Pr

ocessofpr
obl
em sol
ving

Problem-solvi
ng is a mentalpr
ocess t
hati nvol
ves di
scover
ing,anal
yzi
ng,and solvi
ng
problems.Theul ti
mategoalofpr
oblem-
solvi
ngi st
oovercomeobstacl
esandfindasoluti
on
thatbestresolvesthei
ssue.

Thebestst r
ategyforsol
vingapr obl
em dependsl ar
gelyont heuni
quesituat
ion.Insome
cases,peopl
ear ebett
erofflear
ningever yt
hingt
heycanaboutt heissueandt henusi
ng
fact
ualknowledget
ocomeupwi t
hasol ut
ion.Inot
herinst
ances,cr
eat
ivi
tyandinsi
ghtaret
he
bestopti
ons.

ordertocorr
ectl
ysolveaprobl
em, i
tisof
tenimport
anttofol
lowaseriesofsteps.Resear
chers
sometimesrefertot
hisastheprobl
em-solvi
ngcycl
e.Whil
ethiscycl
eisportr
ayedsequential
ly,
peoplerar
elyfol
lowarigi
dseri
esofstepstofindasol
uti
on.

Thef
oll
owi
ngst
epsi
ncl
udedevel
opi
ngst
rat
egi
esandor
gani
zingknowl
edge.

1.I
dent
if
yingt
hePr
obl
em

Whilei
tmayseem li
keanobvi
ousstep,i
dent i
fyi
ngtheprobl
em i
snotalwaysassi
mpl
easit
sounds.I
nsomecases,peopl
emi ghtmi stakenl
yident
if
yt hewrongsour
ceofaprobl
em,
whichwil
lmakeat
tempt
stosol
veiti
neffi
cientorevenusel
ess.

Somest
rat
egi
est
hatyoumi
ghtuset
ofi
gur
eoutt
hesour
ceofapr
obl
em i
ncl
ude:

Aski
ngquest
ionsaboutt
hepr
obl
em

Br
eaki
ngt
hepr
obl
em downi
ntosmal
l
erpi
eces

Looki
ngatt
hepr
obl
em f
rom di
ff
erentper
spect
ives

Conduct
ingr
esear
cht
ofi
gur
eoutwhatr
elat
ionshi
psexi
stbet
weendi
ff
erentvar
iabl
es

2.Def
ini
ngt
hePr
obl
em

Aft
ertheproblem hasbeeni
dent
ifi
ed,i
tisi
mpor t
anttof ul
lydefi
netheprobl
em sothatitcan
besolved.Youcandefi
neaprobl
em byoperati
onall
ydefiningeachaspectoft
heproblem and
set
ti
nggoal sf
orwhataspect
softheprobl
em youwilladdress

3.For
mingaSt
rat
egy

Aftertheprobl
em hasbeenidenti
fi
ed,i
tisti
metostartbrainstormi
ngpotent
ialsol
uti
ons.This
stepusuallyi
nvolvesgener
ati
ngasmanyi deasaspossiblewi t
houtj
udgi
ngtheirqual
ity.Once
severalpossi
bil
it
ieshavebeengenerat
ed,t
heycanbeeval uatedandnarr
oweddown.

Thenextst epist
odevelopastrat
egytosol vethepr
obl
em.Theapproachusedwi
llvar
y
dependi
ngupont hesit
uati
onandt heindivi
dual
'suni
quepr
efer
ences.Commonprobl
em-
sol
vingstr
ategi
esi
ncl
udeheuri
sti
csandalgori
thms.
Tr
ialander
ror
:Cont
inuet
ryi
ngdi
ff
erentsol
uti
onsunt
ilpr
obl
em i
ssol
ved

Heuri
sti
cs:ar
ement alshortcutst
hatar
eoftenbasedonsol
uti
onst
hathaveworkedi
nthepast
.
Theycanwor kwellifthepr obl
em i
ssimil
artosomethi
ngyouhaveencount
eredbefor
eand
areof
tenthebestchoiceifyouneedafastsolut
ion.

Al
gori
thms:ar
est
ep-
by-stepst
rat
egiest
hatar
eguarant
eedt
oproduceacorrectr
esul
t.Whi
le
t
hisappr
oachi
sgr
eatforaccur
acy,i
tcanal
soconsumeti
meandresour
ces.

