In college or in any other part of your life, when you are getting ready to finalize your resolution of a problem, what questions might you ask yourself to be sure that you have scrutinized your problem-solving process and made needed corrections?

Question

What will be an ideal response

Answer 1

I could ask myself questions like these:
• What is actually happening as a result of my decision, and is it what I thought would happen?
• If my decision was related to a short-term goal, was the goal achieved? Why or why not?
• If my decision was related to a mid-range or long-term goal, what evidence can I collect to gauge whether I am still on the path to achieve my goal?
• Whom might I consult to get feedback on my decision and the ramifications of my chosen action (or belief)?
• If my decision impacts the actions of another person, what can I do to support this relationship?
• If I need to make a self-correction, where should I start? Do I have the problem and the priorities right?
• Is there new information to consider? Are some options looking better now than before? Was I mistaken about the consequences? Did I act prematurely or delay too long on some aspect of this?
• If the situation did not turn out as I had anticipated, how might I rethink this problem, minimize the damage my error may have caused, and make the best out of the position I now find myself in?
• Are there some questions that I should have asked, some techniques or methods for information gathering I should have used, some assumptions or expectations that I made which were unfounded, some standards of performance or quality that I failed to apply, and some contextual factors, which I failed to take into consideration?