Decision-making and Problem-solving for Business

This is The Fundamentals of Effective Thinking course, and this is the first course of the Decision-making and Problem-solving for Business series.

Mental shortcuts, when used ineffectively, also can lead to dead ends--and headaches, lost productivity, and bad decisions.

Processing every bit of information about a problem is a huge task. Your brain, with or without your approval, uses rules of thumb to make its job easier.

The Science of Better Learning

To counter the adverse effects of the representativeness heuristic, you have to pay attention to actual probabilities. The same holds true for the third rule of thumb, the anchoring heuristic.

Selective perception is similar to the second thinking trap: the contrast effect. A contrast effect occurs when you compare, or contrast, two different situations, and each one distorts your perception of the other one.

Rationalization, the third thinking trap, is like the others in that it leads you to deny or skew some aspects of a problem. Denial doesn't help you solve problems. It's beneficial to look at all aspects of an issue clearly.

The first strategy for productively thinking through a problem is to avoid cognitive laziness. In general, people tend to do as little thinking as possible. Thousands of years ago, less thinking meant more time spent on survival.

You need to really listen to what your co-workers say when talking about a problem or circumstance. The extent of their knowledge is usually betrayed by the amount of detail and the kinds of details they provide.

In this topic, you discovered strategies to productively think through a problem:

• avoiding cognitive laziness

• gathering more information about a problem

• taming the ego

When solving problems and making decisions, examine your assumptions and minimize your biases as much as possible. If you do, you'll have more:

• confidence in your ability to solve problems

• assurance that you're addressing the true problem

• understanding why others have failed at problem solving and decision making.

Determining the relationship between two things, or variables, is key to actually understanding the degree of influence each has on the other. You'll explore four types of relationships, or correlations:

• true causation

• positive correlation

• negative correlation

• nonexistent correlation

The given strategies will help you eliminate potential biases in the way you think about a problem.

If you ask someone if he's considered evidence against a correlation and he says yes, it's less likely he's overestimated the strength of the relationship. That's because he's really looked at reasons that the correlation is weaker than he originally thought.

Most problems you face at work involve many variables. That's why they're often difficult to solve. You'll have a much better shot at success if you use the strategies you learned to determine the relationships among those variables.

Making attributions entails assigning the cause of an event to another thing--a person or a situation. In this topic, you'll learn about three types of attribution- making biases:

• the fundamental attribution error

• the self-serving bias

• the egocentric bias

Are you able to make valid attributions about the problems you face at work? Which are examples of attribution-making biases and their corresponding descriptions?

Practice careful thinking by recognizing when your thoughts are in some way biased. In this topic, you'll learn to spot three biases that distort thinking and compromise decisions:

• hindsight bias

• confirmation bias

• consistency bias

Psychologists have found that people feel a social pressure to keep their actions consistent. That's because inconsistent people are often stigmatized. They may be called hypocritical, contrary, or dishonest.

In this topic, you'll learn these techniques:

• List possible causes of past outcomes.

• Purposely focus on contradictory evidence.

• Examine your motives regarding the problem.

Actually, you should gather as much evidence as you can, focus on contradictory evidence, and seek input from disinterested parties. Putting off the problem would have no effect on your bias.

Overcome your subconscious urges, and use the strategies you learned to solve problems like a lean, thinking machine. In this topic, you learned the following techniques:

• List possible causes of past outcomes.

• Purposely focus on contradictory evidence.

• Examine your motives regarding the problem.

Solving problems doesn't have to be stressful. But it will be if you adopt an ineffective mind-set and style that essentially freeze you in your problem-solving and decision-making tracks.

Only one of the pigs' thinking, however, kept the local wolf problem at bay. That was because the third pig had an effective problem-solving mind-set. In this topic, you'll learn about three of those mind-sets:

• the apathetic mind-set

• the analytical mind-set

• the adaptive mind-set

The second mind-set, the analytical mind-set, isn't as flawed as the apathetic mind-set, but it still limits your thinking. It's the mind-set Edith displayed when talking to Nancy and Ricardo.

Just as there are different kinds of skiers, there are different types of decision makers. The type of decision maker you are is determined by the habits and procedures you adopt when making a decision. It also is central to your impression on others.

. In this topic, you learned about the four decision-making types:

• the despot

• the waffler

• the safety blanket

• the judge

Not many people would argue against the value of self-esteem, respect, and enhanced perspective. And those are benefits you'll receive when you use techniques that improve the effectiveness of your thinking.

