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Select the Best Solution
Good Morning. Thank you for visiting my website on this first day of July.
Today, we shall examine the final step of the Reflective-Thinking Method of problem solving. We’ve defined the problem, analyzed the problem, established criteria for solving the problem, and generated potential solutions for the problem. Now the group can solve the problem without contention.
To solve the problem, participants evaluate the potential solutions with regard to the previously established criteria. This method makes certain that all potential solutions are given equal consideration and all members can feel comfortable with the final solution. The solution should be a consensus decision. A consensus decision may not be ideal in the eyes of every participant, but it should be one that all members can accept.
A consensus decision is the best solution because all members of the group can live with it, and it gives the group a high level of unity. Often the solution is a combination or adaptation of two or more of the suggested solutions. No one leaves the discussion feeling as if his or her opinions didn’t get considered. Thus, there are no losers.
Thank you for visiting my blog. Hope you’ll consider using the Reflective-Thinking Process to solve group problems in the future. You’ll be a winner!
Generating Potential Solutions
Good Morning,
Thank you for visiting my page. This morning, I’ll introduce step four of the reflective-thinking process for solving a problem. With the Coronavirus reaching record numbers, many families, groups, and boards will be deciding on questions of policy. Remember a question of policy determines what steps a family, city, county, state, school, or country should take to deal with a problem.
The fourth step of the reflective-thinking process is to generate potential solutions. During this phase, the ideal is to come up with the broadest possible range of solutions. This is the brainstorming phase. Participants generate ideas. The most desirable approach is to have each member of the group list all the possible solutions he or she can. Encourage free association of words and thoughts.
After all members of the group or task force have listed all the possible solutions they can generate, one member of the group should consolidate the individual lists into one list. The group should discuss the combined list to make sure no potential solution has been ignored or disregarded. Members should use the existing solutions to support and generate more solutions.
A quick note. Creating the individual lists encourages creativity and produces more high-quality solutions. It also encourages equal participation and makes it less likely one member will dominate the process, resulting in other members withholding the best solution or being jeered.
Thank you for visiting my blog. I hope it will help you solve your problems.
Criteria for Solutions
Good morning,
Thank you for visiting my site. If like me you have a question of policy to solve and have decided to use the reflective-thinking process to solve it, after defining the problem and writing a question of policy, the next step is to establish criteria or standards to guide your group in deciding precisely what the solutions must achieve and any factors that might limit the choice of solutions.
If for example you were dealing with a question of policy such as:
What measures should schools take to deal with reopening in light of the coronavirus?
Would the criteria have to meet budget guidelines?
Would the solution have to come into force before a certain date?
Would the solution have to be uniform across the country, state, or county?
Would the solution have to be safe for both students, teachers, bus drivers, other personnel, and their families?
If I were trying to decide what measures I should take to deal with my need to choose a new home, solutions for my criteria would include a price maximum, square feet, lot size, number of bedrooms, number of bathrooms, size of kitchen, need for a formal dining room, wall space for bookcases, a place to plant a garden, a place for writing, minimal or no home owners association fees, proximity to a hospital, grocery stores, and pickleball courts, and most importantly nearness to family.
As you can see, the criteria or standards on which a judgment or decision can be based should guide the group to eliminate potential troubles in making the best choice later.
Thank you for visiting my blog. Stay safe.
Analyze the Problem
Good Morning,
Thank you for visiting my blog. In this time of the Coronavirus, many of us have problems. It is my suggestion that we turn to the reflective-thinking method to solve problems. My last post suggested beginning a discussion with a question of policy. The second step to solving a problem with this method is to analyze the problem.
When analyzing the problem, it is key that participants analyze how severe the problem is. Members of the group must investigate the scope of the problem. To do this, group members must determine how many people it affects. Is it a local, national, or global problems?
Next participants must discuss what would happen if the problem is not resolved, the cause of the problem, and the history of the problem. Learn what factors played a part in the rise of the problem, and its major causes. Research so you understand the problem before trying to solve it.
Thank you for visiting my blog. Stay safe. Try to be the answer to the problems you deal with on a daily basis.
Defining the Problem
Welcome to my blog. Happy Juneteenth. Let’s celebrate freedom and justice.
In my last post, I introduced you to my favorite technique for solving a problem, the five-step reflective thinking method. The first step of this method is defining the problem using a question of policy. When put in writing or spoken formally, questions of policy usually include the word should.
Examples of questions of policy include:
What measures should be taken to protect children using the Internet against cyber terrorism?
What step should be taken to ensure that all Americans receive adequate health care?
Two components are necessary to define a problem. First, participants must analyze a question of policy. In essence, participants must determine if there is a serious problem that requires a change in policy from the current policy.
The second part of defining the problem is to explain your plan for solving it. Your plan should be practical.
Questions of policy should never be yes or no questions? Questions that can be answered with a yes or no lead to absolutes and arguments, not plans for dealing with the issue.
A final example of a question of policy:
What measures should schools take to deal with protecting children from the Coronavirus?
