by Joty Sidhu
(Caledon, Ontario, Canada)
Because everyone in the world uses cell phones these days.
by Joty Sidhu
(Caledon, Ontario, Canada)
Because everyone in the world uses cell phones these days.
I had a dispute with a roommate in college.
Wearing disposable gloves, I collected some poison ivy leaves, put them in a coffee can and took them back to the house.
When he wasn’t there I put on another set of gloves and rubbed the leaves on the toilet seat.
I don’t know for sure what kind of rash he had but I did notice that he was scratching his ass a little more than usual.
by Brad
(Reese)
How’s this grab yeah I had my ex picked up the local police department three weeks after we broke up.
All was quiet; she was down at her favorite bar in town celebrating her Birthday with friends when at 10:30 cops roll in the back door and arrest her for violation of her probation.
I watched her from the parking lot get hauled away by the cops it was great.
I slept well at night – she got what was coming to her!! Revenge is a dish best served cold!!!!
A good entrepreneur definition to begin with is that put forward by Oxford Dictionary…
A person who sets up a business or businesses, taking on financial risks in the hope of profit.
Entrepreneur derives from French. It can be split into two parts. The first part is ‘entre’ which literally translates to ‘under’. The second part relates to ‘prendre’ which means to take. Putting the two parts together it translates to ‘under-take’.
To undertake something means to commit oneself to and begin an enterprise or to take on a responsibility.
So it basically means a person who undertakes the risk of a new enterprise.
In English if you add ship to the end of a word it indicates quality, state, status, skill, or collective body. So entrepreneurship is the process or skill of beginning a new enterprise or responsibility.
I think it’s also important to say a little about what exactly an entrepreneur actually does. An entrepreneur is someone who spots new opportunities. Someone who comes up with new ideas for products, processes or services to respond to a customer need. But also, someone who is able to successfully introduce these new ideas into the market.
Entrepreneurs are individuals that make the innovation process actually happen. They are often able to do this regardless of the obstacles that are put in front of them.
Most successful innovations arise from the identification of opportunities. Innovations rarely come by chance, more often than not they come as a result of deliberate and purposeful search.
Entrepreneurs are quick to act on opportunities that are presented to them. Such opportunities could arise from a number of areas, including
Webster defines an entrepreneur as
one who organizes and directs a business undertaking assuming risk for the sake of the profit.
David Shaw’s definition in his article Entrepreneurs…Winning Strategies Aside in the Ivey Business Journal is as follows,
An entrepreneur implements ideas, concepts or processes in operating ventures and promotes them to achieve their growth potential.
Peter F. Drucker defines an entrepreneur as
one who always searches for change, responds to it and exploits it as an opportunity. Innovation is the tool of the entrepreneur which they use to exploit change as an opportunity for a different business or service.
To finish, Shane and Venkataraman put forward an excellent definition…
The scholarly examination of how, by whom, and with what effects, opportunities to create future goods and services are discovered, evaluated, and exploited. Consequently, the field involves the study of the sources of opportunities; the processes of discovery, evaluation and exploitation of opportunities; and the set of individuals who discover, evaluate, and exploit them.
A warm welcome to the problem-solving steps web page.
You often hear people say that “There are no problems, only opportunities”.
Of course, this is not exactly true it does, however, emphasize the fact that when problem-solving we should look towards the positive aspects of what should be done right now rather than dwelling on the disruption that the problem might create.
Reasons for mistakes should be analyzed and efforts should be made to try and prevent others from making similar mistakes.
In your day-to-day role, you may be faced with a continuous stream of problems, when this is the case it is good practice to consider the following problem-solving steps…
The first and probably most obvious problem-solving step is to actually define the problem.
Sounds obvious I know but it’s a very important step that many people often overlook.
Think in terms of what has gone wrong or what is about to go wrong. Collect user or customer viewpoints/complaints of the problem if possible.
Think about both what needs to be done right now and in the future to deal with the problem.
Try and define what needs to be done in metrics if possible i.e. reduce the number of defects from 15 in a 100 to 1 in a 100 or increase speed of the network to a minimum of 5 MB/s.
Get agreement from the person or people affected by the problem that getting to this agreed metric would be an acceptable solution.
Find out what has actually happened. Compare this to what your understanding is of what should have happened.
Stick to the facts here, people can be emotional and self-protective when it comes to problems. Try to put yourself in the other person’s shoes so that you can understand their motivations, thoughts, and reasoning behind what led to the problem.
Again try and focus on metrics – try and translate complaints and other problem descriptions into actual measurements.
Analyze all the constraints that could affect the situation, both internal and external.
Document all of your discoveries with time, date and the source of the information.
Pull out your documentation and start looking at the facts.
What is relevant to the problem?
Are there any obvious reasons why the problem occurred?
Record any assumptions.
If helpful put a process map together and highlight in red problematic areas.
Are there any alternative courses of action? If so consider the merit/value of each.
How well will each resolve the problem?