In this topic, you'll learn how to apply critical thinking to situations in which you're assessing the merit of a "claim." Sales pitches and advertisements almost always contain a claim of some kind. You'll assess those claims by:

• evaluating underlying assumptions

• examining invited inferences.

The second strategy for thinking critically about a claim is to examine the invited inferences of the claim. An invited inference is a conclusion the claim maker invites--or urges--you to draw about the benefits of the claim.

In this topic, you'll learn about three memory devices:

• chunking

• mnemonic devices

• the method of loci

In fact, chunking involves grouping numbers into manageable segments. Mnemonic devices are formed from the first letters of objects to be remembered. The method of loci entails using a familiar place to aid in the recall of a list.

As you explore different ways of solving problems and making decisions, you'll learn the quickest way to get where you need to go. But your brain is a complicated place. Forming effective thinking habits takes a lifetime of practice.

Effective problem solvers know how important it is to retain the important lessons they've learned. That's why they cultivate the third habit of effective thinking: learning from experience.

Use this job aid to identify and counteract potential biases in your thinking.

Purpose: Use this job aid to identify and counteract counterproductive problem-solving shortcuts, or heuristics

Purpose: Use this job aid to identify and counteract ineffective attribution-making biases.

Your brain often uses shortcuts and rules of thumb to process information more easily. "Rules of thumb" are useful principles which have a wide application, but are not intended to be strictly accurate or reliable in every situation.

Thinking traps are intellectual processes that lead you to false conclusions. You must be careful to avoid them. There are three types of thinking trap:

1. selective perception

2. the contrast effect

3. rationalization

To successfully head off, or block, unproductive mental shortcuts and instead think effectively about a problem, you need to avoid cognitive laziness, gather more information about a problem, and tame the ego.

It is your goal to solve business problems. In other words, you would always like to know what caused a problem in the first place. But you need to be aware that there is a difference between causes and associations.

Biases may distort the way you assign these attributions. You need to guard against the following types of biases:

- the fundamental attribution error

- self-serving bias

- egocentric bias

Bias can distort thinking and compromise decisions. Three biases to watch out for are hindsight bias, confirmation bias and consistency bias.

Mental biases can eclipse your view of the big picture. But you can learn techniques to overcome these biases.

To find solutions that work, you need an effective problem-solving mind-set. A mind-set is the thought process you use to think about and solve problems. In many ways, your mind-set results from the attitude and mental habits you adopt when solving problems.

It is also central to your impression on others. Ineffective decision makers usually make less-than-ideal decisions.

There are four types of decision makers:

- the despot

- the waffler

- the safety blanket

- the judge

Critical thinking is a reasonable, reflective, and skillful way of thinking about business problems.

You probably cannot improve your memory through willpower alone. You need to use specific strategies, especially when the information to be remembered is vital.

Three valuable memory devices are:

- chunking

- mnemonic devices

- the method of loci

There are many thinking habits that can help you improve your problem-solving and decision-making skills. These include

- viewing problems as opportunities

- seeking a wide range of life experience

- learning lessons from experience

In this course, you'll learn to:

• think effectively about mental shortcuts

• overcome biases and flawed assumptions

• refine your problem-solving mind-set and decision-making style

• cultivate the right state of mind.

This is the Problem Framing course, and this is the second course of the Decision-making and Problem-solving for Business series.

Always identify and gather information about a problem before attempting to solve it. In this lesson, you'll learn that the value of doing so means that you'll have:

• fewer unforeseen complications down the line

• more assurance that you'll eliminate premature decisions

• greater confidence when generating solutions.

In this topic, you'll learn to address the real issue by using effective techniques to identify a business problem:

• listing other problems that might be related

• performing a utopia comparison

• writing a simple problem statement

Knowledge is key and there are several ways of accessing knowledge and gathering information about a business problem. In this topic, you'll learn to consult valid sources of information:

• libraries and librarians

• the Internet

• subject-matter experts

Experts are like crystal-ball readers. You have to dig a little bit to find out their level of expertise. In this topic, you'll learn how to assess the expertise of a subject-matter expert by using these effective techniques:

• finding out how much direct experience the expert has

• determining how immediately testable the expert's knowledge is

• finding out if the expert has a vested interest in giving advice

Experts are like crystal-ball readers. You have to dig a little bit to find out their level of expertise. In this topic, you'll learn how to assess the expertise of a subject-matter expert by using these effective techniques:

• finding out how much direct experience the expert has

• determining how immediately testable the expert's knowledge is

• finding out if the expert has a vested interest in giving advice

Roughly seven out of ten new businesses fail within three years. That failure rate often hinges directly on faulty business assumptions. Examine your assumptions and you're more likely to beat the odds.

