Wicked Problems Worth Solving

It feels like our world is spinning out of control. We see poverty, disease, and destruction all around us, and as we search for ways to make sense of the chaos, we're turning to new disciplines for answers and solutions. New, creative innovations are needed, and these new approaches demand different methods and different theories. This book is presented as a handbook for teaching and learning how to design for impact. In it, you'll learn how to apply the process of design to large, wicked problems, and how to gain control over complexity by acting as a social entrepreneur. You'll learn an argument for why design is a powerful agent of change, and you'll read practical methods for engaging with large-scale social problems. You can read this entire book online for free at http://www.wickedproblems.com/

"5/67 Problem Solving" is a book that teaches the reader the most successful and efficient ways to solve problems. Whether it is a Stupid, Difficult, or Wicked Problem. Humphreys and Bertain have leveraged their decades of problem-solving expertise using a unique variation of the "20/80 Rule" that they call "5/67 Thinking." This book creates what is essentially a problem solving guidebook for executives, managers, and just about anyone. They introduce the reader to a number of accompanying concepts and tools like: 5/67 Thinking, The Definition of Success, The No Blame Game and Pioneers and Settlers. These tools evolved as the authors have delivered their problem solving finesse to a wide range of customers. The approach defined in the book will assist any future problem-solver in tackling the hardest problems - even Wicked Problems. It is intended to be a quick read. Enjoy the read.

Complex problem solving is the core skill for 21st Century Teams Complex problem solving is at the very top of the list of essential skills for career progression in the modern world. But how problem solving is taught in our schools, universities, businesses and organizations comes up short. In Bulletproof Problem Solving: The One Skill That Changes Everything you’ll learn the seven-step systematic approach to creative problem solving developed in top consulting firms that will work in any field or industry, turning you into a highly sought-after bulletproof problem solver who can tackle challenges that others balk at. The problem-solving technique outlined in this book is based on a highly visual, logic-tree method that can be applied to everything from everyday decisions to strategic issues in business to global social challenges. The authors, with decades of experience at McKinsey and Company, provide 30 detailed, real-world examples, so you can see exactly how the technique works in action. With this bulletproof approach to defining, unpacking, understanding, and ultimately solving problems, you’ll have a personal superpower for developing compelling solutions in your workplace. Discover the time-tested 7-step technique to problem solving that top consulting professionals employ Learn how a simple visual system can help you break down and understand the component parts of even the most complex problems Build team brainstorming techniques that fight cognitive bias, streamline workplanning, and speed solutions Know when and how to employ modern analytic tools and techniques from machine learning to game theory Learn how to structure and communicate your findings to convince audiences and compel action The secrets revealed in Bulletproof Problem Solving will transform the way you approach problems and take you to the next level of business and personal success.

A groundbreaking new series explores hotly debated issues and offers some intelligent, challenging, and wise ways forward that may be able to break through the current intractable position—the first is coauthored by the author of A Brief History of Everything Each book in this series is coauthored by leading leadership consultant Alan Watkins and a hand-picked expert in the relevant subject field—in this case, one of the most widely read and influential American philosophers of our time. This first entry looks at some of the most pressing and topical issues affecting the world today, from the clash of religions and cultures in a globalized world to the growing dominance of technology. The book sets the scene for debating the key challenges facing current and future generations, and sets possible agendas for how leaders, and potential leaders, can solve challenges through the wise application of multi-tiered multi-channel, multi-organizational intervention lead in a highly developed, enlightened, and selfless way.

Offers a comprehensive overview of the problem solving methods used by sustainability scientists to resolve real-world sustainability problems. The book's content is based on an undergraduate sustainability course taught by the author in the School of Sustainability at Arizona State University.

The fun and simple problem-solving guide that took Japan by storm Ken Watanabe originally wrote Problem Solving 101 for Japanese schoolchildren. His goal was to help shift the focus in Japanese education from memorization to critical thinking, by adapting some of the techniques he had learned as an elite McKinsey consultant. He was amazed to discover that adults were hungry for his fun and easy guide to problem solving and decision making. The book became a surprise Japanese bestseller, with more than 370,000 in print after six months. Now American businesspeople can also use it to master some powerful skills. Watanabe uses sample scenarios to illustrate his techniques, which include logic trees and matrixes. A rock band figures out how to drive up concert attendance. An aspiring animator budgets for a new computer purchase. Students decide which high school they will attend. Illustrated with diagrams and quirky drawings, the book is simple enough for a middleschooler to understand but sophisticated enough for business leaders to apply to their most challenging problems.

Wicked problems are complex, ill-structured, human problem situations. This book will help you design an inquiry and intervention in such messy, wicked situations. It does so by guiding you through the steps and stages of a systemic process that addresses your own wicked problem. Limited references to systems theory and history acquaint you with the key principles to work wicked problems on your own. The focus of this book on systems thinking is on a critically important question that often goes unanswered: "Where do I start?" It also provides numerous tips and tricks to keep you on the right track. You will find that the systems approaches in this book will not only help you to address wicked problems yourselves, but also that it will give you a basic grasp of what is involved in other systems methods. Few other investments in your intellectual toolbox could claim the same.

Design synthesis is a way of thinking about complicated, multifaceted problems of a large scale with a repeatable degree of success. Design synthesis methods can be applied in business, with the goal of producing new and compelling products and services, and they can be applied in government, with the goal of changing culture and bettering society. In both contexts, however, there is a need for speed and for aggressive action. This text is immediately relevant, and is more relevant than ever, as we acknowledge and continually reference a feeling of an impending and massive change. Simply, this text is intended to act as a practitioner's guide to exposing the magic of design.

Discusses how and why organizations and special interest groups of all kinds attempt to solve the wrong problems with intricate solutions.