Stages Of Problem Solving

539 Words3 Pages
Stages in Problem Solving Decision making is a part of almost everybody's everyday life. No matter how small or mundane the decision to be made, there is an underlying cognitive process and many influences that affect both how the decision is made, and what the decision is. It is these influences that affect how the decision is made in which this paper is interested; specifically, what influences the decision making process. There are several options to explore, including a person's rationality, the influence of long term memory, and a person's emotions. In this paper I will discuss the stages of problem solving and decision making and as well my experiences. The first stage of problem solving is being aware of the problem. When I worked as a Pre-K teacher, I had a situation where my assistant would call out sick or leave work early a day where we had some sort of celebration. I always needed her assistance with the children. Celebrating an event with twenty five children is not easy. The second stage is analyzing the problem and its causes. After a few months I realized that my assistant was leaving early every time there was a party. Her leaving early was a huge problem for me, because it added more work for me and also doubled the stress. I then began to search and choose an alternative way to resolve this problem which is the third and fourth stage of problem solving. We once had a conversation about her hobbies and she had mentioned that enjoyed taking pictures and was thinking about becoming a photographer full time. I decided that the best way to tackle this problem was by assigning her birthday projects, something that would interest her such as photography for a photo album for every child. In implementing this project, which is the fifth stage, my assistant began to participate more in the celebration activities that were taking place. She became more
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