In this topic, you'll learn these techniques to identify assumptions:

• listing your initial assumptions about the problem

• determining which assumptions are constrained by "policy"

• questioning and investigating the remaining assumptions

In this topic, you'll learn to uncover your team's assumptions about a business problem by:

• holding an initial assumption meeting

• assigning assumption investigation tasks

• conducting an assumption follow-up meeting.

In this topic, you'll learn about constraints that affect your assumptions about objectives:

• financial constraints

• time constraints

• social constraints

By addressing the root problem instead of peripheral issues you'll:

• avoid wasting time by concentrating only on essential problem issues

• generate potential solutions in a more confident manner

• be more focused when solving problems in a team setting.

In this topic, you'll learn to take the guesswork out of identifying problem causes by using these sorting techniques:

• chronologies

• checklists

• problem pyramids

In this topic, you'll learn to take the guesswork out of identifying problem causes by using these sorting techniques:

• chronologies

• checklists

• problem pyramids

Your analysis will, after you read this topic and learn to get to the root of a business problem by using the steps of a causal flow analysis:

• determining the input factors of the problem

• determining the output factors of the problem

• examining the causal flow between the factors

When you frame a business problem, your aim is to discover a new perspective, that is, a way of thinking about the problem that's more accurate and compelling.

In this topic, you'll learn the steps to take to construct a fishbone diagram:

• Diagram all possible causes of the problem.

• Prioritize and rearrange the associated problems.

• Reduce the remaining causes.

In this topic, you'll learn the steps to take to construct a fishbone diagram:

• Diagram all possible causes of the problem.

• Prioritize and rearrange the associated problems.

• Reduce the remaining causes.

The components of a group deviation analysis are:

• anonymously performing a deviation analysis

• comparing and analyzing the initial results.

The components of a group deviation analysis are:

• anonymously performing a deviation analysis

• comparing and analyzing the initial results.

In this topic, you'll learn how to more effectively frame a problem by using the components of the problem-redefinition technique:

• turning the problem upside down

• enlarging your picture of the problem

• using the "why" strategy

Assessing an Expert's Expertise

Redefining a Business Problem

Fishbone Diagram

There are three effective techniques for identifying a business problem:

1. list other problems that might be related

2. perform a utopia comparison

3. write a simple problem statement

No one person can contain all the knowledge possessed by everyone in the world or even by colleagues in adjoining cubicles. Therefore, there will be times when you need to gather information from other sources.

Valid sources of information include

• libraries and librarians

• the Internet

• subject-matter experts

You may need to consult an expert in order to gather information on a certain subject. But to judge the reliability of the information you receive from experts, you need to be able to find out their level of expertise.

An assumption is any facet of a business problem you consciously or unconsciously take for granted or do not question. To ensure your solutions do not unravel, you need to question and validate your assumptions about the relevant business problem.

When you establish business objectives and goals, you also make assumptions about their feasibility. If these assumptions are faulty, you have little chance of accomplishing your objective.

Therefore, you need to be able to detect constraints that affect your assumptions about objectives.

There are three techniques for identifying the sources of problems:

1. chronologies

2. checklists

3. problem pyramids

Most business problems have several contributing causes and a multitude of less significant symptoms. Filtering through those various causes and determining the truly crucial ones allows you to effectively prioritize both your solutions and your objectives.

There are three steps to making a fishbone diagram:

1. diagram all possible causes of the problem

2. prioritize and rearrange the possible causes

3. reduce the remaining causes

A deviation analysis is a methodical approach that teams can use in order to put an accurate frame on a problem.

The components of a group deviation analysis are: anonymously performing a deviation analysis, and comparing and analyzing the initial results.

Before attempting to solve a problem, you have to be sure you have accurately determined what that problem is. You can effectively frame a problem by using the components of the problem-redefinition technique.

You just finished Problem Framing course, and this is the second course of the Decision-making and Problem-solving for Business series.

This is the Problem Solving: Generating Alternatives course, and this is the third course of the Decision-making and Problem-solving for Business series.

