Problem Solving in Everyday Life

Problem Solving in Everyday Life

People make decisions every day to solve problems that affect their lives.

The problems may be as unimportant as what to watch on television or as important as choosing a new profession.

If a bad decision is made, time and resources are wasted, so it’s important that people know how to make decisions well.

There are six steps to follow to ensure the best decision.

These six steps in problem solving include the following:

1.      Identify the problem

2.      Understand the problem

3.      Identify alternative ways to solve the problem

4.      Select the best way to solve the problem from the list of alternative solutions.

5.      List instructions that enable you to solve the problem using the selected solution.

6.      Evaluate the solution.

Take the problem of what to do this evening.

1.      Identify the problem.

How do the individuals wish to spend the evening?

2.      Understand the problem.

With this simple problem, also, the knowledge base of the participants must be considered. The only solutions that should be selected are ones that everyone involved would know how to do. You probably would not select as a possible solution playing a game of chess if the participants did not know how to play.

3. Identify alternatives.

a. Watch television.

b. Invite friends over.

c. Play video games.

d. Go to the movies.

e. Play miniature golf.

f. Go to the amusement park. g. Go to a friend’s party.

The list is complete only when you can think of no more alternatives.

4. Select the best way to solve the problem.

a. Weed out alternatives that are not acceptable, such as those that cost too much money or do not interest one of the individuals involved.

b. Specify the pros and cons of each remaining alternative.

The phrase ‘pros and cons’ is an abbreviation of the Latin phrase pro et contra, ‘for and against’

c. Weigh the pros and cons to make the final decision. This solution will be the best alternative if all the other steps were completed well.

5. Prepare a list of steps (instructions) that will result in a fun evening.

6. Evaluate the solution

Are we having fun yet? If nobody is having fun, then the planner needs to review the steps to have a fun evening to see whether anything can be changed, if not then the process must start again.

By going through these steps, the problem solver can be assured that he has arrived at the best possible solution and will achieve the desired results.