In a previous post, we talked about the importance of looking for disconfirming evidence when testing hypotheses. Indeed, this is vital, but, in some situations, supporting evidence might actually be the one helping you reach a solid conclusion. So, don’t discard it….
Complex problems can have a lot of moving parts, and it is easy to lose track of some of those. This why our working memory is a strong limiter in resolving complex problems. One way to address this limitation is…
Citing Baddeley (2003)*, the Oxford Handbook of Thinking and Reasoning defines working memory as ‘the ability to maintain and manipulate information in short-term memory while resisting interference.’ A recent report by the National Academy of Sciences partially dedicated to helping students with problems…
The National Academies Press recently published another of their reports—Discipline-Based Education Research: Understanding and Improving Learning in Undergraduate Science and Engineering (downloadable here). Chapter 5 of that publication is dedicated to problem solving; it advocates working forward: “[E]xpert problem solvers typically…
This is part 3 of our 4-part on MECE thinking — part 1, part 2, part 3, and part 4. For those of us discovering the MECE concept and those perfecting it, it can be oh-so-attractive: Finally, a way to organize my…
Issue trees, issue maps, logic trees, how trees, why trees, diagnostic trees, solution trees, decision trees, fact trees, hypothesis trees… How should you call your trees? Your favorite consultancy has its own terminology and so does the rest of the world. Unfortunately, they don’t…
Say “root cause analysis” in any cocktail party and you’ll hear back “Ishikawa diagram.” Ok, that might work only with cocktail parties that cater to engineers, but an Ishikawa diagram is the de-facto tool of many to diagnose a problem….
Problem solving is about bridging the gap between where you are and where you want to be. Decision making is identifying the path you want to follow in bridging that gap. In that sense, decision making is part of the…
Teaching my course in problem solving I realized that many people face the same business problems. Although you should design each issue tree with your specific situation in mind, you shouldn’t have to start it from scratch. This is what…
Matthew Juniper, at Cambridge, demonstrates how to build issue trees. His approach is very similar to ours and he has an excellent video to describe it so you might want to watch it; here are the highlights I like best. Work on…
Don’t look for the single right issue tree… because there isn’t a single right one. There are several. And this is good news. Think of issue trees as maps Here is an anecdote that has another ten good years, tops…
Issue trees have four rules. Three are absolute and one is highly situation-dependent: being perspicacious. Let’s talk about that one. Follow the four rules of issue trees / issue maps We’ve talked about it, to build effective issue trees, you…
Issue trees / logic trees are a central part of our methodology because they help us organize our thinking. So let’s talk about tools that can help us create excellent issue trees. Logic trees change along the analysis. They change…
This entry is part of a multi-post case study. You’ve identified your problem. You’ve uncovered its root causes by building a why tree and by testing hypotheses. So you’ve covered the first two steps of the problem-solving process. Next, you need to identify solutions. This requires you to…
This entry is part of a multi-post case study. So, you’ve defined your problem; well done! Now you need to look for its root cause(s). We’ll use a specific type of issue tree: a why issue tree (or diagnostic issue tree)….
In a complete problem-solving process you’ll have to build two logic trees: one “why” to find the root cause of your problem and one “how” to identify potential solutions. The good news is, you might not have to start them from…
Avoid describing processes in “how” trees… There are two ways to answer to a “how” question. The first is to describe one particular solution process to reply to the question (e.g. to the question “how to go from NYC to…
Management consultants use issue trees to help them structure how they solve complex problems. A closely related animal is the question map, which is at the heart of our problem-solving approach and, therefore, a recurrent theme on this site. There…