Problem Solving & Decision Making Flashcards
7 cards from real CSM practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Problem Solving & Decision Making flashcards as text
A strategic manager uses scenario planning to address an uncertain future. The primary goal of this technique is to:
Answer: Develop multiple plausible future narratives to stress-test strategies
Scenario planning constructs multiple distinct futures to evaluate how strategies perform across a range of possible conditions.
The Cynefin framework categorizes problems into five domains. A problem with clear cause-and-effect relationships and established best practices belongs in which domain?
Answer: Clear (Simple)
The Clear (Simple) domain contains problems with obvious cause-and-effect relationships where best practices apply directly.
Which decision-making style is most appropriate when a manager needs a fast decision in a crisis with incomplete information?
Answer: Directive style with rapid action based on available information
The directive decision-making style is efficient and action-oriented, making it best suited for high-pressure situations with limited time.
A fishbone (Ishikawa) diagram is used in problem solving to:
Answer: Visually categorize potential causes of a specific problem
The fishbone diagram organizes potential causes of a problem into categories (e.g., people, process, equipment) to guide root cause investigation.
Pre-mortem analysis in strategic decision making involves:
Answer: Imagining a future failure before implementation to identify risks proactively
Pre-mortem analysis asks teams to assume a plan has already failed and then work backward to identify potential causes, surfacing risks before they occur.
When applying systems thinking to a strategic problem, a manager focuses primarily on:
Answer: Understanding interdependencies, feedback loops, and emergent behavior across the whole system
Systems thinking examines how components interact and influence each other, recognizing that system behavior emerges from relationships rather than isolated parts.
A manager uses the OODA Loop for rapid decision making. The correct sequence of the OODA Loop is:
Answer: Observe, Orient, Decide, Act
The OODA Loop (Observe, Orient, Decide, Act) was developed by military strategist John Boyd for rapid adaptive decision making in dynamic environments.