Creative Problem Solving Skills For Staff

1. Nguy n Văn Thi nễ ệ
thiennv1211@gmail.com
Creative Problem Solving Skills

2. Outline
• Course Introduction
• Course Objectives
• Problem solving skills overview
• Problem solving model I.D.E.C.I.D.E
and supporting tools
• Questions & Answers
• Practice
• Course evaluation

3. Course Introduction
Problem solving is the key skill that
can make a huge difference to our
career beside the other “soft” skills
like communication, interpersonal,
business awareness, organizing,
negotiation, time management,
planning, project management,
leadership skills …

4. Course Objectives
• Provide an overview and useful basic knowledge of
problem solving.
• Provide the entire creative problem solving process
(I.D.E.C.I.D.E model), as well as the key supporting
mind tools that can be used to identify, analyze and
solve problems effectively.

5. Problem Solving Skills Overview

6. • What is the Problem?
Problem Solving?
• Problem Solving Approaches
• Problem Solving Methods
• Aspects of Problem Solving
• Difficulty, Emotion and
Attitude
• Functional Fixedness
• Structure of our brain
• Creative Problem Solving
• Principles of Problem Solving

7. What is the Problem?
• A perceived gap between the existing state and a desired
state.
A deviation from a norm, standard or status quo.
• Problems occur when something happens that
– prevents a desired result from happening
– causes an undesired result to happen
• There are two types of problems:
– Well-defined:
– Ill-defined:
• Problem solving:
Identified, analyzed and selected solutions for the problem
 What you do when you don’t know what to do … 

8. How do we solve problem?
• Approaches:
– Try and error
– Problem solving model
• Methods :
– Searching a State Space
– Analogy
– Asking Smart Questions

9. Solution: a sequence of
states and valid actions
from Initial state to Goal
state
Problem Solving as Searching a State Space
• Initial State  Valid Actions, Intermediate States …  Goal State

10. Problem Solving as Analogy
• Analogies occur when there are parallels between two
different situations.
• Analogical problem solving is a way to restructure a
problem in a parallel fashion and applying (mapping)
known information (source) to novel problem solving
domains (target).
Use solution of one to solve another 

11. Analogy method has three steps:
1) Noticing the analogous relationship.
This is the hardest step.
2) Mapping correspondence parts of
the two problems onto each other.
(fortress) → (tumour), (army) → (ray)
3) Applying the mapping to generate a
parallel solution to the target problem.
(using little groups of soldiers
approaching from different directions)
→ (sending several weaker rays from
different directions)
Duncker's radiation
problem
Problem Solving as Analogy(cont)

12. Problem Solving as Asking Smart Questions
• When you hit a problem, you must see it clearly.
• Don’t accept everything at face value.
• Challenge assumptions.
• Asking questions is a great way of stirring your thoughts.
• The ability to ask the smart and right kind of questions
will be a key factor in providing an effective solution.
• Questioning techniques:
Open, Funnel, Probing, Closed, …
• How to ask questions the smart way?
http://catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

13. How to ask questions the smart way?
• Use meaningful, specific subject headers
– HELP! Video doesn't work properly on my laptop!
– Smart: X.org 6.8.1 misshapen mouse cursor, Fooware MV1005 vid.
chipset
– Smarter: X.org 6.8.1 mouse cursor on Fooware MV1005 vid. chipset -
is misshapen
• Describe the goal, not the step
– How do I get the color-picker on the FooDraw program to take a hex
RGB value?
– Smart: I'm trying to replace the color table on an image with values of
my choosing. Right now the only way I can see to do this is by editing
each table slot, but I can't get FooDraw's color picker to take a
hexadecimal RGB value.
This allows an answer that suggests a tool better suited to the task.

14. How to ask questions the smart way?(cont)
• Questions Not To Ask
– Q: Where can I find out stuff about the Foonly Flurbamatic?
– A: Ghod, doesn't everybody know how to use Google yet?
STFW you can find. 
– Q: How can I configure my shell prompt?
– A: If you're smart enough to ask this question, you're smart enough
to RTFM and find out yourself. 
• Good and Bad Questions
– Where can I find out stuff about the Foonly Flurbamatic?
– Smart: I used Google to try to find Foonly Flurbamatic 2600 on the
Web, but I got no useful hits. Can I get a pointer to programming
information on this device?
This one has already STFWed, sounds like he have a real problem.

