for certain all of the consequences of their decisions. Uncertainty simply increases the number of possible outcomes, and the consequences of these outcomes should be considered. That is, it is important for the decision maker to identify what the uncertainties are, what the possible outcomes are, and what the consequences would be. Decision makers can sometimes clarify the problem they are working on by listing what could happen and assigning probabilities to each possible outcome (a formal representation of this is known as a decision tree ).

Risk aversion is another nonrational factor affecting sound decision making. Studies have shown that people who exhibit risk-averse behavior in one setting will become risk-seekers when offered the same choice in a different setting. For example, most people will display risk-averse behavior by rejecting a fair gamble in favor of a certain gain. However, when the choice involves a fair gamble and a certain loss, most people display risk-seeking behavior by choosing the gamble over the certain loss, even though the risky choice may well result in an even greater loss.

The valuation of a risky alternative appears to depend more on the reference point from which a possible gain or loss will occur, than on the absolute gain to be realized. That is, the decision maker is motivated not by the absolute performance of a particular alternative, but whether that alternative will perform better or worse relative to a specific reference point. Consequently, decision makers can be easily influenced by shifting reference points.

DECISIONS BASED ON PRINCIPLES

Principled decision making can be a useful complement or alternative to analytical decision making. Principled decision making may or may not involve ethics. Ethical decision making uses ethical (moral) principles to make decisions, while principled decision making can employ all kinds of principles (i.e., including potentially unethical principles or decisions that lead to unethical outcomes). While not widely used, principled decision making is sometimes used by investment managers to manage risk and uncertain investments. Risk and portfolio managers may turn to principled decision making for complex risk management problems that cannot be modeled or solved.

Principled decision making emphasizes the process of decision making, with the end results of the decision being of secondary concern. It is essentially a two-step process, with the first step being to select and communicate the right principles to which decisions must adhere. The second step requires the decision maker to apply the appropriate principles. Principled decision making is easy to understand, and the principled decisions are easy to communicate to others in an organization.

Principles can be used to assist analytical decision making. For example, a portfolio manager may use principles as screens to segregate potential investments into acceptable and unacceptable categories. This effectively defines the search dimensions and reduces the sample space. Once principles have been used to reduce a problem to manageable size, then analytical techniques can be employed to make a final selection.

Principled decision making can be applied as an alternative to analytical decision making in such areas as organizational missions, goals, strategies, and codes of conduct. Sears, Roebuck and Co. was founded on the principle that the customer is always right, and that principle has served to guide corporate decisions over the years. Such principles, when used in decision making, can help the organization better cope with changes over time, shifts in leaders, fluctuating leadership styles, and changing market conditions.

THE ROLE OF INFORMATION: DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS Armed with information, managers can make better decisions. Frontline managers, for example, who are supplied with direct activity cost information, can better manage revenues, margins, and costs. Organizations can achieve more consistency between upper management and lower-level managers by providing more information throughout the organization.

With Internet-hosted databases and user-friendly query tools becoming more common, corporations are turning to decision support systems (DSS) software to analyze the firm's databases and turn them into information useful for decision makers. DSS typically includes analytical and report-writing features, thus enabling users to translate raw data into a form useful for decision support.

Decision support technology is a relatively new development in software and may not yet be a high priority with the firm's information technology (IT) department. DSS, which offers users more flexible programming paradigms, can be compared to another type of software, enterprise resource planning (ERP), which enhances productivity by accelerating routine operations. DSS, on the other hand, slices and dices data that may be novel and complex into understandable chunks to facilitate shared consideration of multiple criteria.

One DSS technique is called analytic hierarchy process (AHP), which enables users to attack complex problems by reducing them to simpler pairwise comparisons between different combinations of options and criteria. When people are able to choose between pairs of options, their decisions are made more quickly and consistently than when larger sets of options must be considered. AHP was invented by Thomas Saaty, who cofounded Expert Choice Inc. ( http://www.expertchoice.com ) to provide AHPrelated software and services.

