Chronicles of mental journeys. Problem solver

There is a popular saying among seasoned businessmen:
“A business consultant should be kept within pistol shot of the business.”

This has its own homespun truth: a person who has never had his own working business, generating $5,000-10,000 in net profit, is unlikely to be able to give practical and professional advice, despite the mountains of books he has read.
Practice cannot be replaced by theory.

However, even such consultants could be a good help in business, serving as “walking encyclopedias”

If not for one “but”

The modern world has become too complex to make strong and effective decisions by simply searching through options (which is what traditional business consultants do)

Modern business needs professional "problem solvers"

To make it clear to you what’s what, I’ll tell you one story.

The owner of a large business center began to receive more and more complaints about the operation of elevators, especially during peak hours. When several tenants said they would move to another building if service did not improve, the owner turned to a consulting firm.

Having studied the situation, the consultants identified three possible courses of action: increase the number of elevators; replace all or some elevators; introduce a computer elevator control system to increase the speed of service.

The consultants then conducted a cost-benefit analysis for each of these three options. It was found that only increasing the number of lifts or replacing them could lead to significant improvements in service, but the costs required to implement these plans could not be recovered from rental income. Essentially, none of the proposed options were acceptable.

The owner of the center, having paid consultants a substantial amount, did not receive a working solution. Luckily for him, he was lucky enough to have lunch with a group of people, including a professional “problem solver,” who, after listening to the situation, decided that the complaints were caused by boredom while waiting for the elevator. In fact, the waiting time was quite short, but it seemed long since there was nothing for people to do while waiting for the elevator.

The Problem Solver proposed an elegant solution, which was soon put into practice by the owner (at minimal cost): large mirrors were hung on the walls where the elevator doors were located on each floor. The presence of mirrors made it possible to occupy oneself with something (one could quietly look at oneself and at people of the opposite sex) and this activity was a pleasure.

The owner NEVER contacted any traditional business consultants again.

The only reason why traditional business consultants still exist on the market is the inertia of consciousness of the absolute majority of managers and businessmen. But time passes, people learn, and within this decade traditional business consultants risk losing their jobs, giving way to a supernew generation of professional “solvers” with systems thinking.

A plant that produces tomatoes and potatoes on an industrial scale. Urban industrial production of vegetables. The first industrial-scale vertical farm opened in the city (Singapore), with the aim of reducing food dependence. Actually, this decision seems quite logical; local residents appreciated the freshness and quality of the home-grown product. Unlike a commodity, where it is difficult to monitor the safety of the growing technology, in the case of a vertical farm it is only sunlight and water, and no pesticides. this has made them extremely popular with local consumers and they are selling out very quickly. As a result, the company produces two tons of vegetables per day. Rainwater stored in the upper areas rotates the platforms when flowing down, so that their orientation in space constantly changes and a uniform distribution of sunlight is achieved. At the same time, the yield is 5–10 times higher than with traditional cultivation of land on a similar plot. The concept of vertical farms provides the only opportunity to feed the population of the future, Singapore has started it, and I am sure many cities will follow its example, because the idea is worthwhile. Thus, a hybrid of tomato and potato is an independent plant, which the British company Thompson & Morgan has been working on for 15 years. Instead of tops, tomatoes grow on it, and instead of roots, potatoes. Representatives of the company claim that more than 500 tomatoes can be collected from above, which are sweeter than any other varieties. At the same time, wonderful tubers of white potatoes will grow in the ground, which are suitable for boiling, frying and making chips. The new plant bears the patented name TomTato. The British claim that TomTato is not the result of genetic modification, but a natural and safe product. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-24281192
How to grow them? Both indoors and outdoors are suitable for this. You can even do it in a pot. TomTato loves compost and is frost-resistant; tomatoes can be harvested from July to October. But there will be only one potato harvest - you can dig it up after the tomatoes run out. Production in vertical greenhouses, in urban conditions. In about 50 years, 80% of the world's population will live in cities. And to the current 7-plus billion, another 3 billion will be added. To feed them all, agriculture must be moved to the cities, the specific architecture of the farm in a high-rise building may vary, food production will not depend on the vagaries of the weather. Such a farm will produce several harvests per year. Another advantage is that isolated plants will be protected from infections affecting the fields. The same is true for pests; the farm is capable of providing adequate nutrition for 10 thousand people; inside the building it is much more convenient to organize the care of plants and animals, harvesting, and control over the quality and biological safety of products. And this is with the current level of technology. Why “drag” the farm to the city and build dozens of floors? It would seem that more advanced agricultural systems can be developed outside the city limits, and there are still lands free from fields. But Firstly, the cost of transportation: fuel, spare parts for equipment and fertilizers from industrial centers to remote agricultural areas and crops back, “to the center” - this is not only the cost of transportation, but also fuel for cars, the emission of harmful substances. And the additional growth of forests around cities will give the city an opportunity to breathe. Hydroponics, high-tech farms - all this already exists. People only need to take the next logical step - to consolidate such production, “growing” them into high-rise buildings, expand the list of plants that will be grown, supplement them with animals, and move farms directly to where consumers are concentrated, that is, to megacities.

