12.2: Teams – The Problem Solving Process

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Life is full of challenges. A huge part of life is solving those challenges. Sometimes those challenges are at home – how do we keep pine needles from clogging our gutters? Other times they are at work. Ford Motor Company is spending a lot more money fixing product defects after the car has left the factory lot than General Motors.

Teams exist to solve problems. That’s true whether it’s a committee the PTA president has put together to figure out how to raise money for new playground equipment or a team to launch a new product. Often a big problem turns out to be a problem wrapped in a problem wrapped in a problem wrapped in a . . . . well, you get the idea. So, one large team might be composed of a number of smaller teams, each focused on solving one part of a larger problem.

In the following video, Ariana Glantz shares her approach to tackling each day’s problems with a solution-minded point of view.

Find Problem, Solve Problem | Ariana Glantz | TEXxMemphis

What are the five components of being solution-minded? Be prepared to discuss in class. If an online class, list the five steps.

But what, exactly, is the problem-solving process? This video gives a seven-step process for both personal and professional life. Watch this video and identify the seven steps.

How to solve any real-life problem with these 7 steps (Problem solving explained)

List and explain each of the seven steps. In an online class, submit the list to your instructor. In a face-to-face class, this will be discussed in class.

Only an engineering graduate student would have applied the problem-solving process to making a small boat to sail in a cocktail. See how she did it, here:

Problem-Solving Process

Your instructor will assign you to a team. You and your teammates will define a social problem and develop a solution. The solution will be presented in class in the form of a PowerPoint (or similar) presentation.