DSS can result in significant time savings as well as improved decision making. Home products retailer Payless Cashways reported that its DSS software enabled it to realize a 70 percent time reduction in information and report gathering and a 30 percent rise in user productivity, along with reduced training time and better decisions on marketing, staffing, and warehousing. The company used DSS to extract and sort information related to sales volume, category performance, comparable-store sales, and instock figures.

DSS can speed collaboration when there are several decision makers who must be satisfied. By providing multiple users with access to the firm's data, DSS can clarify the decision-making process and enhance consistency among multiple decision makers. With electronic commerce competitors responding to strategic decisions within days or even hours, the speed with which decisions are made becomes more critical. DSS helps decision makers consider a wider range of alternatives in a shorter period of time. When more consideration is given to the probability and value of the competition's response, strategic decision making becomes more like game theory.

STRATEGIC DECISION MAKING

Strategic decisions are those that affect the direction of the firm. These major decisions concern areas such as new products and markets, acquisitions and mergers, subsidiaries and affiliates, joint ventures and strategic alliances, and other matters. Strategic decision making is usually conducted by the firm's top management, led by the CEO or president of the company.

In markets characterized by extreme competition and a rapid pace of change, companies are being forced to compete on the edge. Their strategic thinking can no longer be limited to identifying promising industries, core competencies, and strategic positions. Rather, top management is engaged in creating a continuing flow of temporary and shifting competitive advantages relative to other competitors and the market being served. As a result, greater emphasis is placed on efficient strategic decision making to create effective strategies.

Kathleen M. Eisenhardt, professor of strategy and organization at Stanford University, studied the strategic decision-making processes at different companies in high-velocity markets. Strategic decision makers at more effective firms were able to make quick, high-quality decisions that were widely supported through-out the firm. Her studies identified four areas in which effective strategic decision makers outperformed counterparts at less effective firms: (1) building collective intuition, (2) stimulating conflict, (3) maintaining a pace or schedule for decision making, and (4) defusing political behavior.

PREDICTIVE MARKETS Also termed "betting markets" or "idea markets," prediction markets emerged during 2004 as a way to assess consensus opinion about questions of importance to corporate decision makers. As discussed by James M. Pethokoukis in U.S. News & World Report, companies such as Hewlett-Packard and Dentsu were exploring use of prediction markets to forecast corporate figures such as revenues, advertising demand, consumer trends, and employee retention. These markets enable companies to determine what products or decisions are more likely to be successful and where to focus resources. Firms were still researching how well this works and where it could best be applied. A senior manager at Dentsu explained, "The key value we see is that prediction markets have the potential to extract the best essence from group knowledge, as an alternative to majority decisions."

BUILDING COLLECTIVE INTUITION Effective decision makers built a collective intuition by sharing information at "must-attend" meetings. They reviewed internal and external information, preferring real-time operational information over accounting-based data. At one firm each top manager was responsible for gathering and reporting data from a particular area. The managers gained an enhanced understanding of the data by discussing it

from different perspectives at these meetings. The meetings also gave them a chance to get to know one another better, leading to open and direct interactions.

STIMULATING CONFLICT Many decision makers tend to avoid conflict, fearing it will bog down the decision-making process and degenerate into personal attacks. However, Eisenhardt's studies found that in dynamic markets, conflict is a natural feature where reasonable managers will often diverge in assessments of how a market will develop. She found that conflict stimulates innovative thinking, creates a fuller understanding of options, and improves decision effectiveness. Without conflict, decision makers often overlooked key elements of a decision and missed opportunities to question assumptions.

Executives accelerated conflict by forming diverse executive teams made up of individuals who differed in age, gender, functional background, and corporate experience. Other techniques that can introduce conflict quicker include scenario planning, where teams systematically consider strategic decisions in light of several possible futures, and role playing, where executives advocate alternatives that they may or may not favor and play the role of competitors. Debate is encouraged and conflict stimulated when as broad a range of alternatives as possible is presented for discussion.

MAINTAINING A SCHEDULE Strategic decision makers are faced with a dilemma when they feel that every strategic decision they make is unique, yet they feel pressured to make decisions as quickly as possible. Effective decision makers overcome this dilemma by focusing on the pace of decision making, not the speed with which a decision is made. By using general rules of thumb regarding how long a particular type of decision should take, they maintain decision-making momentum by launching the decision-making process promptly, keeping up the energy surrounding the process, and cutting off debate at the appropriate time.

