Chapter 4

PROBLEM SOLVING
METHODS

Engineering Lecture 1
 CHAPTER GOALS

• To provide students knowledge and skills

necessary for creatively problem solving
• To understand method and procedure of
problem solving process
• Students can apply tools and softwares to
creatively solve problems faced in mini project

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 CONTENT

4.1. Introduction - Concepts

4.2. Procedure of problem solving

4.3. Tools for problem solving

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 4.3. SOME PROBLEM SOLVING
METHODS
Some effective problem solving methods:
• SIX THINKING HATS
• BRAINSTORMING
• SWOT
• SCAMPER
• ISHIKAWA
• MIND MAPPING
• DECISION MATRIX

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 4.3.1. Six thinking hats

Process

Negative Target

Emotion Positive

Creative
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 Edward de Bono

“Six thinking hats is a method to provide

one type of thinking at a time” 6
 4.3.1. Six thinking hats

– “Six thinking hats” is a tool to support thinking, helps

you evaluate the matter from many points of view to
make better decision
– Every time wearing a hat, you change to a new way
of thinking → You will understand better every aspect
of the problem, identify risks and opportunities which
you normally do not notice

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 4.3.1. Six thinking hats

• Why?
 Hat is connected to our head (thinking place)
 Hat is easy to put on and take off. No clothes
could be put on and taken off that fast and easy.
 We need to be able to put on and take off different
hats easily.
Put on and take off 6 hats one-by-one to evaluate our
problems:

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 4.3.1. Six thinking hats
White hat: Goal
– When wearing “White hat”, you will objectively evaluate
the problem, relying on available data and information.
– Research available information to find answers for what
you still have questions about.
– Raise questions:
• What information have we got?
• What information is missing?
• What information do we want to have?
• How will we get the information?

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 4.3.1. Six thinking hats
Red hat: Emotion
– When wearing “Red hat”, you will evaluate the problem
relying on your intuition and emotion
– Try to guess other people’s emotion through their
reactions
– No need to evaluate the emotion. How do you feel about
this?
Example: - I feel this does not work
- I don’t like this way
- This proposal is terrible
- My intuition tells me that …
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 4.3.1. Six thinking hats
Black hat: Negative thoughts
Caution, Difficulty, Discretion and Evaluation
– When wearing “Black hat”, you need to evaluate the
problem from a negative, cautious, and discreet point
of view
– Try to foresee causes that can make you ideas and
solutions less efficient than expected
– Raise questions:
• Is that true?
• Will it work?
• What are our limits?
• What is going to happen?
• What is wrong with it? 11
Yellow hat
• When wearing “Yellow hat”, you will have positive
thinking. Optimism will help you see all benefits and
opportunities that your decision would bring.
• “Yellow hat” thinking gives you motivation to continue
your work when you face difficulties or obstacles
• Raise questions:
– Why is this worth doing?
– What are its benefits?
– Why can this be done?
– Why will this work? 12
Green hat
• Green hat represents creativity
• The free and open thinking when wearing “Green hat”
will help you find creative solutions for the problem
• Creative thinking, proposing suggestions, different
ideas, new ideas, options …
• Raise questions:
– Are there other solutions or action plans? Can we
do it differently?
– What are other options?
Creative
thinking hat
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Blue hat:
• Summarize all we have learned. Organize thinking.
Thinking reflection.
• When out of ideas, team leader can change thinking
mode into “Green hat”.
• When planning for back up, team leader will ask
members to use “Black hat”.
• Example: Set up discussion plan, suggest next steps.
Request different hats.
Call for summary, conclude and make decision.

Meta-Cognition Hat
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 Applied procedure – Find ideas

White Collect available information

Green Exploit and create solutions

Yellow Evaluate benefits and feasibility of each solution

Black Evaluate weaknesses of each solution

Further develop most potential solutions and
Green
select
Summarize and evaluate what have been
Blue
achieved so far
Black Final evaluation of the chosen solution

Red Find our emotion about the result

 Applied procedure – Reaction to
a proposed idea

Red Find out existing emotions for the idea

Yellow Find out benefits of the idea
Identify weaknesses, remaining concerns and risks
Black
of the idea (using SWOT)
Consider if the idea can be adjusted to reinforce
Green benefits and overcome weaknesses identified with
the black hat
Find out which information can be used to help
White
adjust the idea for a better acceptance
Green Develop the final proposal
Black Judge the final proposal
Red Find out emotions for the result
 Benefits of six thinking hats

• Play role (put on, take off, change hats, and your
thinking)
• Encourage creativity, focusing and broad thinking →
Help you solve problems from all points of view
• Improve communication
• Accelerate decision making
• Avoid arguments
• Put aside selfishness
• Random usage (one hat)
• Sequential usage
Video:
http://youtu.be/BWpGn3Fmsq4

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 In-class exercise: six thinking hats
Brainstorm about your problem (Example: Your
3 min
design problem for your mini-project)
White hat – Data and information about the
3 min
problem?
3 min Red hat – Emotion about the problem?
3 min Black hat – Shortcomings of the problem?
3 min Yellow hat – Advantages/Strengths of the problem
3 min Green hat – Propose possible solutions
Blue hat – Summarize what have been learned and
7 min
discuss next steps
25 min Total
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 4.3.2. Brainstorm

• A method used to stimulate the creation of a large

number of ideas, solutions in a short amount of
time
• Used in both analytic and creative problem
solvings

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 4.3.2. Brainstorm

Principles of brainstorming:
– Accept any ideas, no criticisms
– Focus on quantity, not quality
– At the time, do not initiate any arguments or
discussions
– List all ideas
– Set time limit

