holistic theory of strategic problem solving

To read this content please select one of the options below:

Please note you do not have access to teaching notes, toward a holistic theory of strategic problem solving.

Team Performance Management

ISSN : 1352-7592

Article publication date: 1 May 1999

To date, many of the models and theories that seek to explain problem solving and decision making, have tended to adopt an overly reductionist view of the processes involved. As a consequence, most theories and models have proved unsuitable in providing managers with a practical explanation of the dynamics that underpin problem solving. A substantial part of a manager’s time is taken up with problem solving and decision making issues. The question of whether managers possess the necessary problem solving skills, or have access to “tools”, which can be used to manage different types of problems, has become an issue of some importance for managers and organisations alike. This paper seeks to contribute to the current literature on problem solving and decision making, by presenting a conceptual model of problem solving, which is intended to assist managers in developing a more holistic framework for managing problem solving issues.

• Strategic management
• Problem solving
• Decision making

O’Loughlin, A. and McFadzean, E. (1999), "Toward a holistic theory of strategic problem solving", Team Performance Management , Vol. 5 No. 3, pp. 103-120. https://doi.org/10.1108/13527599910279470

Copyright © 1999, MCB UP Limited

Related articles

All feedback is valuable.

Please share your general feedback

Report an issue or find answers to frequently asked questions

Contact Customer Support

File(s) under permanent embargo

Toward a holistic theory of strategic problem solving, publisher doi.

• https://doi.org/10.1108/13527599910279470

Publication classification

Usage metrics.

Suggestions or feedback?

MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

• Machine learning
• Social justice
• Black holes
• Classes and programs

Departments

• Aeronautics and Astronautics
• Brain and Cognitive Sciences
• Architecture
• Political Science
• Mechanical Engineering

Centers, Labs, & Programs

• Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL)
• Picower Institute for Learning and Memory
• Lincoln Laboratory
• School of Architecture + Planning
• School of Engineering
• School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences
• Sloan School of Management
• School of Science
• MIT Schwarzman College of Computing

Adopting a holistic approach to problem-solving in business

Press contact :.

Previous image Next image

“Price discounting is one of my pet peeves,” says Sharmila Chatterjee. No, the academic head for the Enterprise Management (EM) Track of MIT Sloan School of Management’s MBA program doesn’t have it out for customers looking for a deal. Rather, this is a stitch in a running thread of conversation about bigger-picture thinking honed from years of research.

Chatterjee is a business-to-business (B2B) marketing expert and an award-winning case writer who examines issues in the domains of channels of distribution, sales force management, and relationship marketing. “No one should be engaged in price gouging, of course,” she says, “but get an equitable return on the value delivered through your offerings, such that you can sustain investments for the long-term success of your brand.”

Citing Millward Brown’s finding that brands account for more than 30 percent of the stock market value of companies in the S&P 500 index, The Economist acknowledged that for many companies, their brand is their most valuable asset. Consider United Airlines' 2017 branding crisis that resulted in their stock plummeting $1.4 billion in a matter of days after video footage emerged showing the forced removal of a passenger from an overbooked flight.

Brand, according to Chatterjee, is a function of customer experience. In a 2019 opinion piece for USA Today , Chatterjee outlined the importance of customer experience by examining the case of bricks-and-mortar (B&M) retailers. When e-commerce emerged in the early 1990s, traditional retailers tried to compete by slashing prices. As a result, they were forced to cut costs elsewhere: They whittled down sales teams, neglected investment in training, and ignored merchandising and product development — all to the detriment of the in-person customer experience.

Their misapprehension of the situation resulted in a self-fulfilling prophecy. Customers flocked online for discounts, leaving, among others, big brands like RadioShack, Toys R Us, and Sears to file for bankruptcy. In an unexpected twist, the rise of the digital age exposed the importance of the human interface. Today, savvy retailers recognize the benefits of combining e-commerce and B&M, integrating online and offline. “Technology is a great facilitator and enabler. Problems arise when we turn to technology as a panacea,” warns Chatterjee. “Human capital is critical for successful outcomes in most cases — minimizing this comes at a great cost.”

For further evidence of the need for human-tech complementarity, we need look no further than the high rates of technology implementation failures experienced by businesses today. In 2001, Gartner reported a 50 percent failure rate of customer relationship management (CRM) implementation. Fast-forward to 2021, and those numbers have only increased. How to reconcile this with the fact that CRM spending shows no sign of slowing down, and for many businesses, CRM has become the largest revenue area of spending in enterprise software?

Meanwhile, a recent study conducted by MIT Sloan Management Review with Boston Consulting Group found that technology implementation failure rates of 70 percent or higher are the norm, and only 10 percent of companies report significant returns on their AI investments. “There is obviously enormous potential for technology to deliver value, but the potential is not being realized, and therein lies the role of human capital,” says Chatterjee.

In an effort to understand the high rate of technology implementation failures, particularly in the B2B context, Chatterjee conducted an empirical analysis of buying organizations that purchased and implemented business intelligence software. She found that the most significant predictors of both successful technology assimilation and overall customer satisfaction were related to a set of intangibles that the buyer assigned to the software seller; the “soft” service facet, reflecting a holistic understanding of the customer’s business context, value creation potential, and pathway to value.

She calls this the “value mindset.” Once a business has a competitive product, they need to be able to communicate how to best extract the potential value from the technology. This means, among other things, sharing with the buyer the change management needed in the legacy processes as well as best business practices and lessons learned from failure. Sellers that communicated “value mindset,” according to Chatterjee, experienced significantly higher rates of customer satisfaction — to the extent of a three-to-one effect. “Again, this demonstrates in spades the incredible value of the human interface — value not communicated is value not delivered. Again, technology and humans as complements,” she explains.

Chatterjee's research began with a fascination with information silos fostered during her time as a graduate student at the Wharton School, where she first became aware of a statistic that found a mere 30 percent of marketing leads were pursued by sales teams. This revelation regarding the gap in the sales-marketing interface was something Chatterjee channeled into years of research in the domain of sales lead management and customer retention. Focused on this disconnect between human behavior and the rhythms of capitalism, she would go on to conduct some of the first studies in the critical area of the sales-marketing interface, specifically sales lead management, including a study she and her colleagues titled " The Sales Lead Black Hole: On Sales Rep’s Follow-up of Marketing Leads ."

A self-proclaimed empiricist in her research, Chatterjee employs surveys coupled with econometric methods for analysis that tests models in the real world. This focus on real-world business challenges extends to her administrative role leading the EM Track at MIT. All MBA programs deliver content, whether it be in finance, marketing, operations, or leadership. But at the Institute, Chatterjee emphasizes the importance of mindset. From the outset, students in the EM Track are encouraged to think like CEOs while on a pathway to future leadership. In practice, this means training students to move away from siloed thinking while adopting a holistic, cross-functional approach to problem-solving in order to transform organizations.

The best way to instill this leadership mindset is for students to work on real-life business projects and challenges with companies while applying theoretical concepts and frameworks learned in the classroom. In their first year, students are thrown into the deep end. Through the Enterprise Management Lab (EM-Lab), EM Track students are provided the opportunity to work hands-on with large enterprises to address business challenges. "My students' work on real business challenges embodies the MIT motto “mens et manus,” mind and hand,” she says.

