Business Problem Solving Training Course

Participants can create an evidence plan that reveals stakeholder needs, behaviours, and knowledge gaps.

• Research plan sets learning questions, evidence sources, methods and timing
• Stakeholder interviews use laddering questions, probing and neutral prompts
• Observation protocols record workarounds, delays, handoffs and environmental cues
• Voice-of-customer statements distinguish stated needs from underlying jobs
• Jobs to Be Done identifies functional, emotional and social progress
• Affinity mapping converts field notes into themes and opportunity areas
• Evidence quality checks assess source bias, recency, validity and gaps

Participants can identify causal factors, bottlenecks, and system interactions behind a business problem.

• Process mapping traces customer journeys, handoffs, queues and failure points
• Five Whys tests causal chains without mistaking correlation for cause
• Fishbone diagrams structure people, process, technology, policy and environment causes
• Pareto analysis isolates high-frequency or high-impact problem categories
• Systems maps reveal feedback loops, delays and unintended consequences
• Constraint analysis identifies bottlenecks limiting throughput, service or adoption
• Problem decomposition creates manageable subproblems with explicit interfaces

Participants can generate a broad set of relevant solution ideas without settling on familiar responses too early.

• Design criteria translate evidence into solution requirements and trade-offs
• How Might We questions open productive solution spaces
• Brainwriting 6-3-5 generates ideas before group discussion anchors thinking
• SCAMPER challenges existing offers through substitution, combination and reversal
• Analogous industries supply patterns for transfer without copying surface features
• Morphological analysis combines independent solution dimensions into novel concepts
• Forced connections disrupt familiar categories using random stimulus prompts

Participants can turn selected ideas into coherent concepts with explicit customer value and operational requirements.

• Concept posters specify target user, value proposition, mechanism and assumptions
• Value Proposition Canvas tests customer pains, gains and jobs
• Business Model Canvas links value creation, delivery, revenue and costs
• Service blueprints connect frontstage interactions with backstage operational requirements
• Assumption-to-test tables define evidence thresholds and decision consequences
• Storyboards make future service experiences concrete before implementation
• Concept portfolios preserve alternative options under material uncertainty

Participants can compare solution concepts transparently and identify risks before allocating resources.

• Weighted decision matrices compare concepts against agreed selection criteria
• Desirability, feasibility and viability assess solution quality from three perspectives
• Impact-effort matrices sequence quick wins, strategic bets and deferments
• Cost-benefit analysis states assumptions, ranges, cash effects and nonfinancial impacts
• Pre-mortems identify likely failure modes before committing resources
• Risk registers assign owners, controls, triggers and contingency actions
• Ethical screening identifies distributional effects, consent concerns and exclusion risks

Participants can design proportionate prototypes and tests that produce decision-relevant evidence.

• Prototype fidelity matches the question, audience, risk and available time
• Paper prototypes test workflows, messages, interfaces and service interactions
• Service role-play reveals handoff failures and behavioural responses
• Usability test scripts define tasks, prompts, observations and success criteria
• Experiment canvases state hypothesis, test method, metric and threshold
• A/B test design controls variables, segments and exposure conditions
• Learning logs document evidence, interpretation, decisions and next tests

Participants can construct a concise case for investment based on expected value, uncertainty, and implementation choices.

• Problem economics quantifies baseline costs, revenue leakage, risk and delay
• Benefits maps link solution features to measurable operational outcomes
• Three-point estimates express cost, benefit and timing uncertainty
• Scenario analysis compares base, downside and upside value cases
• Investment narratives connect evidence, strategic priorities and implementation choices
• Decision papers distinguish recommendations, assumptions, alternatives and approval requests
• Executive storytelling uses message hierarchy, evidence and concise visual logic

Participants can convert a selected concept into a governed pilot with clear ownership, measures, and change actions.

• Pilot charters define scope, cohort, hypothesis, measures and governance
• Minimum viable product boundaries prevent pilots becoming uncontrolled implementations
• Implementation roadmaps sequence dependencies, milestones, owners and decision gates
• RACI matrices clarify accountabilities across business, technology and suppliers
• Change impact assessments identify affected roles, processes, skills and controls
• ADKAR plans address awareness, desire, knowledge, ability and reinforcement
• Control plans monitor performance, exceptions, ownership and corrective action

Participants can facilitate structured problem-solving decisions and create an application plan for a live business challenge.

• Structured problem-solving agendas balance divergence, convergence and decision making
• Six Thinking Hats surfaces evidence, risks, benefits and alternatives
• Conflict protocols separate interests, criteria and options during evaluation
• Decision logs record rationale, dissent, assumptions and review dates
• Facilitation techniques manage dominant voices, silence and premature consensus
• Personal application plans define priority problem, sponsors, milestones and first actions
• Peer review strengthens framing, test design and implementation assumptions