As with rafting, a key to generating alternative solutions to problems is "getting into the flow." In this case, the flow refers to a creative mind-set that supports generating the alternatives. Benefits of getting into the flow include:

• diminishing your fear of failing to solve the problem,

• enhancing your ability to generate alternatives, and

• increasing your enthusiasm for solving problems.

Achieving the right mind-set is also critical for generating alternative solutions to problems. If you have an ineffective mind-set, you won't find alternatives.

Brainstorming, which is the generation of ideas, is key to finding alternatives for your problems.

What's the quickest way of getting from one point to another? It's a straight line. In problem solving, taking a rational approach is like traveling in a straight line--it's the quickest way to a solution.

If you're like many people, you'll take a look at the pros and cons for each system before deciding. Looking at the pros and cons for alternative solutions is also a very rational way of choosing the right approach for solving a problem.

Use the BEST model when generating alternatives for solving your problems. Teach your colleagues about the BEST model too, so that you have a common set of guidelines to work with.

By seeing from a customer's viewpoint, you can generate a greater number of problem-solving alternatives, and they're likely to be more applicable as well. You can think like your customers by:

• examining best practices for your industry

• monitoring industry chat boards and forums

• surveying your customers.

There are many benefits of using creative problem- solving techniques. And the techniques themselves don't require any more time than the obsolete, thread-worn strategies that have failed so many times in the past.

You can use analogies (while fully awake) to generate alternative solutions to your business problems. In this topic, you'll learn how to use analogies as problem-solving tools by:

• listing several related analogies

• listing the analogies' associated activities

• using the analogies list to generate alternative solutions to the original problem.

Analogies are a lot like airplanes. They lift you from the grounds of problem-solving stagnation and deposit you in your ideal location: success.

In this topic, you'll learn to take both paths in designing solutions to a business problem--the unconventional route and the practical route. You'll discover how to apply the steps of idea nets, a dynamic alternative-generating technique.

• casting your idea net

• hauling in your idea net

• analyzing and refining your catch of ideas

Idea nets combine the best of both problem-solving worlds--creativity and practicality. In this topic, you learned to use idea nets to generate alternatives for a given business problem by:

• casting your idea net

• hauling in your idea net

• analyzing and refining your catch of ideas.

Mind-maps are visual representations of your thought processes and tools for generating alternative solutions to business problems.

In this lesson, you'll learn effective strategies for leaping past roadblocks:

• using creative visualization

• handling problem overload

This topic will provide you with the tools needed to tap into those hidden problem-solving reserves. You'll learn how to use the components of creative visualization: isolation, relaxation, visualization, and repetition.

In this topic, you'll find out there is indeed a cure for the common cold. You'll learn to overcome the distress of ineffective problem solving by:

• using the big picture technique

• making a thanksgiving list

• expressing your feelings

Use this job aid to help you develop the attitudes that create a productive mind-set for generating alternatives.

Use this job aid to help you and your team as you go through the process of generating alternatives for solving problems.

Use this job aid to construct your own mind-map.

Achieving the right mind-set is critical for generating alternative solutions to problems. If you have an ineffective mind- set, you will not see alternatives.

Brainstorming, which is the generation of ideas, is key to finding alternatives for your problems. There are some simple principles behind productive brainstorming.

These are:

- generating many ideas

- withholding judgment on ideas

- exploring all the ideas that branch from other ideas

Looking at the pros and cons for alternative solutions is a very rational way of choosing the right approach for solving a problem. Pros and cons are at the center of the BEST model for generating alternatives for problems. BEST stands for Brainstorming, Evaluating, Simplifying, and Targeting.

By seeing a problem from a customer's viewpoint, you can generate a greater number of problem-solving alternatives, and they are likely to be more applicable as well.

You can think like your customers by using the following approaches:

- examining best practices ion your industry

- monitoring industry chat boards and forums

- surveying your customers

Analogies are statements about how an object, person, situation, or action is similar to another in process and relationship. Analogies can lead to new perspectives on and ideas about a business problem.

The idea net is a dynamic technique for generating alternative solutions to your problems.

Mind-maps mimic the layout of the brain. Brain cells have a central body, or nucleus, from which branches radiate. These branches carry information emitted by that nucleus to other parts of the brain. Researchers believe the more branches your brain contains, the more effective your thinking.

Professional athletes visualize success before it actually materializes – you can do the same. In support of using such creative visualization to overcome obstacles, recent medical studies have shown a great deal of problem-solving activity actually takes place at a subconscious level.

When problems persist, they can become disturbing. You need to be able to overcome the distress of ineffective problem solving.

