Problem Solving 101 (Watanabe, 2009)

A Simple Book for Smart People

4.0 out of 5 stars DECISIONS, DECISIONS, DECISIONS !, March 14, 2009
By Gail Cooke (TX, USA)

What started out as a book written for Japanese children became a bestseller, read and followed by so many adults that it became Japan's #1 business book. Why? Because it offers easy to understand viable solutions to making the best problem solving decisions we can in order to reach the goals we wish to attain.

Before writing this book author Watanabe was a consultant for the global management consulting firm of McKinsey & Company. As he writes, "For six years I worked with major companies all over the world to help solve their business challenges using a straightforward yet powerful set of problem-solving tools."

Then, in 2007 when the Japanese prime minster placed education at the top of his nation's agenda, Watanabe felt called to help. So he left McKinney to teach children and to write this book. Now, all of us are the beneficiaries.

In a nutshell he suggests 4 steps: (1) Identify the problem quite specifically. A problem can be as simple as where to have dinner that evening or as complex as a major investment. (2) Discover the root difficulties that are causing the problem. (3) Develop a plan of action or steps to be taken to resolve the issue. (4) Take action being prepared to substitute or modify until the issue is resolved.

This abbreviation of the author's ideas does in no way do justice to his theses. His book is replete with charts, graphs and example exercises. Read and learn !

- Gail Cooke

preface There's a fundamental approach to solving these real-life problems, one that can consistently lead you to effective and satisfying solutions. And chances are, no one has ever bothered to show you how.

One of my missions in writing this book was to show everyone a simple way to deal with the problems they face in their everyday lives... Being a problem solver... [is] a whole mind set... true problem solvers are constantly trying to proactively shape their environment.

p.4 Problem solving isn't a talent limited to the lucky few. It's actually a skill and a habit that you can learn.

p.9 The tool kit of a problem-solving kid includes identifying the root cause of a problem and setting specific goals. They have positive attitudes and stay focused on what can be changed rather than what already happened. They come up with specific action plans to fix their problems and then execute right away. Once they take action, they constantly monitor their own progress.

p.13-14 Problem solving is a process that can be broken down into four steps: (1) understand the current situation; (2) identify the root cause of the problem; (3) develop an effective action plan; and (4) execute until the problem is solved, making modification as necessary... Problem solving is a combination of thinking and acting.

p.59-60 There's a proven problem-solving kids' process for figuring out how to achieve such a goal.

Step 1: Set a clear goal.

Step 2: Determine the gap between the goal and the current situation.

Step 3: Form a hypothesis about how to close the gap and achieve the goal.

3A List as many options and ideas as possible.

3B Select the best ideas as the hypothesis.

Step 4: Check the hypothesis. Go back to step 3 if the hypothesis is disproved.

4A Determine the analyses and information required to test the hypothesis.

4B Analyze and develop action plan.

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