Companies like Procter & Gamble/Gillette, Amazon, BMW, and IBM have all participated in EM-Lab projects. “Multinationals come back to us year after year because we deliver useful findings that they can implement in their companies,” says Chatterjee. At the same time, MIT students benefit from the real-world experience, refining their research skills while developing the mindset of future business leaders. “It’s a very symbiotic relationship, a partnership that benefits all involved,” Chatterjee says.

Share this news article on:

Related links.

• Sharmila Chatterjee
• Video: Sharmila Chatterjee
• MIT Industrial Liaison Program
• MIT Sloan School of Management

Related Topics

• Business and management
• Digital technology
• Human Resources
• Technology and society

Related Articles

Amazon.com VP compares e-commerce and manufacturing

Mit sloan’s new track: enterprise management.

Previous item Next item

More MIT News

Faces of MIT: Anthony Hallee-Farrell '13

Read full story →

From group stretches to “Hitting Roman,” MIT Motorsports traditions live on

Creating the crossroads

Study reveals why AI models that analyze medical images can be biased

Leaning into the immune system’s complexity

Scientists use computational modeling to guide a difficult chemical synthesis

• More news on MIT News homepage →

Massachusetts Institute of Technology 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA, USA

• Map (opens in new window)
• Events (opens in new window)
• People (opens in new window)
• Careers (opens in new window)
• Accessibility
• Social Media Hub
• MIT on Facebook
• MIT on YouTube
• MIT on Instagram

IEEE Account

• Change Username/Password
• Update Address

Purchase Details

• Payment Options
• Order History
• View Purchased Documents

Profile Information

• Communications Preferences
• Profession and Education
• Technical Interests
• US & Canada: +1 800 678 4333
• Worldwide: +1 732 981 0060
• Contact & Support
• About IEEE Xplore
• Accessibility
• Terms of Use
• Nondiscrimination Policy
• Privacy & Opting Out of Cookies

A not-for-profit organization, IEEE is the world's largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity. © Copyright 2024 IEEE - All rights reserved. Use of this web site signifies your agreement to the terms and conditions.

Toward a holistic theory of strategic problem solving

Buy article:.

$50.01 + tax ( Refund Policy )

Pressing the buy now button more than once may result in multiple purchases

Authors: O'Loughlin, Andrew ;  McFadzean, Elspeth

Source: Team Performance Management , Volume 5, Number 3, 1999, pp. 103-120(18)

Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing Limited

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/13527599910279470

• < previous article
• view table of contents
• Supplementary Data

Keywords: Decision Making ; Model ; Paradigms ; Problem Solving ; Strategic Management

Document Type: Research Article

Publication date: March 1, 1999

• Ingenta Connect
• Ingenta DOI
• Latest TOC RSS Feed
• Recent Issues RSS Feed
• Accessibility

Share Content

• Free content
• Partial Free content
• New content
• Open access content
• Partial Open access content
• Subscribed content
• Partial Subscribed content
• Free trial content

Curious what it’s like to be an MIT EMBA student? Learn more from our community.

Smart. Open. Grounded. Inventive. Read our Ideas Made to Matter.

Which program is right for you?

Through intellectual rigor and experiential learning, this full-time, two-year MBA program develops leaders who make a difference in the world.

A rigorous, hands-on program that prepares adaptive problem solvers for premier finance careers.

A 12-month program focused on applying the tools of modern data science, optimization and machine learning to solve real-world business problems.

Earn your MBA and SM in engineering with this transformative two-year program.

Combine an international MBA with a deep dive into management science. A special opportunity for partner and affiliate schools only.

A doctoral program that produces outstanding scholars who are leading in their fields of research.

Bring a business perspective to your technical and quantitative expertise with a bachelor’s degree in management, business analytics, or finance.

A joint program for mid-career professionals that integrates engineering and systems thinking. Earn your master’s degree in engineering and management.

An interdisciplinary program that combines engineering, management, and design, leading to a master’s degree in engineering and management.

Executive Programs

A full-time MBA program for mid-career leaders eager to dedicate one year of discovery for a lifetime of impact.

This 20-month MBA program equips experienced executives to enhance their impact on their organizations and the world.

Non-degree programs for senior executives and high-potential managers.

A non-degree, customizable program for mid-career professionals.

Growing as a leader in life sciences through the MIT EMBA

Embracing a growth mindset

How the MIT EMBA helped one alum develop a new analytics platform

MIT Executive MBA

Learning a holistic approach for effective strategy

Ana Escandon, EMBA '19

Aug 12, 2020

Ana Escandon '19

Strategy is important for all companies, yet a common pitfall is not looking at the organization holistically. Often, strategy is biased, taking a narrow view of the company. As a result, the strategy might solve a few problems but may not be transformational at all.

A simple analogy for strategy is picking apples. You pick up the fruit and quickly look at it; you might find a few spots and still decide to buy it, thinking it appears to be healthy. I learned through MIT’s Global Organizations Lab (GO-Lab) that by taking a holistic approach, you can observe and extract additional information that can make strategic decisions, or picking the right apples, more effective.  By carefully viewing all sides of the fruit and considering its condition below the surface, you may discover that a simple spot is an indication that the apple is not so healthy after all.

GO-Lab is an international, integrative project of the Executive MBA in which teams are tasked to solve a strategic challenge for a real company. I had the fortune to work alongside an incredible team and a highly invested client. The challenge was to provide strategic guidance to a global organization on whether or not to enter a new business somewhat far from its current capabilities. As I reflected on this experience, it became clear that these three learnings are absolutely critical when it comes to holistic and effective strategy.

Effective strategy is multidisciplinary

When presented with a problem statement, the first step is to “go see and assess” to determine if the stated problem is in fact the real problem. The goal is to identify the actual problem and better understand its cause. Just like the examination of the apple, this means looking at the problem statement from different perspectives.

In the GO-Lab project, this came naturally for our team because we all came from diverse backgrounds, from strategy and R&D to finance and pharma. We asked our client all sorts of questions and requested information from different departments. As a result, we talked with people across the entire organization, gathering data and perceptions from detractors, as well as regions and departments that weren’t obvious internal stakeholders. We also talked to external actors in the client’s ecosystem who could contribute other viewpoints of the organization. We included researchers, universities, and even other companies related to the industry in our interviews.

While it took some time, these discussions gave us a well-rounded idea of the company and its position in the marketplace. Moreover, it revealed that the original problem statement didn’t represent the real problem at stake. Getting to this point was crucial in delivering good results for the project and the client.

Effective strategy is honest

Acknowledging the organization’s capabilities is key. Several times during the project, my teammates would say, “the farther you are from headquarters, the more real it gets.” People at the front line are the ones who experience the true ability of the organization’s capabilities. By detaching from corporate beliefs, you can make more assertive strategic decisions.

Throughout our project, we encountered key people at the company’s headquarters who defined the organization based on past experiences and successes. As a result, the company thought it could enter the new market on its own. From our visits to the company’s sites and talking to frontline employees, we found many gaps in the company’s common knowledge and the new business’ benchmark. When we brought back this information to the client, they were able to be honest with themselves and admit to where they really were in the market. In the end, this honesty enabled them to select a much better strategy to enter the space.

