Since the industrial era, problem solving thinking has dominated how we were taught and how we performed
on-the-job. As important as problem solving is, and will continue to be, it’s important to know it may be the
wrong "hammer” for your job.
Today, everything seems to get lumped under the word “problem.” Yet more people are recommending
that problems should be viewed as “opportunities.” There is even a new word for it, called “prob-tunity”
Well … problems and opportunities are very different. They do require a different mindset, skill-set and
tool-set to be successful. Here is the difference.
Problem Solving: Reacts to change by analyzing existing data/information with the purpose of
finding cause and effect relationships and restoring the problem to either its past condition or accepting
the changed condition.
Opportunity “Innovative” Thinking: Manages change by anticipating unknown future data/information
to determine what actions are needed now to prepare for an unpredictable future.
The following truly are “problem solving” applications. Like any tool make sure it’s the right tool for the type
of problem you are working on.
See the white paper - Industrial-age and Knowledge–age Thinking: The need for “and/both” thinking.