Analytical Problem Solving

1. ANALYTICAL PROBLEM-SOLVING © Copyright, Arnaud Chevallier. All rights reserved. Arnaud Chevallier / August 2010 (Revised) See / download this presentation at powerful-problem-solving.com

2. We all solve problems daily • “How should we complement our product porfolio?” • “Why haven’t we met our sales target?” • “How can we reduce illegal immigration?” • ... Download this presentation at http://powerful-problem-solving.com :41 2

3. But most of us haven’t received formal training on how to do it From Cartoonbank.com Download this presentation at http://powerful-problem-solving.com :41 3

4. This presentation shows how basing your resolution on key questions can help • We’ll see how to: • Define optimally your problem • Solve it with issue trees Download this presentation at http://powerful-problem-solving.com :41 4

5. This presentation shows how to define a problem and how to plan its solution Basing your problem- solving on key questions can help But we don’t do it optimally We all solve problems Identify the solution Define the problem Understand the context Define the key question Build the issue tree Improve it Download this presentation at http://powerful-problem-solving.com :41 5

6. Identify the solution Build the issue tree Improve it Basing your problem- solving on key questions can help Define the problem Understand the context Define the key question Download this presentation at http://powerful-problem-solving.com :41 6

7. First, you have to identify the right key question (we’ll consider only “how” and “why” questions) From Cartoonbank.com Download this presentation at http://powerful-problem-solving.com :41 7

8. This can be more difficult than it sounds Problem: the cars of the employees of a company don’t fit into the parking lot What’s the key question? From Cartoonbank.com Download this presentation at http://powerful-problem-solving.com :41 8

9. Building a new floor Reducing the size of each space Expending its dimensions For instance, it is easy to consider only one aspect of the problem Reducing the area not dedicated to parking Using a new parcel Putting more cars in the current space How can we increase the capacity of the lot? After M. Jones, The Thinker’s Toolkit Download this presentation at http://powerful-problem-solving.com :41 9

10. Making that more employees use other means of transportation Reducing the number of employees Moving part of the company elsewhere For instance, it is easy to consider only one aspect of the problem (cont’d) Eliminating jobs Promoting car pooling Increasing the number of employees per car How can we reduce the number of cars? After M. Jones, The Thinker’s Toolkit Download this presentation at http://powerful-problem-solving.com :41 10

11. Moving part of the company elsewhere Building a new floor So ensure you are solving the right problem (not a part, not a symptom) Reducing the number of employees Expending its dimensions Eliminating jobs How can we reduce the number of cars? Using a new parcel How can we increase the capacity of the lot? Making that more employees use other means of transportation Reducing the size of each space Increasing the number of employees per car Putting more cars in the current space Promoting car pooling Reducing the area not dedicated to parking How can we solve the saturation of the lot? Download this presentation at http://powerful-problem-solving.com :41 11

12. See / download the entire presentation at http://powerful-problem-solving.com/practice-and-enlist-others