Effective strategy is political

As noted above, problem statements aren’t always accurate. A political lens is helpful to understand the underlying interests of different groups surrounding the problem. Understanding this can help to reduce obstacles in generating commitment towards strategic goals. If you can’t align interests, the organization won’t move towards the desired direction.

As we dug in deeper through the project, we realized that the customer had fundamental interests that weren’t explicit in the problem statement. We had to tap into our political savviness to understand these interests and how they conflicted with the views of other internal stakeholders. Realizing this helped us to frame our proposal in ways that would be more practical for the client to sell their strategy internally.

Applying a holistic approach

The client moved forward with the project, the team graduated, and these learnings lived on for a new purpose. Today, I’m in charge of strategy and business development in my organization and use these GO-Lab learnings to help drive a transformational, strategic agenda for the company.

I follow this holistic approach to include a diversity of people in discussions, learning from their perspectives on the company’s position and understanding conflicting interests in order to move forward. By doing this, I have been able to reveal misconceptions about our capabilities and opportunities, which helped me to take the lead in redesigning our growth strategy for the next five years.

Thanks to this experience, I have changed as a leader and a driver for change. Without coming to MIT, I would never have imagined that something as simple as “picking apples” could deliver transformational results if done well.

Ana Escandon, EMBA '19, is Head of Sales at Citrofrut in Monterrey, Mexico.

