Reposted here on June 8th, 2020
January 25th, 2011
I was recently asked:
Are
you familiar with/well practiced at the Kepner Tregoe problem solving
and decision making process (KT)? Please briefly elaborate.
[I responded with the following:]Yes.
At
the risk of sounding arrogant, which is something I prefer not to do, I
consider myself a consummate creative problem solver and a systematic,
fair-minded decision maker. The real trick of it all is not to create
any new problems while solving others. Ultimately, when faced with any
problem, a truthful, viable, and feasible solution that reflects the
utmost of technical integrity is what I seek to resolve the difficulty.
Whenever
possible, I always strive to achieve ‘win-win’ solutions for all
parties involved – even when faced with others who have no knowledge of
‘win-win’ possibilities or prefer/tend to deny any possible ‘win-win’
outcome of any given situation. Regardless, I am a steadfast believer
in the importance of proper communication. I enjoy debating topics with
others. I try to enlighten and productively persuade others. I prefer
open-minded individuals over closed-minded ones. When working as a
member of a team, I make a concerted effort to let all team members
contribute to the task at hand – in their own fashion, if need be. I
rarely, if ever, hold a grudge against anyone. Conversely, I often play
‘devil’s advocate’ concerning nearly any issue in an effort to better
any necessary solution.
Consequently, I consider myself an expert
at problem definition/analysis efforts – be they actual problems or
potential problems and regardless of whether they are of a technical or
interpersonal nature. In the end, I always strive to effect meaningful
and feasible solutions that survive into the distant future. Along the
way, I enjoy breaking-down problems and analyzing all potential
variables that might be present. I tend to dislike and distrust any
assumptions and I greatly enjoy nonstop brainstorming. As such, I am
competent at correcting problems and installing/implementing solutions.
Throughout the effort I continually assess and reassess the process and
the outcome as necessary. I always consider Return On Investment (ROI)
of decisions and life cycle costing of capital investments and
improvements (and IRR and NPV, too). Every effort also must pass a
simplistic real-world sanity check while being scrutinized for
value-added. Furthermore, ethical actions and safety concerns are
always paramount throughout any undertakings or efforts. As such, I am
never perturbed by supervisory involvement or lack thereof. I am
confident that I perform these problem-solving and decision-making
initiatives equally well when working as a team member and also when
working solo.
While this problem-solving and decision-making
process may seem drawn-out or vague and even haphazard or random, such
is not the case. Not at all. Problem solving is [almost always] a
simplistic and systematic process, albeit possibly an iterative,
consuming and involved process at times – depending on the
circumstances. Such a systematic and straight-forward process is
regardless of the complexity of the problem or the intricacy of the
preferred solution/decision – politics and resources potentially
withstanding, of course, depending on the environment, situation, and
personalities involved. However, when the process functions properly
and a ‘win-win’ outcome reflecting fairness, integrity, and truth is
attained: the environment, the difficulty, and the situation are all, in
fact, nearly and typically irrelevant to the problem-solving and
decision-making process.
/// end of response///Had
I have known that I could rival Princeton professors with such an
answer, or possibly made myself rich or famous with such a process, I
may have written this particular blog entry much sooner. :) As might
be apparent to some, what I have done here is to take what is claimed
to be the Kepner Tregoe (KT) problem solving and decision making process
and expanded it. What you might find here in The Adam Vernon Trotter
Problem-Solving and Decision-Making Process includes much of what might
be included in the common-sense KT Process with additional facets which I
do not believe are addressed by the KT process.
Adam Vernon Trotter, P.E. / AVT
See also:
The Adam Vernon Trotter Theory of Business Management, located at
http://adamvernontrotter.blogspot.com/2010/11/adam-vernon-trotter-theory-of-business.html
The original post of this blog entry is located at:
https://adamvernontrotter.blogspot.com/2011/01/adam-vernon-trotter-problem-solving-and.html