Gravel Gulch – Win Wenger Archives

4 steps to problem solving

by Win Wenger, Ph.D.
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The oldest and most widely practiced creative problem-solving (CPS) method was developed by Alex Osborn and Sidney J. Parnes. Neither its originators nor its main vehicle, the Creative Education Foundation in Buffalo, NY, are responsible for the following, however, because to make it easily and instantly learnable, we have greatly simplified it,

The Osborn/Parnes method was systematized and made into a science in the 1950s and ’60s. Alex Osborn surveyed the working conditions of successful and unsuccessful productive creative teams and found key practices which contribute to creativity.

Osborn invented “brainstorming,” among other things.”Brainstorming” is a way to force yourself to see more and more and more possibilities until you bring into view a better answer than you would normally be able to come up with. Developed further by Sidney J. Parnes, “brainstorming” is only the first in a series of systematic steps to move from problem “mess” to the implementation of a detailed action-plan to solve that problem.

The basic procedure is to break the problem-solving process into a series of discrete, specific steps, then move systematically through each step in turn. Each of these steps, in turn, involves a “brainstorm” to look at as many possibilities and aspects as possible; then reduce and narrow all that down, selecting from among these many the basis for the next step.

In this simplified version you will find four steps. If you identify or select your own question or problem to work, following these four steps and the “gravel gulch” examples as guidelines in pursuing your own chosen issue, you should not only come up with an ingeniously clever solution to your own problem but have some fun doing so!

Here, then, is a brief summary of those four steps, followed by the more detailed instructions for each step. A couple of “Gravel Gulch” examples set them in context.

The “mess” — also known as the “blow-off,” a cathartic elaboration of all that can be said about the problem situation. Out of that mess, select or create the one statement which best defines the problem or question. This statement might be quite different from your initial statement of what the problem is.
Idea-finding —brainstorming dozens or even hundreds of possible remedies to that problem statement, from which you then select the 1 or 2 most interesting possibilities….
Solution-finding — brainstorming dozens or scores of ways to turn that interesting idea into an actual solution to the problem, from which you select the 1 or 2 ways which most nearly appear to actually lead toward the desired results….
Action-planning — which, depending upon context, may involve any or several discrete steps in planning, in finding acceptance, in implementation.

One requirement in the Osborn-Parnes procedure is that someone be present in that process who “owns” the problem—meaning that it’s a problem he is experiencing, whether or not others are also involved, and that he is one whose actions are likely to impinge directly upon that problem situation.

So, please select a problem to address during this learning or practice session with our condensed version of the Osborn-Parnes method of creative problem-solving. Once you’ve selected it, write it down.

Step One. The “Mess”

Make as many roughly one-sentence statements as you can about the problem “mess” or situation.

These can be factual statements, as implied by the “fact-finding” name.
These can also be feelings you have about the issue, and everything else that’s wrong or bothersome in that context.
In fact, quite literally, anything you can think to say about this mess or problem situation, say it! If it occurs to you in the context, write it down whether you think it fits or not. Write all the things you think, feel, perceive and know about this situation.
Write as rapidly as possible, faster than judgment can possibly hope to keep up with, perhaps 50-100 entries in 10 to 15 minutes You need to outrun your internal editor so that all kinds of remarkable new insights and perspectives can open up.

“Gravel Gulch” example, Step One

For example, if the run-down condition of your neighbor’s vacant house (that “Gravel Gulch”), depressing your property values, was your chosen difficulty, it may be that it was just the uncut weeds. That house was still a year or so away from needing repainting and trim-work, so now the problem is the much smaller one of getting those weeds cut and the trash picked up.

Or is it that house’s effect on your property values, especially since the tax assessor is due to make his rounds soon? Or is it the social reflection on you with your friends and clients of having Gravel Gulch two doors down the block? Again, a much more specific and limited problem, whose best address might be very different from the overall mess (quite literally!) posed by Gravel Gulch in the first place! “In what ways might I gain prestige and respect from my friends in the context of having Gravel Gulch down the block?” Or even, “In what ways might I gain prestige and respect with my friends by my having Gravel Gulch down the block?”

Maybe the real problem for you is not appearances but the prospect of roaches and mice encroaching on your household from Gravel Gulch two lots down. In fact, with the tax assessor coming, you could stand to have appearances even a little worse for just a short while; it’s the bugs you don’t want…

Go through your list and encapsulate the 2 to 3 most interesting entries, and several others that seem to capture the situation for you, and perhaps 1 or 2 others that pick out the most bothersome or key aspect of the problem situation for you. Looking over this shortened list, select one item or one very short combination of related items.

Re-write this one selection into what the Osborn-Parnes people would call “a problem statement.” This begins with “In what ways may I …” (or “may we”) do something to remedy that situation? For example, if the onset of bugs and concern about next week’s party at your house are the most bothersome aspects, one problem statement might read, “In what ways may I avoid infestation and have things around here at their best appearance for next week’s party?”

Another problem statement might read, “In what ways may I win both admiration and help at next week’s party at my restrained heroics in coping with the relentlessly advancing juggernaut effects of Gravel Gulch?”

Yet another possible problem statement: “In what ways can I use my party next week to recruit help in acquiring/changing/controlling what is now Gravel Gulch?”

Step Two. “Idea-Finding”

Now starts your brainstorm on Idea-Finding. What are all the possible ways to address whatever is your problem statement?

In a fixed time of 10-15 minutes, list 30-50 possible entries, many silly, many which at first look silly but which on close inspection may be invaluable instead…..Write whatever comes into your mind, even if it seems to have nothing to do with the solution.

