example of hidden question in problem solving

15 Provocative Questions for Creative Problem-Solving

Increased curiosity triggers innovation..

Posted December 18, 2023 | Reviewed by Hara Estroff Marano

The ability to be curious generally declines in adulthood.
Curiosity is a portal to increased innovation.
Curiosity can be relearned with the right questions
Today's curiosity shapes tomorrow's breakthroughs.

As toddlers, the constant repetition of the question "Why?" marks the exuberance of curiosity, a trait that, over time, tends to wane in the face of weary parents providing half-hearted answers or steering conversations elsewhere, just to give themselves a brief reprieve. Unfortunately, as adults, many of us lose touch with the pervasive urge to ask 'why?' Our innate curiosity becomes buried, forgotten. This is a missed opportunity, for today's curiosity is tomorrow's innovation.

Consider the technological marvels of our time— the iPhone, Amazon, and Google—all born from the fertile ground of curiosity. Curiosity is the driving force behind innovation. But how does one rekindle curiosity? For those already predisposed to curiosity, can it be harnessed for innovation?

Embracing curiosity is a personal journey and a pathway to expanding our comprehension of the world and nurturing mental well-being. It fosters a mindset that thrives on continuous learning, resilience , and a profound sense of fulfillment. Opening your mind to new knowledge allows you to forge connections others have yet to envision.

15 questions to trigger curiosity

Here are 15 questions designed to trigger curiosity and encourage innovative thinking or problem-solving:

What if we approached this problem from a completely different perspective? What might we discover?
How have other industries or fields tackled similar challenges, and what lessons can we draw from their approaches?
If we were to remove all constraints, what bold and unconventional solutions could we explore?
What assumptions are we making about this situation, and how might challenging those assumptions open up new possibilities?
How can we leverage emerging technologies or trends to address this issue more effectively?
What insights might we gain if we were to involve customers or end-users in the problem-solving process? What might they reveal?
How can we turn this challenge into an opportunity for growth or improvement?
What are the underlying causes of this problem, and how can we address them to create lasting solutions?
If time and resources were not limited, what audacious goals could we set to solve this problem, and how might we achieve them?
What were our failures? What did we learn from them?
What failures occurred in other industries, and how can we apply those lessons to our challenges for a more innovative approach?
What if we built in constraints—fewer or no resources? How creative could we be? What would we do differently? What would we omit?
If we consistently ask "why" at each stage of our problem-solving process, how might it help us get to the root causes and generate more innovative solutions?
What if we asked people from different generations or cultures about what they see as the real problem or potential solution?
How can we challenge the status quo?

These questions are designed to provoke thought, challenge assumptions, and inspire creative thinking , fostering a mindset that can lead to innovative solutions and effective problem-solving.

In the journey from incessant childhood questioning to adulthood's diminishing curiosity, the true potential of innovation often remains untapped. These questions serve as catalysts, sparking curiosity and guiding individuals and teams toward innovative thinking and problem-solving, illustrating that the path to innovation begins with the simple act of asking why.

Ruth Gotian, Ed.D., an assistant professor of education at Weill Cornell Medical College, is the author of The Success Factor.

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Effective Questions to Support Problem-Solving Thinking

September 9, 2015

How do we ask effective questions to support problem-solving thinking?

Asking better questions — and learning to “break the telling habit” has been a passion of mine since I deeply started studying and applying the art of better question-asking around 2010.

In fact, the importance of asking questions (the right questions) is one of the foundations of my work.

It’s one of the most popular topics here on my blog, in my custom learning programs for organizations, and my on-demand workshops (such as “Break the Telling Habit”) and guided coaching programs such as the Leading to Learn Accelerator.

Problem-Solving in Support of Developing People

If your organization is looking for support in developing your people as problem solvers, I recommend starting with focusing on A3 problem-solving thinking.

It’s applicable to all leaders and not only hones people’s ability to solve problems and learn by going to see what is actually happening, but also is a great way of deepening coaching skills of asking effective questions and listening.

A Chain of Learning: Managing to Learn and Leading to Learn

John Shook’s book “Managing to Learn” is the best book I’ve found to describe the A3 problem-solving process and is the basis for this A3 thinking class.

Fun fact — One of the models for the character of Sanderson, the manager / coach in the book, is Isao Yoshino — my friend and subject of my best-selling book Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn — who was one of Shook’s first managers at Toyota in Japan. Shook wrote the foreword to my book and shares reflections about how he learned to ask questions and think more

I learned so much about asking questions from my mentor Margie Hagene, who herself was mentored by John Shook. This is my chain of learning that I now link with you to as we learn together.

There are many questions that we can ask in support of problem-solving, but they differ in the intention and outcome of problem solving ownership. I like to categorize questions into four categories, inspired by the work of Edgar Schein (whose books such as Humble Inquiry and Helping have been foundational in my learning about asking questions).

Humble Open Inquiry

The most effective questions are either those of pure humble inquiry which are questions for which you don’t have the answer. Humble inquiry questions keep the problem-solving thinking with the problem owner, not the person asking the question.

Diagnostic Inquiry

Other effective questions that can be asked, once the problem is clearly defined, are diagnostic questions.

Diagnostic inquiry questions help the problem solver discover cause and effect, more clearly define the root causes for the gap between the way things should be happening and the way they are happening today, and the link between proposed countermeasures and the problem.

Prompting Inquiry: WARNING!

Prompting questions can take away the ownership of the thinking from the problem solver. These are closed-ended questions, multiple-choice questions, or your idea or suggestion with a question mark at the end.

These questions are like a wolf dressed up in sheep’s clothing — they are really your idea or suggestion with a question mark on it!

Process questions

It’s important to not just focus on solving the problem…but also to understand the process of solving the problem.

Good questions to ask during problem-solving coaching are not always related to the problem at hand, but to the human interaction. Process questions help us understand where we are in the problem-solving process or in the conversation.

If you are practicing asking more effective questions and wanting to improve, you could ask a process question such as “What question was most helpful to you to advance your thinking?”.

Want to learn more about questions — get the guide!

If you don’t have it yet you can download my free guide “3 Tips to Break the ‘Telling Habit’” ! You’ll learn more about the types of questions, and how to ask them so that you too can break your telling habit!

Asking the right questions is often about intention .

Get this resource to help you ask more effective questions today!

Examples of effective questions

Below are some of the examples of effective questions that participants in a two-day A3 Thinking and Coaching workshop I led many years ago. When coaching leaders to ask more effective questions, I like to capture real-time examples of questions being asked well.

What do you notice about these questions? (I’ll share some reflections below the image).

Examples of effective questions asked today to develop problem solving thinking in others. #lean #coaching @HCValue pic.twitter.com/aXzVhtI2bb — Katie Anderson (@kbjanderson) August 19, 2015

Qualities of effective questions

Just like in the image above, the most effective questions to support problem-solving share many of the following qualities:

Start with WHAT or HOW
Do not introduce a solution or idea

Additional categories of problem solving questions

Source: Harvard Business Review "Relearning the Art of Asking Questions", March 2015

An HBR article titled “Relearning the art of asking questions” highlights four categories of questions that can be used when problem solving:

clarifying and

This can be a helpful structure for you to think about how to ask questions to help the other person think more creatively (divergent thinking) or get more clarity (convergent thinking).

Of the questions that are listed above from the A3 thinking class, how would you categorized them based on the HBR article’s definition?

Intention and Practice Leads to Improvement

It’s always inspiring to see, with some dedicated thinking time and practice time, how much people’s skills in problem solving, question asking, and listening can advance.

For example, in this class over two days, people got at least 90-120 minutes to work through a problem they own, and then practice 3-4 sessions of “catchball” (asking and receiving questions) with others as both the problem owner and the coach.

Their questions are dramatically improved on the second day with just some focused practice (see image of questions above)!

This is the same structure of practice that you can learn when you join my self-paced “Breaking the ‘Telling Habit’” workshop, and unlock your team’s potential by discovering how to ask more effective questions. You can take the class at any time, at your own pace.

Additional resources

To learn more tips from me about asking effective questions, listening, and coaching for problem-solving, check out these additional articles:

“Leading Daily Improvement: Creating New Habits and Practices to Support Continuous Improvement”
“When to ‘A3’: 3 Problem-Solving Tools to Match the Complexity of Your Problem”
How to Ask Problem-Solving Questions
“How to Get Out of the Habit of Telling”
“Be More Than a Coach, be a Coach That Listens” .
How to ask questions even if you already know “the answer” .

What is your experience?

How have you practiced becoming a better problem solver or a better coach in support of problem solving? What have you found helpful in asking more effective questions?

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25 Powerful Creative Problem Solving Questions You Can Use for Any Challenge

January 19, 2016 by adminsmartstrm

Asking powerful questions can be a highly effective method for enhancing group discovery and creative problem solving. The right question, asked at the appropriate moment, can transform the unknown into new understanding, simplify complex issues, stimulate leaps in imagination, shift a group out of the doldrums, and quickly refocus efforts that have veered off onto unproductive tangents.

Effective questions are typically simple, concise, and easy to understand; they are also intentionally provocative to prompt a group to think, imagine, reflect, and challenge any pre-existing assumptions, beliefs, and conventional thinking.

Here are twenty-five effective creative problem solving questions you can ask when tackling virtually any challenge. Questions like these will help you stimulate your group’s imagination, and allow them to generate a wider range of fresh, innovative ideas.

“What is the simplest, most obvious solution to this challenge?”

“What are three other ways to approach this challenge?”

“If all limitations were removed, what could we do?”

“If we knew we couldn’t fail, what would we try?”

“Let’s quickly free-associate all the things that __(subject)__ reminds us of.”

“What else is similar to/different from this?”

“What is the most audacious thing we can do, say, or imagine?”

“What would Apple, Google, or Nike do in this situation?”

“What haven’t we considered yet?”

“What’s the single most important thing to focus on here?”

“What are some radically new or different ways to approach this challenge?”

“What idea(s) can we push even further?”

“What possibilities have we missed or not considered yet?”

“What if we…?”

“What can we simplify, combine, reverse, modify, or eliminate?”

“If we dug deeper, what would we discover?”

“How would a five-year-old solve this challenge?”

“What opportunities haven’t we recognized or taken advantage of yet?”

“Where is there an unmet need we can fulfill?”

“How would they solve this challenge fifty years in the future?”

“What are some of the worst ideas we can think of?” (Pause for answers, then ask…) “How can we reverse them to find the seeds of a good idea?”

“How can we take this wild idea and make it more practical?”

“What do our customers really want, need, or desire?”

“What would an insanely great idea or solution look like?”

“In what ways can we turn this challenge into a golden opportunity?”

Tip: Create a “cheat sheet” of great questions

If you prepare a list of provocative, “ready-to-go” questions before your next meeting or brainstorm session , you can significantly improve your leadership performance. A questioning “cheat sheet” will not only provide you with greater peace of mind, but also help keep the momentum of your meeting or session flowing in a positive direction. With a series of prepared questions at the ready, you will never be at a loss for a question to ask.

Excerpt from the book, SmartStorming: The Game-Changing Process for Generating Bigger, Better Ideas .

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Challenging Assumptions Exercises

This entry is part 4 of 9 in the series Challenging Assumptions

Challenging assumptions exercises train our minds to become better problem solvers.

Assumptions often box us in. Challenging assumptions exercises frees us.

Assumptions box us in. We like them though because they make our communications simpler. For instance, I am writing assuming you can read English. Assumptions can be conscious or unconscious . Either way, they anchor thoughts in our minds . They become the sides of the box outside of which we are trying to think. Challenging assumption exercises help to free us.

As I wrote previously, becoming better at challenging assumptions is about practice . Here, I offer three challenging assumptions exercises as practice. They will help us train our minds to see hidden assumptions.

Exercise #1: Hidden Sales Assumption

Do you want to buy the red one or blue one?

Salespeople frequently use these types of questions in various forms. The unsaid assumption is:

You want to buy either one.

Exercise #2: Leading Assumption

Many times descriptors influence how we think. For example, consider these two statements:

This plan will get it done because it worked in a similar situation.
This good plan will get it done because it worked in a similar situation.

Both give evidence why the plan will get it done. In the second one though, “good” is added. The assumption now is:

This is a good plan.

The statement does not define what good means. It is a leading assumption because it leads us to believe it is good because it will get the job done. We might need to consider other factors such as cost before we determine whether the plan is a good one.

Exercise #3: Hidden Leading Assumption

This occurs when we use words or phrases with positive connotations to lock in a view.

Everything went according to plan.

