Walter Derzko wrote:
> For one, problem-finding is an inward and backward-looking process
> (it's already happened) vs situational opportunities which require
> an outward and forward-focused exploration process. Problems are
> almost always viewed as negative, while situational opportunities
> can be both negative or positive events.
I'm not sure that problem-finding is always construed of as a backward-
looking process and/or negative. Mackworth (1965) makes a critical
distinction between problem solving and problem finding. "Problem solving
is a choice between existing programs or sets of mental rules -- whereas
problem finding is the detection of the need for a new program based on a
choice between existing and expected future programs" (p. 57). This seems
very close to what Derzko describes as situational opportunities.
Mackworth, N. (1965). Originality. American Psychologist, 20, 51-66.
For what it's worth, both what Mackworth writes about problem finding and
what Derzko describes as situational opportunities, are strikingly similar
to what one of my marketing professors (Bill Nickels) at the University of
Maryland taught -- Marketing is not so much about how to sell your
product, it is about finding out what the consumer wants and giving it to
them. This, it seems to me, is what the University of Wisconsin was doing
in Derzko's original example of situational opportunities on "experts" and
the Gulf crisis.
Steve Fiore
Stephen M. Fiore
Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Psychology
3939 O'Hara Street
Learning Research and Development Center, Room 606
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
(412) 624-4790 Voice
(412) 624-9149 Fax
--"Steve M. Fiore" <STEVEF@lrdc2.lrdc.pitt.edu>
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