In the workplace,
we often are asked to solve problems by anticipating future events for
someone else or for ourselves.
Consider the following scenarios.
- Your manager is concerned about your competitor's new service for
their clients. She wants to know how well this rival company has anticipated
the needs, costs, problems and consequences of their new service.
She wants you to research their program.
- In a conversation with your manager, you suggest modifying a current
product line that, if successful, should broaden your company's market
share. She asks you assess the potential success of this idea.
- Your supervisor comes to you and asks you to solve a problem. Your
leading competitor has developed a new service for the clients you
compete for. She wants to know what they are doing and whether it
will improve their market share. She asks you to assess the potential
success of their new service.
- In a conversation with your manager, you suggest modifying a current
product line. She likes the idea and asks you to determine the best
course of action to implement this new line.
The first two scenarios ask you to anticipate what will happen in the
future. The latter two ask you to evaluate the success of taking a particular
course of action in the future.
These scenarios illustrate the four kinds of future looking evaluative
questions that we are asked to consider in the workplace.
1. Anticipate the future
A. How well has institution X anticipated needs, costs and problems?
B. What are the future needs, costs and problems?
2. Improve the future
A. What is the potential success of institution X's proposal/program?
B. What is the best course of action that we can recommend?
When you finish this module, you should be able to:
- Determine what type of prospective question should be addressed
- Apply the appropriate heuristic to the question
- Determine what answerable questions are the appropriate ones
Heuristic
