Problem-Solving

Approaches to Problem-Solving

There are several different ways of problem-solving – all with their own advantages
and disadvantages. The process an individual adopts as a managing person will be influenced
by organizational policies, the kind of information available about the problem and his/
her own personality and communicative style.

Rational Problem-Solving

The brain can think in two ways - emotionally (governed by instinctive feelings) and
rationally (governed by acquired knowledge and beliefs).
Emotional thinking happens in the limbic system - an interconnected system of brain
nuclei associated with basic needs and emotions, for example, hunger, pain, pleasure,
satisfaction, sex, and instinctive motivation”). When something catches one’s attention,
the brain, in a lightning flash, looks through all the inherited and remembered patterns
to see if there is a match, and responds with the closest pattern that it can find. Emotional
thinking is very clear-cut, black and white, all or nothing. For example, when a black
shape on the path looks like a snake, one feels frightened and runs away.
Rational thinking, on the other hand, is a function of the part of the brain called the
neocortex - the wrinkled outer layer of the front parts of the brain (the cerebral
hemispheres), the functions of which include the perception of sensations, learning,
reasoning and memory. The power to think rationally gives an individual greater flexibility
of response. One has a lot more control over what one does. So that one realizes that
the black shape on the path, though it looks like a snake, could also be a stick, examines
it more closely before deciding what to do.
Rational problem solving rests on the following principles (R. K. Wagner - “Learning to
solve practical problems”):
• Problems are identified by comparing actual performance with an expected
standard performance
• Problems are deviations in actual performance from the expected standard
• A precise and complete description of the problem is needed to identify a
solution:

a) What is happening?
b) Where is it happening?
c) When is it happening?
d) To what extent is it happening?

• The cause of the problem will be found by comparing problem and non-problem
situations.
• Recent problems are a result of some change in the situation that has caused
an unwanted deviation from expectations.
The Rational Decision-Making Model requires the following steps which, if followed,
are assumed to lead to “value-maximizing choices.” The steps are as follows:

• define the problem,
• identify the decision criteria,
• weigh the criteria to determine rank of importance,
• generate possible alternative solutions,
• rate each alternative on each criteria, and
• compute the optimal decision.

The case again rational problem-solving is the flawed assumption that every problem
is defined clearly and precisely, which might not be always possible. Also, rating each
of the alternative problem-solutions relatively in terms of set or predetermined criteria
can be a tricky task.