Conceptually, this problem-solving approach is the combination of creative and critical thinking. But much of its value is in its non-conceptual part: the actual tools that help make your thinking, analysis and communication sharper.
I first came in contact with logic trees as a management consultant. There, I also learnt about Minto’s pyramid principles. I liked how these tools helped sharpen my thinking, and when I went into academia and I had a chance to lead the re-design of the graduate programs for my university, I thought that students could benefit from it. So we developed a course on problem solving.
The course was highly practical: every student brought a problem—professional or personal, it didn’t matter, as long as the problem was causing them stress. We first looked at the theory and then we applied it to these problems, using each as a case study for the entire group to discuss.
At first, many students were reluctant about the class. But after going through the process once, the overwhelming majority saw much value in it. Indeed, some credited it for restructuring their entire thinking process, and these were working professionals, some with many years of practice! Meanwhile their employers loved the idea and asked us to spin the course off our master’s program so that more of their employees could take it.
Through the hundreds of cases that I’ve seen with my students, we’ve complemented the tools that strategy consultancies use: we’ve made them more logical still and easier to apply. We’ve also realized that this is a field where groups are much smarter than individuals but, unfortunately, we never found a good knowledge network to foster exchanges. So here it is, this site is my attempt at creating a problem-solving community.
Thanks for visiting. If you like the site or think it needs improvement, please send me your feedback.
Arnaud
About me: I’m currently an associate vice provost at Rice University. I trained as a mechanical engineer, studying my undergraduate in France and getting my PhD at Rice. Then I went into strategy consulting with Accenture before going to academia at the University of Monterrey—to teach engineering and business and serve as graduate dean. After several years I left to become a sustainability consultant and start a company. Since April 2011 I’m back at Rice, as an administrator and teaching problem solving. You can find out more about me here.