We tend to feel good when things go according to plan. It does not account for the fact that perhaps we missed great opportunities not in the plan. Thus, if we ask, “How did everything go?” and people wanted to hide the fact that they ignored a great opportunity that came up, they could respond with, “Everything went according to plan,” leading us to think all went well.

These challenging assumptions exercises help train our minds. Assumptions are not bad. They make communication easier. We just need to prevent them from boxing us in.

Practice: Challenging Assumptions Everyday : reasons why practicing this is possible and will help
Challenging Assumptions Example : explanation and examples of overt and hidden assumptions
How Challenging Assumptions Every Day Improves Problem Solving
Challenging Assumptions Behind 1+1=2 As Case Study
Challenging Assumptions Example
Solving Problems by Challenging All Things Equal Assumption
3 Common Examples of Challenging Assumptions at Work
Challenging Assumptions in Three Black and White Thinking Examples
Without Question Easiest Tip To Challenge Assumptions Like A Pro
6 Challenging Assumptions Exercises From Business

About Post Author

2 Responses

I thought I had replied to your previous post regarding assumptions – but nothing found. ALL assumptions must conscious!!!! The problem solver (or better, problem-solving team) must make a concerted effort to listed. Why? Because, if PS efforts do not yield outcomes useful in addressing the situation faced, among the refinements to procedures must include revisiting those assumptions.

And, yes, assumptions – carelessly made (or unconsciously made) – can be confining. BUT very often, because of unknown information or lack of sufficient time to identify needed information, assumptions are the only option (REMEMBER, everyone’s responsibility is to find the best possible response possible; rarely are we able to respond with “we don’t have enough information to proceed to a response – sorry…). It is absolutely the team’s responsibility however to revisit the assumptions, whether a response is identified or not!!!

Yes, John, you need to raise assumptions to consciousness to address. What I was raising are assumptions that are more akin to conditioned responses. These are unconscious. Parents, family, friends and society condition us to behave and think without awareness. These take on the form of immutable truths when they are really just assumptions. Still, to address we need to raise them to conscious awareness.

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120 Math Word Problems To Challenge Students Grades 1 to 8

Written by Marcus Guido

Hey teachers! 👋

Use Prodigy to spark a love for math in your students – including when solving word problems!

Teaching Tools
Subtraction
Multiplication
Mixed operations
Ordering and number sense
Comparing and sequencing
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Ratios and percentages
Probability and data relationships

You sit at your desk, ready to put a math quiz, test or activity together. The questions flow onto the document until you hit a section for word problems.

A jolt of creativity would help. But it doesn’t come.

Whether you’re a 3rd grade teacher or an 8th grade teacher preparing students for high school, translating math concepts into real world examples can certainly be a challenge.

This resource is your jolt of creativity. It provides examples and templates of math word problems for 1st to 8th grade classes.

There are 120 examples in total.

The list of examples is supplemented by tips to create engaging and challenging math word problems.

120 Math word problems, categorized by skill

Addition word problems.

$A teacher is teaching three students with a whiteboard happily.$

Best for: 1st grade, 2nd grade

1. Adding to 10: Ariel was playing basketball. 1 of her shots went in the hoop. 2 of her shots did not go in the hoop. How many shots were there in total?

2. Adding to 20: Adrianna has 10 pieces of gum to share with her friends. There wasn’t enough gum for all her friends, so she went to the store to get 3 more pieces of gum. How many pieces of gum does Adrianna have now?

3. Adding to 100: Adrianna has 10 pieces of gum to share with her friends. There wasn’t enough gum for all her friends, so she went to the store and got 70 pieces of strawberry gum and 10 pieces of bubble gum. How many pieces of gum does Adrianna have now?

4. Adding Slightly over 100: The restaurant has 175 normal chairs and 20 chairs for babies. How many chairs does the restaurant have in total?

5. Adding to 1,000: How many cookies did you sell if you sold 320 chocolate cookies and 270 vanilla cookies?

6. Adding to and over 10,000: The hobby store normally sells 10,576 trading cards per month. In June, the hobby store sold 15,498 more trading cards than normal. In total, how many trading cards did the hobby store sell in June?

7. Adding 3 Numbers: Billy had 2 books at home. He went to the library to take out 2 more books. He then bought 1 book. How many books does Billy have now?

8. Adding 3 Numbers to and over 100: Ashley bought a big bag of candy. The bag had 102 blue candies, 100 red candies and 94 green candies. How many candies were there in total?

Subtraction word problems

Best for: 1st grade, second grade

9. Subtracting to 10: There were 3 pizzas in total at the pizza shop. A customer bought 1 pizza. How many pizzas are left?

10. Subtracting to 20: Your friend said she had 11 stickers. When you helped her clean her desk, she only had a total of 10 stickers. How many stickers are missing?

11. Subtracting to 100: Adrianna has 100 pieces of gum to share with her friends. When she went to the park, she shared 10 pieces of strawberry gum. When she left the park, Adrianna shared another 10 pieces of bubble gum. How many pieces of gum does Adrianna have now?

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Join millions of teachers using Prodigy to make learning fun and differentiate instruction as they answer in-game questions, including math word problems from 1st to 8th grade!

12. Subtracting Slightly over 100: Your team scored a total of 123 points. 67 points were scored in the first half. How many were scored in the second half?

13. Subtracting to 1,000: Nathan has a big ant farm. He decided to sell some of his ants. He started with 965 ants. He sold 213. How many ants does he have now?

14. Subtracting to and over 10,000: The hobby store normally sells 10,576 trading cards per month. In July, the hobby store sold a total of 20,777 trading cards. How many more trading cards did the hobby store sell in July compared with a normal month?

15. Subtracting 3 Numbers: Charlene had a pack of 35 pencil crayons. She gave 6 to her friend Theresa. She gave 3 to her friend Mandy. How many pencil crayons does Charlene have left?

16. Subtracting 3 Numbers to and over 100: Ashley bought a big bag of candy to share with her friends. In total, there were 296 candies. She gave 105 candies to Marissa. She also gave 86 candies to Kayla. How many candies were left?

Multiplication word problems

A hand holding a pen is doing calculation on a pice of papper

Best for: 2nd grade, 3rd grade

17. Multiplying 1-Digit Integers: Adrianna needs to cut a pan of brownies into pieces. She cuts 6 even columns and 3 even rows into the pan. How many brownies does she have?

18. Multiplying 2-Digit Integers: A movie theatre has 25 rows of seats with 20 seats in each row. How many seats are there in total?

19. Multiplying Integers Ending with 0: A clothing company has 4 different kinds of sweatshirts. Each year, the company makes 60,000 of each kind of sweatshirt. How many sweatshirts does the company make each year?

20. Multiplying 3 Integers: A bricklayer stacks bricks in 2 rows, with 10 bricks in each row. On top of each row, there is a stack of 6 bricks. How many bricks are there in total?

21. Multiplying 4 Integers: Cayley earns $5 an hour by delivering newspapers. She delivers newspapers 3 days each week, for 4 hours at a time. After delivering newspapers for 8 weeks, how much money will Cayley earn?

Division word problems

Best for: 3rd grade, 4th grade, 5th grade

22. Dividing 1-Digit Integers: If you have 4 pieces of candy split evenly into 2 bags, how many pieces of candy are in each bag?

23. Dividing 2-Digit Integers: If you have 80 tickets for the fair and each ride costs 5 tickets, how many rides can you go on?

24. Dividing Numbers Ending with 0: The school has $20,000 to buy new computer equipment. If each piece of equipment costs $50, how many pieces can the school buy in total?

25. Dividing 3 Integers: Melissa buys 2 packs of tennis balls for $12 in total. All together, there are 6 tennis balls. How much does 1 pack of tennis balls cost? How much does 1 tennis ball cost?

26. Interpreting Remainders: An Italian restaurant receives a shipment of 86 veal cutlets. If it takes 3 cutlets to make a dish, how many cutlets will the restaurant have left over after making as many dishes as possible?

Mixed operations word problems

A female teacher is instructing student math on a blackboard

27. Mixing Addition and Subtraction: There are 235 books in a library. On Monday, 123 books are taken out. On Tuesday, 56 books are brought back. How many books are there now?

28. Mixing Multiplication and Division: There is a group of 10 people who are ordering pizza. If each person gets 2 slices and each pizza has 4 slices, how many pizzas should they order?

29. Mixing Multiplication, Addition and Subtraction: Lana has 2 bags with 2 marbles in each bag. Markus has 2 bags with 3 marbles in each bag. How many more marbles does Markus have?

30. Mixing Division, Addition and Subtraction: Lana has 3 bags with the same amount of marbles in them, totaling 12 marbles. Markus has 3 bags with the same amount of marbles in them, totaling 18 marbles. How many more marbles does Markus have in each bag?

Ordering and number sense word problems

31. Counting to Preview Multiplication: There are 2 chalkboards in your classroom. If each chalkboard needs 2 pieces of chalk, how many pieces do you need in total?

32. Counting to Preview Division: There are 3 chalkboards in your classroom. Each chalkboard has 2 pieces of chalk. This means there are 6 pieces of chalk in total. If you take 1 piece of chalk away from each chalkboard, how many will there be in total?

33. Composing Numbers: What number is 6 tens and 10 ones?

34. Guessing Numbers: I have a 7 in the tens place. I have an even number in the ones place. I am lower than 74. What number am I?

35. Finding the Order: In the hockey game, Mitchell scored more points than William but fewer points than Auston. Who scored the most points? Who scored the fewest points?

Fractions word problems

A student is drawing on a notebook, holding a pencil.

Best for: 3rd grade, 4th grade, 5th grade, 6th grade

36. Finding Fractions of a Group: Julia went to 10 houses on her street for Halloween. 5 of the houses gave her a chocolate bar. What fraction of houses on Julia’s street gave her a chocolate bar?

37. Finding Unit Fractions: Heather is painting a portrait of her best friend, Lisa. To make it easier, she divides the portrait into 6 equal parts. What fraction represents each part of the portrait?

38. Adding Fractions with Like Denominators: Noah walks ⅓ of a kilometre to school each day. He also walks ⅓ of a kilometre to get home after school. How many kilometres does he walk in total?

39. Subtracting Fractions with Like Denominators: Last week, Whitney counted the number of juice boxes she had for school lunches. She had ⅗ of a case. This week, it’s down to ⅕ of a case. How much of the case did Whitney drink?

40. Adding Whole Numbers and Fractions with Like Denominators: At lunchtime, an ice cream parlor served 6 ¼ scoops of chocolate ice cream, 5 ¾ scoops of vanilla and 2 ¾ scoops of strawberry. How many scoops of ice cream did the parlor serve in total?

41. Subtracting Whole Numbers and Fractions with Like Denominators: For a party, Jaime had 5 ⅓ bottles of cola for her friends to drink. She drank ⅓ of a bottle herself. Her friends drank 3 ⅓. How many bottles of cola does Jaime have left?

42. Adding Fractions with Unlike Denominators: Kevin completed ½ of an assignment at school. When he was home that evening, he completed ⅚ of another assignment. How many assignments did Kevin complete?

43. Subtracting Fractions with Unlike Denominators: Packing school lunches for her kids, Patty used ⅞ of a package of ham. She also used ½ of a package of turkey. How much more ham than turkey did Patty use?

44. Multiplying Fractions: During gym class on Wednesday, the students ran for ¼ of a kilometre. On Thursday, they ran ½ as many kilometres as on Wednesday. How many kilometres did the students run on Thursday? Write your answer as a fraction.

45. Dividing Fractions: A clothing manufacturer uses ⅕ of a bottle of colour dye to make one pair of pants. The manufacturer used ⅘ of a bottle yesterday. How many pairs of pants did the manufacturer make?

46. Multiplying Fractions with Whole Numbers: Mark drank ⅚ of a carton of milk this week. Frank drank 7 times more milk than Mark. How many cartons of milk did Frank drink? Write your answer as a fraction, or as a whole or mixed number.

Decimals word problems

Best for: 4th grade, 5th grade

47. Adding Decimals: You have 2.6 grams of yogurt in your bowl and you add another spoonful of 1.3 grams. How much yogurt do you have in total?

48. Subtracting Decimals: Gemma had 25.75 grams of frosting to make a cake. She decided to use only 15.5 grams of the frosting. How much frosting does Gemma have left?

49. Multiplying Decimals with Whole Numbers: Marshall walks a total of 0.9 kilometres to and from school each day. After 4 days, how many kilometres will he have walked?