15. 4 Aspects of problem solving
• Are monkeys intelligent?
• Do monkeys have ability to use mental maps to remember, learn new things?
• Can monkeys conclude that needs to move the boxes across the floor, position them
below the bananas, and climb the boxes to reach for bananas?
Goal: Bananas Givens: Boxes Obstacles: Height
Knowledge: Move, Climb the Boxes to grab Bananas
Monkey and banana problem

16. Difficulty, Emotion and Attitude
• Difficulty is not the problem 
• No emotion??? 
• Active attitude/Positive thinking: will be successful!
• Passive Attitude/Negative thinking: will be unsuccessful!
• 10% of our life are the happening events and 90% are our
responses(10/90 rule)
If you think you can, you will.
If you think you can’t, you
won’t
The world does not have to
change ... The only thing that
has to change is our attitude.

17. Functional Fixedness/Mental Set
• Functional fixedness is a cognitive
bias that limits a person to using an
object only in the way it is
traditionally used.
(People often see the box as a device
to hold the thumbtacks and not
immediately perceive it as a
separate and functional component
available to be used)
Duncker's candle problem
Maier’s two string problem

18. Structure of our brain

19. Creative problem solving
The nine dot puzzle:
Your challenge is to draw four straight lines which
go through the middle of all of the dots without
taking the pencil off the paper
Lessons to be learned from this puzzle:
- Look beyond the current definition of the
problem
- Investigate the possibilities and benefit when
boundaries changes in which the solution fit
into
- Hard work is not the solution
Creative problem solving:
Looking at the same thing as everyone else and thinking
something different … 
Have to “think out of the box” to solve the problem

20. Problem 1
Problem 3
Problem 4
Problem 2
Problem 5
Solution to
Problem 2
Solution to
Problem 1
4 problem solving principles
“Godzilla” principle:
To solve problems easily, catch them
early
“Triple Constraints” principle:
If none of {t,c,p} occur, it’s NOT a
problem
“Control Point” principle:
You normally act on problems only
during certain periods
“Pop-Up” principle:
solutions yield problems of their own.
time cost
performance
When you first think of the
problem
When you get an early warning
sign
When it actually happens

21. Problem Solving Skills Overview
• What is the Problem? Problem Solving?
2 type of problems : well-defined and ill-defined
• 2 Problem Solving Approaches:
Try and error, Problem solving model
• 3 Problem Solving Methods:
Searching a State Space, Analogy, Asking Smart
Questions
• 4 Aspects of Problem Solving:
Goal, Givens, Obstacles, Knowledge
• Difficulty, Emotion and Attitude
• Functional Fixedness/Mental Set
• Structure of our brain:
Frontal lobe, parietal lobe, temporal lobe, occipital lobe
• Creative Problem Solving:
Have to “think out of the box” to solve the problem
• 4 Principles of Problem Solving:
Godzilla, Triple Constraints{t,c,p}, Control Point, Pop-Up

22. Problem Solving Model
and Supporting Tools

23. Some common problem solving models
Problem Solving Model (I.D.E.C.I.D.E)
and Supporting Tools:
1) Identify the problems
2) Define the objectives
3) Enumerate possible root causes
Brainstorming , 5 Whys,
Cause & Effect Diagram ,
Pareto Analysis(80/20)
4) Create list of possible solutions
Six Hat Thinking, SCAMPER
5) Identify the final solutions
Simple and Weighted Rating
Charts, FFA
6) Develop an action plan and do it
Gantt Chart, Action Register
7) Evaluate the results and improve

24. Some Common
Models

26. Problem Solving Model I.D.E.C.I.D.E
The 7 steps of Problem solving:
1) Identify the problem
2) Define the objectives
3) Enumerate possible root
causes
4) Create list of possible
solutions
5) Identify the final solution
6) Develop an action plan and do
it
7) Evaluate the results and
improve