In order to keep to a specific time frame, executives can alter or adjust the scope of a particular decision to fit the allotted timeframe by viewing it as part of a larger web of strategic choices. Eisenhardt's studies found that effective decision makers followed the natural rhythm of strategic choice. The rule for how long major decisions should take was a fairly constant two to four months. Decisions that would take less time were considered not important enough for the executive team, while those that appeared to take longer involved either too big an issue or management procrastination. By recognizing similarities among strategic decisions, such as those involving new products, new technologies, or acquisitions, executives could more easily gauge the scale of a decision.

One of the most effective methods for cutting off debate was a two-step method called "consensus with qualification." The decision-making process is conducted with consensus as a goal. If consensus is achieved, then the decision is made. However, if there is no consensus, then the deadlock can be broken by using a decision rule such as voting or, more commonly, letting the executive with the largest stake in the outcome make the final decision. By taking a realistic view of conflict as both valuable and inevitable, consensus with qualification helps maintain the pace of decision making. It helps managers plan progress and emphasizes that keeping to schedule is more important than forging consensus or developing massive data analyses.

DEFUSING POLITICS The high stakes of strategic decision making can quickly turn the decision-making process into one of competition among ambitious managers. While less effective strategic decision makers view politics as a natural part of the decision-making process, effective strategic decision makers take a negative view of politicking. They not only see it as wasting valuable time, it can distort the information base, since politicking managers will tend to use information to their own advantage.

Politicking can be defused by emphasizing a collaborative, rather than competitive, environment, and by creating common goals. Rather than implying homogeneous thinking, common goals suggest that managers have a shared vision of where they want to be or who external competitors are. A balanced power structure, in which each key decision maker has a clear area of responsibility and the leader is recognized as the most powerful decision maker, can also defuse politicking among executives. The clear delineation of responsibility facilitates information sharing and other interaction, because each executive is operating from a secure power base. Finally, humor can defuse politicking and help build a collaborative outlook.

AN EIGHT-STEP APPROACH TO MAKING BETTER DECISIONS The following list is adapted from Smart Choices by Hammond, et al.:

Work on the right decision problem. Be careful in stating the problem, and avoid unwarranted assumptions and option-limiting prejudices.

Specify your objectives. Determine what you want to accomplish, and which of your interests, values, concerns, fears, and aspirations are the most relevant. Create imaginative alternatives. Alternatives represent different courses of action, and your decision can be no better than your best alternative. Understand the consequences. Determine how well different alternatives satisfy all of your objectives. Grapple with your tradeoffs. Since objectives frequently conflict with each other, it becomes necessary to choose among less-than-perfect possibilities. Clarify your uncertainties. Confront uncertainty by judging the likelihood of different outcomes and assessing their possible impacts. Think hard about your risk tolerance. In order to choose an alternative with an acceptable level of risk, become conscious of how much risk you can tolerate. Consider linked decisions. Many important decisions are linked over time. The key to making a series of decisions is to isolate and resolve near-term issues while gathering information relevant to issues that will arise later.

5. .BRIEFLY DISCUSS THE DIFFERENT CLASSIFICATION OF PROBLEM. roblem Defined

A problem is simply the difference between what you have and what you want. It may be a matter of getting something, of getting rid of something, of avoiding something, or of getting to know what you want.

"How you think about a problem is more important than the problem itself – so always → think positively." ~ Norman Vincent Peale

Four Types of Problems

❶

Known, solution requires just → action. Most of the problems in life stem from one cause: we can't get ourselves to take action. It's not that we don't know what to do. The problem is getting ourselves to follow through, overcome procrastination and resistance to change and just do it. Can be solved by adopting the → right mindset and → self-motivation.

❷

Known, solution requires additional expertise. Requires for its solution more information, or a better technique for handling information, or additional skills, or different → attitude. Can be solved by vertical and systematic thinking.