A man flies around the world and solves problems for business people. Any problems. Usually - large corporations, less often private individuals. There are no more than 100 people in this profession in the world. Some pay up to $100,000 an hour, with schedules planned months in advance. The most important thing for trouble shooters is their business reputation. Customers literally pass them from hand to hand, hiding them from their competitors. They have only one advertisement - one hundred percent results. The error has been eliminated.

In order to understand the essence of their work better, I will give a couple of examples.
There were two large companies in America that published monthly yellow pages directories. The market was crowded for them; they resorted to black PR, dumping, and poaching workers from each other. Nothing helped, we were neck and neck. Usually, all office workers bought two reference books for a dollar at once, without really thinking about which one was better and which one was worse. So, one of these companies invited a trouble-shooter.

He delved into the situation, thought and said: “Next month, release a reference book in a smaller format, and in order to have the same amount of information, it should be small, but plump.” He received his fee and left, and the competing company went bankrupt two months later...

The fact is that when directories were of the same format, they hung out on office tables like maps, but when one directory is large and flat, and the second is small but plump, then in any case you put the small one on top of the large one... And in the end month, you will realize that you only used the top one, and never opened the big one in a month. So why would you spend a dollar on it if the small one has everything?

Second example: at the Nike headquarters, 1000 people were scratching their heads over an impossible task. They invite a trouble-shooter and outline the problem: “We started producing sneakers in some of the poorest countries in Africa. We calculated everything in advance, built factories, trained personnel, production costs should be low, but then we were faced with an unexpected problem: local workers in our factories mercilessly steal finished products. Entire villages, young and old, wear sneakers at a price comparable to their annual income. We tried hiring more local security, but it only made things worse - security guards and their families love sneakers too...

If you get security from the States, the cost will go through the roof. Figure out how to reduce theft to zero without spending money on factory security.”

Trouble-shooter, of course, did not understand anything about shoe production technology, but unlike 1000 top managers who understood, he knew how to look at any problem from a completely different angle. He sat alone in a cool room for a while and gave the answer: “You need to produce separate left and right sneakers in different countries...”

When people need to resolve conflicts at home and work, achieve professional success, and live life to the fullest, a coach can help. In the field of individual assistance, the development of a personal direction - lifecoaching - has begun. A specialist in the field of “therapy for the healthy” helps to see relationships at the level of cause and effect.The results of cooperation are the following: understanding yourself and your problems, effective systematization of relationships, a new quality of life, saving time and money, realizing your potential, health and happiness.

An efficient coach can give others only what he has discovered in himself and what does not contradict human nature. Moreover, the “tool” - HIMSELF - must be pre-configured, which is achieved by solving one’s personal problems. Cooperation is effective if a person gains confidence and sees the future, bound energy is released in him, like a chain reaction in a nuclear reactor. Inept use will destroy a person and his affairs, and mature use will allow him to realize his maximum potential.

