(92e) Enhancing Leadership Impact When Problem Solving

The focus of many challenges in managerial leadership comes about when a serious problem arises in either a technical or organizational framework. The challenge facing the manager is finding the optimum solution to a problem using the resources at hand and the constraints and timing of the situation. The optimum solution will vary with time goals, resources available, and the nature of the people with whom the manager is working. Frequently resources, prioritization, and business issues are the primary driver in decision making. However, when an unanswered problem is part of the equation, the manager is best served by obtaining additional input from others who may add ideas and viewpoints to the ideation and problem solving process. How does the manager know how the others view the problem at hand? How does the manager know his or her explanation of the problem will be understood by others? What affects this interpretation? How does the manger know how a solution suggested will be interpreted or generated? That all reasonable solutions have been suggested? If a manager knew these things, a far more optimum problem solving result could be generated, using the breadth of input that the manager has available. This workshop will review the tools we already have available that are not used sufficiently by managers (even though knowledge of them is usually within the organization) in this way, including social style and problem solving style assessments. These tools, the Myers-Briggs social style derived assessments and the Kirton KAI? assessments, are used by individuals and human resources departments to assist individuals in career planning and team functioning. They are seldom used in a pro-active way to bring forth different ideas regarding problem solving. A case study of how this was done will be presented as well as suggestions for pro-actively using these tools in managerial decision making.