Stop Guessing

Summary

Solving complex problems is very difficult and usually can't be done by simply brainstorming. Readers will learn how to successfully apply nine behaviors in a systematic and methodical way to solve any problem.


Most problems are fairly easy: they have a few likely potential root causes. The most important problems often have hundreds or thousands of potential root causes within very complex systems. Such problems are hard problems and are highly resistant to guessing, brainstorming, or problem-solving methodologies that require conjuring a list of possible causes. Great problem solvers are armed with a set of behaviors that allows them to avoid guessing. They consistently solve hard problems in a way that can seem magical to most people.

In Stop Guessing, you will learn nine behaviors that are critical to success and how to adopt them from Nat Greene, who has twenty years of experience leading great problem solvers. Developing strength in these behaviors will help you
¥ Have confidence to solve the hard problems you face
¥ Easily build alignment to implement the right solution
¥ Identify more important and valuable opportunities that are being ignored
¥ Help others become better problem solvers
¥ Stop wasting time and money and trying your patience

Each of the nine behaviors comes with stories of great problem solving in action, including a best-in-class chemical processor that had hundreds of millions of dollars of upside hidden behind a hard problem, a losing baseball team without the budget for star players, and the scourge of poverty in sub-Saharan Africa.