Related Posts

• Search Menu

Sign in through your institution

• Browse content in Arts and Humanities
• Browse content in Archaeology
• Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Archaeology
• Archaeological Methodology and Techniques
• Archaeology by Region
• Archaeology of Religion
• Archaeology of Trade and Exchange
• Biblical Archaeology
• Contemporary and Public Archaeology
• Environmental Archaeology
• Historical Archaeology
• History and Theory of Archaeology
• Industrial Archaeology
• Landscape Archaeology
• Mortuary Archaeology
• Prehistoric Archaeology
• Underwater Archaeology
• Urban Archaeology
• Zooarchaeology
• Browse content in Architecture
• Architectural Structure and Design
• History of Architecture
• Residential and Domestic Buildings
• Theory of Architecture
• Browse content in Art
• Art Subjects and Themes
• History of Art
• Industrial and Commercial Art
• Theory of Art
• Biographical Studies
• Byzantine Studies
• Browse content in Classical Studies
• Classical History
• Classical Philosophy
• Classical Mythology
• Classical Literature
• Classical Reception
• Classical Art and Architecture
• Classical Oratory and Rhetoric
• Greek and Roman Epigraphy
• Greek and Roman Law
• Greek and Roman Papyrology
• Greek and Roman Archaeology
• Late Antiquity
• Religion in the Ancient World
• Social History
• Digital Humanities
• Browse content in History
• Colonialism and Imperialism
• Diplomatic History
• Environmental History
• Genealogy, Heraldry, Names, and Honours
• Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing
• Historical Geography
• History by Period
• History of Emotions
• History of Agriculture
• History of Education
• History of Gender and Sexuality
• Industrial History
• Intellectual History
• International History
• Labour History
• Legal and Constitutional History
• Local and Family History
• Maritime History
• Military History
• National Liberation and Post-Colonialism
• Oral History
• Political History
• Public History
• Regional and National History
• Revolutions and Rebellions
• Slavery and Abolition of Slavery
• Social and Cultural History
• Theory, Methods, and Historiography
• Urban History
• World History
• Browse content in Language Teaching and Learning
• Language Learning (Specific Skills)
• Language Teaching Theory and Methods
• Browse content in Linguistics
• Applied Linguistics
• Cognitive Linguistics
• Computational Linguistics
• Forensic Linguistics
• Grammar, Syntax and Morphology
• Historical and Diachronic Linguistics
• History of English
• Language Acquisition
• Language Evolution
• Language Reference
• Language Variation
• Language Families
• Lexicography
• Linguistic Anthropology
• Linguistic Theories
• Linguistic Typology
• Phonetics and Phonology
• Psycholinguistics
• Sociolinguistics
• Translation and Interpretation
• Writing Systems
• Browse content in Literature
• Bibliography
• Children's Literature Studies
• Literary Studies (Asian)
• Literary Studies (European)
• Literary Studies (Eco-criticism)
• Literary Studies (Romanticism)
• Literary Studies (American)
• Literary Studies (Modernism)
• Literary Studies - World
• Literary Studies (1500 to 1800)
• Literary Studies (19th Century)
• Literary Studies (20th Century onwards)
• Literary Studies (African American Literature)
• Literary Studies (British and Irish)
• Literary Studies (Early and Medieval)
• Literary Studies (Fiction, Novelists, and Prose Writers)
• Literary Studies (Gender Studies)
• Literary Studies (Graphic Novels)
• Literary Studies (History of the Book)
• Literary Studies (Plays and Playwrights)
• Literary Studies (Poetry and Poets)
• Literary Studies (Postcolonial Literature)
• Literary Studies (Queer Studies)
• Literary Studies (Science Fiction)
• Literary Studies (Travel Literature)
• Literary Studies (War Literature)
• Literary Studies (Women's Writing)
• Literary Theory and Cultural Studies
• Mythology and Folklore
• Shakespeare Studies and Criticism
• Browse content in Media Studies
• Browse content in Music
• Applied Music
• Dance and Music
• Ethics in Music
• Ethnomusicology
• Gender and Sexuality in Music
• Medicine and Music
• Music Cultures
• Music and Religion
• Music and Media
• Music and Culture
• Music Education and Pedagogy
• Music Theory and Analysis
• Musical Scores, Lyrics, and Libretti
• Musical Structures, Styles, and Techniques
• Musicology and Music History
• Performance Practice and Studies
• Race and Ethnicity in Music
• Sound Studies
• Browse content in Performing Arts
• Browse content in Philosophy
• Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art
• Epistemology
• Feminist Philosophy
• History of Western Philosophy
• Metaphysics
• Moral Philosophy
• Non-Western Philosophy
• Philosophy of Science
• Philosophy of Language
• Philosophy of Mind
• Philosophy of Perception
• Philosophy of Action
• Philosophy of Law
• Philosophy of Religion
• Philosophy of Mathematics and Logic
• Practical Ethics
• Social and Political Philosophy
• Browse content in Religion
• Biblical Studies
• Christianity
• East Asian Religions
• History of Religion
• Judaism and Jewish Studies
• Qumran Studies
• Religion and Education
• Religion and Health
• Religion and Politics
• Religion and Science
• Religion and Law
• Religion and Art, Literature, and Music
• Religious Studies
• Browse content in Society and Culture
• Cookery, Food, and Drink
• Cultural Studies
• Customs and Traditions
• Ethical Issues and Debates
• Hobbies, Games, Arts and Crafts
• Natural world, Country Life, and Pets
• Popular Beliefs and Controversial Knowledge
• Sports and Outdoor Recreation
• Technology and Society
• Travel and Holiday
• Visual Culture
• Browse content in Law
• Arbitration
• Browse content in Company and Commercial Law
• Commercial Law
• Company Law
• Browse content in Comparative Law
• Systems of Law
• Competition Law
• Browse content in Constitutional and Administrative Law
• Government Powers
• Judicial Review
• Local Government Law
• Military and Defence Law
• Parliamentary and Legislative Practice
• Construction Law
• Contract Law
• Browse content in Criminal Law
• Criminal Procedure
• Criminal Evidence Law
• Sentencing and Punishment
• Employment and Labour Law
• Environment and Energy Law
• Browse content in Financial Law
• Banking Law
• Insolvency Law
• History of Law
• Human Rights and Immigration
• Intellectual Property Law
• Browse content in International Law
• Private International Law and Conflict of Laws
• Public International Law
• IT and Communications Law
• Jurisprudence and Philosophy of Law
• Law and Politics
• Law and Society
• Browse content in Legal System and Practice
• Courts and Procedure
• Legal Skills and Practice
• Primary Sources of Law
• Regulation of Legal Profession
• Medical and Healthcare Law
• Browse content in Policing
• Criminal Investigation and Detection
• Police and Security Services
• Police Procedure and Law
• Police Regional Planning
• Browse content in Property Law
• Personal Property Law
• Study and Revision
• Terrorism and National Security Law
• Browse content in Trusts Law
• Wills and Probate or Succession
• Browse content in Medicine and Health
• Browse content in Allied Health Professions
• Arts Therapies
• Clinical Science
• Dietetics and Nutrition
• Occupational Therapy
• Operating Department Practice
• Physiotherapy
• Radiography
• Speech and Language Therapy
• Browse content in Anaesthetics
• General Anaesthesia
• Neuroanaesthesia
• Browse content in Clinical Medicine
• Acute Medicine
• Cardiovascular Medicine
• Clinical Genetics
• Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics
• Dermatology
• Endocrinology and Diabetes
• Gastroenterology
• Genito-urinary Medicine
• Geriatric Medicine
• Infectious Diseases
• Medical Toxicology
• Medical Oncology
• Pain Medicine
• Palliative Medicine
• Rehabilitation Medicine
• Respiratory Medicine and Pulmonology
• Rheumatology
• Sleep Medicine
• Sports and Exercise Medicine
• Clinical Neuroscience
• Community Medical Services
• Critical Care
• Emergency Medicine
• Forensic Medicine
• Haematology
• History of Medicine
• Browse content in Medical Dentistry
• Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
• Paediatric Dentistry
• Restorative Dentistry and Orthodontics
• Surgical Dentistry
• Browse content in Medical Skills
• Clinical Skills
• Communication Skills
• Nursing Skills
• Surgical Skills
• Medical Ethics
• Medical Statistics and Methodology
• Browse content in Neurology
• Clinical Neurophysiology
• Neuropathology
• Nursing Studies
• Browse content in Obstetrics and Gynaecology
• Gynaecology
• Occupational Medicine
• Ophthalmology
• Otolaryngology (ENT)
• Browse content in Paediatrics
• Neonatology
• Browse content in Pathology
• Chemical Pathology
• Clinical Cytogenetics and Molecular Genetics
• Histopathology
• Medical Microbiology and Virology
• Patient Education and Information
• Browse content in Pharmacology
• Psychopharmacology
• Browse content in Popular Health
• Caring for Others
• Complementary and Alternative Medicine
• Self-help and Personal Development
• Browse content in Preclinical Medicine
• Cell Biology
• Molecular Biology and Genetics
• Reproduction, Growth and Development
• Primary Care
• Professional Development in Medicine
• Browse content in Psychiatry
• Addiction Medicine
• Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• Forensic Psychiatry
• Learning Disabilities
• Old Age Psychiatry
• Psychotherapy
• Browse content in Public Health and Epidemiology
• Epidemiology
• Public Health
• Browse content in Radiology
• Clinical Radiology
• Interventional Radiology
• Nuclear Medicine
• Radiation Oncology
• Reproductive Medicine
• Browse content in Surgery
• Cardiothoracic Surgery
• Gastro-intestinal and Colorectal Surgery
• General Surgery
• Neurosurgery
• Paediatric Surgery
• Peri-operative Care
• Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
• Surgical Oncology
• Transplant Surgery
• Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery
• Vascular Surgery
• Browse content in Science and Mathematics
• Browse content in Biological Sciences
• Aquatic Biology
• Biochemistry
• Bioinformatics and Computational Biology
• Developmental Biology
• Ecology and Conservation
• Evolutionary Biology
• Genetics and Genomics
• Microbiology
• Molecular and Cell Biology
• Natural History
• Plant Sciences and Forestry
• Research Methods in Life Sciences
• Structural Biology
• Systems Biology
• Zoology and Animal Sciences
• Browse content in Chemistry
• Analytical Chemistry
• Computational Chemistry
• Crystallography
• Environmental Chemistry
• Industrial Chemistry
• Inorganic Chemistry
• Materials Chemistry
• Medicinal Chemistry
• Mineralogy and Gems
• Organic Chemistry
• Physical Chemistry
• Polymer Chemistry
• Study and Communication Skills in Chemistry
• Theoretical Chemistry
• Browse content in Computer Science
• Artificial Intelligence
• Computer Architecture and Logic Design
• Game Studies
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Mathematical Theory of Computation
• Programming Languages
• Software Engineering
• Systems Analysis and Design
• Virtual Reality
• Browse content in Computing
• Business Applications
• Computer Security
• Computer Games
• Computer Networking and Communications
• Digital Lifestyle
• Graphical and Digital Media Applications
• Operating Systems
• Browse content in Earth Sciences and Geography
• Atmospheric Sciences
• Environmental Geography
• Geology and the Lithosphere
• Maps and Map-making
• Meteorology and Climatology
• Oceanography and Hydrology
• Palaeontology
• Physical Geography and Topography
• Regional Geography
• Soil Science
• Urban Geography
• Browse content in Engineering and Technology
• Agriculture and Farming
• Biological Engineering
• Civil Engineering, Surveying, and Building
• Electronics and Communications Engineering
• Energy Technology
• Engineering (General)
• Environmental Science, Engineering, and Technology
• History of Engineering and Technology
• Mechanical Engineering and Materials
• Technology of Industrial Chemistry
• Transport Technology and Trades
• Browse content in Environmental Science
• Applied Ecology (Environmental Science)
• Conservation of the Environment (Environmental Science)
• Environmental Sustainability
• Environmentalist Thought and Ideology (Environmental Science)
• Management of Land and Natural Resources (Environmental Science)
• Natural Disasters (Environmental Science)
• Nuclear Issues (Environmental Science)
• Pollution and Threats to the Environment (Environmental Science)
• Social Impact of Environmental Issues (Environmental Science)
• History of Science and Technology
• Browse content in Materials Science
• Ceramics and Glasses
• Composite Materials
• Metals, Alloying, and Corrosion
• Nanotechnology
• Browse content in Mathematics
• Applied Mathematics
• Biomathematics and Statistics
• History of Mathematics
• Mathematical Education
• Mathematical Finance
• Mathematical Analysis
• Numerical and Computational Mathematics
• Probability and Statistics
• Pure Mathematics
• Browse content in Neuroscience
• Cognition and Behavioural Neuroscience
• Development of the Nervous System
• Disorders of the Nervous System
• History of Neuroscience
• Invertebrate Neurobiology
• Molecular and Cellular Systems
• Neuroendocrinology and Autonomic Nervous System
• Neuroscientific Techniques
• Sensory and Motor Systems
• Browse content in Physics
• Astronomy and Astrophysics
• Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics
• Biological and Medical Physics
• Classical Mechanics
• Computational Physics
• Condensed Matter Physics
• Electromagnetism, Optics, and Acoustics
• History of Physics
• Mathematical and Statistical Physics
• Measurement Science
• Nuclear Physics
• Particles and Fields
• Plasma Physics
• Quantum Physics
• Relativity and Gravitation
• Semiconductor and Mesoscopic Physics
• Browse content in Psychology
• Affective Sciences
• Clinical Psychology
• Cognitive Psychology
• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Criminal and Forensic Psychology
• Developmental Psychology
• Educational Psychology
• Evolutionary Psychology
• Health Psychology
• History and Systems in Psychology
• Music Psychology
• Neuropsychology
• Organizational Psychology
• Psychological Assessment and Testing
• Psychology of Human-Technology Interaction
• Psychology Professional Development and Training
• Research Methods in Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Browse content in Social Sciences
• Browse content in Anthropology
• Anthropology of Religion
• Human Evolution
• Medical Anthropology
• Physical Anthropology
• Regional Anthropology
• Social and Cultural Anthropology
• Theory and Practice of Anthropology
• Browse content in Business and Management
• Business Strategy
• Business Ethics
• Business History
• Business and Government
• Business and Technology
• Business and the Environment
• Comparative Management
• Corporate Governance
• Corporate Social Responsibility
• Entrepreneurship
• Health Management
• Human Resource Management
• Industrial and Employment Relations
• Industry Studies
• Information and Communication Technologies
• International Business
• Knowledge Management
• Management and Management Techniques
• Operations Management
• Organizational Theory and Behaviour
• Pensions and Pension Management
• Public and Nonprofit Management
• Strategic Management
• Supply Chain Management
• Browse content in Criminology and Criminal Justice
• Criminal Justice
• Criminology
• Forms of Crime
• International and Comparative Criminology
• Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice
• Development Studies
• Browse content in Economics
• Agricultural, Environmental, and Natural Resource Economics
• Asian Economics
• Behavioural Finance
• Behavioural Economics and Neuroeconomics
• Econometrics and Mathematical Economics
• Economic Systems
• Economic History
• Economic Methodology
• Economic Development and Growth
• Financial Markets
• Financial Institutions and Services
• General Economics and Teaching
• Health, Education, and Welfare
• History of Economic Thought
• International Economics
• Labour and Demographic Economics
• Law and Economics
• Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics
• Microeconomics
• Public Economics
• Urban, Rural, and Regional Economics
• Welfare Economics
• Browse content in Education
• Adult Education and Continuous Learning
• Care and Counselling of Students
• Early Childhood and Elementary Education
• Educational Equipment and Technology
• Educational Strategies and Policy
• Higher and Further Education
• Organization and Management of Education
• Philosophy and Theory of Education
• Schools Studies
• Secondary Education
• Teaching of a Specific Subject
• Teaching of Specific Groups and Special Educational Needs
• Teaching Skills and Techniques
• Browse content in Environment
• Applied Ecology (Social Science)
• Climate Change
• Conservation of the Environment (Social Science)
• Environmentalist Thought and Ideology (Social Science)
• Natural Disasters (Environment)
• Social Impact of Environmental Issues (Social Science)
• Browse content in Human Geography
• Cultural Geography
• Economic Geography
• Political Geography
• Browse content in Interdisciplinary Studies
• Communication Studies
• Museums, Libraries, and Information Sciences
• Browse content in Politics
• African Politics
• Asian Politics
• Chinese Politics
• Comparative Politics
• Conflict Politics
• Elections and Electoral Studies
• Environmental Politics
• Ethnic Politics
• European Union
• Foreign Policy
• Gender and Politics
• Human Rights and Politics
• Indian Politics
• International Relations
• International Organization (Politics)
• International Political Economy
• Irish Politics
• Latin American Politics
• Middle Eastern Politics
• Political Methodology
• Political Communication
• Political Philosophy
• Political Sociology
• Political Behaviour
• Political Economy
• Political Institutions
• Political Theory
• Politics and Law
• Politics of Development
• Public Administration
• Public Policy
• Qualitative Political Methodology
• Quantitative Political Methodology
• Regional Political Studies
• Russian Politics
• Security Studies
• State and Local Government
• UK Politics
• US Politics
• Browse content in Regional and Area Studies
• African Studies
• Asian Studies
• East Asian Studies
• Japanese Studies
• Latin American Studies
• Middle Eastern Studies
• Native American Studies
• Scottish Studies
• Browse content in Research and Information
• Research Methods
• Browse content in Social Work
• Addictions and Substance Misuse
• Adoption and Fostering
• Care of the Elderly
• Child and Adolescent Social Work
• Couple and Family Social Work
• Direct Practice and Clinical Social Work
• Emergency Services
• Human Behaviour and the Social Environment
• International and Global Issues in Social Work
• Mental and Behavioural Health
• Social Justice and Human Rights
• Social Policy and Advocacy
• Social Work and Crime and Justice
• Social Work Macro Practice
• Social Work Practice Settings
• Social Work Research and Evidence-based Practice
• Welfare and Benefit Systems
• Browse content in Sociology
• Childhood Studies
• Community Development
• Comparative and Historical Sociology
• Economic Sociology
• Gender and Sexuality
• Gerontology and Ageing
• Health, Illness, and Medicine
• Marriage and the Family
• Migration Studies
• Occupations, Professions, and Work
• Organizations
• Population and Demography
• Race and Ethnicity
• Social Theory
• Social Movements and Social Change
• Social Research and Statistics
• Social Stratification, Inequality, and Mobility
• Sociology of Religion
• Sociology of Education
• Sport and Leisure
• Urban and Rural Studies
• Browse content in Warfare and Defence
• Defence Strategy, Planning, and Research
• Land Forces and Warfare
• Military Administration
• Military Life and Institutions
• Naval Forces and Warfare
• Other Warfare and Defence Issues
• Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution
• Weapons and Equipment

