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Showing posts with the label problem solving

The New Economy Requires More of an “Einsteinian” Approach

Einstein would feel at home in today’s world.   His creative genius in solving problems would be of great demand in today’s world. Gone are the industrial days where following simple instructions from start to finish guaranteed success in life. Today’s employment opportunities have a greater need for creative thinking, STEM, and unique approaches to solving problems.   The world is changing and society will need to catch up.  A great many things in our society are still built off of the Industrial Era mentality. Our educational system, government offices, law enforcement, etc. continue to use a sequential pattern to process people and information in an inefficient and often ineffective manner. Contrary to institutional sluggishness, most businesses have already moved into the Information Era where they focus on competitive advantages to solve problems and reduce costs.  According to the U.S. Bureau of Statistics between 1998-2004 30% of new jobs created were algorithmic

How Groups Can Foster or Thwart New Product Idea Formation

Groups working together can be an enhancement to problem solving. This problem solving can be put to good use in developing products and services. Perpetually developing and advancing products and services help to develop market penetration, revenue generation, and greater opportunities. A paper by Nijstad & Stroebe (2006) delves into the idea generation process and how associated memory highlights categories   that lead to problem resolution.  The idea generation process is the first step in finding solutions. According to Raaijmaker and Shiffrin’s people search their associative memory (SAM) to find new ideas (1981). They search through their memory creating a flow of thought whereby ideas and concepts spring forth by connecting various concepts, breaking them apart and generating concepts.  Maintaining the free flowing stream of consciousness is important. Ideas should a.) be focused on quantity versus quality, b) seek unusual ideas, c) combination and improvement o

The Microfoundations of Solving Complex Business Problems

Solving problems is a natural part of business development. Every organizational will need to solve particular problems if they hope to overcome market challenges and economic environments. The complexity of today’s global business environment requires better decision making that ensures the best solutions are forthcoming to enhance opportunities. A study by Baer et. al (2013) delves into   a theory of the microfoundations of decisions that help to predict impediments to solution formation when complex and ill-structured problems present themselves. Problem formation has always been the fundamental stumbling block and main activity of strategic decision making (Quinn, 1980). Without solutions to problems organizations cannot move forward in their development and may be derailed by personalities, vantage points, bounded rationality, and poor decision-making process that take their toll on profitability.  Complex problems are more likely to be derailed by the microfoundation

Effective Group Evaluation of Ideas-Creation and Selection

Groups work together to come up with ideas. These groups may be inter or intra-company formations that focus on particular problems. The process in which they generate ideas and evaluate these ideas is important for the development of stronger business models and group decision-making. A study Harvey & Kou (2013) focused on evaluating group decision-making and found that the idea generation process eventually moves into four modes of group interaction that can be used individually or in combination to determine the merits of each idea.  The group process is important for determining how groups work through problems and find solutions. With greater understanding it is easier to formulate and train groups to make better decisions that have a real impact on the environment. The power of group decisions may be based in their ability to generate more ideas and evaluate those ideas from multiple perspectives. The four different ways in which evaluation processes occur is in