Successful Problem Management

by Michael Sanderson

Book by Sanderson, Michael This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0471048712
• ISBN13: 9780471048718
• Release Date: January 1979
• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
• Length: 236 Pages

Customer Reviews

For understanding fundamental principles of problem management, start with this book!

Appended below is my syntopic review of two classic books on problem solving: 1. Successful Problem Management, by Michael Sanderson; 2. Managerial Problem Solving, by Charles Margerison; These two books have been my constant companions since the 70's when I first embarked on a managerial career in engineering & production operations. They were also my very first books on the subject. What I like about the first book is the more than 1,200 checklist questions that have been formulated hierarchically in helping me to understand & build, in stages (the author prefers the term `strategic elements'), my problem solving model. The questions are also flexible enough to apply to a wide range of different problems & still be engineered to the details of specific applications. Additionally, the book also presents some basic skeleton strategies for such situations as: - diagnosis for problem definition; - getting organized for a project; - generating & developing a new idea; - operating in an entrepreneurial situation; In contrast to a lot of other problem solving books, I find that the second book focuses essentially on group interaction & interpersonal behaviour in managerial meetings. The author's fundamental premise is that a manager's working day is punctuated by meetings, formal or chance, to resolve problems (including identifying & exploiting opportunities). This book, written in clear & simple language, provides expert guidance in how managers can improve results in such meetings. It is targeted primarily for the world of production, marketing, finance & other managerial functions, fully backed by well-designed case studies. Very seldom does one come across such a problem solving book that draws such a fine distinction between problems, solutions & managerial actions. I also find the last few chapters of the book very insightful. The chapter entitled `Getting Cornered' illustrates the pitfalls of the manager who is cornered by colleagues & subordinates who disagreed on a particular issue, whereas another chapter, entitled `Conversation Seduction', examines the problem in a meeting where the discussion is seemingly going nowhere. Over the years, I have learnt a lot from the above two authors as I move on progressively to tackle varied problems & exploiting abundant opportunities in my managerial career path. Even today, after having left the corporate world for more than two decades, I still make effort & time to `chat', from time to time, with the two authors through their wonderful work. I would like to sum up my syntopic review in this manner: - if you want to understand the fundamental principles of problem management, with an easy-to-use building block approach, start with the fist book; - if you want to move into managerial problem solving involving group dynamics, the second book is the right book; Why don't you get both books?