How much will each cost? Think of the quality v cost v time triangle – this can be a difficult juggling act and may require much communication with your major stakeholder. What is an acceptable level of quality? Increased quality often results in increased time and/or cost.
How complex are the alternatives?
Do the alternatives introduce any new problems? Or have additional, unconsidered benefits.
If you have many alternatives then consider doing a QFD (Quality Function Deployment).
If you have one choice or another then consider doing a plus-minus interesting analysis.
How will the various stakeholders react?
A hypothesis is a proposed explanation for what has caused the problem (the observed phenomenon in scientific speak).
Look at your proposed explanations and try and determine what is true and false.
Document the various solutions you have considered, use diagrams if appropriate to provide additional clarity.
If you have original ‘As Is’ process maps of the problem now start putting together your ‘To Be’ process maps.
List your solutions in a spreadsheet, add weightings related to ease of implementation and quality of the solution.
Then grade the solutions and multiply by the weightings. Total up and choose from the top two or three highest-ranked solutions based on your knowledge, intuition and gut feel.
Create a detailed plan and allocate resources required to implement the plan.
Remember project management is a skilled discipline in itself so ensure your people managing the project are appropriately qualified to effectively see the project through to successful implementation.
The final problem-solving step is to monitor the implementation.
Evaluate the success in terms of ensuring that it continues to solve the problem.
If you have been focussing on one or more metrics as a means for determining whether the problem has been fixed or not then consider using control charts produced on a regular basis to highlight that the fix is still within desired specification levels.
(Image Credit orkboi)
PMI is a lateral and creativity thinking technique developed by Edward De Bono that is a development of the pro’s and con’s technique that has been used for centuries.
It is designed to deliberately direct your attention to the positive, negative and interesting aspects of a particular idea, subject or decision.
To complete you make three columns… “Plus”, “Minus” and “Interesting.”
Under the plus column you list all of the positive aspects of the idea, subject, topic or decision.
Under the minus column the negative aspects and under the interesting column anything else that you think is worth noting but does not fit easily into the other two columns – items that are neither good or bad but more neutral observations or points of interest / comments.
It is a great tool for focussing your attention and thinking on different elements of the thing you are analysing.
After you have used this technique you should be in a better position to make a decision about the matter in question.
It is particularly useful if you have already made your mind up as it helps you to double check your judgement.
I am considering relocating my family from Canada back home to the UK.
The table used to assist the decision making process is given below:
Plus | Minus | Interesting |
Family in UK (+9) | Have to sell house (-6) | A web based career would mean I could swap between the 2 countries(+3) |
Easier to see UK friends (+6) | More crime (-2) | |
Parents will babysit for free (+3) | Less space (-2) | |
+18 | -10 | +3 |
This isn’t an exhaustive example – I’m sure I could add many more pros and cons for each. Hopefully it is enough though to give you a picture of how the technique can be used.
PMI is a good tool to use for your personal self development.
Throughout life we all get to get to those major turning points or forks in the road where you have to choose one path or the other. Think of new jobs, schools, courses, projects, moving home, big purchase items, starting a new business, etc.
What are the positive, negative or interesting aspects from that the change in career, new course, purchase, project or business opportunity?
Undertaking this analysis might change your action plans.
Interesting aspects of an idea can move you to another idea completely. A good example of this occurred in 1944 when a group of MIT scientists at the radiation laboratory were working on a radar that could detect a tower six miles away.
The scientists found that when the humidity increased the radar failed. Noting the interesting fact about the radar being in tune to the natural frequency of water vapour they decided to look for other useful applications. Their work ultimately led them to the creation of the first microwave oven.
Lateral thinking is a term created by creativity guru Edward De Bono in 1967.
The term is in the concise Oxford dictionary where it is defined as: “seeking to solve problems by unorthodox or apparently illogical methods”.
In business this is sometimes referred to as out of the box thinking.
In his book “Serious Creativity” De Bono explains that he felt that lateral was a good word to describe a type of thinking that wasn’t linear, sequential or logical.
It is about changing concepts and perceptions so that rather than trying to do the same think harder or better you change your thought path to one of achieving the same goal by doing something different.
“With logic you start out with certain ingredients just as in playing chess you start out with given pieces. But what are those pieces? In most real life situations the pieces are not given, we just assume they are there. We assume certain perceptions, certain concepts and certain boundaries. Lateral thinking is concerned not with playing with the existing pieces but with seeking to change those very pieces. It is concerned with the perception part of thinking. This is where we organise the external world into the pieces we can then ‘process’.” – Edward De Bono
It is also about using your imagination so as to try and look at something from a new perspective.
Also in his book De Bono describes an interesting example… Granny is happily knitting a sweater but the toddler is disturbing her by playing with the ball of wool. One parent suggests putting the toddler in her playpen to prevent her from annoying granny, whereas the other parent suggests putting granny in the playpen. This lateral (sideways) move achieves the same goal.
