Problem solving

I came across a few items I wrote about in 2007, I thought I would start by posting the following, was I correct then?  I believe it still holds true today. 

Research methods: 

The first thing I as a manager need to figure out is, “what is the problem or situation and how is it going to affect me and the people around me?” Once I’ve determined this I can move on with my research.  The second factor I need to realize is a problem or situation can be as broad as it needs to be in order to be properly researched. In this case I would use the Funnel Theory.  As the funnel moves downward or gets narrower the research will become more reliable more concise and researchable.  

After initially establishing the situation to be researched, I as a manager would need the research team to form a hypothesis and to prove it or disprove it.   As I stated earlier the idea or project can be as broad as it needs to be at first then through time it will become clearer and defined. Once the hypothesis has been formed we would need to research the facts by observing, by recording and by calculating.  During any research you can only state what you saw, then record your findings.  Once all the findings have been recorded I would need to see a sampling of the procedures, by determining who, what, where, when and how the evidence was collected (methodology).  Once this was determined I would need to have the data clearly presented so I as a manger could interpret exactly how the data was formulated.  Upon successful data collection I would delve into the study group and ascertain what is to be done with the data that has been collected and how they plan on testing their hypotheses.  One key element of this practice is realizing that it’s not what is studied but how it’s studied that makes the team come to their conclusion, thus validating their research.  During this phase I would ask the team to make a prediction, or determine what they feel the outcome will be, once this has been accomplished I would ask the team to test their theory and see if it can be unfounded or founded.  In a sense I would be asking them to test their original hypothesis and to determine falsehoods.  If they could not find falsehoods then the outcome would have to be valid or true to fact.  

I have found as a current manager within state government, that in order to come to a conclusion, there must be validity. I have yet to come to an outcome without facts.