SCIENTIFIC METHOD OF PROBLEM SOLVING

Military Requirements for Senior and Master Chief Petty Officer
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that do not point toward your goal. Tinsel is pretty but expensive. COMPREHENSIVE VIEWPOINT Have you gone through all the planning steps? Does your plan cover all vital actions without going into minute, restrictive detail? You must leave room for subordinates to maneuver. Is your plan consistent with command procedures and goals? Your plan should make coordination with other elements of the command easy. COST-EFFECTIVENESS Cost-effectiveness applies to more than just dollars. If your plan will provide enough return to justify the time, energy, and personal involvement you (and others) will invest, use it; otherwise, cancel it. One of the hardest things for a manager to do is scrap a lovely, simple plan. If you must cancel a plan, do it yourself; this is easier than having it scrapped by someone else. SCIENTIFIC METHOD OF PROBLEM SOLVING How many times during the past months have you found obstacles standing between you and some goal you wanted to reach? Most supervisors could quote a fairly large figure if they could make an accurate tally of the number of problems they have faced. Whenever difficulties block your path to some goal, you have a problem. Since you do not lead a charmed existence, problems confront you everyday. As a mature person, you probably accept the inevitability of problems, face them realistically, and seek workable solutions. But, unless you have studied the nature of problems and ways to tackle them, you may still be resorting to trial-and-error methods. This often results in your overlooking the best solutions. Problems can be solved to the advantage of all concerned. The art of problem solving may seem extremely tedious and demanding at first. However, once you master it you will enjoy the benefits of finding the best solution for the problem at hand. Your duties are demanding. Demands create problems that you must solve, sometimes by yourself but more often with others equally concerned. What better reason could you have to master problem solving? You should remember two principles about problem solving: Figure 4-2.-Decision making. 1. Any system is better than no system at all. 2. The ultimate goal of any system is the ability to withhold judgment until all aspects of the problem have been logically considered. The system we describe here is a way you can remove obstacles and reach the goal in problem solving. The method closely related to the process of scientific investigation is often referred to as the scientific method of problem solving. The method is not foolproof, but it will help you withhold judgment until you have considered all possible facets of the problem and all possible solutions. This is a value of any problem-solving system. It enables you to consider possible solutions without prejudice or bias. Any systematic approach to problem solving will help you to withhold judgment and remain open-minded. The seven phases of problem salving (or decision making) follow a logical sequence (fig. 4-2). In actual 4-11

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