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 4.3.2. Brainstorm

• You are running a brainstorming meeting to solve a

certain technical problem
• A team member propose an idea that you know it is
completely unsuitable. What will you do?
- Write down the idea as proposed
- Change the idea to make it suitable and write down
- Completely ignore the idea
- Ask other team members about the suitability of
the proposed idea

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 4.3.3. SCAMPER:
Improve existing product
SCAMPER:
+ Substitute
+ Combine
+ Adapt
+ Modify
+ Put to another use
+ Eliminate
+ Reverse

- Using SCAMPER helps create new ideas

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 4.3.3. SCAMPER

• Subtitute: Can we replace with something else? Who

replaces? Where to replace? When to replace? ...
• Combine: Can we use a compound? Alloy? Or a set?
Can we combine goals, ideas, parts, functions …?
• Adapt: Is there anything like this? Can we use ideas
from the past …?
• Modify: Can we change the meaning, color, movement,
sound …? Can we create alternatives …?
• Put to other uses
• Eliminate
• Rearrange/Reverse
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 4.3.3. SCAMPER:
Improve existing product

Source: https://fivewhys.wordpress.com/2012/02/13/scamper-revisited/
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 4.3.4. Mind Mapping

• MindMap is a picture showing a group of

ideas, concepts, or problems
• Developed by Tony Buzan in 1970, mind map
use images and/or words to organize and
develop thoughts nonlinearly. It helps people
“see" a problem and their solution.

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 4.3.4. Mind mapping

• Purpose:
– Free thinking
– Overall recognition of ideas on a page
– Observe relationship of ideas
– Consider everything in a new and different way
– Consider thoroughly an idea
• Many people use mind maps for:
- Brainstorming,
- Taking note,
- Refreshing their memory
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 Mind Mapping’s Usage

• Problem solving: Mind maps can help you look at all

problems and how to connect them together. It can
also help you get an general view of the problem,
on many aspects and its importance.
• Planning: Mind maps help you organize all related
information in one place in a simple way
• Reminding. Whenever information appears in the
brain, mind maps allow ideas to be recorded very
quickly into an organized structure.

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 Mind Mapping’s Usage

• Taking note: When information is reminded, mind maps

help organize information in a format which is easy to
present and remember. This can be used to take all
types of note, such as books, lectures, meetings,
interviews, and dialogs.
• Getting creative. Mind maps will help you free your
thinking from traditional taking note method, allowing new
ideas to quickly appear in the new flow of thinking.
• Presenting a topic

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29
 How to create mind maps?!?

• Use key words or images

- Start from the center and spread out
- Create a clear and “strong” picture for the center,
showing general content of the mind map
- Create sub-centers and details
- Put key words in rows strengthening structure of notes
- Printing on paper instead of hand writing for better
reading and remembering
- Later cases should be clearer than previous cases
- Use colors to highlight problems

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 How to create mind maps?!?

- Bidirectional thinking (with criticism)

- Use arrows, icons or images to show connections
- Don’t stop at one area. If running out of ideas, move to
other branches.
- Write down ideas to suitable place immediately. Don’t
hesitate.
- Break boundaries. When running out of space, don’t
replace with a large paper sheet, instead attach another
sheet to continue.
- Be creative. Start on and HAVE FUN.

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 Mind-Mapping Exercise

• Create a mind map to solve a problem

(Example: design a product that your team has
chosen for your mini-project) (Home work)

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 4.3.5. CAUSE – EFFECT DIAGRAM

• A.K.A. Fishbone or Ishikawa diagram, allowing:

– To determine causes of problems (effects).
– To divide large problem into small problems
– To determine factors with direct or indirect impacts on
the problem under investigation

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 Fishbone diagram

Source: http://www.conceptdraw.com 34
 Example: cause – effect diagram for
analyzing product quality problem

Source: http://fishbonediagram.org/example-1-poor-product-quality/
 Raise questions
to determine causes
Who, What, When, Where, Why (5W)
and How, How much (2H)…
- Who should be involved?
- What happened or did not happen?
- When did it happen or not happen?
- Where did it happen or not happen?
- Why did it happen or not happen?
- How did it happen or not happen?
- How much did it vary from expected value?
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 Example of 5 Whys

Source: http://www.educational-business-articles.com/5-whys.html 37
• In-class exercise:

Build a fishbone diagram to determine

causes of product model not satisfying
specified goals (Home work)

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 4.3.6. Decision matrix for ideas
• The matrix allows describing solutions with weights, and
prioritizing them
• Columns are criteria or characteristics, rows are solutions

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• Example: criteria or properties to be compared
when selecting solutions:
– Feasibility? • Evaluate with weights for
solutions according to criteria,
– Safety? and select using scores
– Economy? • Can have weights: (-, +, 0)
• Grading: (-1, 0, +1)
– Environment?
• Select the best solution is the
– Culture? … solution with highest score

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 Example: Decision matrix

Source: http://www.conceptdraw.com/samples/management-7-MP-tools

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 Example: Decision matrix

Source: http://www.slideshare.net/morgann02/
engr1016-the-corrall-capture-1000-mousetrap
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 References

• Courseware - Module 5: Problem Solving

http://cw.unitar.edu.my/ugb2013/c5/index.htm
• Problem Solving. URLs:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Problem_solving
• Edward de Bono 6 Thinking Hats. URL:
http://schoolnet.gov.mt/thinkingskills/thinkingtools.htm
• Oakes, Leone, Gunn, Engineering Your Future, A
Comprehensive Approach, 5th Edition, Great Lake Press,
2006.
• Ho, Nhut. "Course ME101 - Introduction to Mechanical
Engineering." Department of Mechanical Engineering,
California State University, Northridge, USA. Course
URL: www.csun.edu/~me101 43