2. Analyzing Problems and
Decisions. I'm John Chaffee, and I teach philosophy and critical
thinking at the City University
of New York. I am also the author of several textbooks in these
areas. This program is
designed to introduce you to a critical thinking approach to
solving problems and making
JOHN CHAFFEE [continued]: decisions. Our lives are filled
with problems to solve and
decisions to make, and the quality of our lives is directly related
to how well we do these.
Thinking critically can help us in solving challenging problems
and making informed
decisions, thus enriching our lives in every area, both personal
JOHN CHAFFEE [continued]: and professional. The key to
being a successful problem solver
is learning to approach problems in a thoughtful and organized
way. In this program, you will
become familiar with a powerful and effective approach for
solving problems and making
decisions. You will also see this critical thinking approach in
action
JOHN CHAFFEE [continued]: as we apply it to several
challenging situations.
SPEAKER 1: The approach we will be using consists of six
steps. Step 1, have I accepted the
problem? Step 2, what is the real problem? Step 3, what are my
alternatives? Step 4, what
are the advantages and disadvantages
SPEAKER 1 [continued]: of the alternatives? Step 5, what is my
solution and plan of action?
3. Step 6, how well is my solution working?
JOHN CHAFFEE: The first problem that we will be analyzing is
one that almost all of us can
relate to, that of procrastination.
SPEAKER 2: As Charles approaches the professor in his critical
thinking class, he finds
himself in a familiar position, trying to explain why he won't be
handing in the paper that is
due on time. His professor surprises Charles by encouraging
him to think critically by treating
this late paper as a symptom of a larger problem in his life,
procrastination. For the next class,
Charles is to bring
SPEAKER 2 [continued]: in a description of his problem, which
he will then analyze using the
problem solving method they've been studying in class. This is
what Charles writes. I am a
procrastinator. Whenever I have something important to do,
especially if it's difficult or
unpleasant, I tend to put it off. Though this chronic delaying
bothers me, I try to suppress my
concern and instead
SPEAKER 2 [continued]: work on more trivial things. It doesn't
matter how much time I allow
for certain responsibilities, I always end up waiting until the
last minute to really focus and get
things done, or I over-schedule too many things for the time
available. I usually meet my
deadlines, but not always, and I don't enjoy working under this
kind of pressure. In many
cases, I know that I'm not producing my best work.
5. for some people, this is the
most difficult step. Why is that? Why is it difficult for people to
acknowledge that they have a
problem?
JANET: Well, and I think people have a natural reluctance not
to want to analyze themselves
and their behaviors. I mean, why would you want to analyze
yourself. I mean, you could
uncover some things you don't want to uncover.
SAUL: Right. And it requires you making life changes that
you're not familiar with, that you've
never done before. So it's sort of like a new beginning.
JOHN CHAFFEE: Well, we've acknowledged that we have a
problem. We've committed
ourselves to solving it. What are some strategies that we can use
to sustain that commitment?
JANET: I think it's always wise to kind of formalize your
commitment. Perhaps you want to put
it down on a piece of paper.
SAUL: I mean, and once you tackle it, your life becomes less
stressful, less problems. You
feel good about it. And you might look back and say, well, why
did I wait so long?
JOHN CHAFFEE: Absolutely. So this first step is crucial for
getting the problem-solving
process off the ground. Acknowledge that you have a problem,
commit yourself to doing
something about it, and implement some strategies to ensure
that that commitment will be
sustained. The second step in our problem-solving process
7. that can give you a clue as to what the real issue is.
JOHN CHAFFEE: And so the important point in this step is that
we want to really get below
the surface, to use our critical thinking capabilities to get deep,
and to really find what really is
at the essence of this thing that's causing us the difficulties.
And then once we have that as a
starting point, to build outwards and start really
JOHN CHAFFEE [continued]: attacking the problem in a really
informed and intelligent way.
Step 3 in the problem-solving process is identifying
alternatives. It's really to our advantage to
identify as many alternatives as possible. Why is that?
SAUL: Well, the more alternatives you have, the better it is for
you because then you realize
which one of those works best.
JANET: Or which combination. I mean--
SAUL: Which combinations, exactly.
JANET: --more is more. I mean, and more ideas are better.