Gravel Gulch” example, Step Two

For example, if it’s the whole neighborhood running downhill and your problem statement is, “In what ways may we get this neighborhood spruced back up and kept up?” some of your ideas might be—

Shoot a video and show it to all the neighbors.
Make it a project of the Rotary Club (Kiwanis, church group, whomever…)
Write a humorously exaggerated piece in the newspaper about the neighborhood’s decrepitude.
Spray black paint all around, then they’d have to fix up!
Develop a neighborhood compact of mutual support and aid in fix-ups and consumer bargaining power with repairmen, workmen and building contractors.
Lobby City Hall for credits against taxes for upkeep and improvements.
Put to work the drunks in city jail and/or the teenagers on probation.
Make a big sign: “I’ve spruced up here. Now it’s YOUR turn. (Pass it on!)” Spruce up your own property, plant the sign on the boundary.
Hold a block party, turn it into a neighborhood meeting on the problem.
Post a big sign: “If my neighbors don’t fix their places up by June 1st, I’m painting my house red, white and blue!” (—which is exactly what one citizen in my town of Gaithersburg, Maryland, once did!—in alternating stripes!)
Get some organization to sponsor a prize for the most and best fix-up for the least money.
Get a price on vinyl (or aluminum) siding for the whole neighborhood.
Start a fashion trend for high hedges.
Encourage everyone to rent out a room to nice college kids in return for rent or sweat equity in fix-ups.
Establish a new traditional fix-up regional/local holiday festival.
Anonymously posted rankings of the conditions of the various properties of the neighborhood, week-by-week, placed prominently
….and so on, 30-40-50 items.

No idea gets critiqued until after your brainstorm, until your list of ideas is complete. Set any judgment aside and simply let fly with more and more ideas….

Spin off other ideas: what are some of the other things which might be done with anonymously posted ratings of various sorts? Could this develop into an active community bulletin board that was actually used, actually read, and which actually addressed community issues and news?

Reach further! Look at a few more possibilities –At a few more than that! –And a few more even than that!…..

The next step is when you get to look through your list and determine which of these many ideas might best be made into a solution to your chosen problem…..

Step Three. “Solution-Finding”

Which of your many ideas might usefully be combined into a better idea?

Which of your ideas, among those which have some plausibility to them, is most likely to have been thought of by someone else, and therefore with a history you can usefully research and use? Which of these is least likely so, and therefore most fertile for original development?

Expand your best idea or combination of ideas into a 3-4 sentence description (or prescription) showing how that idea or suggested course of action will solve the problem.

Now is the time to consider objections, make those critiques. How readily can you muster and produce or supply what it takes to implement your solution? How much does this action depend on someone else’s approval, support, or supply? Perhaps you need to orient toward those solutions which you can implement virtually alone if need be, marking the others for future reference, once your initial successes have made you more persuasive….

Decide on one for now, and write down your indicated solution to the problem. Now proceed…

Step Four. “Action-Planning”

What are all the goods, services, and supplies needed? List them; circle or underline any for which you need someone else (who?) to supply.
What are the steps of action needed?
By whom?
By when? Make out a time line, by hours, days or weeks, from now to time of completion, with the indicated actions located along it. Which actions must be completed before others can proceed? When does a given action begin, when is it completed, is there an indicator to tell if the schedule is slipping?
Perhaps the most important question: Is everyone affected by this solution benefitted by it? Is any legitimate interest harmed by its success? What will it take to prevent harm to any legitimate interest and ensure its benefit from the outcome? (Not necessarily a matter of being altruistic—just practical in that it’ll probably be easier to implement your solution if you don’t create a dedicated opposition to it.)
Whose approval or support is needed? (Who are all the individuals and agencies or organizations who could block the success of your solution?) Will any in this list need placating? How? How might you step around or go over the heads of anyone whose interest in the matter is not legitimate? How might you avoid arousing the latter and still get the job done in full honor?

If there are several close choices as to desired solution, you may need to do some “criterion-finding.” List the alternative possible solutions down the left column of your paper. Across the top of the page, list such factors as:

cost
how long the thing would take to implement
whether and to what extent the resources needed are already in your hand
how valuable the outcome by that solution would be to you
how readily you will know if the solution is working or not
whatever other such criteria as you find might apply.

Often just scanning such a table will suffice to clarify which solution you want. Or if this is a very detailed table, you might want to weight the vertical columns in some manner as to which are least and which most important to you. Go through each listed solution in turn across the columns, scoring them from 0 to +3 according to how well that solution meets that particular criterion, then add up the weighted scores of each solution, to see which seems best to you.

Don’t feel bound by some arbitrary score resulting from such criterion-finding. The main purpose is to develop your awareness in this critical area of the possible solution. Sometimes, though, what you feel to be right, after you’ve developed your awareness accordingly, does coincide with what scores best on your chart of criteria. If you’ve no clear feel at this stage, what scores best on your criteria chart may well be the best way to go.

If you do go ahead and implement some particular solution, by what design feature will you know, and how soon, whether that particular solution is in fact “working” or whether it will need to be revised? Can you define a series of action/go-ahead points where you proceed if such-and-such has happened by such-and-such time, or reexamine the matter if it has not? You don’t want to lose everything on the first solution that doesn’t work for you. On the other hand, you don’t want to be stalled by trivial difficulties and prevented from a highly desirable outcome.

Please note: No answer is a solution until it is acted upon.

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