Advanced Problem Solving & Decision Making

Who Should Attend:

• Directors & Managers
• Supervisors & Team Leaders
• Executives seeking to foster innovation

Course Objectives

• Understand the difference between creativity and innovation
• Understand what limits our creative potential, organisationally and personally
• Master skills for day-to-day handling of decision situations
• Understand the importance of identifying and clarifying issues to be resolved
• Obtain techniques to identify the “real” problem and magnitude of impact
• Learn how to find the root cause of a problem
• Familiarity with priority setting and determining appropriate techniques and tools to deal with issues
• Learn creative thinking techniques to develop options and novel solutions
• Recognise and remove barriers to creativity to foster an innovative culture
• Explore ways to exercise sound judgment in evaluating and solving problems
• Learn how to develop criteria for evaluation of options and assessment of risk
• Understand the relationship between risk taking and creative thinking.

What will you gain?

By the end of this course you will be able to:

• Transform your creativity into practical business solutions (innovations)
• Adapt to different thinking styles in groups and teams
• Systematically analyse a target problem
• Set goals with clarity of purpose and appropriate scope for a decision
• Master various lateral-thinking techniques
• Make better decisions through critical thinking and creative problem solving
• Improve communication with team members, enabling better teamwork
• Reduce problem solving cycle time
• Improve confidence in leading assignments and making decisions.

Course Content

• What is Creativity? What is Innovation?
• Three Components of Creativity
• Conceptual Blocks/Barriers to Creativity
• Creative Thinking Process
  • Explorer
  • Artist
  • Judge
  • Warrior
• Problem and Problem Solving Defined
• Problem Solving Tools
  • Constructive Controversy: Arguing For and Against Options
  • Inductive Reasoning: Drawing Good, Generalised Conclusions
  • Avoiding Logical Fallacies: What They are and How to Avoid Them
  • Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA): Spotting Problems Early
  • Heuristic Methods: Using Rules of Thumb
  • Means End Analysis: Identifying the Steps Needed to Solve a Problem
  • Visioning
  • Brain Storming
  • 5 Whys
  • Appreciation
• Problem Solving Approaches
  • Problem Definition Process
    • Understanding the Problem Environment
    • Generating Alternative Solutions
    • Analysing Facts, Hidden Assumptions, and Unexpected Impacts
    • Selecting the Best Decision
  • Simplex
  • Appreciative Inquiry
  • Soft Systems Methodology (SSM)
• Tools for Defining Problems
  • Kipling Method
  • Problem Statement
  • Challenge Method
  • 6 Thinking Hats (Edward de Bono)
    • Lateral Thinking
    • Right Brain vs. Left Brain
• Tips for Building up your Problem-Solving Toolbox
• Tools for Understanding Complex Situations
  • Appreciation
  • Drill-Down
  • Cause & Effect Diagrammes/“Fishbone” /“Ishikawa Diagramme
  • System Diagrammes
  • SWOT Analysis
  • Porter’s Five Forces
  • Value Chain Analysis
  • CATWOE
  • Pareto Principle (80/20)
  • Risk Analysis
  • The Wheel of Multiple Perspectives
• Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA)
• Swim Lane Diagramme
• Systems Diagramme
• Flow Charts
• Decision Making and Decision Taking Defined
• Factors that Help Effective Decision Making
• 6 C’s of Decision Making
• WHAT IS LOGIC and How to Defy It
• Alternatives Assessment and Decision Making
• Who Makes Decisions and What is a Decision
• The 8-Step Decision Making Process
• Paired Comparison Analysis
• Practice Generating Innovative Ideas, Options and Solutions
• Decision Making Models
  • Vroom-Yetton-Jago: Deciding How to Decide
  • The Kepner-Tregoe Matrix: Making Unbiased, Risk Assessed Decisions
  • OODA Loops: Understanding the Decision Cycle
  • The Recognition-Primed Decision (RPD) Process
• Ethics and Decision Making
• Cultural Consideration in the Decision Making Process
• Organisational Decision Making
  • Sequential Action Planning
  • Well Formed Outcomes
  • Scenario Planning
  • Walt Disney Strategy.