❸

Known, solution requires new approaches, reframing, and → creative thinking. Requires no new information but → reframing or rearrangement of information already available: an insight restructuring.1 This type of problems requires changing → perceptual positions as well as lateral and outside-the-box thinking for their solution. The best approach is → turning problems into opportunities.

❹

Unknown, need to be identified. The problem is to realize that there is a problem, that things → can be improved and define this realization as a problem. Dealing with this type of hidden problems requires challenging assumptions, asking “Why?” and “What if?” questions, benchmarking, and cross-pollination of ideas.

6. GIVE AT LEAST THREE ADVANTAGES AD THREE DISADVANTAGES OF GROUP DECISION MAKING Group Decision-Making : Advantages and Disadvantages!

Advantages: “Two heads are better than one.”

“The more the merrier.”

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1. More information:

A group is better equipped as far as information is concerned.

An individual cannot have all the information that is available to a group as it consists of several individuals.

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2. Diversity of views:

A group always has the advantage of varied views. This is because a group always has more than one member, and since every member is unique, there is bound to be a variety in their views also. This is also the reason why there are varied approaches to solving a problem. As group decisions tend to cover a greater area, they provide a better insight for decision-making.

3. Greater acceptability:

The views expressed by a group have more acceptance than those from an individual. This is because the decisions are not imposed, but are part of a larger consensus (general agreement). A group decision is automatically assumed to be more democratic, and the decision of an individual can be perceived as being autocratic (dictatorial).

4. Expert opinions:

There may be some group decisions that require expert opinion. The group can either include experts or can call them from outside to form a separate group to take a decision on a particular issue.

5. Degree of involvement:

The members of a group feel involved with a given problem. This minimizes their resistance. It strengthens an organisation and facilitates decision-making.

6. Encourages people’s participation:

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A group usually provides a platform for people to present their ideas. Group dynamics is more likely to draw out participation from people who may otherwise be hesitant to talk or interact. It encourages people to take an initiative as they feel part of the decision-making process.

Usually there is no individual onus (burden) in the event of failure, which makes it easier for people to come up with suggestions and solutions to problems.

Disadvantages: 1. Time-consuming:

A group involves several individuals. Getting them organised, planning and coordinating their meetings, defining and explaining to them the purpose of a meeting and the goals, and finally reaching a solution or arriving at a decision can be quite cumbersome. Making decisions in a group can, thus, be timeconsuming. The time loss involved in group dynamics cannot be ignored.

2. Lack of onus:

It is difficult to fix responsibility in a group. In an organisation, it is often essential to fix responsibility before a problem can be solved. It is difficult to do so if anything goes wrong with a decision made by a group.

3. Individual domination:

Quite often, discussions in a group are dominated by a few members. Although a group discussion means a collective discussion, some people usually manage to usurp (draw to them) a position of informal leadership owing to their personality or style of participation.

This position can also be because of the position held within the organisation or simply because of selfconfidence generated by previous experiences. Sometimes only a few individuals dominate and the others fade away in a group, thereby defeating the very purpose of group discussion.

4. Compromise decisions:

The need to arrive at a group decision sometimes results in a compromise. The solution offered is not essentially the best. It is, instead, a compromise acceptable as a mid-point to all concerned. There are different demands and social pressures, and members may agree to a proposal without really evaluating it. Such support may not be wholehearted.

5. Expensive:

Group decision-making is quite expensive in terms of time, money, energy and man-hours. There is also a theory which says that the larger a group gets, the less is the individual contribution from each member.

6. Groupism:

The very word has negative connotations. Some members of a group may start harbouring a feeling that they are different from the others. This actually leads to informal groups within the larger formal group, which may generate negative sentiments towards other groups or people outside the group. 7. CITE ONE PARTICULAR PROBLEM AND BE ABLE TO IDENTIFY ITS CAUSES AND SYMPTOMS Problems vs Symptoms Go to the profile of Marlon Marlon Jul 13, 2017

Back in my university days, my Marketing Research professor made a point that has stuck with me through my career: are you addressing a problem or a symptom?

