Understanding Problems We Try To Solve

Department d'Economie et Sciences de la Décision  
Intervenant: Konrad GRABISZEWSKI (HEC Qatar)
Salle T- 

Abstract:

“Successful problem solving requires finding the right solution to the right problem. We fail more often because we solve the wrong problem than because we get the wrong solution to the right problem.“ Russell L. Ackoff 

On a daily basis, people encounter problems to be dealt with. Dealing with a problem is a two-stage process: first, understanding the problem and, second, solving it. Much ink has been spilled about the latter. Significantly less on problem understanding, the main theme of this seminar. We will focus on understanding strategic problems (games), a topic of interest to economics (where it is called game-form recognition) and strategy literature (where it is called problem-formulation). Whether people understand the strategic situations they participate in is ultimately an empirical question addressed in this seminar.  Replicated in 27 different settings, our test shows that subjects fail at problem understanding. Importantly, we find that is understanding problems is more challenging than solving them. Data comes from a mobile experiment conducted in 130 countries with 4,700 subjects.”