27. 1. Identify the Problem
Checklist:
• What is the problem in this case?
• Whom is it experienced by?
• Where does it occur?
• When is it experienced?
• Is it really a problem? {t,c,p} occur?
• How is it?
• Does it need to be solved?
Format:
• (Something) is preventing (desired results) from
happening
• (Something) is causing (undesired results) to occur
IDECIDE
A problem well stated is a problem half solved. (C.Kettering)
An undefined problem has an infinite number of solutions.
(A.Humphrey)
Recognizing a problem is the first step to solving it ...
Some problems cannot be solved but you can make peace with them.
(S.Friedman)

28. Break complex problems down into manageable parts
1. Identify the Problem
IDECIDE

29. 2. Define Objectives
Checklist:
• What do you want to achieve? What is the
expected result?
• What is the cost for solving make it worth to do?
• Is it you have to solve the problem?
• Who else is also responsible?
• Is there any time constraint?
• Do you all agree with that?
Format:
To get the desired result within a deadline
/timeframe with any limitation/assumption
IDECIDE
Don't find fault, find a remedy. (Henry Ford)
It is wise to direct your anger towards
problems not people;
to focus your energies on answers not
excuses. (W.A.Ward)

30. 3. Enumerate all possible root causes
IDECIDE
• Root Cause Analysis (RCA) is a popular
and often-used technique that helps
people answer the question of why the
problem occurred in the first place and
trace problem to its origins.
• RCA looks at all three basic types of
causes(Physical, Human and
Organizational) and uses a specific set of
steps(Define the Problem, Collect Data,
Identify Possible Causal Factors, Identify
the Root Cause) with associated tools
(Drill Down, 5W&5W1H, Cause and Effect
Diagrams, ...) to find the primary cause
of the problem.

31. Checklist:
• Have we finished the RCA to list
out all likely root causes?
• Did we collect all the data support
for all the ideas in the analysis ?
• Did we find out the root causes?
• Did we put them into the priority
list ?
Supporting Tools:
• Brainstorming
• 5 Whys (5W & 5W1H)
• Cause & Effect Diagram
• Pareto Analysis(80/20 rule)
3. Enumerate all possible root causes(cont)
IDECIDE

32. Brainstorming
• To generate a large number of ideas in a short time
• Principles and rules:
- Must define the problem/concern.
- Everyone tries their best to develop and generate as many new and
different alternatives as possible - quantity not quality
- Anything goes. There is no such thing as “bad” idea, since it may spur other
ones. Don’t reject “silly” ideas
- Use ideas of others to stimulate your own.
Improve on them or combine them to come up with better approaches
- Encourage each other. No criticism - evaluate later
- Work as a group. Choose a facilitator to scribe involve and operate rules
- Let ideas incubate allow them to ‘hatch’
• Methods:
- Structured: take turns …
- Unstructured: speaks with no restraint
- Silent: write ideas on paper
IDECIDE

33. 5 WhysIDECIDE
How to do:
• Describe the problem
in very specific terms
• Ask Why it happens
• If the answer doesn’t
identify a root cause,
ask why again.
• Continue asking until the
root causes are identified
Purpose: To identify the root cause of a problem quickly and see
how different causes of a problem might be related
“You peel away layer after
layer of the symptoms to get
to the real heart of the
problem”

34. 5 WHY’s SampleIDECIDE
1. Why is our customer, Microsoft, unhappy?
As we did not deliver on time our products or services as we said.
2. Why were we unable to meet the timeline or schedule for delivery?
Because the works took much longer than we thought it would.
3. Why did it take so much longer?
Since we under estimated the complexity of the works.
4. Why did we under estimate the complexity of the works?
As we made a quick estimate of the time to complete it, but did not
list the individual stages needed to complete the project.
5. Why didn't we do this?
Since we were running behind on other customer’s projects.
We need to review our estimation and specification procedures
Customer is not happy

35. 5W & 5W1HIDECIDE
For each of the main ideas that you have identified, ask detailed
questions starting with the 5 W's and 1 H question words to
understand deeply