Who are you having lunch with today? With those who you usually go with? Or with someone new?

Tom Peters is one of the leading specialists in the field of management, a world-renowned business consultant:

«… Fred Smith, Founder and CEO F e d Eh, a few years ago he took part in a meeting on economic forecasting with me. Before the meeting began, we exchanged a few phrases, and at one point he asked me with determination in his eyes: “Who was the most interesting person you met in the last 90 days? How can I contact him? This is literally what he said. Fred was a collector of oddballs. He strived to keep his business several years ahead of his energetic competitors. To do this, he needed to be in constant contact with people who would be ahead of their time!”

They are called trouble shooters. Owners of large businesses in the West pay them from one hundred thousand dollars an hour for finding effective solutions to problems. According to some reports, there are no more than a hundred successful troubleshooters in the world working with global brands. Their names are well known in the professional business community.

Trouble shooter solutions are simple and elegant, in the spirit of the textbook story of how the Nike company began to produce left-handed sneakers in one factory, and right-handed sneakers in another factory, in order to reduce production theft to zero. (See below)

The word troubleshooter consists of two English words: “trouble” - problem and “shooter” - shooter. A troubleshooter is a person who can solve any problem with minimal financial costs and maximum results.

The term first appeared in 1905. Dictionaries define people in this profession as follows:

1. a person who tries to find a solution to a problem or an end to a disagreement;

2. an expert in resolving diplomatic and political disputes that have reached a dead end;

3. a specialist in solving difficulties in any field of activity and in any country.

That is, a troubleshooter is, in fact, a crisis manager?
Not really. A crisis manager deals with long-term projects: he is part of the company and can identify himself with it. A trouble shooter is an outsider who comes to the company with the goal of solving one local problem and leaves after the problem is resolved.
The advantage of a trouble shooter is that it sees the problem with fresh eyes. A crisis manager is constantly busy with the operational activities of the enterprise and is completely immersed in it. In medical terms: a “crisis manager” treats the symptoms of a disease, a trouble shooter removes the causative virus. A troubleshooter sees all processes in an enterprise and at the same time acts locally, solving one problem. For effective solutions, it is much better to focus on one problem than to perform ten tasks at once.
What professional qualities should a trouble shooter have?
He must be a “universal soldier”: a marketer, a strategist, and a logistician. A troubleshooter is a person who is able to find a common language with all stakeholders in the company, with all departments, can hear them and convey to them the general idea. A trouble shooter does not understand each area in depth; it ties together all areas of work. It is like a broad-spectrum antibiotic.

There were two large companies in America that published monthly directories “yellow pages”. The market was cramped for them; they resorted to black PR, dumping, and poaching each other’s workers.

Nothing helped, we were neck and neck.
Usually, all office workers bought two reference books for a dollar at once, without really thinking about which was better or which was worse. By the way, both directories contained the same information. So one of these companies invited a trouble-shooter

He took in the situation, thought and said:
-Next month, release a guide in a smaller format, and in order to have the same amount of information, it should be small, but plump.
He received his fee and left, and the competing company went bankrupt two months later...
-What's the joke?

But the fact is that when the directories were of the same format, they hung out on office tables like maps, but when one directory is large and flat, and the second is small but plump, then in any case you put the small one on top of the large one...
And at the end of the month you will realize that you only used the top one, and never opened the big one during the month. So why would you spend a dollar on it if the small one has everything?

Second example.

At Nike headquarters, 1,000 people were scratching their heads over an impossible task.

They invite a trouble-shooter and outline the problem:

We started making sneakers in some of the poorest countries in Africa. We calculated everything in advance, built factories, trained personnel, production costs should be low, but then we were faced with an unexpected problem: local workers of our factories mercilessly steal finished products. Entire villages, young and old, wear sneakers at a price comparable to their annual income...

We tried hiring more local security, but it only made things worse - security guards and their families love sneakers too...