50. Dividing Decimals by Whole Numbers: To make the Leaning Tower of Pisa from spaghetti, Mrs. Robinson bought 2.5 kilograms of spaghetti. Her students were able to make 10 leaning towers in total. How many kilograms of spaghetti does it take to make 1 leaning tower?

51. Mixing Addition and Subtraction of Decimals: Rocco has 1.5 litres of orange soda and 2.25 litres of grape soda in his fridge. Antonio has 1.15 litres of orange soda and 0.62 litres of grape soda. How much more soda does Rocco have than Angelo?

52. Mixing Multiplication and Division of Decimals: 4 days a week, Laura practices martial arts for 1.5 hours. Considering a week is 7 days, what is her average practice time per day each week?

Comparing and sequencing word problems

Four students are sitting together and discussing math questions

Best for: Kindergarten, 1st grade, 2nd grade

53. Comparing 1-Digit Integers: You have 3 apples and your friend has 5 apples. Who has more?

54. Comparing 2-Digit Integers: You have 50 candies and your friend has 75 candies. Who has more?

55. Comparing Different Variables: There are 5 basketballs on the playground. There are 7 footballs on the playground. Are there more basketballs or footballs?

56. Sequencing 1-Digit Integers: Erik has 0 stickers. Every day he gets 1 more sticker. How many days until he gets 3 stickers?

57. Skip-Counting by Odd Numbers: Natalie began at 5. She skip-counted by fives. Could she have said the number 20?

58. Skip-Counting by Even Numbers: Natasha began at 0. She skip-counted by eights. Could she have said the number 36?

59. Sequencing 2-Digit Numbers: Each month, Jeremy adds the same number of cards to his baseball card collection. In January, he had 36. 48 in February. 60 in March. How many baseball cards will Jeremy have in April?

Time word problems

66. Converting Hours into Minutes: Jeremy helped his mom for 1 hour. For how many minutes was he helping her?

69. Adding Time: If you wake up at 7:00 a.m. and it takes you 1 hour and 30 minutes to get ready and walk to school, at what time will you get to school?

70. Subtracting Time: If a train departs at 2:00 p.m. and arrives at 4:00 p.m., how long were passengers on the train for?

71. Finding Start and End Times: Rebecca left her dad’s store to go home at twenty to seven in the evening. Forty minutes later, she was home. What time was it when she arrived home?

Money word problems

Best for: 1st grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, 4th grade, 5th grade

60. Adding Money: Thomas and Matthew are saving up money to buy a video game together. Thomas has saved $30. Matthew has saved $35. How much money have they saved up together in total?

61. Subtracting Money: Thomas has $80 saved up. He uses his money to buy a video game. The video game costs $67. How much money does he have left?

62. Multiplying Money: Tim gets $5 for delivering the paper. How much money will he have after delivering the paper 3 times?

63. Dividing Money: Robert spent $184.59 to buy 3 hockey sticks. If each hockey stick was the same price, how much did 1 cost?

64. Adding Money with Decimals: You went to the store and bought gum for $1.25 and a sucker for $0.50. How much was your total?

65. Subtracting Money with Decimals: You went to the store with $5.50. You bought gum for $1.25, a chocolate bar for $1.15 and a sucker for $0.50. How much money do you have left?

67. Applying Proportional Relationships to Money: Jakob wants to invite 20 friends to his birthday, which will cost his parents $250. If he decides to invite 15 friends instead, how much money will it cost his parents? Assume the relationship is directly proportional.

68. Applying Percentages to Money: Retta put $100.00 in a bank account that gains 20% interest annually. How much interest will be accumulated in 1 year? And if she makes no withdrawals, how much money will be in the account after 1 year?

Physical measurement word problems

Best for: 1st grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, 4th grade

72. Comparing Measurements: Cassandra’s ruler is 22 centimetres long. April’s ruler is 30 centimetres long. How many centimetres longer is April’s ruler?

73. Contextualizing Measurements: Picture a school bus. Which unit of measurement would best describe the length of the bus? Centimetres, metres or kilometres?

74. Adding Measurements: Micha’s dad wants to try to save money on gas, so he has been tracking how much he uses. Last year, Micha’s dad used 100 litres of gas. This year, her dad used 90 litres of gas. How much gas did he use in total for the two years?

75. Subtracting Measurements: Micha’s dad wants to try to save money on gas, so he has been tracking how much he uses. Over the past two years, Micha’s dad used 200 litres of gas. This year, he used 100 litres of gas. How much gas did he use last year?

A tablet showing an example of Prodigy Math's battle gameplay.

76. Multiplying Volume and Mass: Kiera wants to make sure she has strong bones, so she drinks 2 litres of milk every week. After 3 weeks, how many litres of milk will Kiera drink?

77. Dividing Volume and Mass: Lillian is doing some gardening, so she bought 1 kilogram of soil. She wants to spread the soil evenly between her 2 plants. How much will each plant get?

78. Converting Mass: Inger goes to the grocery store and buys 3 squashes that each weigh 500 grams. How many kilograms of squash did Inger buy?

79. Converting Volume: Shad has a lemonade stand and sold 20 cups of lemonade. Each cup was 500 millilitres. How many litres did Shad sell in total?

80. Converting Length: Stacy and Milda are comparing their heights. Stacy is 1.5 meters tall. Milda is 10 centimetres taller than Stacy. What is Milda’s height in centimetres?

81. Understanding Distance and Direction: A bus leaves the school to take students on a field trip. The bus travels 10 kilometres south, 10 kilometres west, another 5 kilometres south and 15 kilometres north. To return to the school, in which direction does the bus have to travel? How many kilometres must it travel in that direction?

Ratios and percentages word problems

Best for: 4th grade, 5th grade, 6th grade

82. Finding a Missing Number: The ratio of Jenny’s trophies to Meredith’s trophies is 7:4. Jenny has 28 trophies. How many does Meredith have?

83. Finding Missing Numbers: The ratio of Jenny’s trophies to Meredith’s trophies is 7:4. The difference between the numbers is 12. What are the numbers?

84. Comparing Ratios: The school’s junior band has 10 saxophone players and 20 trumpet players. The school’s senior band has 18 saxophone players and 29 trumpet players. Which band has the higher ratio of trumpet to saxophone players?

85. Determining Percentages: Mary surveyed students in her school to find out what their favourite sports were. Out of 1,200 students, 455 said hockey was their favourite sport. What percentage of students said hockey was their favourite sport?

86. Determining Percent of Change: A decade ago, Oakville’s population was 67,624 people. Now, it is 190% larger. What is Oakville’s current population?

87. Determining Percents of Numbers: At the ice skate rental stand, 60% of 120 skates are for boys. If the rest of the skates are for girls, how many are there?

88. Calculating Averages: For 4 weeks, William volunteered as a helper for swimming classes. The first week, he volunteered for 8 hours. He volunteered for 12 hours in the second week, and another 12 hours in the third week. The fourth week, he volunteered for 9 hours. For how many hours did he volunteer per week, on average?

Probability and data relationships word problems

$Two students are calculating on a whiteboard$

Best for: 4th grade, 5th grade, 6th grade, 7th grade

89. Understanding the Premise of Probability: John wants to know his class’s favourite TV show, so he surveys all of the boys. Will the sample be representative or biased?

90. Understanding Tangible Probability: The faces on a fair number die are labelled 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. You roll the die 12 times. How many times should you expect to roll a 1?

91. Exploring Complementary Events: The numbers 1 to 50 are in a hat. If the probability of drawing an even number is 25/50, what is the probability of NOT drawing an even number? Express this probability as a fraction.

92. Exploring Experimental Probability: A pizza shop has recently sold 15 pizzas. 5 of those pizzas were pepperoni. Answering with a fraction, what is the experimental probability that he next pizza will be pepperoni?

93. Introducing Data Relationships: Maurita and Felice each take 4 tests. Here are the results of Maurita’s 4 tests: 4, 4, 4, 4. Here are the results for 3 of Felice’s 4 tests: 3, 3, 3. If Maurita’s mean for the 4 tests is 1 point higher than Felice’s, what’s the score of Felice’s 4th test?

94. Introducing Proportional Relationships: Store A is selling 7 pounds of bananas for $7.00. Store B is selling 3 pounds of bananas for $6.00. Which store has the better deal?

95. Writing Equations for Proportional Relationships: Lionel loves soccer, but has trouble motivating himself to practice. So, he incentivizes himself through video games. There is a proportional relationship between the amount of drills Lionel completes, in x , and for how many hours he plays video games, in y . When Lionel completes 10 drills, he plays video games for 30 minutes. Write the equation for the relationship between x and y .

Geometry word problems

Best for: 4th grade, 5th grade, 6th grade, 7th grade, 8th grade

96. Introducing Perimeter: The theatre has 4 chairs in a row. There are 5 rows. Using rows as your unit of measurement, what is the perimeter?

97. Introducing Area: The theatre has 4 chairs in a row. There are 5 rows. How many chairs are there in total?

98. Introducing Volume: Aaron wants to know how much candy his container can hold. The container is 20 centimetres tall, 10 centimetres long and 10 centimetres wide. What is the container’s volume?

99. Understanding 2D Shapes: Kevin draws a shape with 4 equal sides. What shape did he draw?

100. Finding the Perimeter of 2D Shapes: Mitchell wrote his homework questions on a piece of square paper. Each side of the paper is 8 centimetres. What is the perimeter?

101. Determining the Area of 2D Shapes: A single trading card is 9 centimetres long by 6 centimetres wide. What is its area?

102. Understanding 3D Shapes: Martha draws a shape that has 6 square faces. What shape did she draw?

103. Determining the Surface Area of 3D Shapes: What is the surface area of a cube that has a width of 2cm, height of 2 cm and length of 2 cm?

104. Determining the Volume of 3D Shapes: Aaron’s candy container is 20 centimetres tall, 10 centimetres long and 10 centimetres wide. Bruce’s container is 25 centimetres tall, 9 centimetres long and 9 centimetres wide. Find the volume of each container. Based on volume, whose container can hold more candy?

105. Identifying Right-Angled Triangles: A triangle has the following side lengths: 3 cm, 4 cm and 5 cm. Is this triangle a right-angled triangle?

106. Identifying Equilateral Triangles: A triangle has the following side lengths: 4 cm, 4 cm and 4 cm. What kind of triangle is it?

107. Identifying Isosceles Triangles: A triangle has the following side lengths: 4 cm, 5 cm and 5 cm. What kind of triangle is it?

108. Identifying Scalene Triangles: A triangle has the following side lengths: 4 cm, 5 cm and 6 cm. What kind of triangle is it?

109. Finding the Perimeter of Triangles: Luigi built a tent in the shape of an equilateral triangle. The perimeter is 21 metres. What is the length of each of the tent’s sides?

110. Determining the Area of Triangles: What is the area of a triangle with a base of 2 units and a height of 3 units?

111. Applying Pythagorean Theorem: A right triangle has one non-hypotenuse side length of 3 inches and the hypotenuse measures 5 inches. What is the length of the other non-hypotenuse side?

112. Finding a Circle’s Diameter: Jasmin bought a new round backpack. Its area is 370 square centimetres. What is the round backpack’s diameter?

113. Finding a Circle's Area: Captain America’s circular shield has a diameter of 76.2 centimetres. What is the area of his shield?

114. Finding a Circle’s Radius: Skylar lives on a farm, where his dad keeps a circular corn maze. The corn maze has a diameter of 2 kilometres. What is the maze’s radius?

Variables word problems

$A hand is calculating math problem on a blacboard$

Best for: 6th grade, 7th grade, 8th grade

115. Identifying Independent and Dependent Variables: Victoria is baking muffins for her class. The number of muffins she makes is based on how many classmates she has. For this equation, m is the number of muffins and c is the number of classmates. Which variable is independent and which variable is dependent?

116. Writing Variable Expressions for Addition: Last soccer season, Trish scored g goals. Alexa scored 4 more goals than Trish. Write an expression that shows how many goals Alexa scored.

117. Writing Variable Expressions for Subtraction: Elizabeth eats a healthy, balanced breakfast b times a week. Madison sometimes skips breakfast. In total, Madison eats 3 fewer breakfasts a week than Elizabeth. Write an expression that shows how many times a week Madison eats breakfast.

118. Writing Variable Expressions for Multiplication: Last hockey season, Jack scored g goals. Patrik scored twice as many goals than Jack. Write an expression that shows how many goals Patrik scored.

119. Writing Variable Expressions for Division: Amanda has c chocolate bars. She wants to distribute the chocolate bars evenly among 3 friends. Write an expression that shows how many chocolate bars 1 of her friends will receive.