Use this learning aid to find out about Brian's analogies.

Use this learning aid to find out about Jessica's analogies.

Use this learning aid to find out about Ian's analogies.

Congratulations! You just finished the Problem Solving: Generating Alternatives course, and this is the third course of the Decision-making and Problem-solving for Business series.

This is the Making Decisions Dynamically course, and this is the fourth course of the Decision-making and Problem-solving for Business series.

After you generate solutions to a business problem, it's time to haul in the net and get your catch to shore. In business, you too have to earn your "decision-making legs."

Violate a principle of decision making, and you'll probably end up in your supervisor's office having to explain the decision you made. In this topic, you'll learn how to avoid that unpleasant trip by practicing principles of sound decision making:

• focusing on the future

• examining the timing

• considering linked decisions

. In this topic, you'll learn about various decision-making styles and how to adopt the most effective one. You'll explore:

• the reflexive style

• the emotional style

• the analytical style

• the comprehensive style.

The thought you put into a business decision is a lot like the fuel you put into a car. Unless there's a concrete, engineered method of putting that thought to work, all your potential decision-making energy will simply burn up or evaporate.

In this topic, you'll learn how to perform the steps of a PMI analysis:

• List the pluses of the decision.

• List the minuses of the decision.

• List the "interesting" aspects of the decision.

• Analyze the results.

In using an ease-and-effect matrix to prioritize potential business solutions:

• rating solutions according to "ease" of implementation

• rating solutions according to "effect" of implementation

• placing rated solutions in the matrix and prioritizing them

In this topic, you'll follow Libby's progress and learn how a team effectively performs the steps of the nominal group technique:

• anonymously voting on initial favored solutions

• recording the votes in round-robin fashion

• clarifying any confusing ideas

• evaluating the final solutions

In this topic, you learned how to perform steps of a return-on-investment measure to evaluate the financial prospects of a given business decision.

Those steps were: establishing revenue projections, specifying anticipated expenditures, and calculating the resulting net cash flow.

Why should you not implement your favored, proposed decision? The word "not" in this question may be your best decision-making ally.

By effectively discussing potential business decisions with uneasy or competitive counterparts, you'll reap several benefits, such as:

• avoiding wasted time caused by misunderstandings

• building better relationships with all business associates

• enhancing your career success.

In this topic, you'll learn how to dig your way out of decision-making stagnation by effectively making compromises and managing trade-offs with business associates. You'll do this by using the following strategies:

• aiming for a win-win outcome

• generating as many options as possible

• establishing an objective standard

In this topic, you'll discover how to engage in the latter and truly open the doors to productive decision making by:

• inquiring about assumptions

• generating options instead of ultimatums

• focusing on common ground and not on positions.

In this topic, you'll discover how to engage in the latter and truly open the doors to productive decision making by:

• inquiring about assumptions

• generating options instead of ultimatums

• focusing on common ground and not on positions.

Use this job aid to help you conduct a PMI analysis to evaluate a business decision. Steps and tips for conducting a PMI analysis

Use this job aid to help you perform the devil's advocacy technique to evaluate a potential business decision. Tips for devil's advocacy techniques

Use this job aid to help prepare you for discussing a business decision with an uneasy partner. Strategies and tips for conducting a genuine dialogue

Bad decisions have bad consequences. To avoid these, you should observe the principles of sound decision making.

There are four different decision-making styles:

1. the reflexive style

2. the emotional style

3. the analytical style

4. the comprehensive style

A PMI analysis is a type of scale on which you weigh the merits of a potential business decision by rating its pluses, minuses, and interesting aspects. Regardless of the direction in which the balance eventually tips, you will find out whether the decision has the substance necessary to justify its undertaking.

To help you do this, you can use an ease-and-effect matrix.

This entails

- rating solutions according to ease of implementation

- rating solutions according to effect of implementation

placing rated solutions in the matrix and prioritizing them

You can use this technique by applying the following steps:

- anonymously voting on initial favored solutions

- record the votes in round-robin fashion

- clarify any confusing ideas

evaluate final solutions

One way to be money-wise is to use a return-on- investment measure to evaluate your business decisions.

The steps of this measure are

- establishing revenue projections

- specifying anticipated expenditures

calculating the resulting net cash flow

The devil's advocacy technique is a useful way of evaluating a proposed business decision. The steps of this technique are listing the evidence opposing your business decision and explaining both sides of the argument to a colleague and getting his or her input.

