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ESSENTIAL SKILLS SERIES

Problem Solver Guide + Pathway

Problem Solver Guide + Pathway

Regular price $117.00 AUD
Regular price Sale price $117.00 AUD
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Problem Solver gives you the tools. The Pathway tells you which ones to reach for first. Both draw on the same evidence base, and your modules name a tool in the book to apply for each capability for you to develop.

THE GUIDE

Problem Solver: The Problem Solving Toolkit. Thirty hands-on tools arranged as a seven-phase process, from defining the real problem through to capturing what was learned, drawing on academic research, classic works and the techniques used by innovators and Fortune 500 companies. It also carries Edaith's Lightning Problem Solving, for the problems that are small, reversible or urgent.

  • The phases cover: problem identification and framing, systematic decomposition, information gathering, root cause analysis, solution generation, decision making, implementation planning, continuous improvement
  • Tools include: 5 Whys, Concept Mapping, Causal Map, and more
  • Drawn from: cognitive psychology, design thinking, pedagogy, management theory and organisational behaviour

Desk-ready, full-colour softcover. 180 pages, 12.6cm x 17.6cm. Yours to keep, and the part people still have on their desk a year later.

THE PATHWAY

Your capability mapped across 17 competencies in seven phases, with one focused development action for each, calibrated to where your competency currently stands.

BUYING THEM TOGETHER

The Set is AU$20 less than buying the two separately, and postage within Australia is free. The guide ships from Sydney; your Pathway access code arrives by email straight after checkout, so you can start the mapping while the book is on its way.

Quantity

Frequently asked questions

Q: What is the Problem Solver Pathway?

A: A professional capability mapping tool developed by Dr Tina Gallico that helps individuals evaluate problem-solving skills across 17 competencies and seven sequential phases. Completing the 10-minute form returns your results online, with personalised, evidence-based development guidance for every competency. A summary PDF is emailed to you within a couple of minutes, and the full report whenever you ask for it.

Q: Who is it for?

A: Professionals who want to develop with intention. Leaders who want to understand their own capability and read their team's. People responsible for capability who need a tool grounded in the academic literature, specific enough to design targeted development and credible enough to present to senior stakeholders.

For teams, individual results combine into a picture of where collective problem solving breaks down: whether the team excels at analysis but stalls at implementation, how decision making unfolds, and how well the team covers the full cycle.

Q: How long does the form take to complete?

A: Approximately 10 minutes.

Q: What aspects of problem solving are mapped?

The Problem Solver Pathway maps the complete problem-solving cycle across seven sequential phases. Each phase contains multiple specific competencies.

  • Define: Clearly identifying the problem, who is affected, and what success looks like before any action is taken.
  • Analyse: Investigating root causes rather than symptoms, understanding system-level connections, and gathering information systematically.
  • Devise: Generating diverse solution possibilities and designing approaches that address root causes.
  • Decide: Establishing clear criteria, comparing options objectively, and making sound decisions despite uncertainty.
  • Implement: Breaking solutions into executable steps and navigating the organisational realities of making change happen.
  • Improve: Measuring whether solutions worked and refining approaches based on evidence rather than assumption.
  • Document: Capturing decisions, rationale, and lessons so the organisation retains and builds on what has been learned.

Q: How quickly will I get my results?

A: Your results open as soon as you finish, and the PDF is emailed within 60 seconds of completion (check spam or junk if you can't see it).

Q: What does the report include?

A: When you finish, your results open as an interactive online profile: your overall score and level, a 7-phase profile with a visual radar chart, your problem-solving style from seven distinct patterns, your top five strengths, and the five competencies where your modules start. A summary PDF is emailed to you to keep. The full report, whenever you ask for it, has a page for each competency in your modules, including any your feedback round adds, with what it is, why it matters, where you stand and a development action, and ends with a checklist of development actions to tick off offline.

For those with the companion book, your results also recommend specific tools from the Problem Solver Essential Skills Series Guide.

Q: Can I redo the form?

A: Each access code is single use. To better understand progress after development work, purchase an additional Pathway. 3–6 months between Pathways is recommended to allow development effort to embed.

Q: How is this different from a personality test?

A: Personality tests describe traits that are largely fixed. Your profile focuses on learnable capabilities that you can systematically develop. The goal is to understand your current capability and identify precisely where to focus development effort for the greatest return.

Q: Do I need the Problem Solver book to use this tool?

A: No. The Pathway is complete and immediately actionable on its own. The companion book provides deeper frameworks for those who want structured development support.