If you get security from the States, the cost will go through the roof.

Trouble-shooter: -What do you want from me?

Nike: - Figure out how to reduce theft to zero without spending money on protecting factories.

Trouble-shooter, of course, did not understand anything about shoe production technology, but unlike 1000 top managers who understood, he knew how to look at any problem from a completely different angle. He sat alone for a while in the cool, dark room and gave the answer:

You need to produce separate left and right sneakers in different countries.

DETAILS FROM OLEG BRAGINSKY:

In the early 90s, as a student, I often traveled from St. Petersburg to Lvov to visit my mother. I always bought tickets only in the compartment and only for the bottom shelf. The morals were quite medieval and I preferred to sleep on my suitcase. But I was pursued by bummer after bummer. An old woman came into the compartment and... it began:
- Son, let's switch shelves, climb up.
I, as a well-mannered person, could not refuse. I won’t say that I’m afraid for my suitcase, otherwise its popularity will undeservedly increase in the ranking of suitcases in our carriage. And I only have gifts for my mother and spare jeans. I had to climb onto the second shelf and there fight my heroic sleep, worrying about my own suitcase, covered with someone else’s grandmother.
One day, a hunched, seventy-year-old man, very well dressed, entered the compartment. In those days it was immediately noticeable. Grandfather turned to me:
- Young man, are you noble enough to give up your bottom bunk to your grandfather..?
- Enough and with a large margin... (Where to go? Education...)
Grandfather thanked us, we laid out the laundry, the neighbors fell asleep, and we quietly talked.
“Young man, I don’t want to remain in debt and I want to repay you.” I help solve any human problems, let's solve one of yours. What internal problems or complexes do you have? Don't be shy... I am a very serious specialist in my field. My patients are shown daily on the Vremya program...
- I don’t suffer from either one or the other. (I still regret that I blurted this out. I let the goldfish go for almost nothing...)
- Well, then I was lucky enough to meet an imaginary person who does not exist in nature. But imaginary people are not sold tickets to the lower shelves, so you still have problems. Logical?
- Well…
- Okay, I'll figure it out myself.
And my grandfather looked into my “aquarium”.
“You quickly, but clearly reluctantly, gave up the bottom shelf to me, while it’s not difficult for you to climb onto the top one.” What's the matter?
I talked about the suitcase and good upbringing.
- How corny, I should have guessed. Would you like me to teach you how to sleep on the bottom bunk and still not refuse your grandmother’s request to change places...?
- Of course I want to, but does that really happen?
- I’ll teach you and it will happen. You need not to refuse your grandmother, but to make her refuse your shelf and want another lower one, not yours.
- Like this? Left and right are the same.
- When she asks you to change, you hesitate and say: “You see, it’s not difficult for me to change with you, I respect old age... but the fact is that when I took a ticket at the box office, the cashier said: “Throw 200 rubles on top.” and I’ll get you the bottom shelf. “I agreed...” (The ticket, let’s say it costs 1000) Now grandma won’t want your shelf, because it costs 200 rubles more. She will scold the cashier, the conductor, the rails, anyone, but not you. You've already spent enough money. You are away from the conflict and sleep on your suitcase on the bottom bunk.”

Another story:

The girl lived in the Moscow region, worked and studied at the evening department in Moscow. She often had to return home late at night by train. The girl asked her father to buy her a car, since she herself did not earn enough. My father took a principled position: “When you earn money, then you can buy it for yourself.” After the training, the girl began to tell her father notes from a criminal chronicle, which dealt with attacks on girls and women returning late by train. Two months later, my father bought a car, being absolutely sure that he himself made this decision.

FRIENDS! IF YOU HAVE STORIES, SEND IT IN THE COMMENTS!

Our attempt to explain problem solving takes the form of a computer program we call the General Problem Solver (GPS).

