ABSTRACT
While the way we appear to solve problems according to the profile may be influenced by recent experience or even lack of it, this chapter presents three general stereotypes or tendencies in managers' problem-solving styles. The sterotypes are the Coyote, the Competitor and the Eagle. The Coyote tends to go straight into planning. Once some general awareness of a problem situation exists, Coyote develops a plan which translates into getting right in there and into implementation. The Coyote is characterized by a tendency to operate from a very restricted repertoire. The Competitor tends to move past defining the problem and launches into having ideas, but the ideas involve imposing solutions from an existing repertoire, irrespective of problem. The Eagle deliberately runs an iterative micro-cycle around stages 1–3, reformulating several statements of what the problem is, each time becoming more precise. The Eagle only moves into Generate solutions when satisfied with the definition of problem and data that supports it.