Sometimes the best way out of decision-making stagnation is to effectively make compromises and manage trade-offs with business associates.

There will always be competition in business, but that does not mean you cannot reach productive decisions with people you do not completely trust or with business associates and competitors who keep their own priorities topmost in their minds.

The bargaining that takes place once concrete issues get narrowed down represents a comparatively narrow aspect of decision making – before you can reach that stage, it is crucial to concentrate on the broader underlying concern of first establishing a relationship and setting mutual goals with your counterpart. You can do this by conducting genuine dialogue.

Use this learning aid to visualize the layout of an ease-and-effect matrix as used in the topic by the same name.

In this course, you'll discover a wealth of decision-making principles and techniques:

• the foundational thinking behind wise decision making

• decision-making techniques to use by yourself

• decision-making strategies to employ with others

• ways to build productive and dynamic relationships with decision-making counterparts.

Welcome! This is the Decision Making: Implementation and Evaluation course, and this is the fifth course of the Decision-making and Problem-solving for Business series.

A business decision usually begins a long process of change. Implementing the decision for change requires careful planning.

Implementing a business decision is a lot like playing a chess game. You already know your goal. To reach that goal you have to consider your resources, your alternatives, and your opposition.

In this topic, you'll explore a technique for analyzing the forces that drive or restrain an implementation. This technique is called "force-field analysis" and was developed by Kurt Lewin, a pioneer in the study of change. Lewin suggests that change results from the relationship of competing forces.

After integration teams create a force-field diagram, how do they use it? Next, you'll see how an automotive components manufacturer used a force-field analysis while implementing a new method of buying raw materials.

It recommends moving forward without making changes to alter the influence of driving and restraining forces. Is this the correct decision, based on the data given?

In this topic, you learned to create a force-field analysis diagram, and then analyze it by:

• estimating the probability of a successful implementation

• examining the restraining forces

• examining the driving forces.

Many companies have one person who seems to be able to get things done. But should a company rely on one person to implement a major decision? That's a heavy load for anyone to carry, especially if the decision will affect people throughout the company.

Listing the root actions is only half the job. Next, the team analyzed the resulting list of root actions to begin creating an implementation strategy.

The integration team decides to create a timeline for each of the three branches of action. Team members from each department receive assignments for actions across all three major action branches.

When it comes to business decisions, don't be a couch potato. Manage the implementation of your decisions with as much care and attention as possible. Your career success will grow in lock step with that of your organization.

It's often said that "Two heads are better than one." But when it comes to implementing a business decision, you want to engage more than your colleagues' brainpower: You want their hearts behind the decision as well.

In fact, valid strategies include making an explicit request for gatekeeper support and involvement and using only qualified experts. Don't hesitate to rely on external experts. Your release of information will depend on the circumstance.

But he was ultimately ineffective because the ophthalmologists he invited to speak to employees had no direct knowledge or experience with the retina scan technology.

In this topic, you'll discover several ways to effectively cope with adjustments during decision implementation:

• Remember that no decision is final.

• Make needed adjustments promptly.

• Examine any new training requirements.

In this topic, you'll learn to apply these strategies to manage resistance to a business decision:

• holding one-on-one meetings with resistance leaders

• setting up a concrete feedback loop

Would you be concerned if the pilot of your plane failed to monitor the instruments at all times?

In this topic, you'll learn how to assess a business decision by:

• examining adverse objective consequences of the action

• examining adverse social consequences of the action

• determining the degree to which you solved your business problem.

Some of the most precise individuals at gymnastic competitions aren't the gymnasts. They're the judges. They look for flaws in the competitors' routines and then rate their overall success.

In fact, Joanne examined both the adverse objective and social consequences properly but was ultimately ineffective in her evaluation because she didn't use her decision success rating to study ways she could have improved her choice.

In this topic, you'll learn how to effectively address decision failure by using these strategies:

don't sugarcoat the situation,

divorce the failure from the people involved, and

form a decision review team.

Use this job aid as a reference to ensure that stakeholders remain involved with the implementation of your business decision.

Use this job aid as a reference to ensure that stakeholders remain involved with the implementation of your business decision.

Use this job aid to help you address and take the first steps to recover from decision failure. Strategies and tips to address and recover from decision failure.

There are three basic steps in implementing a decision:

1. form an integration team

2. establish an implementation calendar

3. create an ongoing communication plan

Implementing a decision means making change. Change is subject to drive factors or constraining factors. If you can identify these factors, you can evaluate your priorities more clearly.