120. Solving Two-Variable Equations: This equation shows how the amount Lucas earns from his after-school job depends on how many hours he works: e = 12h . The variable h represents how many hours he works. The variable e represents how much money he earns. How much money will Lucas earn after working for 6 hours?

How to easily make your own math word problems & word problems worksheets

Two teachers are discussing math with a pen and a notebook

Armed with 120 examples to spark ideas, making your own math word problems can engage your students and ensure alignment with lessons. Do:

Link to Student Interests: By framing your word problems with student interests, you’ll likely grab attention. For example, if most of your class loves American football, a measurement problem could involve the throwing distance of a famous quarterback.
Make Questions Topical: Writing a word problem that reflects current events or issues can engage students by giving them a clear, tangible way to apply their knowledge.
Include Student Names: Naming a question’s characters after your students is an easy way make subject matter relatable, helping them work through the problem.
Be Explicit: Repeating keywords distills the question, helping students focus on the core problem.
Test Reading Comprehension: Flowery word choice and long sentences can hide a question’s key elements. Instead, use concise phrasing and grade-level vocabulary.
Focus on Similar Interests: Framing too many questions with related interests -- such as football and basketball -- can alienate or disengage some students.
Feature Red Herrings: Including unnecessary information introduces another problem-solving element, overwhelming many elementary students.

A key to differentiated instruction , word problems that students can relate to and contextualize will capture interest more than generic and abstract ones.

Final thoughts about math word problems

You’ll likely get the most out of this resource by using the problems as templates, slightly modifying them by applying the above tips. In doing so, they’ll be more relevant to -- and engaging for -- your students.

Regardless, having 120 curriculum-aligned math word problems at your fingertips should help you deliver skill-building challenges and thought-provoking assessments.

The result?

A greater understanding of how your students process content and demonstrate understanding, informing your ongoing teaching approach.

Finding Hidden Questions in Multi-Step Word Problems

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25 Design Thinking Questions: What To Ask + Answer Examples

Design thinking questions set your organization on a path to lasting success. Customer experience innovation is just a question away.

As Walter Isaacson, acclaimed biographer of creative genius Steve Jobs, emphasizes, “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” The pursuit of innovation in business is what sets leaders apart; it’s the driving force behind the transformation of customer experiences. Every innovation, every groundbreaking product, and every revolutionary service begins with a question. That’s where the journey of design thinking questions and the power of asking comes into play.

Design Thinking isn’t just a methodology but a culture, and it’s been the driving force behind many remarkable creations. And what fuels this culture is all about asking the right questions.

Although formalized in the 21st century, design thinking has deep roots in history. In the 1950s, brilliant minds at Stanford University were already exploring new ways to enhance creative thinking. The goal was simple: breaking free from conventional problem-solving strategies. Let’s jump now to the 21st century, where design thinking has become a structured methodology at the heart of many renowned organizations’ strategies, such as Apple, Google, and Amazon.

What Are Design Thinking Questions?

The journey of design thinking is underpinned by a singular philosophy: to understand a problem truly, you must question it thoroughly and empathize with its challenges. This is where design thinking questions come into play.

Design thinking questions are open-ended, thought-provoking inquiries to understand a problem’s depths. These questions don’t just scratch the surface; they delve into the heart of the matter, searching for insights, ideas, and opportunities. The true power of these questions lies in their ability to cultivate empathy , unlock creativity , and catalyze innovative solutions.

We put together a table showcasing the elements of good design thinking questions:

These elements guide the formulation of effective design thinking questions essential for uncovering insights, sparking innovation, and solving complex problems through a human-centered approach.

What Are the Questions of Design Thinking and Their Use?

Behind design thinking, there’s a series of carefully crafted questions, each designed to guide problem-solvers through the journey of creativity and innovation. These questions serve several vital functions like:

Empathy Building: They encourage the development of empathy for the end-users or the people affected by the problem you’re solving. These questions put you in their shoes to truly understand their needs and desires.
Problem Definition: The right questions help you accurately define the problem you’re dealing with. You uncover hidden issues and complexities by questioning the situation from different angles.
Ideation: Design thinking questions stimulate ideation. They fuel creativity, inspire innovative ideas, and help teams think outside the box.
Solution Validation: Once you’ve generated ideas and developed solutions, questions become tools for validating your concepts. They help you ensure that the proposed solutions indeed address the problem.
Continuous Improvement: Design thinking questions don’t stop with the first solution. They play a crucial role in ongoing evaluation, helping you continuously refine and enhance your offerings.

What Are the Most Important Points of Design Thinking?

To truly grasp the essence of design thinking questions, consider these vital principles that underpin the whole approach:

User-Centric Approach: Design thinking fundamentally addresses the end-users’ needs and desires. Your questions should revolve around understanding them, their challenges, and their aspirations.
Iterative Process: Design thinking isn’t a linear journey; it’s a continuous loop of understanding, ideating, prototyping, and testing. Questions guide you through these iterations.
Problem Framing: Before diving into solutions, design thinking encourages an in-depth understanding of the problem itself. Your questions should focus on framing the issue from multiple perspectives.
Collaboration: Design thinking is a collaborative effort. The questions foster teamwork, bringing together diverse skills and perspectives.
Prototype Testing: Questions are tools for validating prototypes. The process includes creating a basic version of the solution and testing it to gather feedback, which is then incorporated into improvements.

In summary, design thinking is an innovation-driven approach that thrives on customer empathy , problem-solving, and continuous improvement, all facilitated by thought-provoking, open-ended questions.

Design Thinking Question Types

Throughout the design thinking process, specific types of questions serve as guiding stars, illuminating the path to innovation and customer-centric solutions:

These questions go beyond the surface, delving into the heart of the matter: the people. They invite you to walk in your end-users or stakeholders’ shoes, to see the world through their eyes. When you ask empathizing questions, you’re on a quest to truly understand their needs, desires, challenges, and aspirations. It’s about peeling back the layers and getting to the core of human experiences. With empathizing questions, you unlock the profound insights needed to create solutions that genuinely resonate with people.
In the realm of design thinking, defining the problem is an art form. These questions are like the skilled strokes of a painter’s brush, meticulously crafting the contours of the challenge at hand. They prompt you to consider the subtle details, the shades of the issue that might have gone unnoticed. With problem definition questions, you frame the challenge with precision, ensuring you’re targeting the right problem—no more, no less. They provide the scaffolding for your entire creative process.
If empathy questions allow you to understand, ideation questions inspire you to dream to explore the uncharted territories of imagination. They’re your passport to a realm where possibilities are endless, and conventional thinking takes a back seat. These questions aren’t just about generating ideas; they’re about opening the doors to unbridled creativity. Ideation questions are open-ended, enticing you to challenge the status quo and venture into the territory of “thinking outside the box.” In this realm, groundbreaking ideas are born.
You have ideas—bold, innovative, and possibly game-changing. But how do you know which ones have the potential to revolutionize your industry? That’s where validation questions come into play. They are the litmus test, the rigorous assessment that ensures your solutions are on target. Validation questions are the guardians of practicality, making certain that your ideas are not just impressive on paper but feasible in the real world. They help you confirm that the proposed solutions genuinely address the problem and, most importantly, the needs of your users.
Once your solution is out in the wild, your journey doesn’t end; it transforms into an ongoing quest for refinement and enhancement. Iterative questions are the driving force behind this evolution. They encourage you to listen, learn, and adapt. With these questions, you delve into the feedback, data, and user experiences. You ask what’s working, what’s not, and most crucially, how you can make it better. Iterative questions are the engines of continuous improvement, enabling you to evolve your solutions harmoniously with the ever-changing landscape of customer needs and market dynamics.

With this arsenal of questions, design thinking becomes a powerful vehicle for innovation and transformation, propelling your organization to new heights of customer satisfaction and competitive success.

Design Thinking Success Examples

The impact of design thinking questions is most evident in the real-world examples of companies and organizations that have successfully employed this approach.

Apple: One of the pioneers in using design thinking, Apple applies this philosophy from product design to the customer experience. They frequently ask empathizing questions like, “ How can we make the iPhone experience even more intuitive? “
Google: Google’s work culture revolves around creative problem-solving. Their teams use ideation questions such as, “ What are new ways to simplify complex data access for users? “
Amazon: Amazon applies design thinking to enhance its customer service and satisfaction. Questions like, “How can we make the customer’s online shopping experience more seamless and enjoyable? ” drive their innovation.
IDEO: A global design consultancy, IDEO, is renowned for its design thinking expertise. They ask many problem definition questions to deeply understand various challenges before proposing solutions.

Free Template: 25 Design Thinking Questions (with Answer Examples)

Design thinking questions with example hypothetical answers:

Feel free to adapt these questions to your specific design thinking project and use them as a starting point for your journey into innovative problem-solving and product development.

Design Thinking Questions with QuestionPro

Integrating QuestionPro into your design thinking process can be a game-changer. Our suite of tools and solutions empowers you to formulate the right design thinking questions, collect valuable feedback, and convert insights into actionable strategies.

Whether you’re looking to enhance your product, service, or overall customer experience, our platform offers:

Survey Design: Create custom surveys tailored to your design thinking needs with our intuitive survey builder.
Feedback Collection: Gather feedback and responses effectively from diverse sources, from customers to employees.
Data Analysis: Utilize advanced analytics to decipher the insights gained from your design thinking questions.
Actionable Insights: Transform insights into actionable strategies for innovation and continuous improvement.

Design thinking questions are the compass guiding you through the intricate terrain of innovation. They empower you to understand, define, ideate, validate, and improve solutions.

When harnessed effectively, these questions can unlock a world of creativity and set your organization on a path to lasting success. So, embark on this journey with the right questions, and remember, innovation is just a question away.

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Interview Questions

Comprehensive Interview Guide: 60+ Professions Explored in Detail

26 Good Examples of Problem Solving (Interview Answers)

By Biron Clark

Published: November 15, 2023

Employers like to hire people who can solve problems and work well under pressure. A job rarely goes 100% according to plan, so hiring managers will be more likely to hire you if you seem like you can handle unexpected challenges while staying calm and logical in your approach.

But how do they measure this?

They’re going to ask you interview questions about these problem solving skills, and they might also look for examples of problem solving on your resume and cover letter. So coming up, I’m going to share a list of examples of problem solving, whether you’re an experienced job seeker or recent graduate.

Then I’ll share sample interview answers to, “Give an example of a time you used logic to solve a problem?”

Problem-Solving Defined

It is the ability to identify the problem, prioritize based on gravity and urgency, analyze the root cause, gather relevant information, develop and evaluate viable solutions, decide on the most effective and logical solution, and plan and execute implementation.

Problem-solving also involves critical thinking, communication, listening, creativity, research, data gathering, risk assessment, continuous learning, decision-making, and other soft and technical skills.

Solving problems not only prevent losses or damages but also boosts self-confidence and reputation when you successfully execute it. The spotlight shines on you when people see you handle issues with ease and savvy despite the challenges. Your ability and potential to be a future leader that can take on more significant roles and tackle bigger setbacks shine through. Problem-solving is a skill you can master by learning from others and acquiring wisdom from their and your own experiences.

It takes a village to come up with solutions, but a good problem solver can steer the team towards the best choice and implement it to achieve the desired result.

Watch: 26 Good Examples of Problem Solving

Examples of problem solving scenarios in the workplace.

Correcting a mistake at work, whether it was made by you or someone else
Overcoming a delay at work through problem solving and communication
Resolving an issue with a difficult or upset customer
Overcoming issues related to a limited budget, and still delivering good work through the use of creative problem solving
Overcoming a scheduling/staffing shortage in the department to still deliver excellent work
Troubleshooting and resolving technical issues
Handling and resolving a conflict with a coworker
Solving any problems related to money, customer billing, accounting and bookkeeping, etc.
Taking initiative when another team member overlooked or missed something important
Taking initiative to meet with your superior to discuss a problem before it became potentially worse
Solving a safety issue at work or reporting the issue to those who could solve it
Using problem solving abilities to reduce/eliminate a company expense
Finding a way to make the company more profitable through new service or product offerings, new pricing ideas, promotion and sale ideas, etc.
Changing how a process, team, or task is organized to make it more efficient
Using creative thinking to come up with a solution that the company hasn’t used before
Performing research to collect data and information to find a new solution to a problem
Boosting a company or team’s performance by improving some aspect of communication among employees
Finding a new piece of data that can guide a company’s decisions or strategy better in a certain area

Problem Solving Examples for Recent Grads/Entry Level Job Seekers

Coordinating work between team members in a class project
Reassigning a missing team member’s work to other group members in a class project
Adjusting your workflow on a project to accommodate a tight deadline
Speaking to your professor to get help when you were struggling or unsure about a project
Asking classmates, peers, or professors for help in an area of struggle
Talking to your academic advisor to brainstorm solutions to a problem you were facing
Researching solutions to an academic problem online, via Google or other methods
Using problem solving and creative thinking to obtain an internship or other work opportunity during school after struggling at first

You can share all of the examples above when you’re asked questions about problem solving in your interview. As you can see, even if you have no professional work experience, it’s possible to think back to problems and unexpected challenges that you faced in your studies and discuss how you solved them.