In this particular instance, he was referring to how to pose a research question for a focus group; however, this is significant irrespective of discipline or project stage. In the (phenomenal) Startup Study Group Slack, one of my fellow students asked if pivoting multiple times before launching was a bad thing. Of course it isn’t! We rushed in to assure him that it’s a natural thing to do, but was there more actionable advice that could be given? I thought so.

A very helpful member noted that the focus should be on the problem, rather than the solution. I instantly recalled those words of wisdom from school: focus on the problem, not the symptom.

But what is the difference?

What is a symptom? A symptom is anything that happens as a result of a problem. You can get quite meta if you abstract too far (i.e. pain is a consequence of life, therefore life must be erradicated — slow down Terminator) so it’s important to set some bounds around your focus.

Example time!

You go into the doctor with a headache. You are having some trouble with your vision. You are running a fever. If these are the things you tell your doctor, and she is symptom oriented, she might say: Here is an aspirin. Wear these glasses. Put this cold cloth over your forehead. Problem solved? Heck no! Recognizing that you are dealing with a symptom can sometimes be difficult, especially when you are approaching a problem from a new angle. Many startups enter a space claiming to solve the same problem, or a slightly reframed problem, as their competitors. While it’s fine to enter a space as a competitor, it’s difficult to build a unique selling proposition when you are, essentially, selling the same thing repackaged!

Identifying A Symptom The most tried and true method is the 5 whys method. It helps you cut through the horseheck of what your consumer says his problem is and gets you closer to the problem.

Identifying a problem simply means you can’t go deeper or it isn’t significant to move any further without addressing a particular symptom. Wait — so now a symptom can be a problem? Remember that meta thing we talked about earlier? All problems are entangled in this cause-effect chain; in effect, pretty much everything we deal with will be a symptom, but some symptoms are significant enough that you cannot further diagnose until remedying. To make things easier, we will call these immediate problems.

It’s example time again!

Doctor! I ahlakhlalihglanlkckajlg *vomit emoji*. You what? I cannot get to the root of your issue if you keep throwing up the contents of your stomach onto my otherwise pristine floor. — saith said doctor. Doctor Dooverylittle has run into an immediate problem here! If he doesn’t stop the vomiting, he won’t be able to diagnose any further. How Do I Solve Problems? In this information rich age, many patients aren’t going to the doctor to let them know that they have a headache, unclear vision, and a fever. They are going to the doctor to let them know they need aspirin, glasses, and a cold cloth.

It is up to you to work backward from proposed solution to symptom to the root of the problem. When your client tells you the color they chose 4 months ago needs to change, perhaps it’s just being used too much or too little. When your customer tells you there need to be more checkout lines and staff, perhaps the scanning and bagging process can just be made more efficient.

Oftentimes, you don’t have the resources to ask 5 whys from the same user or you can’t achieve a sample size that is large enough to return significant data. It’s important to develop personas and think

critically about how different people can approach a problem and what symptoms might arise. This goes well beyond UX Designers. Content creators, teachers, and street performers need to ask why people aren’t reading to the end, students aren’t retaining information, or pedestrians aren’t putting you on their Instagram Stories. And keep asking why. Ask until you hit a roadblock! Usually that’s the time to start thinking of solutions.

Don’t apply bandaid solutions to surgery problems.

If you can take a “why first” approach to problem solving, you’ll see sudden and significant changes in your solution generation phase. I recognize that it’s a very simple methodology that just seems to good to be true, but is it easier to question your initial impression, colleague, your boss — or is it easier to assume the problem and prioritize a quick solution. I can tell you from experience that one is more costly.

Stay curious and, as always, hit the 💚 and share Share SHARE if you like what you read! Thanks for allowing me to be part of such an amazing Medium community, my fellow readers. 💚💚 8. HOW DO WE GENERATE CREATIVE ALTERNATIVES IN SOLVING PROBLEM Effective Problem Solving and Decision Making Types of Decision Makers Problem solving and decision making belong together. You cannot solve a problem without making a decision. There are two main types of decision makers. Some people use a systematic, rational approach. Others are more intuitive. They go with their emotions or a gut feeling about the right approach. They may have highly creative ways to address the problem, but cannot explain why they have chosen this approach.

