Question
1.0 Educational Emphasis of Universities There is a McKinsey & Company report (reference listed below) that suggests that Universities should place focus on specific learning
1.0 Educational Emphasis of Universities
There is a McKinsey & Company report (reference listed below) that suggests that Universities should place focus on specific learning outcomes. The report suggests that there are areas that Universities must focus on to enhance a graduates' potential to be successful and to contribute more to society.
Several of the suggestions can be supported through an enhanced course of desirable (by employers) instruction that includes design thinking concepts such as:
- Critical thinking and analytical reasoning skills (#2 at 81%)
- The ability to analyze and solve complex problems (#4 at 75%)
- Teamwork skills and the ability to collaborate with others in diverse group settings (#6 at 71%)
- The ability to innovate and be creative (#7 at 70%)
The article also suggests the following:
"Innovation requires independent thinking and a strong ability to work outside of the comfort of structure and predictability and security...Creating an innovative society, a true learning society, has little to do with artificially structured learning, and everything to do with acquiring and developing certain leadership traits. These traits come from the world of experimentation and failure, from the cultivation of broad interests, from curiosity and a willingness to be always ready to start over. This is what we should expect from higher education. Otherwise, we have created a system that guarantees we will fail to be innovative as a society."
An article, Well Prepared in Their Own Eyes, supports the gap between what students believe that they are prepared for in the real world vs. what employers actually experience:
"Students are more than twice as likely as employers to think that students are being well-prepared." (Pg. 1)
Further, on page two there is a figure that suggests that there is a significant gap between what employers experience and what students believe to be the case as it relates to their competencies.
Design thinking and innovation concepts can directly address several of the low scores for preparedness such as the following:
- Working with others in teams - gap of 27%
- Locating & Evaluating information - gap of 35%
- Critical thinking - gap of 40%
- Being innovative - gap of 32%
- Analyzing complex problems - gap of 35%
- Applying knowledge to real-world problems - gap of 36%
- Working with diverse people - gap of 37%
The result of enhancing the low scores would be to increase the desirability of our students from the employers' point of view. This would offset the opinion of employers as recorded in the survey that "when it comes to the types of skills and knowledge that employers feel are most important to workplace success, large majorities of employers do not feel that recent college graduates are well prepared." (Pg. 2)
- 0 Solution / Suggestion
- partial solution is to assist our students to be more viable to employers is to add Design Thinking concepts to their 'Education.'
The article, Design Thinking Comes of Age, discusses applying design thinking principles to the way people work. In our joint program we suggest that we apply them to how our students learn, thus, they will apply them to how they work.
The article also suggests that the concepts of design thinking are applicable to success in the business world (such as the iterative nature of the process which allows teams to do it, iterate and pivot).
Thus, G.E. is using the design thinking process to move away from a "model of exhaustive product requirements" (Kolko, Pg. 69) towards an environment where employees can take risks without facing punitive repercussions.
So, what are we going to work on?
- Critical Thinking
- Ability to analyze and solve complex problems
Teamwork skills - working with others in teams
- The 4 C's
Solving Real World Problems
- Collaboration
- Innovation
- Creativity
- Working with diversity
- Determining what information is needed and where to find the information for problem solving
- Analysis - Data gathering and 'Interpretation'
- Value Propositions
- Understanding - Creating - Delivering - Maintaining - Value
3.0 Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
In traditional management we utilize various tools to assist us understand and create a strategy for our business. In quality management it is about tactics to create and enhance the quality of our products and services.
Further, few of us are taught how to ask questions and what questions to ask to be able to enhance our strategy or tactics. Questions and the process of questioning is a very powerful tool to spur communication and an exchange; of ideas and potential solutions. Questions promote innovation and individual and team performance. Lastly, the Brooks and John article suggests that questions build rapport and trust amongst team members.
In a poem by Kipling in 1902 'I Keep Six Honest Serving Men,' he presents six questions (what, why, when, how, where and who) which constitute a useful formula for getting the complete picture of any problem.
I keep six honest serving men, (they taught me all I knew), Their names are What and Why and When and How and Where and Who, I send them over land and sea, I send them east and west, But after they have worked for me, I give them all a rest. I let them rest from nine 'till five, For I am busy then, As well as breakfast lunch and tea, For they are hungry men. But different folk have different views, I know a person small, She keeps 10 million serving men, Who get no rest at all, She sends them abroad on her own affairs, From the second she opens her eyes, One million 'Hows', two million 'Wheres' And seven million 'Whys'!
Management processes suggest that what - the goal; why - the purpose; and where - the authority, when answered, constitute the scope of the strategy of the business.