Interview Answers to “Give an Example of an Occasion When You Used Logic to Solve a Problem”

Now, let’s look at some sample interview answers to, “Give me an example of a time you used logic to solve a problem,” since you’re likely to hear this interview question in all sorts of industries.

Example Answer 1:

At my current job, I recently solved a problem where a client was upset about our software pricing. They had misunderstood the sales representative who explained pricing originally, and when their package renewed for its second month, they called to complain about the invoice. I apologized for the confusion and then spoke to our billing team to see what type of solution we could come up with. We decided that the best course of action was to offer a long-term pricing package that would provide a discount. This not only solved the problem but got the customer to agree to a longer-term contract, which means we’ll keep their business for at least one year now, and they’re happy with the pricing. I feel I got the best possible outcome and the way I chose to solve the problem was effective.

Example Answer 2:

In my last job, I had to do quite a bit of problem solving related to our shift scheduling. We had four people quit within a week and the department was severely understaffed. I coordinated a ramp-up of our hiring efforts, I got approval from the department head to offer bonuses for overtime work, and then I found eight employees who were willing to do overtime this month. I think the key problem solving skills here were taking initiative, communicating clearly, and reacting quickly to solve this problem before it became an even bigger issue.

Example Answer 3:

In my current marketing role, my manager asked me to come up with a solution to our declining social media engagement. I assessed our current strategy and recent results, analyzed what some of our top competitors were doing, and then came up with an exact blueprint we could follow this year to emulate our best competitors but also stand out and develop a unique voice as a brand. I feel this is a good example of using logic to solve a problem because it was based on analysis and observation of competitors, rather than guessing or quickly reacting to the situation without reliable data. I always use logic and data to solve problems when possible. The project turned out to be a success and we increased our social media engagement by an average of 82% by the end of the year.

Answering Questions About Problem Solving with the STAR Method

When you answer interview questions about problem solving scenarios, or if you decide to demonstrate your problem solving skills in a cover letter (which is a good idea any time the job description mention problem solving as a necessary skill), I recommend using the STAR method to tell your story.

STAR stands for:

It’s a simple way of walking the listener or reader through the story in a way that will make sense to them. So before jumping in and talking about the problem that needed solving, make sure to describe the general situation. What job/company were you working at? When was this? Then, you can describe the task at hand and the problem that needed solving. After this, describe the course of action you chose and why. Ideally, show that you evaluated all the information you could given the time you had, and made a decision based on logic and fact.

Finally, describe a positive result you got.

Whether you’re answering interview questions about problem solving or writing a cover letter, you should only choose examples where you got a positive result and successfully solved the issue.

Example answer:

Situation : We had an irate client who was a social media influencer and had impossible delivery time demands we could not meet. She spoke negatively about us in her vlog and asked her followers to boycott our products. (Task : To develop an official statement to explain our company’s side, clarify the issue, and prevent it from getting out of hand). Action : I drafted a statement that balanced empathy, understanding, and utmost customer service with facts, logic, and fairness. It was direct, simple, succinct, and phrased to highlight our brand values while addressing the issue in a logical yet sensitive way. We also tapped our influencer partners to subtly and indirectly share their positive experiences with our brand so we could counter the negative content being shared online. Result : We got the results we worked for through proper communication and a positive and strategic campaign. The irate client agreed to have a dialogue with us. She apologized to us, and we reaffirmed our commitment to delivering quality service to all. We assured her that she can reach out to us anytime regarding her purchases and that we’d gladly accommodate her requests whenever possible. She also retracted her negative statements in her vlog and urged her followers to keep supporting our brand.

What Are Good Outcomes of Problem Solving?

Whenever you answer interview questions about problem solving or share examples of problem solving in a cover letter, you want to be sure you’re sharing a positive outcome.

Below are good outcomes of problem solving:

Saving the company time or money
Making the company money
Pleasing/keeping a customer
Obtaining new customers
Solving a safety issue
Solving a staffing/scheduling issue
Solving a logistical issue
Solving a company hiring issue
Solving a technical/software issue
Making a process more efficient and faster for the company
Creating a new business process to make the company more profitable
Improving the company’s brand/image/reputation
Getting the company positive reviews from customers/clients

Every employer wants to make more money, save money, and save time. If you can assess your problem solving experience and think about how you’ve helped past employers in those three areas, then that’s a great start. That’s where I recommend you begin looking for stories of times you had to solve problems.

Tips to Improve Your Problem Solving Skills

Throughout your career, you’re going to get hired for better jobs and earn more money if you can show employers that you’re a problem solver. So to improve your problem solving skills, I recommend always analyzing a problem and situation before acting. When discussing problem solving with employers, you never want to sound like you rush or make impulsive decisions. They want to see fact-based or data-based decisions when you solve problems.

Next, to get better at solving problems, analyze the outcomes of past solutions you came up with. You can recognize what works and what doesn’t. Think about how you can get better at researching and analyzing a situation, but also how you can get better at communicating, deciding the right people in the organization to talk to and “pull in” to help you if needed, etc.

Finally, practice staying calm even in stressful situations. Take a few minutes to walk outside if needed. Step away from your phone and computer to clear your head. A work problem is rarely so urgent that you cannot take five minutes to think (with the possible exception of safety problems), and you’ll get better outcomes if you solve problems by acting logically instead of rushing to react in a panic.

You can use all of the ideas above to describe your problem solving skills when asked interview questions about the topic. If you say that you do the things above, employers will be impressed when they assess your problem solving ability.

If you practice the tips above, you’ll be ready to share detailed, impressive stories and problem solving examples that will make hiring managers want to offer you the job. Every employer appreciates a problem solver, whether solving problems is a requirement listed on the job description or not. And you never know which hiring manager or interviewer will ask you about a time you solved a problem, so you should always be ready to discuss this when applying for a job.

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By Mike Simpson

When candidates prepare for interviews, they usually focus on highlighting their leadership, communication, teamwork, and similar crucial soft skills . However, not everyone gets ready for problem-solving interview questions. And that can be a big mistake.

Problem-solving is relevant to nearly any job on the planet. Yes, it’s more prevalent in certain industries, but it’s helpful almost everywhere.

Regardless of the role you want to land, you may be asked to provide problem-solving examples or describe how you would deal with specific situations. That’s why being ready to showcase your problem-solving skills is so vital.

If you aren’t sure who to tackle problem-solving questions, don’t worry, we have your back. Come with us as we explore this exciting part of the interview process, as well as some problem-solving interview questions and example answers.

What Is Problem-Solving?

When you’re trying to land a position, there’s a good chance you’ll face some problem-solving interview questions. But what exactly is problem-solving? And why is it so important to hiring managers?

Well, the good folks at Merriam-Webster define problem-solving as “the process or act of finding a solution to a problem.” While that may seem like common sense, there’s a critical part to that definition that should catch your eye.

What part is that? The word “process.”

In the end, problem-solving is an activity. It’s your ability to take appropriate steps to find answers, determine how to proceed, or otherwise overcome the challenge.

Being great at it usually means having a range of helpful problem-solving skills and traits. Research, diligence, patience, attention-to-detail , collaboration… they can all play a role. So can analytical thinking , creativity, and open-mindedness.

But why do hiring managers worry about your problem-solving skills? Well, mainly, because every job comes with its fair share of problems.

While problem-solving is relevant to scientific, technical, legal, medical, and a whole slew of other careers. It helps you overcome challenges and deal with the unexpected. It plays a role in troubleshooting and innovation. That’s why it matters to hiring managers.

How to Answer Problem-Solving Interview Questions

Okay, before we get to our examples, let’s take a quick second to talk about strategy. Knowing how to answer problem-solving interview questions is crucial. Why? Because the hiring manager might ask you something that you don’t anticipate.

Problem-solving interview questions are all about seeing how you think. As a result, they can be a bit… unconventional.

These aren’t your run-of-the-mill job interview questions . Instead, they are tricky behavioral interview questions . After all, the goal is to find out how you approach problem-solving, so most are going to feature scenarios, brainteasers, or something similar.

So, having a great strategy means knowing how to deal with behavioral questions. Luckily, there are a couple of tools that can help.

First, when it comes to the classic approach to behavioral interview questions, look no further than the STAR Method . With the STAR method, you learn how to turn your answers into captivating stories. This makes your responses tons more engaging, ensuring you keep the hiring manager’s attention from beginning to end.

Now, should you stop with the STAR Method? Of course not. If you want to take your answers to the next level, spend some time with the Tailoring Method , too.

With the Tailoring Method, it’s all about relevance. So, if you get a chance to choose an example that demonstrates your problem-solving skills, this is really the way to go.

We also wanted to let you know that we created an amazing free cheat sheet that will give you word-for-word answers for some of the toughest interview questions you are going to face in your upcoming interview. After all, hiring managers will often ask you more generalized interview questions!

Click below to get your free PDF now:

Get Our Job Interview Questions & Answers Cheat Sheet!

FREE BONUS PDF CHEAT SHEET: Get our " Job Interview Questions & Answers PDF Cheat Sheet " that gives you " word-word sample answers to the most common job interview questions you'll face at your next interview .

CLICK HERE TO GET THE JOB INTERVIEW QUESTIONS CHEAT SHEET

1. Can you tell me about a time when you had to solve a challenging problem?

In the land of problem-solving questions, this one might be your best-case scenario. It lets you choose your own problem-solving examples to highlight, putting you in complete control.

When you choose an example, go with one that is relevant to what you’ll face in the role. The closer the match, the better the answer is in the eyes of the hiring manager.

EXAMPLE ANSWER:

“While working as a mobile telecom support specialist for a large organization, we had to transition our MDM service from one vendor to another within 45 days. This personally physically handling 500 devices within the agency. Devices had to be gathered from the headquarters and satellite offices, which were located all across the state, something that was challenging even without the tight deadline. I approached the situation by identifying the location assignment of all personnel within the organization, enabling me to estimate transit times for receiving the devices. Next, I timed out how many devices I could personally update in a day. Together, this allowed me to create a general timeline. After that, I coordinated with each location, both expressing the urgency of adhering to deadlines and scheduling bulk shipping options. While there were occasional bouts of resistance, I worked with location leaders to calm concerns and facilitate action. While performing all of the updates was daunting, my approach to organizing the event made it a success. Ultimately, the entire transition was finished five days before the deadline, exceeding the expectations of many.”

2. Describe a time where you made a mistake. What did you do to fix it?

While this might not look like it’s based on problem-solving on the surface, it actually is. When you make a mistake, it creates a challenge, one you have to work your way through. At a minimum, it’s an opportunity to highlight problem-solving skills, even if you don’t address the topic directly.

When you choose an example, you want to go with a situation where the end was positive. However, the issue still has to be significant, causing something negative to happen in the moment that you, ideally, overcame.

“When I first began in a supervisory role, I had trouble setting down my individual contributor hat. I tried to keep up with my past duties while also taking on the responsibilities of my new role. As a result, I began rushing and introduced an error into the code of the software my team was updating. The error led to a memory leak. We became aware of the issue when the performance was hindered, though we didn’t immediately know the cause. I dove back into the code, reviewing recent changes, and, ultimately, determined the issue was a mistake on my end. When I made that discovery, I took several steps. First, I let my team know that the error was mine and let them know its nature. Second, I worked with my team to correct the issue, resolving the memory leak. Finally, I took this as a lesson about delegation. I began assigning work to my team more effectively, a move that allowed me to excel as a manager and help them thrive as contributors. It was a crucial learning moment, one that I have valued every day since.”

3. If you identify a potential risk in a project, what steps do you take to prevent it?

Yes, this is also a problem-solving question. The difference is, with this one, it’s not about fixing an issue; it’s about stopping it from happening. Still, you use problem-solving skills along the way, so it falls in this question category.