Q: Is team purchasing available?

A: Yes. Pathways can be purchased individually for each team member. Orders of 5 to 19 get 10% off, applied automatically at checkout. For 20 or more, or for a Team Capability Map, contact us for a quote.

Q: Is my data secure?

A: Edaith only collects your name (optional), email address, and your responses to deliver your results. Anonymised results contribute to aggregate benchmarking which you can opt in to receive. Individual data is not shared with third parties. See our Privacy Policy.

Q: What is my.edaith?

A: Your account for everything you have completed: your results, your modules and your certificate, on any device. There is no password. Enter your email address and we send you a one-time sign-in link.

Q: How long do I have access?

A: Twelve months from the date you complete your profile. The PDF report emailed to you when you finish is yours to keep permanently.

Q: I cannot see my results when I sign in.

A: Your results are tied to the email address you entered when you started your profile, which is not always the address you ordered with. Sign in with the address you entered on the form.

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What's included with your Pathway

  • Your results, immediately

    Every competency scored and explained: what it is, why it matters, where you stand, and one focused way to develop it. Your overall level and your style, identified from seven distinct patterns.

  • Your reports, emailed

    A summary PDF lands as you finish, with the link back to your results. The full report whenever you ask for it: a page for each competency in your modules, including any your feedback round adds, and a checklist of development actions to tick off.

  • The view of people who have seen you work

    Optional. Nominate four to six people; five minutes each. Their answers come back combined and anonymised, set beside your own, with their comments summarised into themes.

  • Twelve months on my.edaith

    Your modules take the five competencies your results say to develop first, one at a time, each with the specific tool from Problem Solver to apply. Progress saves as you go, on any device.

  • Your certificate

    Issued and emailed when every one of your modules is finished, including any competencies your feedback round added.

  • Your dashboard

    Every profile you have completed in one place. Map the capability again later and it shows you what moved, competency by competency.

Learn or Return. Complete your capability mapping. If the report does not give you clear insight into your development, contact us within 30 days for a full refund.

Your view, and theirs

Included with your Pathway, and entirely optional. Ask four to six people who have seen you work. Their answers are combined and anonymised, and your results show their picture of each competency beside your own. The bar is where you placed yourself. The circle is where they placed you.

Your own view How the people you asked see you Example results

  • Confirmed strengths You and the people you work with agree this is strong. Worth using deliberately.
  • Hidden strengths They rate you higher than you rate yourself. Capability you are not yet claiming.
  • Blind spots You rate yourself higher than they do. The most useful thing the round tells you.
  • Agreed development areas You and they agree this needs work, so up to three of them join your modules.

Requesting feedback from others is optional. You see who has responded, never what any individual said, and their written comments reach you summarised into themes. Names and addresses are deleted when the round closes.

What happens, from purchase to certificate

  1. Instantly

    Your access code arrives

    Emailed the moment you order. Single use, valid for twelve months, so you can start when it suits you.

  2. About 10 minutes

    You complete the mapping

    Scenario questions, answered at your own pace. The set adapts as you go, asking a further question only where your answers need one.

  3. On finishing

    Your results open

    Every competency scored, your style identified, and one focused development action for each. A summary report follows by email.

  4. Within 14 days, optional

    You ask others for their view

    Nominate four to six people. Five minutes each. Once at least three have answered, your results show their combined view beside your own.

  5. Up to twelve months

    You work through your modules

    Five priority competencies, one at a time, each with the tool to apply. Up to three more join when your feedback round closes. Finish them all and your certificate is issued.

Inside the guide

Thirty tools, each with the research behind it and the steps to run it. Arranged as a seven-phase process, so you can enter at the phase you are stuck in rather than start from the beginning.

Seven phases

  1. Define
  2. Analyse
  3. Devise
  4. Decide
  5. Implement
  6. Improve
  7. Document

The phases cover framing the real problem, systematic decomposition, information gathering, root cause analysis, solution generation, decision making, implementation planning and continuous improvement.

Tools you will use

  • 5 Whys
  • Concept Mapping
  • Causal Map
  • Lightning Problem Solving
  • and 26 more

Drawn from cognitive psychology, design thinking, pedagogy, management theory and organisational behaviour, alongside the techniques used by innovators and Fortune 500 companies. Lightning Problem Solving is there for the problems that are small, reversible or urgent.

180 pages · full-colour softcover · 12.6cm × 17.6cm · ships from Sydney

Not sure this is the right skill to work on? The free Task+Tech Fit Check looks at the tasks you do and where they are heading.

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