So overall it is about creative problem solving, trying different perceptions, different concepts and different points of entry in order to move us out of a typical line of thought and move us towards a new creative solution.
Either combined with thinking laterally or as an alternative you may want to solve your problem or problems in a more logical, orderly manner. If this is the case then please refer to the problem solving steps page.
(Photo Credit: Forum PA)
Doctor Edward De Bono Ph.D. is the founder and director of the Cognitive research trust in Cambridge, England.
An academic who is the father of lateral thinking and a world-renowned creativity expert. He has worked with Gerry Adams, the Eurythmics, Richard Branson, Francis Bacon, and the Pet Shop Boys in terms of improving the creative process.
He is a consultant and author and has written 68 books, in 40 languages, with many people teaching his methods across the globe.
De Bono is responsible for creating the popular six thinking hats technique, which helps you look at important decisions from a number of different perspectives. This technique was first promoted in his book of the same name: “6 thinking hats”.
De Bono is also responsible for the systematic thinking tool known as PMI or plus minus interesting which is a variation of pros and cons analysis.
Many of De Bono’s thinking tools are now taught on training courses to employees wishing to improve their creative abilities and they are taught across many schools across the globe.
The International Astronomical Associations renamed the planet DE73 to EdeBono after him.
He followed many generations of his family by enrolling in medical school at the island of Malta’s university at the age of 15 (his father was a doctor, his mother was a journalist). This university is now home to his Institute for the Design and Development of Thinking.
His life’s work has been with respect to educating people on how to treat creativity as a systematic process. Many large corporations have adopted his methods including Boeing, British Telecom, Nokia, Nestle, IBM, and Siemens.
You can watch the video below of De Bono giving a talk on creativity and thinking outside of the box:
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Lateral Thinking: Creativity Step by Step
Creativity Workout: 62 Exercises to Unlock Your Most Creative Ideas
Change Directions: Perceive it, Believe it, Achieve it
The Six Value Medals: The Essential Tool for Success in the 21st Century
Six Frames: For Thinking About Information
I Am Right You Are Wrong: From This to the New Renaissance: From Rock Logic to Water Logic
Disruptive technology is an innovation that disrupts an existing market. Clayton Christensen who introduced the term defines it as:
“An innovation that is disruptive allows a whole new population of consumers access to a product or service that was historically only accessible to consumers with a lot of money or a lot of skill.”
In the book, The Innovator’s Solution, (2003) the Christensen replaces “disruptive technology” with “disruptive innovation” arguing that it is not, in fact, the technology that disrupts the market but more the business process that was put in place to support the technology.
Disruptive innovations often destroy the incumbents within the market of which the technology was introduced. Take for example:
Disruptive technology can be classified as either:
This targets customers who require fewer features, functionality or performance to that which is offered at the top end of the market.
An example would be 37 Signals Basecamp application, which offers a simple set of project management tools. These tools do not come close to the functionality offered by for example Microsoft Project, however, there is still a large set of customers who find the functionality offered by basecamp perfectly adequate for their needs.
Providers of low-end disruptive technology ultimately want to increase their market share and they do this by adding new incremental or sustaining innovations to their product or by simply adding more features. Over time due to the aforementioned changes the product may get more of the market and slowly squeeze the incumbents out of the market. At this point, the disruption may move to…
This targets customers who have requirements that are not being met by the markets existing incumbents.
An example would be the Linux operating system which when first introduced back in the early 1990s was quite basic in terms of performance and functionality. However, as time progressed, more and more features were added and the performance was improved so that today Linux has almost completely replaced Unix and is now installed in most of the world’s fastest supercomputers.
Discontinuous innovation can also be referred to as breakthrough, radical or disruptive and is innovation that, if adopted, requires a significant change in behavior.
The implementation of new technologies, products, or business models that represent a dramatic departure from the current state of the art in the industry – J Birkinshaw, J Bessant, R Delbridge
For example do you listen to your music on an MP3 player?
Perhaps you are still playing compact discs or maybe you are still using cassette tapes or even LP records.
Are you watching blue ray movies or are you still watching DVD’s?
Maybe you are still watching films on VHS (or even Betamax!) video-cassettes.
All of the above technologies are examples of this type of innovation.
For you to move to the latest technology would result in you significantly changing your behavior.
One question often asked is that if we have to change our behavior then why would we want to use such a new technology and the answer is that the new technology creates substantial new benefits for its users.
Using the examples given earlier and thinking of the benefits…
To move tracks on an LP record you would have to lift the stylus and physically move it to the next track.
Then came cassette tapes where you could now press a button on the player to move forward to the next track but it wasn’t always easy to know when the next track started.
Then came CD players, where you could select exactly which track you want or even let the player choose tracks at random for you.
The latest technology is the MP3 player, which as well as having excellent track selection features they also enable you to keep your entire music collection all on one device or sort / file your music by genre and other categories.
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You may also be interested in my other website leadership-and-development.com covering topics on leadership and personal development.