• < Previous
• Next chapter >

1 An Overview of Strategic Thinking in Complex Problem Solving

• Published: January 2016
• Cite Icon Cite
• Permissions Icon Permissions

The first chapter, “An overview of strategic thinking in complex problem solving,” gives a general description of the book and introduces the case study that is used in each chapter to exemplify how the tools apply to a practical case. The case study requires no specialized knowledge: a friend’s dog disappears on the very day that the friend dismissed his temperamental housekeeper; did the dog escape or was he kidnapped? The chapter also introduces five key concepts that come at various points along the resolution process: using alternatively divergent and convergent thinking, using issue maps to identify all possible answers to a question exactly once (by using a mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive (MECE) structure), acquiring the right skills, simplifying to reveal the underlying structure of a problem, and not fooling oneself and others.

Personal account

• Sign in with email/username & password
• Get email alerts
• Save searches
• Purchase content
• Activate your purchase/trial code
• Add your ORCID iD

Institutional access

Sign in with a library card.

• Sign in with username/password
• Recommend to your librarian
• Institutional account management
• Get help with access

Access to content on Oxford Academic is often provided through institutional subscriptions and purchases. If you are a member of an institution with an active account, you may be able to access content in one of the following ways:

IP based access

Typically, access is provided across an institutional network to a range of IP addresses. This authentication occurs automatically, and it is not possible to sign out of an IP authenticated account.

