Effective learning of the LTP depends on your having read in advance the appropriate chapters in the text book for the course: The Logical Thinking Process: A Systems Approach to Complex Problem Solving.

What follows is a table of contents for the 595 slides of the on-line LTP course. Please note that this course is organized in the same structure as the required text book for the course. Consequently, after completing the course, the textbook becomes a desk reference for you to refer to for the answers to any questions you might have after the course is over. If your question is not adequately answered in the textbook, you are encouraged to contact us to discuss it. This is the way it is with the in-person workshops.

PART-1: Introduction [66 slides]

• Course Objectives

• The Importance of Practice

• Bloom’s Taxonomy

• Course agenda

• Underlying LTP Concepts

• Overview of the Thinking Process

• Two Types of Logic

• The Goal Tree: Goal, Critical Success Factors, and Necessary Conditions

• The Current Reality Tree

• The Evaporating Cloud

• The Future Reality Tree

• The Prerequisite Tree

• Sufficiency Logic (“If … then…”)

• Example #1: The Thermodynamics of Eternity

• Example #2: Solomon

• Summary

• Two Modes of Application

PART-2: The Goal Tree [52 slides]

• The Foundation of System Problem-Solving

• Determining the System’s Goal and Critical Success Factors

• System Boundary, Span of Control, and Sphere of Influence

• Necessary Conditions

• Some Goal Tree Examples

• Scaling Goal Trees in Large Organizations

• Step-by-Step Procedures for Constructing a Goal Tree

• An Aid to Constructing Goal Trees: Mission, Vision, and Values Statements

• A Quick “Test”

PART-3a: The Categories of Legitimate Reservation (1)  [41 slides]

• The “Rules of the Game”

• The Importance of Clear Communication

• Category 1: Clarity

  • Examples

  • Test for Clarity

• Category 2: Entity Existence

  • Examples

  • Test for Entity Existence

• Category 3: Causality Existence

  • Examples

  • Correlation Versus Cause-and-Effect

  • Examples

  • Statistical Correlations

  • Test for Causality Existence

• Raising Reservations: What Order?

• Exercises

PART-3b: The Categories of Legitimate Reservation (2)  [44 slides]

• Category-4: Cause Insufficiency

  • Example: “We have a fire!”

  • The Concept of “Oxygen” in Logic Trees

  • How Many Contributing Causes?

  • Variations of Multiple Dependent Causes

  • A Proposed “Rule of Thumb”

  • Test for Cause Sufficiency

• Category-5: Additional Cause

  • Realistic Versus Probable

  • Examples

  • Test for Additional Cause

• Complex Causality (Magnitudinal “AND”)

• Category-6: Cause-Effect Reversal

  • Examples

  • Test for Cause-Effect Reversal

• Category-7: Predicted Effect Existence

  • Examples

  • Test for Predicted Effect Existence

• Category-8: Tautology

  • Examples

  • Test for Tautology

• Raising Reservations: Review

• Example: The Buffalo Theory

• Exercises

• The “Final Exam”

PART-4a: The Current Reality Tree (1)  [48 slides]

• Problem Analysis Using the Current Reality Tree

• How a Goal Tree Informs the Creation of a Current Reality Tree

• How Undesirable Effects Are Determined

• Undesirable Effects and Root Causes

• Current Reality Tree Operational Definitions

• Current Reality Tree Symbology

• Example #1: Og’s and Trog’s Wheel Shop

• Example #2: Nissan Motor Company

• Different Kinds of Cause-and-Effect Trees

• What You Need to Start Creating a Current Reality Tree

• General Approach: The Old Mill and the Stream

PART-4b: The Current Reality Tree (2)  [42 slides]

• Paper or Digital?

• How to Construct A Current Reality Tree (Steps 1-4)

  • Consolidating Clusters

  • “Lockstep” Logic

• How to Construct A Current Reality Tree (Step 5)

  • The Component Elements of Successful Current Reality Trees

  • The Syllogism: Foundation of “Tight” Cause-Effect Logic

  • The Three Most Common Errors in Cause-Effect Trees

• How to Construct A Current Reality Tree (Steps 6-8)

  • Negative Reinforcing Loops

• How to Construct A Current Reality Tree (Steps 9-10)

• How Long to Complete a Current Reality Tree?

• A Quick “Test”

PART-4c: The Current Reality Tree (3)  [6 slides]

• Exercise: “And it was supposed to be such a nice evening…” [Completed online, with me]

• Exercise Rules

• YOUR Current Reality Tree

PART-5: The Evaporating Cloud  [84 slides]

• Employee Happiness

• The Logical Thinking Process Approach to Conflict Resolution

• Why Does Systemic Conflict Exist?

• Purpose of the Evaporating Cloud

• Example: Labor Strife

• Conflict: Definition

• The Nature of Conflict

• Conflict Resolution Modes

• Why “Win-Win”?