Addi
ti
onalPr
obl
em Sol
vingSt
rat
egi
es:

Abstract
ion–r
efer
stosol
vingt
hepr
obl
em wi
thi
namodeloft
hesi
tuat
ionbef
oreappl
yingi
tto
real
it
y.

Anal
ogy–i
susi
ngasol
uti
ont
hatsol
vesasi
mil
arpr
obl
em.

Brainstor
ming– r ef
erstocol
lect
ingananal
yzi
ngal ar
geamountofsol
uti
ons,especi
all
y
withinagr oupofpeople,t
ocombi net
hesolut
ionsanddevel
opi
ngt
hem unti
lanopt i
mal
soluti
onisreached.

Di
videandconquer–br
eaki
ngdownl
argecompl
expr
obl
emsi
ntosmal
lermor
emanageabl
e
pr
oblems.

Hypothesi
st est
ing–met hodusedinexperi
mentati
onwhereanassumpt i
onaboutwhatwould
happeninr esponsetomani pul
ati
ngani ndependentvar
iableismade,andanalysi
soft he
aff
ectsofthemani pul
ati
onaremadeandcompar edtotheorigi
nalhypot
hesi
s.

Lat
eralt
hinki
ng–approachi
ngpr
obl
emsi
ndi
rect
lyandcr
eat
ivel
ybyvi
ewi
ngt
hepr
obl
em i
na
newandunusual
li
ght.

Means-
endsanal
ysi
s–choosi
ngandanal
yzi
nganact
ionataser
iesofsmal
lerst
epst
omove
cl
osert
othegoal
.

Method offocalobject
s – put
ti
ng seemi
ngl
y non-matchi
ng character
ist
ics ofdi
ff
erent
pr
ocedurest
ogethert
omakesomethingnewt
hatwil
lgetyouclosert
ot hegoal.

Morphologi
calanal
ysi
s– analyzi
ngt
heout
put
sofandi
nter
act
ionsofmanypi
ecest
hat
t
ogethermakeupawholesyst
em.

Pr
oof–t ryi
ngt oprovet
hatapr
obl
em cannotbesol
ved.Wher
ethepr
ooff
ail
sbecomest
he
st
art
ingpointorsol
vingt
hepr
obl
em.

Reduct
ion–adapt
ingt
hepr
obl
em t
obeassi
mil
arpr
obl
emswher
easol
uti
onexi
sts.

Resear
ch–usi
ngexi
sti
ngknowl
edgeorsol
uti
onst
osi
mil
arpr
obl
emst
osol
vet
hepr
obl
em.

Rootcauseanal
ysi
s–t
ryi
ngt
oident
if
ythecauseoft
hepr
obl
em.
4.Or
gani
zingI
nfor
mat
ion

Befor
ecomingupwit
hasol uti
on,youneedt
ofi
rstor
gani
zetheavai
labl
einfor
mation.Whatdo
youknowabouttheprobl
em?Whatdoyounotknow?Themor einformati
onthatisavai
labl
e
thebet
terpr
epar
edyouwillbetocomeupwithanaccur
atesol
uti
on.

Whenappr
oachingaprobl
em,iti
simport
antt
omakesurethatyouhaveallthedatayouneed.
Maki
ngadecisi
onwit
houtadequatei
nfor
mati
oncanl
eadtobiasedorinaccurat
eresul
ts.

5.Al
locat
ingResour
ces

Ofcour
se,wedon'talwayshaveunl
imi
ted money,t
ime,and ot
herresour
cesto solvea
pr
obl
em.Bef
oreyoubegintosol
veapr
obl
em,youneedtodet
erminehowhighpri
ori
tyi
tis.

Atthi
sstage,i
tisimpor t
anttoconsi
derallofthefactorst
hatmightaf
fectt
heprobl
em athand.
Thisincl
udeslookingatt heavailabl
er esources,deadli
nesthatneedtobemet ,andany
possi
blerisksinvolvedineachsol ut
ion.Aftercarefuleval
uati
on,adecisi
oncanbemade
aboutwhichsol
ut i
ont opur
sue.

