On a couple of times, I have had the satisfaction of being able to discern a case or a problem brought by some of my colleagues, and see the awe that they have on their faces. How was I able to discern and dissect the problem, and come up with a solution so neat, yet upon presentation, so obvious?

I think my ability to hone in an issue and organize as well as analyze the facts into a logical conclusion is the result of a lifelong passion and interest in whodunit and mystery stories. I grew up reading initially Alfred Hitchcock’s Three Investigators, and the Hardy Boys, and pretty soon was also devouring books by such renowned mystery writers as Ellery Queen, Erle Stanley Gardner, Agatha Christie, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and other notable writers. The twists and turns, as well as the logic that they have brought into the discipline stayed with me, and inspired a life long passion in puzzle solving, as well as whodunit, which in the last few years have turned into management problem solving and conflict resolution.

If you follow the logic of Sherlock Holmes, every detective ( and the police force) starts with the same blank slate. However, one of the detective is able to discern and analyze the facts, separate the chaff from the grain, and organize it in such a way as to come to an inescapable logical conclusion which then solves the case which escapes the others who have the same opportunity to the facts of the case. In some way, a manager or an entrepreneur is also like the whodunit solver. He, and many of his staff are actually inundated with a lot of information that in itself, carries the seeds also of its resolution.

The manager who will win is the person who knows how to organize, as well as understand which are objective and subjective information. The facts itself is the detective’s friend, as well as the manager’s tool That is why I always detest people who think also that some managers are so good that they are able to pull a solution out of thin air, much like a magician pulls a rabbit out of the hat.

That is not so. A good manager is only like a detective, and his ability to conclude is limited by the quality and quantity of the facts presented to him. That is why, while it is so important that you hire good managers, it is equally important that all his colleagues and staff understand that he is only as effective as the data that he knows, and that in the absence of the right facts and data, even the best managers must become inutile.

Thus, therfore like Sherlock Holmes who keep reminding the police that if they don’t have the ability to solve the case, they at least have the responsibility to gather the facts, and organize it so that a chair detective listening to the facts might have equal opportunity to solve the case as if he was in the actual scene of the crime itself. Such, I believe is also the role of the employees, as well as the computer information system, in helping the manager organize and gather all the information as might be necessary to come up with the target conclusion.

What do you think?