Hi,
I teach program management at the Defense Systems
Management College at Ft. Belvoir in Virginia. Our
students are involved in the acquisition of large
and highly complex systems, with budgets sometimes
in billions of dollars. The range of problems they
can encounter are numerous, and affect everything;
finance, logistics, technical performance, software
acquisition, communications and signal processing.
We use a lot of cases and situational type learning.
The students have to find solutions involving integration
of several issues, and much of it is risk management.
Jim Dobbins
catherine middleton wrote:
>
> Hello. I've been following the thread on problem solving with great
> interest. I'd be interested to hear from anyone out there who is involved
> in teaching problem solving. As part of a required management skills course
> in the MBA program at the Schulich School of Business in Toronto we teach
> an extensive module on what we term "reflective problem solving". We've
> struggled with the term, as what we're really trying to do is help students
> develop some practical means of engaging complex issues. Problem solving is
> a component of this, but what we're *trying* to do is broader than this. We
> too have struggled with various problem solving methodologies, and are
> currently using a combination of what might be called rational problem
> solving and more creative techniques (including some of De Bono's and
> Senge's tools).
>
> It would be great to hear from anyone else who is teaching problem solving
> in any context. We'd be interested in exchanging course outlines, or
> sharing ideas on how to introduce students to some basic practical
> approaches to tackling complex issues.
>
> Thanks!
> catherine middleton