A grass-roots analysis is a simple diagram that can help your team map the detailed steps required to reach a major goal.

When working towards a major goal, it is best to form an integration team – that is, a team that features representatives from all relevant departments and competencies.

You can harness stakeholder involvement during the implementation of your business decision by

- involving important gatekeepers first

- bringing in know-how

- championing the decision

While implementing a decision, you may meet obstacles. It is crucial that you deal with obstacles effectively. There are several techniques for coping with adjustments during decision implementation.

Two strategies to manage resistance to a business decision are

1. holding one-on-one meetings with resistance leaders

2. setting up a concrete feedback loop

Never leave a business decision behind until you have thoroughly evaluated its end result. You can perform this evaluation by

• examining the negative objective consequences of the action

• examining the negative social consequences of the action

• determining the degree to which you solved the business problem

The following strategies will be considered:

• examining adverse objective consequences of the decision

• examining adverse social consequences of the decision

• determining the degree to which the business problem was resolved

When decisions fail, as some inevitably do, take action. Colleagues will expect you to do so. Your success and their confidence in your abilities hang in the balance.

Use this learning aid to answer questions about Tim's team's use of grass-roots analysis .

Use this learning aid to answer the questions about Virginia's strategies to evaluate her decision.

Use this learning aid to answer the questions about Walker's strategies to evaluate his decision.

Use this learning aid to answer the questions about Jason's team's use of grass-roots analysis.

Lillian leads a project integration team for a specialty grocery chain. Her team prepares a grass-roots analysis to begin implementing a plan to increase sales of gourmet foods by 40 percent.

Joanne managed the operations department of a company that manufactured water filtration systems. It sold the majority of its products to governmental agencies

Congratulations! You finished the Decision Making: Implementation and Evaluation course, and this is the fifth course of the Decision-making and Problem-solving for Business series.

By the end of this course, you'll be ready to go out on the decision-making limb with the rest of your team. You're about to learn how to avoid falling prey to inefficient group problem-solving habits. You'll also learn specific ways to improve overall group decision making.

In this lesson, you'll explore reasons problem-solving teams sometimes fall short of their business goals. You'll also learn how to eliminate interpersonal group problems that hinder maximum productivity.

In this topic, you'll learn common characteristics of ineffective problem-solving and decision-making groups:

• generating an incomplete problem definition

• seeking a limited number of potential solutions

• failing to develop contingency plans.

In this topic, you learn to recognize these group dynamics problems:

• improper group size

• inefficient communication flow

• lack of group cohesiveness

In this topic, you'll learn how to spot common problems with group dynamics: inefficient communication flow, improper group size, and a lack of group cohesiveness.

In this lesson, you'll learn the following strategies for improving group success:

• keeping your problem-solving team's interest piqued

• ensuring the unimpeded flow of group communication

• reducing harmful team conflict

In this topic, you'll learn how to avoid waning enthusiasm and instead maintain a team's engagement while it resolves a business problem. You'll discover you can do this by holding short, productive meetings; identifying progressive, meaningful milestones; and celebrating your team's successes.

In this topic, you learned to maintain the engagement of your team while it resolves a business problem by:

• holding short, productive meetings

• identifying progressive, meaningful milestones

• celebrating your team's successes.

If you don't practice the third strategy to enhance group communication and keep opinions separate from opinion holders, interpersonal conflict may get in the way of your group's communication.

In this topic, you learned to establish effective group communication by using these strategies:

• Promote full participation.

• Encourage and protect minority opinions.

• Keep the opinions separate from the opinion holders.

. In this topic, you'll learn how to apply these strategies to handle a difficult team member:

• Show you're listening.

• Demonstrate patience.

• Redirect the conflict.

Redirecting the conflict amounts to bringing the confrontation to an amicable close. In a nutshell, you convey to the difficult team member that it's time to move on.

But when you employ productive group techniques, you and your team will:

• be more assured you've fully identified the issue

• capitalize on the synergy created by group interaction

• receive more enjoyment from the problem-solving process.

In this topic, you'll learn to employ the alternative worldview method to diagnose your group's business problems by:

• breaking into two groups

• diagnosing the problem based on opposing worldviews

• debating and evaluating the results.

In this topic, you learned how to diagnose group business problems using alternative worldviews.

This technique involves:

• breaking into two diverse groups

• diagnosing the problem based on opposing worldviews

• debating and evaluating the results.