Choose this option to get remote access when outside your institution. Shibboleth/Open Athens technology is used to provide single sign-on between your institution’s website and Oxford Academic.

• Click Sign in through your institution.
• Select your institution from the list provided, which will take you to your institution's website to sign in.
• When on the institution site, please use the credentials provided by your institution. Do not use an Oxford Academic personal account.
• Following successful sign in, you will be returned to Oxford Academic.

If your institution is not listed or you cannot sign in to your institution’s website, please contact your librarian or administrator.

Enter your library card number to sign in. If you cannot sign in, please contact your librarian.

Society Members

Society member access to a journal is achieved in one of the following ways:

Sign in through society site

Many societies offer single sign-on between the society website and Oxford Academic. If you see ‘Sign in through society site’ in the sign in pane within a journal:

• Click Sign in through society site.
• When on the society site, please use the credentials provided by that society. Do not use an Oxford Academic personal account.

If you do not have a society account or have forgotten your username or password, please contact your society.

Sign in using a personal account

Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members. See below.

A personal account can be used to get email alerts, save searches, purchase content, and activate subscriptions.

Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members.

Viewing your signed in accounts

Click the account icon in the top right to:

• View your signed in personal account and access account management features.
• View the institutional accounts that are providing access.

Signed in but can't access content

Oxford Academic is home to a wide variety of products. The institutional subscription may not cover the content that you are trying to access. If you believe you should have access to that content, please contact your librarian.

For librarians and administrators, your personal account also provides access to institutional account management. Here you will find options to view and activate subscriptions, manage institutional settings and access options, access usage statistics, and more.

Our books are available by subscription or purchase to libraries and institutions.

• About Oxford Academic
• Publish journals with us
• University press partners
• What we publish
• New features  
• Open access
• Rights and permissions
• Accessibility
• Advertising
• Media enquiries
• Oxford University Press
• Oxford Languages
• University of Oxford

Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide

• Copyright © 2024 Oxford University Press
• Cookie settings
• Cookie policy
• Privacy policy
• Legal notice

This Feature Is Available To Subscribers Only

Sign In or Create an Account

This PDF is available to Subscribers Only

For full access to this pdf, sign in to an existing account, or purchase an annual subscription.

• SUGGESTED TOPICS
• The Magazine
• Newsletters
• Managing Yourself
• Managing Teams
• Work-life Balance
• The Big Idea
• Data & Visuals
• Reading Lists
• Case Selections
• HBR Learning
• Topic Feeds
• Account Settings
• Email Preferences

A More Holistic Approach to Problem Solving

• B V Krishnamurthy

When you’re stuck on a problem, it often helps to step back and look at the bigger picture. You see things differently and discover new solutions. What I ask participants in my Total Leadership program to do is take the “four-way view” – the interaction among work, home, community, and self – and come up […]

When you’re stuck on a problem, it often helps to step back and look at the bigger picture. You see things differently and discover new solutions. What I ask participants in my Total Leadership program to do is take the “four-way view” – the interaction among work, home, community, and self – and come up with creative ways of bringing them together into a more coherent whole. I’ve found that when you do this, you see opportunities for change to which you were previously blind. The happy result: improved performance and satisfaction all the way around.

• B V Krishnamurthy is the Director and Executive Vice-President of Alliance Business Academy in Bangalore, India, where he is also the ASI Distinguished Professor of Strategy and International Business.

Partner Center

Intuition versus analysis: Strategy and experience in complex everyday problem solving

• Published: April 2008
• Volume 36 , pages 554–566, ( 2008 )

Cite this article

• Jean E. Pretz 1  

We’re sorry, something doesn't seem to be working properly.

Please try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, please contact support so we can address the problem.

Research on dual processes in cognition has shown that explicit, analytical thought is more powerful and less vulnerable to heuristics and biases than is implicit, intuitive thought. However, several studies have shown that holistic, intuitive processes can outperform analysis, documenting the disruptive effects of hypothesis testing, think-aloud protocols, and analytical judgments. To examine the effects of intuitive versus analytical strategy and level of experience on problem solving, 1st- through 4th-year undergraduates solved problems dealing with college life. The results of two studies showed that the appropriateness of strategy depends on the problem solver’s level of experience. Analysis was found to be an appropriate strategy for more experienced individuals, whereas novices scored best when they took a holistic, intuitive perspective. Similar effects of strategy were found when strategy instruction was manipulated and when participants were compared on the basis of strategy preference. The implications for research on problem solving, expertise, and dual-process models are discussed.

Article PDF

Download to read the full article text

Similar content being viewed by others

Decision Making: a Theoretical Review

Cognitive Architecture and Instructional Design: 20 Years Later

Cognitive load theory and educational technology.

Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.

Abernathy, C. M. , & Hamm, R. M. (1995). Surgical intuition: What it is and how to get it . Philadelphia: Hanley & Belfus.

Google Scholar  

Ambady, N. , & Rosenthal, R. (1992). Thin slices of expressive behavior as predictors of interpersonal consequences: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin , 111 , 256–274.

Article   Google Scholar  

Antonakis, J., Hedlund J., Pretz, J. , & Sternberg, R. J. (2002). Exploring the nature and acquisition of tacit knowledge for military leadership (Research Note 2002–04). Alexandria, VA: Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences.

Baylor, A. L. (2001). A U-shaped model for the development of intuition by level of expertise. New Ideas in Psychology , 19 , 237–244.

Berry, D. C. , & Broadbent, D. E. (1988). Interactive tasks and the implicit—explicit distinction. British Journal of Psychology , 79 , 251–272.

Cattell, R. B. , & Cattell, A. K. S. (1961). Test of “g”: Culture fair . Champaign, IL: Institute for Personality and Ability Testing.

Chase, V. M., Hertwig, R. , & Gigerenzer, G. (1998). Visions of rationality. Trends in Cognitive Sciences , 2 , 206–214.

Article   PubMed   Google Scholar  

Chi, M. T. H., Feltovich, P. J. , & Glaser, R. (1981). Categorization and representation of physics problems by experts and novices. Cognitive Science , 5 , 121–152.

Chi, M. T. H., Glaser, R. , & Farr, M. J. (1988). The nature of expertise . Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Cianciolo, A. T., Grigorenko, E. L., Jarvin, L., Gil, G., Drebot, M. E. , & Sternberg, R. J. (2006). Practical intelligence and tacit knowledge: Advancements in the measurement of developing expertise. Learning & Individual Differences , 16 , 235–253.

Cianciolo, A. T., Matthew, C., Sternberg, R. J. , & Wagner, R. K. (2006). Tacit knowledge, practical intelligence, and expertise. In K. A. Ericsson, N. Charness, P. J. Feltovich, & R. R. Hoffman (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of expertise and expert performance (pp. 613–632). New York: Cambridge University Press.

Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Cronbach, L. J. (1957). The two disciplines of scientific psychology. American Psychologist , 12 , 671–684.

Dijksterhuis, A. (2004). Think different: The merits of unconscious thought in preference development and decision making. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology , 87 , 586–598.

Dijksterhuis, A. , & Nordgren, L. F. (2006). A theory of unconscious thought. Perspectives on Psychological Science , 1 , 95–109.

Epstein, S. (1991). Cognitive—experiential self-theory: An integrative theory of personality. In R. C. Curtis (Ed.), The relational self: Theoretical convergences in psychoanalysis and social psychology (pp. 111–137). New York: Guilford.

