Problem Solving

Poonam Mittal
Swati Thakare
 What? Why ? And How?
 What?
• Current Situation
• Better Situation
• Process of achieving better situation
 Why?
 Everything involves problem solving
 We need people with good problem solving skills

problem solving categories:

 Conflict resolution problems
 Legal problems
 Money problems
 Math problems
 Science problems
 Mechanical/electrical/computer problems (Technical troubleshooting)
 Sales problems
 Personal problems
 Factory throughput problems
 Business decision problems
 The Most General Problem Solving
Process
The most general problem solving process
involves three steps:
 Analyze the problem state
 Analyze the solved state
 Analyze how to make the transition

Gives the basic structure of most problem

solving.
 Theory of Constraints

 identify and correct bottlenecks

 Speed up the bottleneck
 Offload work from the bottleneck
 Bottlenecks leave clues
 Root Cause Analysis
backward looking detective work
 Significant event occurs
 Problem definition and initial data collection
 Task analysis
 Change analysis
 Control barrier analysis
 Begin the event causal factor chart
 Conduct interviews
 Determine root causes
 Recommend corrective actions
 Report conclusions