If you can, use an example of a moment when you mitigated risk in the past. If you haven’t had that opportunity, approach it theoretically, discussing the steps you would take to prevent an issue from developing.

“If I identify a potential risk in a project, my first step is to assess the various factors that could lead to a poor outcome. Prevention requires analysis. Ensuring I fully understand what can trigger the undesired event creates the right foundation, allowing me to figure out how to reduce the likelihood of those events occurring. Once I have the right level of understanding, I come up with a mitigation plan. Exactly what this includes varies depending on the nature of the issue, though it usually involves various steps and checks designed to monitor the project as it progresses to spot paths that may make the problem more likely to happen. I find this approach effective as it combines knowledge and ongoing vigilance. That way, if the project begins to head into risky territory, I can correct its trajectory.”

17 More Problem-Solving-Based Interview Questions

In the world of problem-solving questions, some apply to a wide range of jobs, while others are more niche. For example, customer service reps and IT helpdesk professionals both encounter challenges, but not usually the same kind.

As a result, some of the questions in this list may be more relevant to certain careers than others. However, they all give you insights into what this kind of question looks like, making them worth reviewing.

Here are 17 more problem-solving interview questions you might face off against during your job search:

How would you describe your problem-solving skills?
Can you tell me about a time when you had to use creativity to deal with an obstacle?
Describe a time when you discovered an unmet customer need while assisting a customer and found a way to meet it.
If you were faced with an upset customer, how would you diffuse the situation?
Tell me about a time when you had to troubleshoot a complex issue.
Imagine you were overseeing a project and needed a particular item. You have two choices of vendors: one that can deliver on time but would be over budget, and one that’s under budget but would deliver one week later than you need it. How do you figure out which approach to use?
Your manager wants to upgrade a tool you regularly use for your job and wants your recommendation. How do you formulate one?
A supplier has said that an item you need for a project isn’t going to be delivered as scheduled, something that would cause your project to fall behind schedule. What do you do to try and keep the timeline on target?
Can you share an example of a moment where you encountered a unique problem you and your colleagues had never seen before? How did you figure out what to do?
Imagine you were scheduled to give a presentation with a colleague, and your colleague called in sick right before it was set to begin. What would you do?
If you are given two urgent tasks from different members of the leadership team, both with the same tight deadline, how do you choose which to tackle first?
Tell me about a time you and a colleague didn’t see eye-to-eye. How did you decide what to do?
Describe your troubleshooting process.
Tell me about a time where there was a problem that you weren’t able to solve. What happened?
In your opening, what skills or traits make a person an exceptional problem-solver?
When you face a problem that requires action, do you usually jump in or take a moment to carefully assess the situation?
When you encounter a new problem you’ve never seen before, what is the first step that you take?

Putting It All Together

At this point, you should have a solid idea of how to approach problem-solving interview questions. Use the tips above to your advantage. That way, you can thrive during your next interview.

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What Is Your Greatest Weakness?
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Co-Founder and CEO of TheInterviewGuys.com. Mike is a job interview and career expert and the head writer at TheInterviewGuys.com.

His advice and insights have been shared and featured by publications such as Forbes , Entrepreneur , CNBC and more as well as educational institutions such as the University of Michigan , Penn State , Northeastern and others.

Learn more about The Interview Guys on our About Us page .

About The Author

Mike simpson.

Co-Founder and CEO of TheInterviewGuys.com. Mike is a job interview and career expert and the head writer at TheInterviewGuys.com. His advice and insights have been shared and featured by publications such as Forbes , Entrepreneur , CNBC and more as well as educational institutions such as the University of Michigan , Penn State , Northeastern and others. Learn more about The Interview Guys on our About Us page .

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51 Examples of Powerful Open-Ended Sales Questions

As a sales leader, meeting your organization’s revenue goal is job #1. That means helping your sales professionals be the best sellers they can be is a high priority. One simple way to accomplish this is to train your sales team to ask better open-ended questions.

Conversations created by open-ended sales questions build rapport, define needs, identify motivators, and uncover budget. They can also lead the prospect toward the purchasing decision.

By practicing this consultative approach , sales professionals can become highly skilled at uncovering a buyer’s true needs. The key is to avoid closed-ended questions that can be answered with a simple “yes” or “no.” Instead, use questions that start with words like “what,” “how,” “when,” and “why.” This encourages the buyer to provide more detailed, insightful responses.

We’ve compiled a list of open-ended sales question examples to help sales professionals gather more information during sales discovery about buyers and their situations. Armed with the answers they need, your team will be able to recommend the best solution and close more deals, more often.

Benefits of Using Open-Ended Questions

Before we dive in, here are the main benefits of an open-ended approach:

Uncover Prospects’ Needs

Open-ended sales questions encourage the buyer to share more information about their challenges, goals, and pain points. This allows the sales professional to better understand the buyer’s true needs rather than making assumptions.

Build Rapport

By shifting the conversation away from a sales pitch and instead focusing on the buyer’s needs, the sales professional can build stronger rapport and trust with the customer.

Customize Solutions

With a deeper understanding of the buyer’s unique situation, the sales professional can then tailor their product/service recommendations to provide the most relevant and valuable solution.

Uncover Objections

Open-ended questions give the buyer space to voice any concerns or hesitations they may have. Addressing these upfront prevents them from becoming roadblocks later.

Become a Strategic Partner

Asking thoughtful questions and actively listening positions the sales professional as a trusted advisor rather than just a pushy salesperson. This increases the likelihood of the buyer viewing the sales professional as a collaborative partner.

Best Open-Ended Sales Questions

Rapport-building questions.

Rapport-building sales questions help the sales professional connect and establish trust with the person (or people) they’re speaking with.

It’s important to keep in mind that buyers have different styles. A “driver” may not want to spend as much time building rapport with you as a “socializer” does.

An experienced sales professional should be able to determine a buyer’s behavior style in the first few moments of conversation and know whether they will appreciate rapport-building questions.

Taking a personal sales assessment can help sales professionals understand their communication style and tendencies so they can match or adapt their style to the buyer’s.

Examples of open-ended sales questions for rapport-building include:

What are you up to this weekend/upcoming holiday?
Are you taking any vacation time this summer (season)?
How are your children/partner/friends you recently mentioned?
How did that thing you were talking about last time turn out?
What big news or breakthroughs have you had since the last time we spoke?
Tell me about any obstacles or problems that have arisen?
What got you into this line of work/company?
What are some of your personal goals and priorities right now?
What is your situation like at work these days?

Problem Questions

Problem questions help uncover a prospect’s priorities and motivating factors.

Examples of open-ended problem questions include:

What prompted you to call/take this meeting?
What are your top business priorities right now?
How would you describe the problem you’re trying to solve?
What challenges have you faced in the past when trying to solve these problems?
What changes in your customer demands are influencing your decisions?
What changes in the competitive landscape are impacting your business?
What else about the situation worries or frustrates you?
If there is a current solution provider, why are you considering an alternative?

Impact Questions

Impact questions help the sales professional and the prospect explore pain points and reach a mutual understanding. The goal is to be on the same page about the investment required to solve a problem.

Examples of open-ended impact questions include:

How much does this problem currently cost your company?
How much does it cost you, personally, in terms of time, money, and/or effort?
What non-monetary costs are associated with the problem?
How long has this been a problem?
What would it feel like to solve the problem once and for all?
How much would a good solution save you and the company?

Solution Questions

Solution questions begin the process of defining a solution tailored to the customer’s needs.

Examples of powerful open-ended solution questions include:

What would an ideal solution look like for you?
What are the must-have criteria for a solution?
What is on your want-to-have list?
What is your timeline for solving these challenges?
What are the qualities you’re looking for in a solution provider?
What are your success criteria for the solution?
How will you know the solution has worked?

Buying Process Questions

Buying process questions help the sales professional understand how the prospect will make the buying decision, so they can assist in the process.

Examples of useful open-ended buying process questions include:

If I may ask, what does your decision-making process look like?
Who else—besides yourself, of course—will be involved in this decision?
What specific information will you need to make your decision?
What obstacles have you faced in the past when trying to make a similar decision?

Budget Questions

Budget questions help the sales professional design an appropriate solution and can help the customer identify additional sources of funding when necessary.

Examples of open-ended budget questions include:

What is the currently allocated budget for solving this problem?
What will happen if that amount isn’t enough to fully fund the solution?
What other sources of funding can be explored, if necessary?

Follow-Up Questions

Follow-up questions asked during a sales conversation get the prospect to go deeper and uncover more information.

Examples of powerful follow-up questions include:

Could you tell me more about that?
What would an example of that be?
How did that impact you?
Who else was impacted?
How do you feel about that?
Why is that?
What else was going on that affected the situation?
What other thoughts do you have about that?
Where did the situation go from there?
What was the outcome of that?
When else have you experienced similar situations?
Why is this important to you?

Objection Questions

The right open-ended questions can help sales professionals avoid some objections and lead the customer past any that do arise.

To arm your salespeople with examples of open-ended objection questions, find out what the most common objections are. Then tailor example questions for them to head off or address those issues.

Examples of open-ended objection questions include:

Who else will be involved in this decision? (Avoids the “I have to ask my boss” objection)
What type of budget do you have for this solution? (Avoids the “your price is too high” objection)
What else do you need to make this decision? (Avoids the “I need to think about it” objection)

Practicing an Open-Ended Approach

When sales professionals move to the next stage of the sales process without complete information, they’re less likely to close the sale. A successful sales questioning strategy avoids closed-ended questions that result in one-word answers.

Coach your team to practice using open-ended questions and active listening to uncover buyer needs and wants, deliver the best solutions, and increase sales.

Tool Download

13 winning questions.

Are you asking the right questions? Every new prospect should be asked questions that are tailored specifically for them, but these 13 have proven to be winners—over the years and in hundreds of industries.

Written By Larissa DiStefano

Larissa DiStefano

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The Opening Days of Trump’s First Criminal Trial

Here’s what has happened so far in the unprecedented proceedings against a former u.s. president..

This transcript was created using speech recognition software. While it has been reviewed by human transcribers, it may contain errors. Please review the episode audio before quoting from this transcript and email [email protected] with any questions.

It’s the first day of the Trump trial and just walking out the door in my house. It’s a beautiful day, 6:11 AM. The thing that keeps running through my head is it’s kind of amazing that hundreds of jurors are going to show up at the Manhattan courthouse. And some of them are going to know what they’re there for — probably talking to their friends, their relatives about it.

Some of them are going to learn this morning talking to other jurors in line, asking what all the fuss is about. But I really do imagine that there’s going to be at least one potential juror who, headphones on, getting into court. Here they’re going to be there for the first criminal trial of Donald J. Trump. And just, I mean, how would you react?

[MUSIC PLAYING]

From “The New York Times,” I’m Michael Barbaro. This is “The Daily.” Today, what it’s been like inside the lower Manhattan courtroom, where political and legal history are being made? My colleague, Jonah Bromwich, on the opening days of the first criminal trial of a US President. It’s Thursday, April 18.

Is that his mic? Hi, there.

Hello. How are you?

I’m doing good.

OK. Thank you for coming in, Jonah —

Thank you for having me.

— in the middle of a trial. Can you just explain why you’re able to even be here?

Sure. So we happen to be off on Wednesdays during trial, so.

We being not “The New York Times,” but the courts.

That’s right.

Which is why we’re taping with you. And because we now have two full court days of this history-making trial now under our belts. And the thing about this trial that’s so interesting is that there are no cameras in the courtroom for the wider world.

There’s no audio recordings. So all we really have is and your eyes and your notebook, maybe your laptop. And so we’re hoping you can reconstruct for us the scene of the first two days of this trial and really the highlights.

Yeah, I’d be happy to. So on Monday morning, I left the subway. It’s before 7:00 AM. The sun is just rising over these grandiose court buildings in lower Manhattan.

I’m about to turn left onto Center Street. I’m right in front of the big municipal building.

And I turn onto Center Street. That’s where the courthouses are.

I’m crossing.

And I expected to see a big crowd. And it was even bigger than I had anticipated.

Here we go. Here we go. Here we go. Now, I finally see the crowd.

You have camera banks. You have reporters. You have the beginnings of what will eventually become a protest. And you have this most New York thing, which is just a big crowd of people.

[CHUCKLES]: Who just know something is going on.

That’s right. And what they know is going on is, of course, the first trial of an American president.

All right, I’m passing the camera, folks. Camera, camera, camera, camera. Here we go.

Let’s start with Sharon Crowley live outside the courthouse in Lower Manhattan.

I want to get right to ABC’S Aaron Katersky who’s outside of the courthouse.