36. Cause & Effect DiagramIDECIDE
Cause & Effect(Ishikawa, Fishbone) Diagram:
A graphical way to organize, record brainstorming
ideas
How to do:
• Subdivide big problems - tackle each part
• Identify main causes - use 4M’s or 6M’s or
other
• Identify sub-causes - attach ‘twigs’
• Circle biggest causes - rank them
4 M’s: Manpower, Machines, Methods, Materials.
4 P’s: Policies, Procedures, People, Plant

37. IDECIDE
MAN
METHODMATERIAL
Poor IDE
Inexperienced manager
Bad design method
Inexperienced developers
MACHINE
Machine not capable
High Bug Rate
Poor change control
Wrong input Memory leaks
Cause & Effect Diagram Samples

38. IDECIDE Exercise:
Brainstorming + Cause & Effect Diagram

39. Pareto Analysis
The Pareto principle (80/20 rule) to prioritize
• 80% of the troubles come from 20% of the possible root
causes
• World is “unfair” ! 
• 80% customer satisfaction can be met by solving 20% of
the problems
“Put your effort on the most important
root causes first”
IDECIDE
How to do:
• Identify the root causes
• Score problems (scoring method depends on the sort of problem)
• Group problems together by root cause
• Add up the scores for each group
(The group with the top score is your highest priority)
• Take action (dealing with the top-priority problem, group of
problems, first)

40. Possible
Root Causes
Prob
A. Poor IDE 5%
B. Inexperienced
developers
65%
C. Wrong input 3%
D. Poor code
review process
15%
E. Poor change
management
10%
F. Others 2%
Pareto Analysis Sample
High bug rate
IDECIDE
Data sorted by probability
Problem attack plan:
B D E A C F
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Probability
B D E A C F
Root cause

41. 4. Create list of possible solutions
Types of solutions:
• Corrective Actions
• Preventive Actions
Checklist:
• Is this a corrective action and/or
preventive action?
• What are pros and cons of each
solution?
• Based on the objectives to analyze
and combine the better solutions
Supporting Techniques:
• Six Hat Thinking
• SCAMPER
• Brainstorming
• Pareto Analysis
IDECIDE

42. Six Hat Thinking(Edward de Bono)
• Yellow Hat : Good or positive points.
I can ..., I should ..., I believe that …, I will …
• Red Hat: emotions, or, how we feel about it.
I feel ..., I like ..., I hate ..., I love ...
• White Hat: deals with the facts and real data.
I know that ..., I see that ..., I’ve already learned
that ...
• Green Hat: symbolizes new and creative ideas.
I think that ..., I suggest that ..., I have a new idea
…
• Blue Hat: thinking process itself. “what we do
next?”
I will continue by ..., I should proceed by…
• Black Hat: cautions or concerns, negative aspects
I'm afraid that ..., I wouldn’t do as ..., I worry
about ...
IDECIDE

43. S.C.A.M.P.E.R
Purpose:
To generate more solutions from existing ones
• Substitute: - components, materials, people
• Combine: - mix, combine with other assemblies or services, …
- integrate
• Adapt: - alter, change function, use part of another element
• Modify: - magnify, reduce, minimize in scale, change shape,
- modify attributes (e.g. color, type)
• Put to another use
• Eliminate: - remove elements,
- simplify, reduce to …
• Reverse: - turn inside out/upside down
40 Inventive Principles in Problem Solving With Examples:
http://www.triz-journal.com/archives/1997/07/b/index.html
IDECIDE

44. S.C.A.M.P.E.RIDECIDE

45. 5. Identify the final solutions
Types of solutions:
• Corrective Actions
• Preventive Actions
Checklist:
• Which solution can all team members
support?
• Which solution best meets cost
effectiveness and quality concerns?
• Which solution is most likely to be
accepted by outside the team?
Supporting Techniques:
• Force Field Analysis(FFA)
• Simple & Weighted Rating Charts
• Six Hat Thinking
IDECIDE

46. Simple Rating Charts
Decision factor Sol.1 Sol.2 Sol.3 Sol.4
Easy to implement √ √
Less time consuming √ √ √ √
Higher robustness √
Less cost √ √
How to do:
• Given the list of decision factors
• Rate the solutions against the list
• Choose the solutions with most of favorable factors
IDECIDE