In this topic, you'll learn how to weather the storm of group decision-making and use this technique by:

• generating as many ideas as possible

• initially withholding judgment on those ideas

• developing ideas that piggyback on other ideas.

In this topic, you'll learn how to be a real leader and employ techniques to overcome groupthink by:

• initially downplaying the strength of your own opinions

• assigning a rotating devil's advocate to the team's ideas

• seeking feedback from an external expert.

In this topic, you learned to employ techniques to overcome groupthink by:

• underselling your opinions initially

• rotating the role of devil's advocate

• getting second opinions from an external expert.

In this topic, you'll learn how a team effectively performs the four steps of the nominal group technique by:

• anonymously voting on initial favored solutions

• recording the votes in a round-robin fashion

• clarifying any confusing ideas

• evaluating the final solutions.

In this topic, you learned how to use the nominal group technique to make a team business decision:

• Anonymously vote on initial favored ideas.

• Record them in a round-robin fashion.

• Clarify the confusing solutions.

• Evaluate the final ideas.

In this topic, you'll learn how to conduct a decision follow-up meeting in which you:

• focus specifically on the long-term consequences of a decision

• revisit discarded options

• play devil's advocate to the chosen option.

Use this job aid to enhance the communication on your decision-making team. How to enhance group communication

Use this job aid to help you diagnose a business problem using the alternative worldview method. How to use the alternative worldview method

Use this job aid to eliminate the harmful effects of groupthink in your decision-making. How to eliminate the harmful effects of groupthink

Learning Aid - Peter's Team Approach

Learning Aid - Michelle's Team Approach

Learning Aid - Lora's Team Approach

Learning Aid - Reginald's Decision-Making Group

The inadequacies of working in groups can be frustrating. To overcome them, it is important to understand the causes of these inadequacies.

The common characteristics of ineffective problem-solving and decision-making groups are;

• generating an incomplete problem definition

• seeking a limited number of solutions

• failing to develop contingency plans

Problems at one level reverberate right through the group.

Therefore, it is important to be able to spot common problems with group dynamics, namely

- inefficient communication flow improper group size,

- lack of group cohesiveness.

As time goes by, some team members may lose their enthusiasm. To prevent this and to ensure they remain effective team players while resolving the business problem, you need to maintain their engagement.

You can do this by

• holding short, productive meetings

• identifying progressive, meaningful

• milestones celebrating your team's successes

To solve problems successfully, you need to ensure communication within your group is effective. You can enhance group communication by promoting full participation, encouraging and protecting minority opinions, and keeping opinions separate from the opinion holders.

In almost every decision-making group you take part in, you will probably run across someone who gets under your skin. To avoid being sidetracked, you need to know how to handle such people.

You can apply the following strategies:

- show you are listening

- demonstrate patience,

- redirect the conflict

But as human history has shown, diversity drives progress. So to be successful, your problem-solving team should diagnose business problems using a variety of approaches.

The alternative worldview method features the following steps: breaking into two groups; diagnosing the problem based on opposing worldviews; and debating and evaluating the results.

Group brainstorming is the collective generation of numerous potential solutions, creating many business alternatives. Options are opportunities, and the more you have, the better.

You can overcome groupthink by using the following techniques:

• initially downplay the strength of your own opinions

• assign a rotating devil's advocate role to members of the group

• seek feedback from an external expert

The nominal group technique is one of the oldest and most revered group problem-solving techniques. It allows groups to arrive at effective business decisions because it limits an individual's input to short explanations and relies on anonymous voting to choose among potential solutions. This negates the persuasive effects that influential team members may have on others. It helps ensure that fair, unbiased business decisions are made.

It is important to nurture the decisions your team has reached by periodically reviewing their effectiveness. You can conduct a decision follow-up meeting in which you

This is the Group Problem Solving and Decision Making course, and this is the sixth course of the Decision-making and Problem-solving for Business series.

You think knowing stuff changes the game? You think sitting in a library, stacking up facts like you’re building a Jenga tower, is gonna make you a winner? Man, that’s cute. But life ain't a trivia night. Information alone? It’s worthless. It’s like having a Lamborghini in your garage but you never learned how to drive. You just sit in it, making engine noises. Vroom vroom. People walk by, they see the car, but they also see you ain't going nowhere. You got all this knowledge, all these textbooks, but when life throws a punch, you’re still looking up the definition of "duck." It’s what you *do* with that information that actually matters. Don't be the person with the shiny car and no keys.