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Monday, November 11, 2013 - 8:30am - 12:00pm
Half-day Tutorials
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Twelve Heuristics for Solving Tough Problems—Faster and Better

As infants, we begin our lives as problem solving machines, learning to navigate a strange and complex world in which others communicate in ways we don’t understand. Initially, we hone our problem solving talents; then many of us find our explorations thwarted and eventually stop using and then begin losing our natural problem solving ability. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Psychologists tell us that people can regain lost skills and learn new ones to become better problem solvers. Payson Hall shares techniques and skills that apply to situations in real life. Specifically, learn techniques to better define problems, and explore twelve heuristics for generating solutions that can help when you and your team are staring at a blank paper and struggling to find candidate solutions for further consideration. Learn when random search is appropriate, how binary search can help with diagnostics, strategies for identifying and overcoming opposition—and when transferring the problem to someone else might be the best strategy of all.

Payson Hall, Catalysis Group, Inc.

A systems engineer and project management consultant, Payson Hall is a founding member of Catalysis Group, Inc. Formally trained as a software engineer and computer scientist, Payson has performed and consulted on a variety of hardware and software systems integration projects in both the public and private sectors throughout North America and Europe during his thirty-year professional career. He has been a writer and featured speaker on topics of systems integration, project management, and risk management.

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