• Conflict Objective: Underlying Assumptions

• Requirements

• Prerequisites

• Various Conflict Configurations

• Example #1: A Teenage Child with a New Driver’s License

• The Role of Assumptions in Conflict Resolution

• Reading an Evaporating Cloud

• “Needs” Versus “Wants”

• Our Strategy for Resolving Conflict

• Three Phases of Conflict Resolution

• How to Construct an Evaporating Cloud (Steps 1-5)

  • A Real-World Example: Electronic Component Manufacturer

  • Exposing Hidden Assumptions

  • The Importance of Identifying Invalid Assumptions

  • How to Find Hidden Assumptions’

  • “Outrageous” Wording

• How to Construct an Evaporating Cloud (Step 6)

  • Example: Electronic Component Manufacturer (cont’d)

• How to Construct an Evaporating Cloud (Step 7)

  • A Caution about Invalid Assumptions

• How to Construct an Evaporating Cloud (Step 8)

  • Thinking “Outside the Box”

  • How to Create Injections

• How to Construct an Evaporating Cloud (Step 9)

• Relevance of the Goal Tree to Structuring Evaporating Clouds

• A Conflict with No Common Objective?

• Summary

• A Quick “Test”

• Exercise: Changing Jobs

• Your Real-World Conflict

PART-6: The Future Reality Tree  [55 slides]

• Future Reality Tree Agenda

• Purpose of the Future Reality Tree

• Similarities and Differences between Current and Future Reality Trees

• Future Reality Tree Symbology

• The Importance of the Negative Branch

• Example: Oil Dependence, Global Warming, and Ethanol Production

• Example: Stand-Alone Negative Branch

• Positive Reinforcing Loop

• Injections

• How a Future Reality Tree Develops

• The Role of a Goal Tree in Building a Future Reality Tree

• How to Construct a Future Reality Tree (Steps 1-5)

  • Example: Positive Reinforcing Loop

• How to Construct a Future Reality Tree (Steps 6-10)

• Example: Stand-Alone Negative Branch: “Can I Go to a Rock Concert?”

• Summary

• A Quick “Test”

• Exercise: “I Win $10 Million in the Lottery”

PART-7: The Prerequisite Tree  [50 slides]

• Solution Implementation: The Prerequisite Tree

• Purpose of the Prerequisite Tree

• Stand-Alone Prerequisite Trees

• Similarities and Differences Between a Goal Tree and a Prerequisite Tree

• Prerequisite Tree Symbology

• Original Concept for a Prerequisite Tree

• A “Robust” Prerequisite Tree

• Assumptions about Prerequisite Trees

• Relation of the Prerequisite Tree to the Future Reality Tree

• Executing the Plan

• Multiple Levels of Application

• Prerequisite Tree Structure

• Necessity versus Sufficiency Logic

• Obliterate or Overcome?

• Example: Objective, Obstacles and Intermediate Objectives

• Guidelines for Intermediate Objectives

• Sequence Dependency in a Prerequisite Tree

• How to Read a Prerequisite Tree

• How to Scrutinize a Prerequisite Tree

• How to Construct a Prerequisite Tree (Steps 1-10)

• Using Figure 7.32 to Scrutinize a Prerequisite Tree

• Summary

• A Quick “Test”

• YOUR Prerequisite Tree

PART-8: Changing the Status Quo  [60 slides]

• Agenda

• A Typical Scenario

• Logic Versus Emotion

• Strategy for Successful Persuasion

• Why People Resist Change

• The Nature of Risk Aversion

• The Technology Adoption Life Cycle Applied to Systemic Change

• How New Ideas “Get In”

• Risk Aversion and Functional Level

• Where Change Originates

• A “Change” Goal Tree

• Change Implementation Model

• Suggested Presentation Strategy (8 steps)

• Executive Presentation

  • The Hidden Pitfall

  • The Challenge

• How to Create and Use Executive Summary Trees

• Monitoring and Responding: The OODA Loop

• Summary

• Successful System Improvement

• What you Should Remember

• “Practice, practice, practice…”

PART-9: The Logical Thinking Process and System Complexity  [47 slides]

• Agenda

• Underlying Assumptions

• The Complexity Continuum

• Ordered, Unordered, and Disordered Systems

• The Environment Continuum

• Classifying Systems and Environments

  • Simple Domain

  • Complicated Domain

  • Complex Domain

  • Chaotic Domain

• Examples of Systems in the Four Domains

• Leadership versus Management

• Management Functions

• Limits to Effectiveness

• The Role of Tools and Methods

  • Distribution of Tools and Methods

  • Where The Logical Thinking Process Fits In

• Successful Application of the Logical Thinking Process

• What do we know?

• Thriving in the Complex and Chaotic Domains

• The OODA Loop

• Full-Spectrum Tools and Methods

• Option Creation

• Summary

• A Hierarchy of Systems