Robert Costa is following it outside the courthouse in Lower Manhattan. Bob, I saw the satellite trucks lined up all in a row. Good morning.

Talk to us how we got here exactly.

So this is the case that was brought by the Manhattan district attorney. So prosecutors have accused Donald Trump of covering up the actions of his former fixer, Michael Cohen, after Cohen paid hush money to Stormy Daniels. Stormy Daniels had a story about having had sex with Donald Trump, which Trump has always denied.

Cohen paid her money, and then Trump reimbursed Cohen. And prosecutors say that Trump essentially defrauded the American people because he hid this information that could have been very important for the election from those people when he reimbursed Cohen.

Right. And as I remember it, he also misrepresented what that reimbursement was. Claimed it was a legal fee when, in fact, it was just reimbursing Michael Cohen for a hush money payment.

Exactly, yeah. He definitely didn’t say reimbursement for hush money payment to Stormy Daniels. It’s a cover up case. It’s a case about hiding information you don’t want people to see.

Right. And of course, the context of all this is that it is in the middle of a presidential election. It’s 2016. Trump wants to keep this secret, prosecutors allege, so that the American public doesn’t know about it and potentially hold it against him.

Right. And prosecutors are telling a story about election interference. They’re saying that Trump interfered with an election. And Trump himself is also using the phrase “election interference.” But he’s painting the trial itself as election interference as he now runs again in 2024.

Fascinating.

And because we’re in Manhattan, and because the jury pool is going to be largely Democratic, and the judge is a Democrat, and the district attorney is a Democrat, Trump keeps claiming he cannot get a fair shake. This is democrat central. And in democrat central, Trump doesn’t have a chance.

OK. So, what happens once you actually enter the courthouse?

Outside, there’s all this fanfare. But inside, it’s a little bit business as usual. So I go up to the 15th floor, and I walk into the courtroom, and I sit down, and it’s the same old courtroom. And we’re sitting and waiting for the former president.

Around 9:30, Trump walks in. He looks thin. He looks a little tired, kind of slumping forward, as if to say with his body like let’s get this over with. Here we go.

The judge walks in a little bit after that. And we think we’re all set for the trial to start, but that’s not what happens here. And in fact, there are a series of legal arguments about what the trial is going to look like and what evidence is going to be allowed in.

So, for example, prosecutors ask that they be allowed to admit into evidence headlines from “The National Enquirer” that were attacks on Trump’s 2016 opponents — on Ted Cruz, on Marco Rubio, on Ben Carson.

Because prosecutors are in some sense putting Trump’s 2016 campaign on trial. These headlines are a big part of that because what prosecutors say they show is that Trump had this ongoing deal with “The National Enquirer.” And the publisher would promote him, and it would publish damaging stories about his opponents. And then crucially, it would protect Trump from negative stories. And that’s exactly what prosecutors say happened with Stormy Daniels. That “The National Enquirer” tipped Cohen off about Stormy Daniels trying to sell her story of having had sex with Donald Trump, which he denies. And that led to the hush money payment to her. So what prosecutors are doing overall with these headlines is establishing a pattern of conduct. And that conduct, they say, was an attempt to influence the election in Trump’s favor.

And the judge agrees. He’s going to admit this evidence. And this is a pretty big win for the prosecution. But even though they win that one, they’re not winning everything.

They lose some important arguments here. One of them was that after the Access Hollywood tape came out, there were allegations of sexual assault against Donald Trump. And you know this, Michael, because you reported two of them — two of the three in question at this very trial.

Prosecutors had hoped to talk about those during trial in front of the jury to show the jurors that the Trump campaign was really, really focused on pushing back against bad press in the wake of the Access Hollywood tape in which Trump seemed to describe sexual assault. That was a big problem for the campaign. Campaign did everything it could to push back, including against these allegations that surfaced in the wake of the tape.

But the judge, saying that the allegations are hearsay — that they’re based on the women’s stories — says absolutely not. That is incredibly prejudicial to the defendant.

Interesting.

And that Donald Trump would actually not get a fair trial were those allegations to be mentioned. And so he will not let those in. The jurors will not hear about them.

So this is a setback, of course, for the prosecution, a victory for Trump’s legal team.

It’s a setback. And it also just shows you how these pre-trial motions shape the context of the trial. Think of the trial as a venue like a theater or an athletic contest of some sort. And these pre-trial motions are about what gets led into the arena and what stays out. The sexual assault allegations — out. “The National Enquirer” headlines — in.

OK. And how is Trump sitting there at the defense table reacting to these pre-trial motion rulings from the judge?

Well, as I’ve just said, this is very important stuff for his trial.

Right. Hugely important.

But it’s all happening in legal language, and I’m decoding it for you. But if you were sitting there listening to it, you might get a little lost, and you might get a little bored. And Trump, who is not involved in these arguments, seems to fall asleep.

Seems to fall asleep — you’re seeing this with your own eyes.

What we’re seeing, overall, including our colleague, Maggie Haberman, who’s in the overflow room and has a direct view of Trump’s face — I’m sitting behind him in the courtroom, so I can’t see his face that well.

You guys are double teaming this.

That’s right. I’m sitting behind him, but Maggie is sitting in front of him. And what she sees is not only that his eyes are closed. That wouldn’t get you to he is asleep.

And we have to be really careful about reporting that he’s asleep, even if it seems like a frivolous thing. But what happens is that his head is dropping down to his chest, and then it’s snapping back up. So you’ve seen that, when a student —

I’ve done that.

(CHUCKLES) Yeah. We all kind of know that feeling of snapping awake suddenly. And we see the head motion, and it happens several times.

Lawyers kind of bothering him, not quite shaking him, but certainly trying to get his attention. And that head snapping motion, we felt confident enough to report that Trump fell asleep.

During his own criminal trial’s opening day.

Does someone eventually wake him up?

He wakes up. He wakes up. And in fact, in the afternoon, he’s much more animated. It’s almost as if he wants to be seen being very much awake.

Right. So once these pre-trial motions are ruled on and Trump is snapped back to attention, what happens?

Well, what happens in the courtroom is that the trial begins. The first trial of an American president is now in session. And what marks that beginning is jurors walking into the room one by one — many of them kind of craning their necks over at Donald Trump, giggling, raising their eyebrows at each other, filing into the room, and being sworn in by the judge. And that swearing in marks the official beginning of the trial.

The beginning is jury selection, and it’s often overlooked. It’s not dramatized in our kind of courtroom dramas in the same way. But it’s so important. It’s one of the most important parts of the case. Because whoever sits on the jury, these are the 12 people who are going to decide whether Trump is guilty or whether Trump is innocent.

So how does jury selection actually look and feel and go?

So, jury selection is a winnowing process. And in order to do that, you have to have these people go through a bunch of different hurdles. So the first hurdle is, after the judge describes the case, he asks the group — and there are just short of 100 of them — whether they can be fair and impartial. And says that if they can’t, they should leave. And more than half the group is instantly gone.

So after we do this big mass excusal, we’re left with the smaller group. And so now, jurors are getting called in smaller groups to the jury box. And what they’re going to do there is they’re going to answer this questionnaire.

And this part of the process is really conducted by the judge. The lawyers are involved. They’re listening, but they’re not yet asking questions of the jurors themselves.

And what’s on the questionnaire?

Well, it’s 42 questions. And the questions include, their education, their professional histories, their hobbies, what they like to do whether you’re a member of QAnon or Antifa.

Whether you’re far left or far right.

That’s right. Whether you’ve read “The Art of the Deal,” Trump’s book, which some prospective jurors had.

Right. It was a bestseller in its time.

That’s right. And some of it can be answered in yes/no questions, but some of it can be answered more at length. So some of the prospective jurors are going very, very fast. Yes, no, no, no, yes.

Right. Because this is an oral questionnaire.

That’s right. But some of them are taking their time. They’re expanding on their hobbies. So the potential juror in seat 3, for example, is talking about her hobbies. And she says some running, hiking. And then she said, I like to go to the club, and it got a huge laugh. And you get that kind of thing in jury selection, which is one of the reasons it’s so fun. It’s the height of normality in this situation that is anything but normal.

Right. The most banal answer possible delivered in front of the former president And current Republican nominee for president.

Well, that’s one of the fascinating parts about all this, right? is that they’re answering in front of Trump. And they’re answering questions about Trump in front of Trump. He doesn’t react all that much. But whenever someone says they’ve read “The Art of the Deal —” and there are a few of those — he kind of nods appreciatively, smiles. He likes that. It’s very clear. But because there are so many questions, this is taking forever, especially when people are choosing to answer and elaborate and digress.

This is when you fall asleep.

This Is. When I would have fallen asleep if I were a normal person.

And by the end of the day. Where does jury selection stand?

Well, the questionnaire is another device for shrinking that jury pool. And so the questionnaire has almost these little obstacles or roadblocks, including, in fact, a question that jurors have seen before — whether they would have any problem being fair and impartial?

Hmm. And they ask it again.

They’re asked it again. And they’re asked in this more individualized way. The judge is questioning them. They’re responding.

So, remember that woman who said she liked to go to the club got a big laugh. She reaches question 34. And question 34 reads, “Do you have any strong opinions or firmly-held beliefs about former President Donald Trump or the fact that he is a current candidate for president that would interfere with your ability to be a fair and impartial juror?” She said, yes, she does have an opinion that would prevent her from being fair and impartial. And she, too, is excused.

So that’s how it works. People answer the questionnaire, and they get excused in that way, or they have a scheduling conflict once they reach the jury box. And so to answer your question, Michael. At the end of day one, given all these problems with the questionnaire and the length of time it’s taken to respond to and people getting dismissed based on their answers, there is not a single juror seated for this trial.

And it’s starting to look like this is going to be a really hard case for which to find an impartial jury.

That’s the feeling in the room, yeah.

We’ll be right back.

So Jonah, let’s turn to day 2. What does jury selection look like on Tuesday?

So when the day begins, it looks almost exactly like it looked when the day ended on Monday. We’re still with the questionnaire, getting some interesting answers. But even though it feels like we’re going slow, we are going.

And so we’ve gone from about 100 people to now there’s about 24 the room there’s 18 the jury box. And by the time we hit lunch, all those people have answered all those questions, and we are ready for the next step in the process.

Voir dire. And what it is the heart of jury selection. This is the point where the lawyers themselves finally get to interview the jurors. And we get so much information from this moment because the lawyers ask questions based on what they want out of the jurors.

So the prosecution is asking all these different kinds of questions. The first round of wajir is done by a guy named Joshua Steinglass, a very experienced trial lawyer with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. And he’s providing all these hypotheticals. I’ll give you one example because I found this one really, really interesting. He provides a hypothetical about a man who wants his wife killed and essentially hires a hitman to do it. And what he asked the jurors is, if that case were before you, would you be able to see that the man who hired the hitman was a part of this crime?

And of course, what he’s really getting at is, can you accept that even though Michael Cohen, Trump’s fixer, made this payment, Trump is the guy who hired him to do it?

That’s right. If there are other people involved, will jurors still be able to see Donald Trump’s hands behind it all?

Fascinating. And what were some of the responses?

People mostly said, yes, we accept that. So that’s how the prosecution did it.

But the defense had a totally different method of voir dire. They were very focused on their client and people’s opinions about their client.

So what kind of questions do we get from them?

So the lawyer, Todd Blanche, is asking people, what do you make of President Trump? What do you think of President Trump?

And what are some of the responses to that?

Well, there’s this incredible exchange with one of the jurors who absolutely refuses to give his opinion of Donald Trump. They go back and forth and back and forth. And the juror keeps insisting you don’t need to know my opinion of him. All you need to know is that I’m going to be fair and impartial, like I said. And Blanch pushes, and the guy pushes back. And the only way the guy budges is he finally kind of confesses almost at the end that, yes, I am a Democrat, and that’s all we get.

And what ends up happening to this potential juror?

Believe it or not, he got dismissed.

[LAUGHS]: I can believe it. And of course, it’s worth saying that this guy and everybody else is being asked that question just feet from Trump himself.

That’s right. And you might think you were going to get a really kind of spicy, like, popcorn emoji-type exchange from that. But because these are now jurors who have said they can be fair and impartial, who, to some extent, want to be on this jury or at least wouldn’t mind being on this jury, they’re being very restrained.

Mostly, what they are emphasizing — much like that guy just described dis — is that they can be fair. They can be impartial. There’s one woman who gives this really remarkable answer.