47. Weighted Rating Charts
Decision factor W Sol.1 Sol.2 Sol.3 Sol.4
Easy to implement 5 10 10 0 0
Less time consuming 10 10 5 10 10
Higher robustness 10 0 0 10 0
Less cost 5 0 10 0 10
Total 150 150 200 150
How to do:
• Identify the list of decision factors
• Define the Weight (W) for each factor in term of importance
• Rate the solutions against the list by a Score (S): 0 to 10 or -3 to 5
• Calculate the total score = ∑ Si x Wi
• Choose the solutions with highest total score
IDECIDE

48. Force Field Analysis(FFA)
How to do:
• Provide one FFA for each of solution
• List all the Forces that the solution will bring up
• Take the solution with most Forces Helping(For) than Forces
Hindering(Against)
IDECIDE
Sol.1 : Use an additional linked-list instead of modifying …
FORCES HELPING FORCES HINDERING
Less changes to the system More memory to keep the ptr
More flexible in manipulating More complex when add/delete
Less changes to the test cases
Quicker to implement
Can sort easily

49. 6. Develop an action plan and do it
Types of solutions: Corrective Actions and/or Preventive Actions
Checklist:
• What is the detailed plan to implement this solution?
• Which part will each team member play in implementing the solution?
(including activities and timelines)
• Will the solution create new problems? Backup plan?
• When will we test the solution against the desired results?
Supporting Techniques:
• Gantt Chart
• Action Register
IDECIDE

50. 7. Evaluate the results and improve
Checklist:
• How will we know this solution has
worked?
• What are the risks?
• Do we need to re-adjust our plan?
Format:
• Review the actual result against
objectives
• Put into lesson learn sessions
• Make revisions if necessary
IDECIDE

51. What is the Problem? Solving Approaches and Methods
Aspects and Principles of Problem Solving
Difficulty, Emotion and Attitude
Functional Fixedness and Creative Problem Solving
Problem Solving Model (I.D.E.C.I.D.E) and Supporting
Tools:
1) Identify the problems
2) Define the objectives
3) Enumerate possible root causes
Brainstorming , 5 Whys,
Cause & Effect Diagram , Pareto Analysis
4) Create list of possible solutions
Six Hat Thinking, SCAMPER
5) Identify the final solutions
Simple & Weighted Rating Charts, FFA
6) Develop an action plan and do it
Gantt Chart, Action Register
7) Evaluate the results and improve

52. Questions & Answers

53. Practice

54. Problem Solving Model (I.D.E.C.I.D.E) and Supporting
Tools:
1) Identify the problems
2) Define the objectives
3) Enumerate possible root causes
Brainstorming , 5 Whys,
Cause & Effect Diagram , Pareto
Analysis
4) Create list of possible solutions
Six Hat Thinking, SCAMPER
5) Identify the final solutions
Simple & Weighted Rating Charts, FFA
6) Develop an action plan and do it
Gantt Chart, Action Register
7) Evaluate the results and improve
Something happened: _______________
You are: ______
Please tell us: problem? objective? root causes? Solution

55. Reference
• http://mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_00.htm
• http://erc.msh.org/quality/pssum.cfm
• http://www.quotelady.com/subjects/problem.html
• http://
en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cognitive_Psychology_and_Cognitive_Neuroscience/Problem_Solvin
• http://staroversky.com/psychology/problem-solving/
• http://www.it.bton.ac.uk/staff/rng/teaching/notes/ProbSolvMethods.html
• http://coe.jmu.edu/LearningToolbox/5w1h.html

56. Appendix - Six Sigma
• Six Sigma is a disciplined and strategy uses quality management methods to improve
the quality of process outputs by minimizing the errors and variability in
manufacturing and business processes.
• A six sigma process is one in which 99.99966% of the products manufactured are
statistically expected to be free of defects (3.4 defects per million). DPMO = (1.000.000 * number of
defects)/(number of units * number of opportunities per unit)
• Methods:
- DMAIC - improving an existing business process
- DMADV or DFSS - creating new product or
process designs