While who - the people; when - the sequence; and how - the method, constitute the scope of the tactics of the business.
Management processes also suggest that the tactics must mesh with the strategy of the business to ensure the ongoing success of the business.
On the other hand, one of the greatest challenges in addressing a problem, such as what should our strategy be, is trying to figure out where to start. But one of the best things you can do before you even start thinking about solutions is to take the time to really understand the problem.
An easy way to understand the problem is to start structuring it - thru asking questions.
Kipling's poem is a tool to assist us to think about and structure a problem or to critically analyze almost any situation. The key is asking the right questions:
What is the problem?
Why is it a problem?
When is it a problem?
How is it problematic?
Where is it a problem?
Who is it a problem for?
Asking the right questions along with asking as many questions as possible will increase the opportunity to gain insights to be best able to formulate solutions.
Nate that Kipling's 'child' in the poem refers to a child. This is an interesting use of a metaphor; as a child is typically very inquisitive and very creative in their solutions to problems.
Thus, to enhance our problem-solving techniques we suggest that you utilize the 'Kipling questions.'
The questions should be utilized from a positive and negative perspective.
3.1 Process:
The issue is defined as a question and then either one team or various teams come up with answers to the question at hand.
Suppose the issue is, 'How can we improve product development? The questions could be constructed as follows:
- What is good product development?
- What is not good product development?
- Why do we get good product development?
- Why do we get bad product development?
- When is there good product development?
- When is there bad product development?
- How do we get good product development?
- How do we get bad product development?
- Where is there good product development?
- Where is there bad product development?
- Who gives good product development?
- Who gives bad product development?
- repeatedly approaching the questions of good and bad product development product development and by forcing people to come up with new answers and inputs, a broad picture is painted of the issue and the underlying factors. The ideas are analyzed, prioritized and combined to give a deeper understanding of the problem and some insights as to why it is happening.
These ideas then become the basis for a plan to address the issue.
In the references a book by Schroeder is listed. It contains a list of questions titled the 'Phoenix List'. It is an actual list of questions that CIA agents are trained to utilize to gather information.
The questions are as follows:
3.2 The Phoenix List of Questions
First, you use the "Problem" questions to really identify the problem and possible solutions; then you use the "Plan" questions to help you refine the solution you intend to implement. Here are the 'problem' questions:
- Why is it necessary to solve the problem?
- What benefits will you receive by solving the problem?
- What is the unknown?
- What is it you don't yet understand?
- What is the information you have?
- What isn't the problem?
- Is the information sufficient? Or is it insufficient? Or redundant? Or contradictory?
- Should you draw a diagram of the problem?
- Can you separate the various parts of the problem? Can you write them down? What are the relationships of the parts of the problem? What are the constants of the problem?
- Have you seen this problem before?
- Have you seen this problem in a slightly different form? Do you know a related problem?
- Can you think of a familiar problem having the same or a similar unknown?
- Suppose you find a problem related to yours that has already been solved. Can you use it? Can you use its method?
- Can you restate your problem? How many different ways can you restate it? More general? More specific? Can the rules be changed?
- What are the best, worst, and most probable cases you can imagine?
3.3 The 'Plan' Questions:
- Can you solve the whole problem? Part of the problem?
- What would you like the resolution to be? Can you picture it?
- How much of the unknown can you determine?
- Can you derive something useful from the information you have?
- Have you used all the information?
- Have you taken into account all essential notions in the problem?
- Can you separate the steps in the problem-solving process? Can you determine the correctness of each step?
- What creative-thinking techniques can you use to generate ideas? How many different techniques?
- Can you see the result? How many different kinds of results can you see?
- How many different ways have you tried to solve the problem?
- What have others done?
- Can you intuit (sic?) the solution? Can you check the result?
- What should be done? How should it be done?
- Where should it be done?
- When should it be done?
- Who should do it?
- What do you need to do at this time?
- Who will be responsible for what?
- Can use this problem to solve some other problems?
- What is the unique set of qualities that makes this problem what it is and unlike any other problem?
- What milestones can best mark your progress?
- How will you know when you are successful? (emphasis added)
The following chart (3.1) is from Wabisabizen.com. It is a simple chart that provides several good questions on each of the six 'honest men' from Kipling. They constitute a very good starting point for questions to ask.
Figure 3.1: Critical Thinking Cheatsheet
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Management Accounting
Authors: Leslie G. Eldenburg, Albie Brooks, Judy Oliver, Gillian Vesty, Rodney Dormer, Vijaya Murthy, Nick Pawsey
4th Edition
9780730369387