JOHN CHAFFEE: It's very unlikely that the most creative idea
that you come up with is going
to be alternative number three. It's most likely it's going to be
alternative number 17 or
alternative number 31, where you've ranged way, way out there
beyond conventional thinking
and really come up with something that really is really
JOHN CHAFFEE [continued]: unique and really innovative and
powerful in that way. What are
8. some strategies that we can use to generate many alternatives
for solving problems?
SAUL: You could discuss the matter with other people, and
therefore by doing that, you would
get a different viewpoint.
JOHN CHAFFEE: Yeah, benefit from their experiences and
from their way of thinking.
JANET: Right. You could also-- what we were talking about
was brainstorming is just
generating lots and lots of different ideas. And the more the
merrier and the more creative, the
more interesting different approaches you might have.
JOHN CHAFFEE: It's one of the unique qualities of the human
mind that when human minds
come together, they often produce thinking that neither of the
individuals would have come up
with on their own. There's a certain chemistry that takes place.
And it's part of the power of
the human mind and why critical thinking doesn't just take place
in reflective isolation, but it's
a communal activity.
JOHN CHAFFEE [continued]: It's a social activity with human
minds getting together and
generating thoughts and clarity. Let's see if we can do a little
brainstorming and come up with
some ideas for dealing with the problem of procrastination.
SAUL: Well, one of the things would be to tackle the hardest
things first.
JANET: And setting deadlines. Setting deadlines, taking the
10. SAUL: Establish priorities. Do what's most important.
JOHN CHAFFEE: You can link up with a friend that also is a
procrastinator. Shouldn't be too
difficult to find. And you could form like a small, mutually-
supportive group with one another.
JANET: You could also find someone who doesn't procrastinate,
and maybe some of their
good habits will rub off on you.
JOHN CHAFFEE: You can create daily lists on Post-It notes,
and then each day revise the
order of those lists. Cross out the things you've done. Move the
things you haven't done to the
top of the list so that you're always trying to work from the
most important to the least
important.
SAUL: And I think what's important also is to eliminate what's
silly, what's not essential in your
life.
JANET: Learn to say no to things that are not important.
JOHN CHAFFEE: You could really work at visualizing what
your life is going to be like if you're
able to eliminate procrastination. Think of all of the time,
anxiety, guilt that we waste because
simply we haven't gotten to the task itself.
SAUL: And I guess if you can't do this, you might need
counseling.
JOHN CHAFFEE: And because it's such a universal problem,
12. practical they are, how
feasible they are, and how useful they are. For example, one of
the alternatives that we
looked at was to create a very specific schedule and try to stick
to it. If we're able to do that,
what are some advantages
JOHN CHAFFEE [continued]: of pursuing that particular
alternative?
JANET: You understand what tasks you need to do and when,
and it lays things out nicely for
you so it's very easy and systematic to follow.
JOHN CHAFFEE: What about disadvantages?
SAUL: Well, you could say, well, OK, this is fine, but why is
this going to work now when it
never did before?
JANET: It also doesn't take into account things that come up
during the way. OK, I'm going to
do my term paper right now, but, oh, wait a minute, I have a
take-home midterm. How does
that factor in? And it doesn't take into account that things
evolve and change. And your plan
can't be set in stone or it won't work.
JOHN CHAFFEE: And I think that connects to the whole notion
of identifying the real
problem, because it may be that creating a schedule is just
dealing with a symptom of the
problem. It isn't really getting to the heart of the problem, and
so it's not going to really have
sustained success. So this particular step is crucial because not
only does it give us an
13. opportunity
JOHN CHAFFEE [continued]: to really look up close and
personal at these different
alternatives, it really increases our understanding, strengthens
our analytical abilities, lays the
foundation for us to create a solution that will really work, that
will really be a lasting solution,
not a temporary Band-aid.
JOHN CHAFFEE [continued]: Step 5 is a step of synthesis. Up
until now, we've been
engaging mainly in analytical activities as we tried to
familiarize ourselves with the problem.
We've looked at lots of different alternatives. We've analyzed
those alternatives in terms of
advantages and disadvantages. And now it's time for us to try to
bring it all together and
create a solution and a specific plan of action that
JOHN CHAFFEE [continued]: will help us move ahead and
make some progress in trying to
solve the problems that we're dealing with. What are some
strategies for selecting alternatives
that we think might have a good chance of succeeding?