Six Problem-Solving Steps The most effective method uses both rational and intuitive or creative approaches. There are six steps in the process:

Identify the problem Search for alternatives

Weigh the alternatives Make a choice Implement the choice Evaluate the results and, if necessary, start the process again Identify the problem

To solve a problem, you must first determine what the problem actually is. You may think you know, but you need to check it out. Sometimes, it is easy to focus on symptoms, not causes. You use a rational approach to determine what the problem is. The questions you might ask include:

What have I (or others) observed? What was I (or others) doing at the time the problem occurred? Is this a problem in itself or a symptom of a deeper, underlying problem? What information do I need? What have we already tried to address this problem? For example, the apprentice you supervise comes to you saying that the electric warming oven is not working properly. Before you call a repair technician, you may want to ask a few questions. You may want to find out what the apprentice means by “not working properly.” Does he or she know how to operate the equipment? Did he or she check that the equipment was plugged in? Was the fuse or circuit breaker checked? When did it last work?

You may be able to avoid an expensive service call. At the very least, you will be able to provide valuable information to the repair technician that aids in the troubleshooting process.

Of course, many of the problems that you will face in the kitchen are much more complex than a malfunctioning oven. You may have to deal with problems such as:

Discrepancies between actual and expected food costs Labour costs that have to be reduced

Lack of budget to complete needed renovations in the kitchen Disputes between staff However, the basic problem-solving process remains the same even if the problems identified differ. In fact, the more complex the problem is, the more important it is to be methodical in your problemsolving approach.

Search for alternatives

It may seem obvious what you have to do to address the problem. Occasionally, this is true, but most times, it is important to identify possible alternatives. This is where the creative side of problem solving really comes in.

Brainstorming with a group can be an excellent tool for identifying potential alternatives. Think of as many possibilities as possible. Write down these ideas, even if they seem somewhat zany or offbeat on first impression. Sometimes really silly ideas can contain the germ of a superb solution. Too often, people move too quickly into making a choice without really considering all of the options. Spending more time searching for alternatives and weighing their consequences can really pay off.

Weigh the alternatives

Once a number of ideas have been generated, you need to assess each of them to see how effective they might be in addressing the problem. Consider the following factors:

Impact on the organization Effect on public relations Impact on employees and organizational climate Cost Legality Ethics of actions

Whether this course is permitted under collective agreements Whether this idea can be used to build on another idea Make a choice

Some individuals and groups avoid making decisions. Not making a decision is in itself a decision. By postponing a decision, you may eliminate a number of options and alternatives. You lose control over the situation. In some cases, a problem can escalate if it is not dealt with promptly. For example, if you do not handle customer complaints promptly, the customer is likely to become even more annoyed. You will have to work much harder to get a satisfactory solution.

Implement the decision

Once you have made a decision, it must be implemented. With major decisions, this may involve detailed planning to ensure that all parts of the operation are informed of their part in the change. The kitchen may need a redesign and new equipment. Employees may need additional training. You may have to plan for a short-term closure while the necessary changes are being made. You will have to inform your customers of the closure.

Evaluate the outcome

Whenever you have implemented a decision, you need to evaluate the results. The outcomes may give valuable advice about the decision-making process, the appropriateness of the choice, and the implementation process itself. This information will be useful in improving the company’s response the next time a similar decision has to be made.

Creative Thinking Your creative side is most useful in identifying new or unusual alternatives. Too often, you can get stuck in a pattern of thinking that has been successful in the past. You think of ways that you have handled similar problems in the past. Sometimes this is successful, but when you are faced with a new problem or when your solutions have failed, you may find it difficult to generate new ideas.