Consider how you will write a question of policy for our current unrest in the United States.
Thank you for visiting www.MelodyDeanDimick.com.
Solving a Problem
Good Afternoon,
Thank you for visiting my site. In the time of the coronavirus, we have many problems to solve. Some like to solve problems with debates. I prefer to use the reflective-thinking process. The reflective-thinking process is gleaned from the writings of educational theorist and philosopher, John Dewey. Like me, Dewey loved the concept of democracy.
I believe in the First Amendment and in our need to solve problems through lawful discussions. When I taught Communication 101 at the State University of New York at Plattsburgh, I assigned a problem-solving group discussion, rather than a debate. I suggest it’s time for our lawmakers to try this method of solving problems. Enough of the deadlock in Washington, DC.
The beauty of the reflective-thinking method is it requires a consensus, a group decision that is acceptable to all members of the group. There are no winners and losers. Instead, everyone wins.
There are five steps to the reflective-thinking process: defining the problem, analyzing the problem, establishing criteria for solving the problem, generating solutions for the problem, and selecting the best solution or combination of solutions for the problem.
Over the next few blogs, I shall demonstrate how to successfully use this technique to solve problems. Hopefully, you will find it to be a very helpful tool for those of you making decisions in virtual meetings.
Thank you for visiting my blog. Stay safe.
It’s Official
Good Morning,
I’m super excited and a little bit nervous today, almost giddy. I can check off a bucket list goal. Thanks to Joyce Sweeney, literary agent with The Seymour Literary Agency, I’m an agented author. The Seymour Agency’s new website is up, and I’m listed as one of the authors. How official is that, friends?
If that isn’t exciting enough, I’m leading a meeting of the Florida Writers Foundation (FWF) at 4:30 this afternoon. The goal of the FWF is to promote literacy. One way we do that is to provide grants for worthwhile programs. We support school and library projects by providing funds. I’m hoping to make a difference in our world through literacy. Reading makes people more empathetic.
When invited to speak at schools and conferences and asked why I write, I frequently say, “I write to right.” Injustice, especially in the form of racism, classism, and sexism, ignites the fire within me.
When I was in fifth grade, I witnessed a teacher treating a poor classmate unfairly. I went home and complained to my father. He said, “Life isn’t fair. If you don’t accept that, you’re going to spend a lot of time pounding your head against a wall.”
Dad was right. I’ve spent much of my life trying to make life fair. As a teacher, I tried to treat all students fairly and protest against those who didn’t. Currently, my poetry deals with social issues because all Americans deserve the best America has to offer. I refuse to accept injustice and shall continue to fight it by telling the best story I can without preaching, but with a spotlight on righting wrongs.
Click on this link to learn more about Joyce Sweeney and the Seymour Agency and to see my bio:
https://www.theseymouragency.com/fiction-authors
Thank you for reading my blog. What will you do to make a difference this week?
Zoom Meetings
Good Morning,
Thank you for visiting my page. I had planned a different post today, but I’ve decided with the current world situation, this topic might be more helpful.
If you need to communicate with others for a group meeting, but fear doing so in a confined board room, you might consider a Zoom meeting. During the time of the Coronavirus, many of us remain quarantined or are social distancing, but we have to communicate with other members of our boards.
I’m the president of the Florida Writers Foundation. Unfortunately, my group must meet this afternoon to decide whether we shall cancel our Celebrity Workshop and special dinner with our Florida Writer of the Year, Robert N. Macomber, or not. Because we are a charity, there are strict guidelines for meetings. Our treasurer, Chrissy Jackson, determined the best way to meet was for her to invite board members to join a Zoom meeting.
Have you ever been invited to a Zoom meeting? Have you ever welcomed others to join a Zoom meeting? Were you afraid you might not know how to conduct or join the meeting? If so, this post is for you. Chrissy Jackson sent our members this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnFSBjFvK2o
If you’re contemplating conducting a virtual meeting and don’t know how to use Zoom, consider watching this very helpful tutorial.
Have a good day and until it’s safe to conduct physical meetings, see you on Zoom.
Good Morning,
One thing many beginning writers and readers don’t know is that the publisher, not the author, chooses the cover for a book. My publisher, Taylor and Seale Publishing, sends me a page in my contract asking me what my vision of the cover is. Sometimes the final cover looks like my vision more than other times.
The first line of No Parents Allowed is, “Katy sat as motionless as an eternal rose in a glass dome, suffocating.
I think illustrator, Chris Holmes, captured the opening line of my book, do you?
As an author, be prepared to provide a description of what you want as a cover for your book. Stick to one to three colors. Be sure there is plenty of white space. People judge a book by its cover.
In the time of the Coronavirus, I often feel trapped in a dome, but I know it’s for my own good. How would you describe your feelings during the quarantine?
Who would have guessed it?
When I listened to this panel at the SCBWI Conference, I had no idea Agent Joyce Sweeney would end up representing my 2018 RPLA winning What Lies Beneath. Although the novel in verse won an award in 2018, it took much rewording and revising to get it to the point it was worthy of an agent.