KIN 464 1st Edition Lecture 5 Outline of Current Lecture I The Rational Approach Problem Solving and Decision Making II Limitations of Rational Decision Making III Creative Problem Solving Decision Making IV Group Decision Making Current Lecture I The Rational Approach Problem Solving and Decision Making a Rational problem solving and decision making requires i Utilizing a structured methodology ii Goal of rational decision making is to optimize iii Applying creativity to the problem solving decision making process iv Identify key leadership skills required for collaborative problem solving b Seven Steps in Rational Decision making Approach i Step 1 Clearly identify the problem not the symptom 1 a problem defined is a problem half solved 2 Your definition of the problem guides your solution ii Step 2 List all the facts pertinent to the problem 1 Be careful about limiting ideas based on limiting assumptions 2 Always be aware of paradigms sacred cows that we unconsciously cling to because our assumptions keep us in the box assumption reversal 3 The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes Marcel Proust iii Step 3 List alternative courses of action to solve the problem iv Step 4 List advantages and disadvantages of each alternative v Step 5 Review all of the above vi Step 6 Draw conclusions make recommendations and or decisions vii Step 7 Take action to solve problem Follow up after the decision has been implemented to ascertain if the desired results have been achieved II Limitations of Rational Decision Making a Rational decision making is generally considered superior to intuitive approach in most situations but it has limitations i Decision makers are not always objective ii Often do not have all the facts These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute iii iv v vi Can be easily influenced by emotions or prejudices May not consider all available alternatives May not evaluate available information properly Listen to your gut no matter how good something sounds on paper Donald Trump vii I never get the accountants in before I start up a business It s done on gut feeling Richard Branson viii I ve never met an HR manager who didn t know his company s attrition rate But I ve never met one who knew his company s regrettable attrition rate Peter Tingling a decision theory specialist at Simon Frazer University b The principle of bounded rationality developed by Nobel Prize Scholar Herbert A Simon recognizes that decisions are not always made rationally and logically It states The capacity of the human mind for formulating and solving complex problems is very small compared with the size of the problems whose solutions are required for objectively rational behavior or even for a reasonable approximation to such objective rationality c Simon suggests that people do not exhaustively search for the optimum alternative optimizing but instead select the first alternative that meets some minimum standard of satisfaction This is called satisficing i Satisficing From Simon s administrative model on how decisions are actually made instead of searching for the optimum solution people will select the first alternative that meets some minimum standard of satisfaction for all parties involved ii Optimizing selecting the best possible alternative in light of all known facts considerations and options This is a more ideal approach d Determining factor in which rational decision making approach is used time to gather information formulate alternatives and decide III Creative Problem Solving Decision Making a As we grow older we become LESS CREATIVE i Age 5 98 creativity ii Age 7 68 creativity iii Age 12 24 iv As we socialize we notice that some ideas are unwelcome and we are less likely to voice out ideas in fear of being ridiculed v As a manager you must try and make the environment as comfortable as possible for people to voice their creativity b Make it a practice to keep on the lookout for novel and interesting ideas that others have used successfully Your idea has to be original only in its adaptation to the problem you are working on Thomas Edison c successfully or unsuccessfully e g post it notes d Leadership plays a critical role in either facilitating or inhibiting creativity e Leaders either i Support novel solutions and risk taking or ii Form an unsupportive atmosphere where people are unwilling to take risks IV Group Decision Making a A participative management approach b Advantages i Pooling of thoughts experiences and ideas of many ii two heads are better than one iii people support what they help create iv More information more alternatives and heightened creativity and innovation v Better understanding of the problem and decision makes implementation easier vi Greater commitment to the decision vii Improved morale and motivation viii Good training c Disadvantages i Can be time consuming and the group decision nearly always is based on compromise ii Conformity and groupthink iii Group can be dominated by one member iv Members may not be qualified to deal with the current problem v Personalities of members may clash vi Time constraints d The three best known techniques to stimulate group creativity are i Brainstorming 1 A method to generate many ideas in a short period of time 2 Usually a small group of people are presented with a problem and asked to recommend solutions 3 The purpose is to generate a large quantity of ideas from which one or two may be acceptable ii Synectics 1 Similar to brainstorming with a leader to encourage the group to be more creative iii Nominal Group Process 1 Each group member works alone to prepare a list of ideas or possible solutions to the problem 2 Each member then presents his her solutions to the group 3 The group vote privately on each other s ideas and rank order the solutions