If you have a problem that seems to have no solution, try these ideas to “unfreeze” your mind:

Relax before trying to identify alternatives. Play “what if” games with the problem. For example, What if money was no object? What if we could organize a festival? What if we could change winter into summer? Borrow ideas from other places and companies. Trade magazines might be useful in identifying approaches used by other companies. Give yourself permission to think of ideas that seem foolish or that appear to break the rules. For example, new recipes may come about because someone thought of new ways to combine foods. Sometimes these new combinations appear to break rules about complementary tastes or break boundaries between cuisines from different parts of the world. The results of such thinking include the combined bar and laundromat and the coffee places with Internet access for customers. Use random inputs to generate new ideas. For example, walk through the local shopping mall trying to find ways to apply everything you see to the problem. Turn the problem upside down. Can the problem be seen as an opportunity? For example, the road outside your restaurant that is the only means of accessing your parking lot is being closed due to a bicycle race. Perhaps you could see the bicycle race as an opportunity for business rather than as a problem. 9. .BRIEFLY DISCUSS HOW INNOVATION AND CREATIVITY IMPORTANT IN DEALING WITH PROBLEMS

Creativity and Innovation consists of… SEEING what everyone else has seen, THINKINGwhat no one else has thought, and DOING what no one else has dared!” Innovative thinking is the key to becoming a successful entrepreneur. Whether you actually invent a new product or process, or you use creativity to find a better way to market existing products or services, you will need to learn how to think like an inventor.

START WITH THE CUSTOMER OR END USER The customer is always your first and most important creative challenge. Listen! Try to see the customers’ problems and needs from his or her point of view. Restate the problem and the customers’

needs in their terms until a consensus is reached. Ask not only what the problems are, but what special methods are presently used to solve them.

Work with the end user or customer. Use fictitious product descriptions to stimulate ideas and discussion. Remember that effective market research and sales strategy requires just as much creativity, enthusiasm and perfection as does product development.

IMPORTANCE OF ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS The problem as first stated is rarely the true problem. Ask at least five times. Always restate the problem as many ways as you can; change the wording, take different viewpoints, try it in graphical form. Describe the problem to laymen and also to experts in different fields.

Don’t try to learn all the details before deciding on a first approach. Make the second assault on a problem from a different direction. Transforming one problem into another or studying the inverse problem often offers new insights. If you don’t understand a problem try explaining it to others and listening to yourself. Test the extremes. If you can’t make it better, try making it worse and analyzing what happens. Visualize a new way to solve your problem.

“Why are we so much better at answering questions than at answering the right questions? Is it because we are trained at school and university to answer questions that others have asked? If so, should we be trained to ask questions?” [Or trained to ask the complete set of right questions in the right way?] Trevor Kletz (Analog Science Fiction, January 1994, p.195)

GETTING GOOD IDEAS FROM EVERYONE AND EVERYWHERE Asking once is rarely effective, you have to ask many times in many ways. Look at all possible sources of good ideas: your customers, your competition, your peers, the literature, patents, and your own subconscious. Give others some examples, this serves both to illustrate what you’re talking about and encourages them to suggest improvements to your ideas.

Tell them also what [you believe] you don’t want and which solutions [you believe] won’t work. Remember that breakthrough innovations often come from the outside. Work with high performers in fields related to your own to identify and adopt their relevant methods, tools and “tricks of the trade”. Trade ideas with all.

SEARCH FOR MULTIPLE SOLUTIONS “Nothing is more dangerous than an idea when it is the only one we have.” The first solution found is usually inadequate or not the optimum. There is usually more than one acceptable solution. Suspend judgement and criticism when first collecting ideas. Studying multiple problems jointly often generates unique solutions. Look for solutions using combinations of ideas from different or evolving technologies. Even if you have one optimum solution it may be necessary to get patent coverage for all other effective solutions so as to protect your market.

BRAINSTORMING In the initial phase of a brainstorming session participants are encouraged to suggest any idea that comes to their minds. During this initial phase it is a firm rule that none of the participants can criticize or react negatively to any of the ideas that are proposed. Although a given idea may not be new to some it will be new to others and provoke new ideas from the group as a whole. The point is to think of as many new ideas within the group as possible and provoke everyone to think creatively. Following sessions are used to critique the ideas; selecting, improving, modifying, and combining them to produce the final working solution. Encourage examination of the problem statement itself. Encourage ideas on improving the brainstorming process itself.

VALUE OF EXPERIMENTATION, PLAY, EXAGGERATION; PERSISTENCE Get your hands dirty. Spend some time trying things you “know won’t work” or “don’t know how they will work”. If you don’t fail frequently you aren’t trying hard enough and may be missing a lot of good opportunities. Try Tom Peter’s algorithm: “READY, FIRE, AIM.” Persist, persist, persist.