Epstein, S., Pacini, R., Denes-Raj, V. , & Heier, H. (1996). Individual differences in intuitive—experiential and analytical—rational thinking styles. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology , 71 , 390–405.

Greenwald, A. G. , & Banaji, M. R. (1995). Implicit social cognition: Attitudes, self-esteem, and stereotypes. Psychological Review , 102 , 4–27.

Hill, O. W. (1987–1988). Intuition: Inferential heuristic or epistemic mode? Imagination, Cognition, & Personality , 7 , 137–154.

Hogarth, R. M. (2001). Educating intuition . Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Hogarth, R. M. (2005). Deciding analytically or trusting your intuition? The advantages and disadvantages of analytic and intuitive thought. In T. Betsch & S. Haberstroh (Eds.), Routines of decision making (pp. 67–82). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Jung, C. J. (1926). Psychological types . London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.

Klein, G. (1998). Sources of power: How people make decisions . Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Legree, P. J. (1995). Evidence for an oblique social intelligence factor established with a Likert-based testing procedure. Intelligence , 21 , 247–266.

Martinsen, O. (1995). Cognitive styles and experience in solving insight problems: Replication and extension. Creativity Research Journal , 8 , 291–298.

Myers, I., McCaulley, M. H., Quenk, N. L. , & Hammer, A. L. (1998). Manual: A guide to the development and use of the Myers—Briggs Type Indicator (2nd ed.). Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.

PACE Center (2002). College Student Tacit Knowledge Inventory [Unpublished test].

Pacini, R. , & Epstein, S. (1999). The relation of rational and experiential information processing styles to personality, basic beliefs, and the ratio-bias phenomenon. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology , 76 , 972–987.

Polanyi, M. (1966). The tacit dimension . Garden City, NY: Doubleday.

Pretz, J. E. (2001). Implicit processing aids problem solving: When to incubate ideas and trust intuitions . Unpublished manuscript.

Pretz, J. E., & Zimmerman, C. (2007, August). Rule discovery in the balance task depends on strategy and rule complexity . Poster presented at the 29th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society. Nashville, TN.

Psotka, J. (2003, December). Consensual scaling of informal knowledge . Talk presented at the Abilities and Expertise Seminar Series in the Yale Psychology Department, New Haven, CT.

Raven, J. C., Raven, J. , & Court, J. H. (1985). Mill Hill Vocabulary Scale . San Antonio, TX: Harcourt Assessment.

Reber, A. S. (1989). Implicit learning and tacit knowledge. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General , 118 , 219–235.

Rencher, A. C. (1995). Methods of multivariate analysis . New York: Wiley.

Roediger, H. L. , III (1990). Implicit memory: Retention without remembering. American Psychologist , 45 , 1043–1056.

Schön, D. A. (1983). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action . New York: Basic Books.

Schooler, J. W. , & Melcher, J. (1995). The ineffability of insight. In S. M. Smith (Ed.), Creative cognition approach (pp. 97–133). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Sloman, S. A. (1996). The empirical case for two systems of reasoning. Psychological Bulletin , 119 , 3–22.

Sternberg, R. J. (1988). The triarchic mind . New York: Penguin.

Sternberg, R. J., Forsythe, G. B., Hedlund, J., Horvath, J., Snook, S., Williams, W. M., et al. (2000). Practical intelligence in everyday life . New York: Cambridge University Press.

Sternberg, R. J. , & Weil, E. M. (1980). An aptitude * strategy interaction in linear syllogistic reasoning. Journal of Educational Psychology , 72 , 226–239.

Tulving, E. , & Schacter, D. L. (1990). Priming and human memory systems. Science , 247 , 301–306.

Tversky, A. , & Kahneman, D. (1974). Judgment under uncertainty: Heuristics and biases. Science , 185 , 1124–1131.

Wilson, T. D. , & Schooler, J. W. (1991). Thinking too much: Introspection can reduce the quality of preferences and decisions. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology , 60 , 181–192.

Wimmers, P. F., Schmidt, H. G., Verkoeijen, P. P. J. L. , & van de Wiel, M. W. J. (2005). Inducing expertise effects in clinical case recall. Medical Education , 39 , 949–957.

Download references

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Department of Psychology, Illinois Wesleyan University, P.O. Box 2900, 61702-2900, Bloomington, IL

Jean E. Pretz

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jean E. Pretz .

Additional information

Study 1 was part of a doctoral dissertation submitted to Yale University. Support for this project was provided by a Yale University Dissertation Fellowship, an APA COGDOP award, and an APA dissertation award.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Pretz, J.E. Intuition versus analysis: Strategy and experience in complex everyday problem solving. Memory & Cognition 36 , 554–566 (2008). https://doi.org/10.3758/MC.36.3.554

Download citation

Received : 12 June 2007

Accepted : 21 September 2007

Issue Date : April 2008

DOI : https://doi.org/10.3758/MC.36.3.554

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Cognitive Style
• Dual Process
• Fluid Intelligence
• Intuitive Condition
• Part Icipants
• Find a journal
• Publish with us
• Track your research

Three Principles of Holistic Thinking

by Paul Terry | Jul 7, 2016 | Leadership , Strategic Thinking | 0 comments

One of the key issues individuals face as they move into higher levels of responsibility is recognizing the value and importance of holistic thinking. I would define holistic thinking as the ability to see the whole picture and to understand the interdependencies of various component parts.

I think a good analogy is a jigsaw puzzle. A jigsaw puzzle can be overwhelming if you just have a huge jumbled pile of pieces and try to put them together with no frame of reference or guidance. My daughter loved doing puzzles when she was younger, and from watching her, I’ve learned a few principles that help the puzzle come together faster:

• Keep the overall goal in front of you (like a picture of the completed puzzle), and review it often.
• Frame up the borders of the puzzle, by finding the corners and all the straight edge pieces and put those together first.
• Find patterns by grouping similar puzzle pieces together, such as specific colors which provide a hint they must be connected in some way.

These principles also apply to holistic thinking in a business context:

• Know your overall objective. Holistic thinkers constantly remind themselves of their primary objective, or what specific result they are driving towards, which helps them to focus and not get distracted by every tangential concern or issue. Rather, by thinking holistically, bumps in the road are viewed more as learning opportunities and minor setbacks rather than insurmountable challenges. This applies at the individual level as well. When leaders I coach receive formal multi-rater feedback, they can get distracted by a single comment or rating rather than staying focused on the overall goal of development and core messages that will drive that development.
• Correctly frame the problem/challenge. Michael Watkins, a professor at IMD has stated: “Many managers are promoted to senior levels on the strength of their ability to fix problems. When they become enterprise leaders, however, they must focus less on solving problems and more on defining which problems the organization should be tackling.” (emphasis added, Harvard Business Review, June 2012). In the U.S. we have a strong bias for action – we often hear that “doing something is better than nothing”, so we see a problem and dive in to fix it. While this may sometimes be helpful, we can also waste precious resources and cause huge headaches by trying to work on something that was only a symptom of a larger underlying issue. Holistic thinkers have the willingness and patience to step back and ask “what problem are we trying to solve?” I recall working with a non-profit client who stated that they wanted “more community support”. However, every person in the room had a different idea of what “community support” meant. These differences then led to a very useful conversation about “what is community support?” Only after they clarified this issue could they then make progress.
• Learn to recognize patterns. Just as similar color puzzle pieces are likely to interconnect in specific ways, so are people, processes and systems likely to affect one another in certain ways that can be predicted once patterns are identified and understood. Rather than treating every issue that pops up as a “one off” situation, holistic thinkers have the ability to see the interdependencies, resulting patterns, and the implications of those patterns on the overall objective. For example, if we want to improve employee retention, holistic thinkers should seek for patterns not only in the circumstances of those who have left the organization, but also patterns in those who have stayed and flourished in the organization.

