Problem Solving

As we all know, most organizations are not short on ideas. They already have long lists of improvement opportunities, initiatives, and problems that “should be fixed.” AI is only accelerating this. It can generate tons of appealing sounding options instantly and make almost any issue appear reasonable and urgent.

People often talk about AI in extremes, either as a magical idea machine or a looming replacement for human creativity. I see it differently. AI is a thinking partner: fast, clever, and occasionally brilliant. That said, I also wouldn’t let it drive me, or anyone I care about, around in my car without supervision.

We start with a large number of ideas, agree to build on each other's ideas, and work together to build ideas until we have the best ideas possible.

There is so much noise surrounding continuous improvement roadmaps and how we should approach them. Why are there so many options? Which one is the best one to use and when? Is one problem-solving roadmap better than another? Why? What is the difference between all of them?

Getting the most out of an engineering or analytics project requires the thoughtful coordination of specifically targeted solution tactics. However, generating optimal returns from this process also, and more fundamentally, presumes that the right problem has been targeted. How do we increase the chances of getting that right, and of advancing on practical solutions to address the right problems?

The following blog post is guest-authored by Angus Fletcher, who will be delivering a keynote address at the 2022 COE Summit. 

The Center for Operational Excellence works alongside our members to foster a problem-solving culture that’s grounded in tried-and-true operational excellence tools, and that’s constant and far-reaching. Through membership, organizations gather actionable insights from industry executives at COE programming, tap into research findings focused on today’s greatest challenges, and connect with Fisher College of Business students poised to become tomorrow’s leaders.

Every business and industry has been impacted by change in the past year and, it is evident that these changes are accelerating. In fact, more change is expected to occur in the next 10 years than in the past 50 years. So, how can businesses keep up? Staying agile in an evolving environment requires a different set of thinking, skills, and capabilities. Below are five strategies your organization can keep up with the ever-increasing pace of change:

*The opinions and thoughts expressed in this article are my own and not necessarily those of my employers or any other individuals.