7The Fourth Way of LearningLEARNING TO SOLVE PROBLEMS AND MAKE DECISIONSUsing Mental Models for Learning

HOW DO YOU REACT when someone gives you a problem? Try this one (Fixx, 1978)1:

If you have black socks and brown socks in your drawer—mixed in a ratio of four to five, how many socks will you have to take out to make sure of having a pair of the same color?

Are you eager for the challenge posed by a problem? Do you know how to approach problems? Does a chapter that begins like this make you want to turn to the next chapter?

Problems—big and small—are everywhere. In the workplace they arise from things that go wrong, but they are also embedded in opportunities. A problem is a question proposed for solution or discussion—usually a matter involving ...

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