The problem above is internally represented in the form of expressions that mean "convert 1 to 2". We call symbolic structures corresponding to logical expressions objects; structures corresponding to problematic tasks and similar provisions are goals. A program achieves goals by applying operators to objects, thereby turning those goals into new objects.

The program includes steps to apply operators to objects. It also includes processes for comparing pairs of objects; these processes create (internally) symbols that denote the differences between the objects being compared:

PIU activities are grouped around three types of goals, and a small number of methods for achieving goals of these types.

1. Transformation of goals. These processes have the form that has already been illustrated: transform object a to object b.

Method 1. Compare a b c in order to find the difference d between them; if there are no differences, the problem is solved. Create a goal: reducing the difference d between a and b. If the action is successful, the result will be a conversion of a to a new object c. Now create a new target by converting c to b. Achieving this goal will be the solution to the original problem.

2. Goals, applications of operators. These operations have the form: apply operator q to object a.

Method 2. Determine whether a meets the conditions of application q? If yes, apply q; if not, determine the difference between a and

the object to which q is applicable. If this action is successful, a new object a" will be created, which is a modification of a. Now try to apply q to a".

3. Goals of reducing differences. As we have seen, they have

form: reduce the difference d between objects a and b.

Method 3: Find the operator q corresponding to the given difference (the meaning of matching - relevance - will be explained later). Create a target for applying q to a. If the operation is successful, then the result will be a transformation of a into a new object c, which will not be very different from b.

Thus, a General Problem Solver is a computer program that includes general inference processes regarding ends (goals) and means (operators). It is general in the sense that the program itself is not tied to the very nature of the objects, differences, and operators with which it deals. Consequently, its problem-solving capabilities can be transferred from one type of problem to another if it contains information regarding the types of objects, distinctions, and operators that characterize and describe the specific conditions of the problem.

Testing the theory

The question of how adequate a program is as a theory of information processes when solving a problem by a person can be posed at several specific levels. At the most general level, we can ask whether a program will actually solve problems in the same way as a human. She definitely does.

The general types of means-ends analysis that the General Problem Solver uses are at the same time methods noted in the test subjects' protocols. We studied in detail about 20 protocols of subjects who solved logical problems. Virtually all behavior described in these protocols occurs within the framework of a means-ends analysis. The three types of goals we have examined account for three-quarters of all subjects' goals, and additional goal types that appear in the protocols are closely related to those we have described. The three methods we identified represent the vast majority of methods applied to these problems by subjects.

Protocols of human behavior when solving problems in various fields of activity - when playing chess, solving riddles, writing computer programs - contain many sequential actions, which are also similar to the means-ends analysis of the General Problem Solver.

We cannot, of course, conclude from this type of evidence that ORP provides an adequate explanation of all types of problem-solving behavior. In addition to the mechanisms contained therein, many other mechanisms may be included.

Only when a program imitates a complete sequence of behavior, such as performing the same chess analysis as a human, do we become convinced that we have postulated a group of processes that is sufficient to produce the behavior in that case.

The general problem solver is not the only program of this type that exists. There is a program, the predecessor of ORP, which also finds proofs of the theorem, but only using symbolic logic. There are programs for proving theorems in geometry, for constructing electric motors, generators and transformers, for creating music and playing chess. There are programs that "learn", that is, those that change in various ways based on experience. The success already achieved in synthesizing mechanisms that solve difficult problems in the same way that humans do allows us to look forward to the creation of a very specific and operational theory of problem solving. Our goal is to extend some of this theory to creative thinking. To do this is to argue that creative thinking is simply a special kind of problem-solving behavior. This seems to us a useful working hypothesis.

Formulated so openly, our intentions seem utopian. How utopian they are—or rather, how remote their realization is—depends on how broadly or narrowly we interpret the term “creative.” If we intend to view all complex human problem-solving activity as creative, then, as we will show, successful programs for mechanisms that imitate a human problem solver already exist and a number of their basic characteristics are known. If we reserve the term "creative" for activities such as the discovery of special relativity or the creation of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony, then there are currently no examples of creative mechanisms.