The Process versus the Solution

Roger Martin is the dean of the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management.  His lessons on problem solving and decision making should be read by all engineers.  In a world of multidisciplinary problems - - his ideas on "integrative thinking" are the foundation for how we can think about ideas and solutions.  Engineers should understand that good decision making is not always about making tough choices, but refusing to choose when no good option presents itself.  Sometimes it is about utilizing the tensions of the decision making process created by different ideas to generate even better solutions.  The future in the context of how we train and educate engineers might just be less on solution to problems and more on the process of arriving at a solution.

Check out the Rotman Desautels Centre for Integrative Thinking.