Unfortunately, most organizations have too many independent thinkers and far too few holistic (or interdependent ) thinkers. If you want to increase your capacity to think holistically, resist the urge to tackle the obvious surface-level issues—instead, dig deeper for the underlying patterns. This approach can help ensure you’re working on the right problem and staying focused on your primary goals.

Submit a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Posts

• How to Tell if You’re Receiving Good Coaching
• It’s Time to Rethink Customer Service
• Six Ways to Build Agility into Your Professional Development
• 5 Keys to Creating a Culture of Development – Presentation
• Can Just Three Factors Determine Your Career Success?

Recent Comments

• Rachel on Do You Hide Behind Your Smart Phone?
• Brian Metcalf on What the Reclining Seat Issue Teaches Us about Workplace Behavior
• January 2019
• February 2017
• January 2017
• August 2016
• February 2016
• October 2015
• September 2015
• August 2015
• February 2015
• January 2015
• December 2014
• November 2014
• October 2014
• September 2014
• August 2014
• January 2014
• October 2013
• Career Development
• Culture and Values
• Human Resources
• Measurement
• Strategic Thinking
• Talent Management
• Workplace Behavior
• Entries RSS
• Comments RSS
• WordPress.org

• 801.816.1444

BLOG Career Advice

Holistic Problem Solving in Healthcare

In a medical setting, a holistic approach to problem solving refers to addressing the whole person, including their physical, mental, and emotional health, while taking social factors into consideration. This could be specific to diagnosis, in which case a holistic approach might consider all possible symptoms, or holistic treatment which may be very creative and empowers the patient to take charge of their own care.

What Does Holistic Mean?

In simple terms, “holistic” refers to the understanding of the relationship between all of the parts of a whole. In problem solving, a holistic approach starts by first identifying an obstacle, then taking a step back to understand the situation as a whole. When it comes to healthcare, solving problems holistically can make a huge impact on the quality of patient outcomes.

1. Practice Functional Fluidity

• 2. Focus on Accurate & Relevant Information

3. Make NO Assumptions

4. refrain from placing blame, 5. listen actively.

• 6. Enhance Your Nursing Practice

There’s more than one way to look at, or solve, a problem. Just because something worked before doesn’t guarantee it to work again. When you’re stuck on a single way of looking at a problem or solution, and unwilling to think about it differently, consider that there might be a solution you, or others, haven’t thought of yet. There are a number of different ways that people go about solving a problem. Some of these strategies might be used on their own, but working as a team enables the group to employ a range of approaches to figure out and fix a problem. Avoid rigidity and try to stay fluid when it comes to finding a creative solution to a problem.

2. Focus on Accurate and Relevant Information

Interpersonal blow-outs are often rife with irrelevant information. You’ve probably experienced a conflict with a sibling, significant other, or co-worker in which the actual fight was actually about something very different. Holistic problem solving requires cool-headedness and accuracy. So start by assessing what parts of the conflict are related to the issue at hand, and which are about something else entirely. When a problem is very complex, solutions come easier when you push misleading or irrelevant information to the background and focus on the facts.

When dealing with a complication, people often make assumptions about the constraints and obstacles that prevent certain solutions. Try to examine everything you presume is true about the situation – and then consider that it may not be. The other person might not have the same information as you and they might have interpreted something differently. Start by assessing the facts and looking at the problem broadly to avoid making assumptions.

The fastest way to shut down the line of communication is to place blame on someone else. If someone hears they’re wrong, it’s natural to be defensive — which can actually escalate a conflict. Use “I” statements rather than “you” statements to explain your position. It’s about staying neutral and making the others involved in the conflict understand you at the most basic human level. After all, the only person you can control is you.

Communication skills are essential to effective holistic problem solving, and one such primary skill is active listening. Avoid taking a “you” vs “I” approach when solving problems collectively. When someone vocalizes what they’re feeling, make eye contact and repeat back to them what you heard. This is especially helpful in speaking with patients. It reinforces the feeling that they’re being listened to and creates empathy and appreciation. It’s also an opportunity for the patient to refine or correct their statement to ease misunderstandings.

6. Stick to Holistic Nursing Principles

In the medical world, solving for patient issues from a holistic approach is quite specific. The American Holistic Nurses Association has identified six principles to leverage when approaching problems in patient care.

• A body of knowledge
• Evidence-based research
• Sophisticated skills
• Defined standards of practice
• A diversity of modalities from a broad range of practices
• A philosophy of living and being

Solving problems holistically means examining the whole behavior. The key to a patient’s problem might not be obvious; the issue might be found in thoughtful consideration of the whole person, their environment, and lifestyle.

• Career Advice

Related Articles

How to Choose an Occupational Therapy Assistant School

If you're looking into Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA) school, you’re starting down a meaningful and lucrative career pat. The U.S....

A Day in the Life of an Occupational Therapy Assistant

An Occupational Therapy Assistant’s Daily Schedule Before diving into any career, it’s important to know what a typical day on...

What is a Pediatric Occupational Therapy Assistant?

Occupational Therapy (OT) helps people of any age living with injuries and disabilities learn to perform daily activities. For children,...

Occupational Therapy vs Physical Therapy: What’s the Difference?

Occupational Therapy (OT) and Physical Therapy (PT) are frequently confused, so let’s set the record straight. The difference between OT...

6 Qualities of a Great Occupational Therapist Assistant

Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA) careers have a great salary, excellent job outlook, and lots of growth opportunities. You’ll also go...

• DOI: 10.1287/MNSC.35.8.963
• Corpus ID: 122815511

Defining Managerial Problems: A Framework for Prescriptive Theorizing

• Gerald F. Smith
• Published 1 August 1989
• Management Science

157 Citations

Towards a theory of managerial problem solving, classifying managerial problems: an empirical study of definitional content*, heuristic methods for the analysis of managerial problems, toward a holistic theory of strategic problem solving, process of organizational problem definition: how to evaluate and how to improve, defining real world problems: a conceptual language, can aristotle help us specify the very nature of management problems, prescriptive theorizing in management research: a new impetus for addressing grand challenges, studies in managerial problem formulation systems, an investigation of problem formulation comprehensiveness on solution novelty and elegance in team collaboration, 47 references, towards a heuristic theory of problem structuring, organizational problem formulation: an empirical study., assumptional analysis: a methodology for strategic problem solving, developing a process model of problem recognition, formulating strategic problems: empirical analysis and model development, problem formulation as a purposive activity, problem defining and the consulting/intervention process, formulating the mess: the role of decision aids in problem formulation, strategic management: a stakeholder approach, types of organizational decision processes., related papers.

Showing 1 through 3 of 0 Related Papers