Strategic problem-solving

Any business or industry, manager or employee, self-employed or volunteer in a non-profit organisation is continuously challenged by the need to overcome hurdles that block the way to success. More than ever in these years of recession and uncertainty, individuals need to be effective problem-solvers.

An individual’s ability to solve problems can be the difference between the success and failure of a company, career, or family. The inability to solve problems effectively can be a source of anxiety and stress for anyone. Situations are often so complex that people feel confused and helpless and continue to go round in circles.

Anthony Jay, author of Management and Machiavelli says “the uncreative mind can spot wrong answers, but it takes a creative mind to spot wrong questions”. To resolve persistent seemingly impossible problems, people must step outside the entrapping mindset.

Strategic problem-solving set subjects free from their usual mental traps. By looking for reducers of complexity, the strategic problem-solver designs a sort of map which can lead outside the maze.

Strategic problem-solving can be defined as the art of solving complicated personal, interpersonal and organisational problems. Through the use of a specific operative instrument, the strategic problem-solver can come to a better definition of the problem which can lead to select specific techniques, strategies and stratagems, to achieve maximum efficacy and efficiency through action.

It is an action-oriented model that can be applied to the various problematic situations faced in corporate sectors, such as lack of innovation, conflict, poor collaboration, ineffective leadership, and other common problems to which there seems to be no solution.

In all these situations, failure does not lie in the impossibility of the task but in persistence in using ineffective attempted solutions. The first step towards problem- resolution is to find strategies that can break the feedback loops that maintain and often worsen the problem. Only by breaking free from rigid perspectives, can people become open and receptive for other possible perspectives and new solutions, reaching what is often referred to as creative thinking. By combining problem-oriented and solution-oriented manoeuvres, people can come to construct an actual step-by-step strategic action plan to reach their goals.

This is the goal of the seminar on strategic problem-solving at the Phoenicia Hotel this afternoon and on March 2: to hand over to participants an easy-to follow model which can be applied in various obstructing organisational/personal situations. Through a “learning by doing” training experience, participants will be able to design their own problem-solving action plan tailored to their specific situation, enabling them to transform their present limits in resources. This method can be used by individuals but also in boardrooms in constructing a shared problem-solving action plan.

The seminar does not seek to speak about specific problems encountered at the workplace or about abstract notions and theories, but rather to deliver a method which can help each participant learn ‘how to intervene’ effectively and efficiently in overcoming or challenging situations.

By the end of the seminar, participants will come to acquire an operative passpartout, which could be replicated and adapted to various problematic situations encountered at the place of work.

The seminar also follows the ‘learning by doing’ methodology, rendering the participants main actors of the desired change. It is an opportunity for participants to practise a systemic logical problem solving technique, which can then be applied in various life contexts.

This seminar, delivered over two afternoon sessions, is challenging from the outset. It is a blend of tutor-led and experiential learning. It identifies the key concepts of creative thinking and problem solving, by giving delegates a range of versatile and effective techniques, backed up by excellent course notes, which form a valuable reference source for the future. This course is ideal for those seeking an effective tool to find solutions to seemingly impossible problems.

This seminar is organised by W&D Magro Ltd, the business advisory arm of W&D, a mid-tier firm of accountants and auditors, and members of JHI, a global affiliation of accountants and business advisors.

For more information one may visit www.wdmalta.com or e-mail jfenech@wdmagro.com.

Dr Portelli is strategic coach and trainer at W&D’s business advisory unit and is an official collaborator and trainer at the Centro di Terapia Strategica of Arezzo, Italy.