Intro to Management Module 3
When solving problems, is it better to use intuition or logic?
Intuition is the most effective approach to solving problems.
What's a good way to build trust?
Be transparent
Three of these choices are good foundations for making a decision. Which is not?
Choose the method with the largest upside .
A good logical map is what?
Distinct and Complete
A democratic decision-making style is best used for which desicions?
Low risk and low urgency
What's not an effective approach to a state of ambiguity with completely unpredictable outcomes?
Make a decision with little incremental input
What is the Pareto Principle?
20% of people are responsible for 80% of problems/solutions
How many state of ambiguity are there?
4
What is another name for the Pareto Principle?
80/20 rule
Suppose you are selling for $100 and your cost of goods are $90. Which analysis is the farthest off base?
A 5% price increase will double your profit.
How do countermeasures differ from solutions?
A solution tends to sound final, as if the problem will never come back. A countermeasure can help make you aware that when circumstances change, a problem might come back.
What are the 5 whys?
A way to assess the system rather than the first person who has a problem
Which of the following is not a tool for pinning the problem?
Asking your boss to define the problem.
What's the recommended strategy for dealing with a complex problem that has no obvious solution?
Break the problem down into smaller, more solvable pieces.
One of the results of involving stakeholders in a decision is increased, what?
Buy-in
Buy in is a critical aspect of making what kind of decision?
Consensus-based
The 7 So What's are a critical tool for analyzing what?
Consequences of recommendations
How would you run your business with 50% fewer employees? This question is most relevant when analyzing your what?
Cost blow-up
What should you do when you are in a state of ambiguity with distinct possible outcomes?
Create contingency plans for each possible outcome
What should an effective problem solver keep in mind when thinking about creativity?
Creativity can be increased via many different techniques.
Once you know the highest scoring option, what should you do?
Decide whether it has enough 'want to haves'.
Three of these choices are true statements about decision trees. Which is not?
Decision trees are just another version of a mind map.
Since a problem takes time to solve, how can you define metrics that can help reflect your team's achievement over time?
Define the desired state with short-, medium-, and long-term metrics.
What are the three different lenses for thinking critically?
Point of view, context, reality of problem space
What is one purpose of using a metric after a decision has been communicated and executed?
Evaluate the decision compared to the original goal
Assertions must be supported by what?
Facts
What's the most productive way to apply the 80/20 principle to critical thinking?
Focus on the 20% of efforts that impact 80% of the results.
What is the best type of thinking when solving a problem?
Generate lots of ideas and then choose the best one.
What is true about implementation?
Implementation often gets forgotten.
Why do people tend to rush off and start solving the problem without understanding causes and consequences first?
It makes them feel like they're being responsive to stakeholders.
What is a visual representation of all the issues contributing to your problem?
Logic Map
What's the best way to use a rating chart?
Multiply the scores for each option by the weighting of the factors.
Who said the 80% of problems come from 20% of causes?
Pareto
What's the first step in the problem solving process?
Pinning the Problem
What is an effective way of stating a problem?
State the problem as a gap between what is happening and what needs to be happening.
What makes executive decision making complex?
Scope, duration, and risk
Who said " we think we are in control but really our decisions are predictable"
Senge
When brainstorming, you should adopt this practice for the results.
Separate the idea generation from the judging process.
When you analyze causes, you are evaluating ___ and finding the ___ for each one.
Symptoms; root cause
When you skip pinning the problem, you usually _____.
Waste time and effort coming up with the wrong solutions
What are three advantages of capturing lessons learned in the A3 process?
The team knows what things should be repeated because they went well, the team knows what can be improved, and by sharing with the organization, other teams gain valuable knowledge.
What's the most common reason for getting the wrong cause?
There can be a common cause for two problems, so we think one problem is causing the other
What is the primary benefit of focusing questions?
They help you bound the problem
When investigating fault, why does it make sense to try swapping things around?
To find out where fault lies
Causality has two central components. What are they?
Unearthing root causes and understanding the consequences of the proposed solutions
Suppose you're dealing with a really complicated issue. A fix isn't readily evident and you're feeling under pressure. What's the best way to proceed?
Unpack the big issue into smaler components that are individually easier to solve
What does a project statement define, overall?
What success for the project looks like.
What three important details does an action plan contain?
What task needs to be done, who will be doing the task, and by when will it be done?
What should you do if after you compare results, you realize you didn't achieve ALL your goals?
You probably achieved some improvement. Often not ALL goals are met, so you can open a new A3 project, use the new situation as the current state, and define a new desired state.
You should do deep analysis on what so you can get the right answer quickly and efficiently?
Your best guess
What is the central message of the 'sunk cost' paradox?
Your decisions should made only on the basis of the numbers going forward from now.
Manipulative framing can be deliberate or _____.
accidental
When should you communicate the rationale behind your decision?
as soon as you make the decision
Focusing questions help you ____ a problem space.
bound
If you want to improve your team's critical thinking skills you'll need to introduce them to the tools, give them opportunities to practice, coach them along the way, and _____.
hold them accountable when they don't apply the methods
Looking at prior efforts on a problem can help you understand previous limitations and gain _____ that can be applied the next time around.
institutional knowledge
What is the best tool for getting to a problem's root cause?
the 5 Why's
Why is it important to drill down to the deeper root causes of a problem?
By finding and addressing the deeper root causes, you can prevent a problem from recurring.
Ideas that are small in impact but easy to do are known as _____.
Low-hanging fruit
How can you enhance the problem statement to make it important to solve?
by stating the impact the problem is having on your customer, your profits, or the people and by illustrating the impact with visual graphics
During the critical thinking process what's the first thing you should consider?
causes
A comparison chart typically has _____.
columns for the strengths and weaknesses of each idea
Causality involves digging down to uncover root causes as well as considering the _____ of potential solutions.
consequences
When you change _____ you typically look at the problem from a different functional perspective.
context
What is the first thing you should do in the decision-making process?
define the decision goal
What are assertions?
facts stated to persuade
What should you try to balance when reducing decision-making risk?
gathering information and time
Defining a clear problem statement can help you avoid this common pitfall.
jumping to answers too quickly
Metaphorically, the process of asking "why" five times is like what?
peeling an onion to the core
Vilfredo Pareto, the author of the 80/20 rule, observed this rule to be in effect in both,
real estate and gardening
What are three aspects of a problem you need to measure?
the size of the gap, when the problem is happening, and where the problem is happening
Why should you declare success publicly when you've made a good decision?
to build support for future decisions
Whats a major reason you may be using incorrect data?
underlying biases in how the data was collected
Comparing solutions from ____ can improve your analysis and lead to the discovery of new kinds of solutions.
unrelated projects
Mind maps should be _____.
used to explain a problem as well as generate a view of a problem