6.Moni
tor
ingPr
ogr
ess

Af
terselect
ingaproblem-sol
vingst
rat
egy,i
tistimetoputthepl
anint
oactionandseei
fit
works.Thisstepmightinvol
vetryi
ngoutdiff
erentsol
uti
onstoseewhichoneisthemost
ef
fecti
ve.

Itisalsoimpor
tantt
omonitorthesi
tuat
ionafterimpl
ement
ingasol
uti
ontoensur
ethatthe
probl
em hasbeensolvedandthatnonew problemshavear
isenasaresul
toft
heproposed
solut
ion.

Effect
iveprobl
em-sol
ver
stendtomonitort
hei
rprogressast heyworktowar
dsasol ut
ion.I
f
theyar enotmakinggoodpr ogresst
owardreachi
ngt hei
rgoal,theywil
lreeval
uatethei
r
approachorlookf
ornewstrat
egies.

7.Eval
uat
ingt
heResul
ts

Afterasol uti
onhasbeenr eached,
iti
simportanttoevaluatetheresul
tstodetermineifi
tist
he
bestpossi blesol
uti
ontot heprobl
em.Thi seval
uationmi ghtbeimmedi at
e,suchaschecking
ther esult
sofamat hproblem toensur
et heansweri scorrect
,oritcanbedel ayed,suchas
evaluatingthesuccessofat her
apyprogram af
terseveralmonthsoftreatment.

Manydi f
ferentstrat
egiesexistforsolvingproblems.Typicalstr
ategi
esi ncludetr
ialanderror
,
applyi
ngalgorit
hms, andusingheur i
stics.Tosolveal ar
ge,complicat
edpr oblem,itof
tenhelps
tobreakthepr oblem i
ntosmal lerstepst hatcanbeaccompl i
shedindividuall
y,l
eadingtoan
overal
lsoluti
on.Roadblockst oproblem solvi
ngincludeament alset,
funct i
onalfi
xedness,
and
vari
ousbiasest hatcanclouddecisionmaki ngskil
ls.
PI
TFALLSTOPROBLEM SOLVI
NG

Notal lprobl
emsar esuccessf ul
lysolved,however.Whatchallengesstopusf rom successful
ly
solvingapr obl
em?Al bertEinst
einoncesai d,“I
nsanit
yisdoingt hesamet hingoverandover
againandexpect ingadi ff
erentresult
.”I
magi neaper soninar oom thathasf ourdoorways.
Onedoor waythathasal waysbeenopeni nthepastisnowl ocked.Theperson, accustomedto
exi
t i
ngt heroom byt hatparti
culardoorway,keepstryi
ngtogetoutt hr
ought hesamedoor way
event houghtheot herthreedoor waysareopen.Theper sonisstuck—butshej ustneedstogo
toanot herdoorway,insteadoftryingtogetoutthroughthelockeddoorway.

Ament alseti
swhereyoupersisti
nappr
oachi
ngapr
obl
em i
nawayt
hathaswor
kedi
nthe
pastbutiscl
ear
lynotwor
kingnow.

Functi
onalfi
xednessisatypeofment
alsetwhereyoucannotper
cei
veanobj
ectbei
ngused
forsomethi
ngotherthanwhati
twasdesi
gnedfor

In or
derto makegood decisi
ons,weuseourknowledgeand ourreasoni
ng.Oft
en,thi
s
knowledgeandreasoni
ngissoundandsol
id.Somet
imes,however
,weareswayedbybi
ases
orbyothersmanipul
ati
ngasi
tuati
on.

Bi
as Descr
ipt
ion

 Anchor
ing Tendencyt
ofocusononepar
ti
cul
arpi
eceofi
nfor
mat
ionwhen

maki
ngdeci
sionsorpr
obl
em-
sol
ving

 Conf
ir
mat
ion Focusesoni
nfor
mat
iont
hatconf
ir
msexi
sti
ngbel
ief
s

 Hi
ndsi
ght Bel
ieft
hatt
heeventj
ustexper
iencedwaspr
edi
ctabl
e

 Repr
esent
ati
ve Uni
ntent
ional
ster
eot
ypi
ngofsomeoneorsomet
hing

 Avai
labi
li
ty Deci
sioni
sbaseduponei
theranavai
labl
epr
ecedentoran

exampl
ethatmaybef
aul
ty