A Method to Excel at the #1 Needed Job Skill: Complex Problem Solving

The following is a conversation between Charles Conn, Co-Author of Bulletproof Problem Solving: The One Skill That Changes Everything, and Denver Frederick, the Host of The Business of Giving. 

The World Economic Forum lists complex problem solving as the number one skill for jobs in 2020. But how many of us, faced with a difficult problem, just dive right in looking for a solution. My next guest says there's a better way, a much better way by using a simple seven-step approach. He is Charles Conn, the Co-Author of Bulletproof Problem Solving: The One Skill That Changes Everything.

Key Points from This Episode

• Charles Conn defines problem-solving [00:57]
• What makes problem-solving the ultimate skill for the 21st century [01:56]
• The three biggest mistakes human make when problem-solving [03:32]
• The story behind the seven-step process [04:57]
• Seven Steps to Bulletproof Problem Solving [06:17]
• The value of telling a great story [07:14]
• Use the 80-20 rule in problem-solving and have a nice life [08:40]
• The benefits of a strong hypothesis [09:18]
• One-day, one-hour answer [10:18]
• Long versus short work plans [12:16]
• Logic trees [13:21]
• Mutually exclusive, collectively exhaustive [14:34]
• The decision tree [18:04]
• Problem disaggregation makes a ton of sense especially when it's hot [19:14]
• The seven-step process can be used for simple to more difficult problems [20:03]
• The reason we should sometimes be suspicious of experts [26:53]
• Become a great problem solver [28:12]