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Problem Solving Exercises

This page contains links to our articles and resources containing problem solving exercises. It includes a wide range of tips and tools and at its heart is our seven step problem solving process. This is the best starting place, providing an overview of our problem solving techniques and a structured process for you to follow.

Our pages on problem solving methods stress two crucial principles.

Firstly, make sure you start by thinking about the nature of the problems you're trying to solve.

Secondly, try not to see every problem as a problem. Think positive. Both of these principles are understated ideas at the heart of effective problem solving, though they're often missed in our rush towards finding solutions!

So don't miss the crucial first stages in attempting to deal with any problem.

Use your problem solving skills to ask: "is it the right problem to solve?"

Then consider: "what opportunities are created by this problem?"

It's at this point that you may move from problem solving to decision making.

How ever you choose to start though, there are enough problem solving exercises in the pages below to help you deal with almost any management situation. So here's a third question: why not get started?

Articles - Problem Solving Exercises

Seven Step Problem Solving Process
Here's a seven step problem solving technique, full of tips to help you arrive at the best solutions to your problems. In this article you'll find several of our other problem solving tools and management tips, brought together to provide a complete problem solving process.

Best Management Tools Ever? - A Good Question
The best management tools are good questions but why are they so important, and how can we ask better questions? The danger with many management tools is that they may create a false sense of security encouraging us to hide from the real thinking that needs to take place.

5 Whys: Getting to Root Causes, Fast!
Asking why 5 times: "the 5 Whys", is a simple but powerful tool to use with any problem solving activity. It's a technique to help you get past the symptoms of a problem, and to find its root causes.

Problem Solving Technique: 4 Steps To Improve Your Processes
Using questions to analyse, challenge and improve business and management processes is a very useful skill.

Problem Solving Activity - A Question Checklist For Problem Solving
This question checklist is a simple but effective problem solving activity. It's straighforward to use and easy to adapt to any specific circumstance. Using a set of structured questions encourages both broad and deep analysis of your situation or problem. The questions themselves may be simple, but when used as part of the checklist, they become a powerful management tool.

Problem Solving Skill
This is a useful tool to help you find the right problems to solve. Asking "why not" is an effective way to seek innovation and encourage creativity.

The Power of Positive Thinking: 5 Questions to Transform Problem Solving
Go from problem-solving to opportunity-creating using the power of positive thinking. This tool uses 5 questions to help you radically change the way you solve problems.

Tools and Tips - Problem Solving Exercises

Asking Good Questions: In a Minute?
We think the best management tools are good questions, but how do you find time to ponder them? This page contains some short cuts to asking good questions at work.

Creativity Problem Solving: 5 Questions to Help Put Your Creativity to Work!
Whether you've a problem to solve, or a decision to make, our creativity problem solving questions help promote 'possibility thinking'....

Problem Solving Skill: Finding the Right Problems to Solve. pdf

An understated problem solving skill is to see every problem as an opportunity, start by finding the right problems to solve. This tool will help.

Problem Solving Activity Tool: a Question Checklist for Problem Solving. pdf

This question checklist is a simple but effective problem solving activity. It's straighforward to use and easy to adapt to any specific circumstance. Using a set of structured questions encourages both broad and deep analysis of your situation or problem.

Problem Solving Technique Tool: 4 Steps to Improve Your Processes. pdf

This tool contains a useful problem solving technique to help you improve your business processes. Critical examination is a structured questioning process which uses Kipling’s six honest serving men: what, why, when, how, where and who.