Thinking skills

Today Dr. Richard King helped our group with some techniques to assist in problem solving. He had two incredibly relevant and insightful points that I would like to share.

1 - Instead of writing a problem as "How do we ____?" instead write it as "In what ways might we ____?"

The difference being that "How do we" implies one action whereas "what ways" implies many actions.

Also "might" implies actions that may not be feasible right now but may be feasible in the future.

An example of this is when discussing balance in the Middle East (Iraq and Iran in particular) one possible change to the system might be that Najaf is once again the center of Shia Islam instead of Qom. Under a "How do we" construct this idea may never be explored as an option since there are no foreseeable actions we (the US) can take to affect this move. But under a "In what ways might we" construct this idea may be explored. Thus encouraging more creativity in the planning process.

2. The second idea posed by Dr King was ensuring to distinguish between the ends and means. Means are not important when trying to determine the gist of the problem.

Example - The fact that Iran wants a nuclear capability is a mean. To explore the issue further look for the end. What is Iran's end with a nuclear capability? If their end is energy self-sufficiency or independence then a possible way to help them achieve their end while ensuring that their acquisition of nuclear power does not initiate a middle east nuclear arms race would be to offer them solar, geothermal, wind, hydro, and other alternative energy sources. If those options are still not acceptable to Iran - then the assumed endstate of energy self-sufficiency may be false. Regardless, you have gained more information from the situation than you previously had.