Alleviating the Plunging-In Bias, Elevating Strategic Problem-Solving

The plunging-in bias, not understanding the problem and not thinking about how best to solve it before starting to solve it, is a common but little recognized cognitive bias. Strategy education does not do enough to help students overcome it, and some teaching methods may even reinforce it. Yet, organizations highly value problem formulation- and solving-skills and complain of their paucity. By bringing together research, teaching, and practice, we present several remedies to alleviate the plunging-in bias, and thereby, elevate strategic problem-solving skills. We propose frameworks for framing problems, deciding whom to involve in problem-solving, and determining the best approach for solving it; we describe ways in which problem-solving and strategic management can be taught integratively, and list ideas for new course material and research. By raising awareness of an insidious cognitive bias, we hope to advance teaching and research on strategic problem-solving.