SAUL: Well you could compare your terms back to your
original goals.
JANET: That would work. Or you can synthesize a bunch of the
different alternatives and put
them together to come up with something that works for you,
very specifically for you.
JOHN CHAFFEE: Trying some out. You can try them out in
your mind. You can visualize how
15. JOHN CHAFFEE: It may be that we'll have to make some small
adjustments. We may have to
do some fine tuning. Or we may find that our alternatives aren't
working at all. What do we do
in that case?
SAUL: I guess you could get perspective from different people,
find out how you're doing.
JANET: You can analyze and see, has the whole thing, the
whole plan been successful? Have
portions of it been successful? And maybe if only portions of it
have been successful, you can
revamp and create a new plan based on what you have had
success with.
JOHN CHAFFEE: We learn as much if not more from things
that don't work out. And now
armed with that new information, we can go back to our
alternatives and make now an even
more informed and intelligent selection in terms of how to
implement a plan of action. The
problem-solving process is not linear. It's not a formula. It's an
ongoing process.
JOHN CHAFFEE [continued]: It's a way of thinking. it's a way
of living. So we shouldn't get
discouraged when things don't work out. I n s t e a d w e s h o
u l d t a k e t h a t a s s i g n s o f
encouragement that we're moving ahead. We're moving towards
solving some of the most
difficult and challenging problems in our lives. Well, what
we've been doing in this first
scenario is looking at a fairly simple but a very powerful
JOHN CHAFFEE [continued]: approach to solving problems.
17. classes in illustration. His
classmates suggest perhaps he should consider this as an option
for study. Why not explore
a career as a graphic designer? Jerry says he thinks of his
drawings as a hobby, not a
possible career direction.
JOHN CHAFFEE: Jerry is faced with an incredibly important
decision that we're all faced with,
namely, what career is he going to devote his life to? In
applying the problem-solving process
to this type of decision, accepting the problem involves trying
to and recognizing that we want
to identify a career that will not just
JOHN CHAFFEE [continued]: bring us a paycheck, but will
bring us fulfillment and
satisfaction and meaning in our lives. It's an interesting
question because so many people
seem to have difficulty in doing this. For example, think of all
the people you know who are
employed. What percentage of them wake up in the morning
excited about going to work,
looking forward,
JOHN CHAFFEE [continued]: enthusiastic to getting to the
office, and have careers or jobs
that really complete them and make them feel fulfilled?
JANET: And if you're spending a lot of time, as you do at work,
you could be very frustrated
doing something that you really don't truly enjoy.
JOHN CHAFFEE: So this first step is crucial, to recognize and
acknowledge that this is a truly
significant choice in our lives and to do the very best that we
18. can to find a career that we can
really devote ourselves to. That will, yes, provide us with
financial security, but it will fulfill us.
JOHN CHAFFEE [continued]: It will complete us. It will enable
us to fulfill our potentials to be
the kind of person and make the unique contribution to the
world that we're capable of. Step
2 in the problem-solving process, what is the real problem,
follows on the acknowledgement
JOHN CHAFFEE [continued]: that what we want is a career that
will not just bring us financial
security, but also personal fulfillment. What advice can we give
Jerry as he wrestles with this
career decision?
JANET: It's an important decision and not something that he has
to make immediately. He can
make over time. He should not feel that he's locked into
anything. He can change his mind.
He can explore.
JOHN CHAFFEE: So trying to identify the deep and abiding
interest in our lives, trying to
identify the areas of our lives where we have unique and special
talents, seems to me that
those are really the fundamental ingredients to identifying
careers.
JANET: There has to be a balance between money and
contentment. Whatever that balance
is for yourself, you have to be able to find that in your career.
JOHN CHAFFEE: A lot of times students in college feel a lot of
pressure to make a selection
20. to someone who might give you
some sort of advice and direction.
JOHN CHAFFEE: So there's really-- we're talking about three
different areas that are
unknown to us. One area is often, what positions, careers, are
available out there? Secondly,
what may grow and develop in the future? And thirdly, who am
I? As a critical thinker, you're
using your abilities to actively explore.
