Chapter 4: Job Skills for the Future
4.9 Complex Problem Solving
Find solutions to real-world problems
Complex Problem Solving is the skill of applying a method to a problem, often not seen before, to obtain a satisfactory solution. It requires a creative combination of knowledge and strategies to arrive at an answer. Rapid technological change, the increasingly global exchange of ideas, and the proliferation of easy-to-access information – some of which is decidedly unreliable – all contribute greater complexity to the problems that they will need to solve.
Excelling in Complex Problem Solving as a Job Skill means:
You are:
- Engaged in ‘big picture’ thinking
- Flexible & adaptable to change
- Creative
- Highly detail-oriented
- Someone who sees patterns
- Someone who works efficiently
Others see you:
- Demonstrate self-reliance
- Achieve your dreams and ambitions
- Capable of higher-order thinking (not just memorizing facts, but demonstrating the ability to deeply understand, apply, analyze, and evaluate information)
- Achieve increased status & responsibility at school or work
- Create solutions that balance the facts, but with new insight