As Edison said “invention is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration [persistipation?]”. Be very stubborn about solving a problem, but be flexible about the definition of the true problem and be very flexible and open minded about the form of the solution.

PATENT AND PROJECT NOTEBOOKS Patent notebooks are used to provide legal protection for inventions, but can have many other useful, complementary functions: a recorder, a reminder, a source of ideas, a means of ensuring project continuity, and a way to communicate with yourself and within a project group. Clarity and conformance to legal standards is critical. Other things that should be recorded: sources, questions, what doesn’t

work, things to try. A one page summary sheet of the important procedures and checkpoints should be included inside the front cover of every patent notebook issued.

INNOVATIVE COST REDUCTION Remember that the real objective is higher profits. Raising the selling price by adding value or retargeting the market can be an alternative or supplement to cutting costs.

EFFECTIVE USE OF NOTES Try file cards with text and graphics (diagrams, flow charts, block diagrams, elementary circuits). Keep them simple and easy to change (use pencil or wipe-off transparencies for overlay). Scramble the cards, lay them out together in different arrangements. Mark ideas and questions in a way that makes them obvious to a reader and searchable by a computer.

Richard Feynman, also a Nobel Laureate physicist, believed in getting his hands dirty and doing lots of experiments, saying “To develop working ideas efficiently, I try to fail as fast as I can”.

Put Yourself in Their Shoes This activity is designed to help you investigate how successful entrepreneurs used their thinking skills to create a better idea than their competition.

Questions Questions Questions!!! Questions that you ask yourself about your business are essential to creating new ideas that are different from the existing way things are done. Questions provoke your mind to look for answers and ideas. The answers may not pop up immediately but persistence in asking questions and looking for answers is essential to creative answers and successful business ideas.What are some of the questions you could ask if you want to become an entrepreneur?

What do I know how to do?

How could it be done better? Who might pay me to do it? What if I made ?it? smaller? or a whole host of ?what if? possibilities What do the customers want? How is the industry changing? What customers are not being served? YOUR ASSIGNMENT There is no limit to the questions that can provoke a great creative idea. In this activity you will find a story of an entrepreneur and try to think of the questions this entrepreneur must have asked in order to come up with the idea that made his/her business successful. We recommend you look for these entrepreneurs’ stories on our web page or in one of the following magazines that also have their own web pages:

INC Magazine http://www.inc.com:80/ BIZ STARZ Magazine http://www.bizstarz.com BLACK ENTERPRISE Magazine http://www.blackenterprise.com SUCCESS Magazine http://www.successmagazine.com ENTREPRENEUR Magazine http://www.entrepreneurmag.com Prepare a report to share with the class that identifies the entrepreneur and what made the business successful. Then create and share a list of questions this entrepreneur might have used to provoke his or her creative thinking. Ask for ideas from the group to add to your list.

Discuss how questions can trigger your mind out of its established ruts to think about new and different ways to do many things. Use questions to get your brain working in new and different ways to develop ideas of value.

Other Web Pages Relating to Creativity and Patents Learn how to think creatively from the works of Edward de Bono, an expert on how to encourage the mind to get out of the ruts and think new thoughts.Check out the US Patent Database A complete

searchable database of all US Patents from 1971 to the present. Hypertext links are provided to referenced patents and publications. You can order copies on-line either in paper form or on custom CDROM (up to 800 patents on each CD).

What a Great IDEA! The book by Chic Thompson about key steps that creative people take. Also learn about “Killer Phrases” and how to prevent them from inhibiting your creativity.

Try the VistaPrint Page for an extensive list of ideas on creative problem solving, inventions and patents.

Check the MIT Invention Dimension for information on inventions, patents and the annual Lemelson Prize awards.

Check out this description of the tools of creativity.

Here is a great website for learning how NOT to do good design:

Learn about the USA Patent & Trademark Office., or check out their index to patent subjects. NOTE: Please let us know if you find other sources of creative thinking information. We enjoy the opportunity to keep these pages up to date.