JOHN CHAFFEE [continued]: What are some specific
suggestions we could make to Jerry
about enlarging his realm of possibilities?
JANET: Well, first of all, he should probably talk to some
people who are graphic artists and
see what kinds of things they do, what kinds of jobs they've
had, what things they've enjoyed,
and see if these sort of things are of interest to him. Or if they
can put him in touch with other
people who do something that's similar to that and may
probably open up other opportunities
there as well.
JOHN CHAFFEE: So the point here is that in this stage of the
decision-making process, you
want to bring your creative thinking abilities to bear, but also
your openness to yourself and
openness to the future, and to generate as many possibilities and
to keep your mind open.
JOHN CHAFFEE [continued]: Once you've generated as many
career possibilities as you can,
now it's time for analysis. Step 4, what are the advantages and
disadvantages of each of
22. 11
SAUL [continued]: that where he was before he was better off.
JOHN CHAFFEE: In each of these cases, there's no, again, no
simple answer. But we need to
bring our critical thinking abilities to bear and decide, at this
point in time, this is the best
choice for me, but it's not a final choice. Step 5 is, what is my
solution and plan of action?
JOHN CHAFFEE [continued]: So we've generated career
possibilities. Now it's time to try to
pull things together, develop a plan of action, and then move on
it. What are some of the
issues or priorities that we're thinking about when we're
exploring different careers?
SAUL: Financial security, employment, and job security.
JANET: You also want a career that's going to make use of your
special talents and your
special abilities so that you are fulfilled, that you're happy in
what you do.
JOHN CHAFFEE: So it's very important to develop that
concrete plan of action, have a
timeline. But at the same time, recognize that even though
you're committing yourself, at this
point, to these specific steps, you're open to change. You're
open to possibilities.
JANET: So while you might have a plan, that you're going to
allow it to move and shift as
23. needs and opportunities shift.
JOHN CHAFFEE: And as a critical thinker, you're critically
reflecting on these experiences,
and those reflections inform your choices. I mean, life is
change. The Greek philosopher
Heraclitus said that, "All is flux." He said, "The same person
never steps into the same river
twice," because the river's always changing, and we're always
changing.
JOHN CHAFFEE [continued]: And as a result, we need to
recognize that we are evolving. The
world is evolving. And we need to use our minds and use our
abilities to think deeply and to
think broadly and to think clearly to make the most informed
choices possible, b u t t o
recognize that those choices are going to change and evolve
over time.
JOHN CHAFFEE [continued]: Step 6 is the step of evaluation.
How are things working out?
And it's a question that's of crucial importance in terms of our
career because it's such a
central part of our lives. So as we commit ourselves to our
careers, we want to be monitoring
and seeing to what extent the career that we've selected is one
that really reflects
JOHN CHAFFEE [continued]: our deep and abiding interest and
also reflects our talent, helps
us fulfill the potentials that we have. And I know that in almost
every person's life, they have a
story to tell about how they ended up in their career and how it
was a path that was one that
they never envisioned would take place.
25. the extraordinary ability to
think and to think well in order to create lives that are
successful, but more significant,
JOHN CHAFFEE [continued]: lives that we feel are worth
living. Becoming an effective
problem solver does not merely involve applying a problem-
solving method in a mechanical
fashion. Rather, solving problems and making decisions, like
thinking critically, reflects a total
approach to making sense of experience. A sophisticated
problem solver employees
JOHN CHAFFEE [continued]: all of the abilities of thinking
critically, including thinking
actively, being self-aware, curious, open-minded, an
independent thinker, knowledgeable,
creative, skilled at discussing ideas with others. For more
information on the basic abilities
JOHN CHAFFEE [continued]: of critical thinking, see Insight
Media's production, Introduction
to Critical Thinking. When we think critically as problem
solvers, we have the courage to meet
difficult problems head on and the determination to work
through them. Becoming an expert
problem solver is, for the most part, an ability that you can
develop by practicing and applying
JOHN CHAFFEE [continued]: the principles described in this
program. You can learn to view
problems as challenges, opportunities for growth, instead of
obstacles or burdens. You can
become a person who attacks adversity with confidence and
enthusiasm.