She says, I thought about this last night. I stayed up all night. I couldn’t sleep, thinking about whether I could be fair. It’s really important to me, and I can.

What ends up happening to that particular juror?

She’s also dismissed. And she’s dismissed without any reason at all. The defense decides it doesn’t like her. It doesn’t want her on the jury. And they have a certain number of chances to just get rid of jurors — no questions asked.

Other jurors are getting dismissed for cause — I’m doing air quotes with my hands — which means that the lawyers have argued they actually revealed themselves through their answers or through old social media posts, which are brought up in the courtroom, to be either non-credible, meaning they’ve said they can be fair and they can’t, or somehow too biased to be on the jury.

Wait, can I just dial into that for a second? Are lawyers researching the jurors in real time going online and saying — I’m making this up — but Jonah Bromwich is a potential juror, and I’m going to go off into my little corner of the courtroom and Google everything you’ve ever said? Is that what’s happening in the room?

Yeah, there’s a whole profession dedicated to that. It’s called jury consultant, and they’re very good at finding information on people in a hurry. And it certainly looked as if they were in play.

Did a social media post end up getting anybody kicked off this jury?

Yes, there were posts from 2016 era internet. You’ll remember that time as a very heated one on the internet, Facebook memes are a big thing. And so there’s all kinds of lock him up type memes and rhetoric. And some of the potential jurors here have used those. And those jurors are dismissed for a reason.

So we have these two types of dismissals, right? We have these peremptory dismissals — no reason at all given. And we have for cause dismissals.

And the process is called jury selection. But you don’t actually get selected for a jury. The thing is to make it through all these obstacles.

You’re left over.

Right. And so when certain jurors are not dismissed, and they’ve made it through all these stages, by the end of the day, we have gone from zero juror seated to seven jurors who will be participating in Donald Trump’s trial.

Got it. And without going through all seven, just give us a little bit of a sketch of who so far is on this jury. What stands out?

Well, not that much stands out. So we’ve got four men. We’ve got three women. One lives on the Upper East Side. One lives in Chelsea. Obviously, they’re from all over Manhattan.

They have these kind of very normal hobbies like spending time with family and friends. They have somewhat anonymous jobs. We’ve got two lawyers. We’ve got someone who’s worked in sales.

So there’s not that much identifying information. And that’s not an accident . One of the things that often happens with jury selection, whether it be for Donald Trump or for anyone else, is the most interesting jurors — the jurors that kind of catch your attention during the process — they get picked off because they are being so interesting that they interest one or the other side in a negative way. And soon they’re excused. So most of the jurors who are actually seated —

Are not memorable.

Are not that memorable, save one particular juror.

OK. All right, I’ll bite. What do I need to know about that one particular juror?

So let me tell you about a prospective juror who we knew as 374, who will now be juror number five. She’s a middle school teacher from Harlem. And she said that she has friends who have really strong opinions about Trump, but she herself does not. And she insisted several times, I am not a political person.

And then she said this thing that made me quite surprised that the prosecution was fine with having her on the jury. She said, quote, “President Trump speaks his mind, and I’d rather that than someone who’s in office who you don’t know what they’re thinking.”

Hmm. So she expressed approval of President Trump.

Yeah, it was mild approval. But the thing is, especially for the defense in this trial, all you need is one juror. One juror can tie up deliberations in knots, and you can end with a hung jury. And this is actually something that I saw firsthand. In 2019, I was the foreperson on a jury.

How you like that?

Yeah. And the trial was really complicated, but I had thought while we were doing the trial, oh, this is going to be a really easy decision. I thought the defendant in that case was guilty. So we get into deliberations, but there’s this one juror who keeps gumming up the works every time we seem to be making progress, getting a conversation started.

This juror proverbially throws up his hands and says, I am not convicting. This man is innocent. And we talked and we talked. And as the foreperson, I was trying to use all my skills to mediate.

But any time we made any progress, this guy would blow it up. And long story short, hung jury — big victory for the defense lawyer. And we come out of the room. And she points at this juror. The guy —

The defense lawyer.

The defense lawyer points at this juror who blew everything up. And she said, I knew it. I knew I had my guy.

OK. I don’t want to read too much into what you said about that one juror. But should I read between the lines to think that if there’s a hung jury, you wonder if it might be that juror?

That’s what everyone in the courtroom is wondering not just about this juror, but about every single person who was selected. Is this the person who swings the case for me? Is this the person who swings the case against me?

These juries are so complex. It’s 12 people who don’t know each other at the start of the trial and, by the end of the trial, have seen each other every morning and are experiencing the same things, but are not allowed to have talked about the case until deliberations start. In that moment when deliberations start —

You’re going to learn a whole lot about each other.

That’s right. There’s this alchemical moment where suddenly, it all matters. Every personality selected matters. And that’s why jury selection is so important. And that’s why these last two days are actually one of the most important parts of this trial.

OK. So by my math, this trial will require five more jurors to get to 12. I know also they’re going to need to be alternates. But from what you’re saying what looked like a really uphill battle to get an impartial jury or a jury that said it could be impartial — and Trump was very doubtful one could be found — has turned out to not be so hard to find.

That’s right. And in fact, we went from thinking, oh, boy, this is going awfully slowly, to the judge himself saying we could be doing opening arguments as soon as Monday morning. And I think that highlights something that’s really fascinating both about this trial and about the jury selection process overall.

One of the things that lawyers have been arguing about is whether or not it’s important to figure out what jurors’ opinions about Donald Trump are. And the prosecution and, I think, the judge have really said, no, that’s not the key issue here. The key issue is not whether or not people have opinions about Donald Trump.

Right. Who doesn’t have an opinion about Donald Trump?

Exactly. They’re going to. Automatically, they’re going to. The question is whether or not they can be fair and impartial. And the seven people we already have seated, and presumably the five people that we’re going to get over the next few days and however many alternates — we expect six — are all going to have answered that question, not I hate Trump; I love Trump, but I can weigh in on the former president’s innocence or guilt, and I can do it as fairly as humanly possible.

Now, Trump is not happy about this. He said after court yesterday, quote, We have a highly conflicted judge, and he’s rushing this trial.” And I think that he is going to see these beats of the system the criminal justice system as it works on him as he is experiencing it as unfair. That is typically how he talks about it and how he views it.

But what he’s getting is what defendants get. This is the system in New York, in the United States. This is its answer to how do you pick a fair jury? Well, you ask people can you be fair? And you put them through this process, and the outcome is 12 people.

And so I think we’re going to see this over and over again in this trial. We’re going to see Trump experience the criminal justice system.

And its routines.

Yeah, openings, witnesses, evidence, closings. He’s going to go through all of it. And I think, at every turn, it makes sense to expect him to say, well, this is not fair. Well, the judge is doing something wrong. Well, the prosecutors are doing something wrong. Well, the jury is doing something wrong.

But at the end of the day, he’s going to be a defendant, and he’s going to sit, mostly silently if his lawyers can make him do that, and watch this process play itself out. So the system is going to try and treat him like any other defendant, even though, of course —

— he’s not. And he is going to fight back like no other defendant would, like no other defendant could. And that tension, him pushing against the criminal justice system as it strives to treat him, as it would anyone else, is going to be a defining quality of this trial.

Well, Jonah, thank you very much. We appreciate it.

Of course. Thanks so much for having me. [MUSIC PLAYING]

PS, have you ever fallen asleep in a trial?

I have not.

[CHUCKLES]:

Here’s what else you need to know today.

It’s clear the Israelis are making a decision to act. We hope they do so in a way that does as little to escalate this as possible and in a way that, as I said —

During a visit to Jerusalem on Wednesday, Britain’s foreign Secretary left little doubt that Israel would retaliate against Iran for last weekend’s aerial attack, despite pressure from the United States and Britain to stand down. The question now is what form that retaliation will take? “The Times” reports that Israel is weighing several options, including a direct strike on Iran, a cyber attack, or targeted assassinations. And —

Look, history judges us for what we do. This is a critical time right now, critical time on the world stage.

In a plan that could threaten his job, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson will put a series of foreign aid bills up for a vote this weekend. The bills, especially for aid to Ukraine, are strongly opposed by far-right House Republicans, at least two of whom have threatened to try to oust Johnson over the plan.

I can make a selfish decision and do something that’s different, but I’m doing here what I believe to be the right thing. I think providing lethal aid to Ukraine right now is critically important. I really do. I really — [MUSIC PLAYING]

Today’s episode was produced by Rikki Novetsky, Will Reid, Lynsea Garrison, and Rob Zubko. It was edited by Paige Cowett, contains original music by Marion Lozano, Elisheba Ittoop, and Dan Powell, and was engineered by Chris Wood. Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly Lake.

That’s it for “The Daily.” I’m Michael Barbaro. See you tomorrow.

April 19, 2024 • 30:42 The Supreme Court Takes Up Homelessness
April 18, 2024 • 30:07 The Opening Days of Trump’s First Criminal Trial
April 17, 2024 • 24:52 Are ‘Forever Chemicals’ a Forever Problem?
April 16, 2024 • 29:29 A.I.’s Original Sin
April 15, 2024 • 24:07 Iran’s Unprecedented Attack on Israel
April 14, 2024 • 46:17 The Sunday Read: ‘What I Saw Working at The National Enquirer During Donald Trump’s Rise’
April 12, 2024 • 34:23 How One Family Lost $900,000 in a Timeshare Scam
April 11, 2024 • 28:39 The Staggering Success of Trump’s Trial Delay Tactics
April 10, 2024 • 22:49 Trump’s Abortion Dilemma
April 9, 2024 • 30:48 How Tesla Planted the Seeds for Its Own Potential Downfall
April 8, 2024 • 30:28 The Eclipse Chaser
April 7, 2024 The Sunday Read: ‘What Deathbed Visions Teach Us About Living’

Hosted by Michael Barbaro

Featuring Jonah E. Bromwich

Produced by Rikki Novetsky , Will Reid , Lynsea Garrison and Rob Szypko

Edited by Paige Cowett

Original music by Dan Powell , Marion Lozano and Elisheba Ittoop

Engineered by Chris Wood

Listen and follow The Daily Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music

Political and legal history are being made in a Lower Manhattan courtroom as Donald J. Trump becomes the first former U.S. president to undergo a criminal trial.

Jonah Bromwich, who covers criminal justice in New York, explains what happened during the opening days of the trial, which is tied to Mr. Trump’s role in a hush-money payment to a porn star.

On today’s episode

Jonah E. Bromwich , who covers criminal justice in New York for The New York Times.

Former president Donald Trump sitting in a courtroom.

Background reading

Here’s a recap of the courtroom proceedings so far.

Mr. Trump’s trial enters its third day with seven jurors chosen.

There are a lot of ways to listen to The Daily. Here’s how.

We aim to make transcripts available the next workday after an episode’s publication. You can find them at the top of the page.

The Daily is made by Rachel Quester, Lynsea Garrison, Clare Toeniskoetter, Paige Cowett, Michael Simon Johnson, Brad Fisher, Chris Wood, Jessica Cheung, Stella Tan, Alexandra Leigh Young, Lisa Chow, Eric Krupke, Marc Georges, Luke Vander Ploeg, M.J. Davis Lin, Dan Powell, Sydney Harper, Mike Benoist, Liz O. Baylen, Asthaa Chaturvedi, Rachelle Bonja, Diana Nguyen, Marion Lozano, Corey Schreppel, Rob Szypko, Elisheba Ittoop, Mooj Zadie, Patricia Willens, Rowan Niemisto, Jody Becker, Rikki Novetsky, John Ketchum, Nina Feldman, Will Reid, Carlos Prieto, Ben Calhoun, Susan Lee, Lexie Diao, Mary Wilson, Alex Stern, Dan Farrell, Sophia Lanman, Shannon Lin, Diane Wong, Devon Taylor, Alyssa Moxley, Summer Thomad, Olivia Natt, Daniel Ramirez and Brendan Klinkenberg.

Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly. Special thanks to Sam Dolnick, Paula Szuchman, Lisa Tobin, Larissa Anderson, Julia Simon, Sofia Milan, Mahima Chablani, Elizabeth Davis-Moorer, Jeffrey Miranda, Renan Borelli, Maddy Masiello, Isabella Anderson and Nina Lassam.

Jonah E. Bromwich covers criminal justice in New York, with a focus on the Manhattan district attorney’s office and state criminal courts in Manhattan. More about Jonah E. Bromwich

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Exercise #2: Leading Assumption. Many times descriptors influence how we think. For example, consider these two statements: This plan will get it done because it worked in a similar situation. This good plan will get it done because it worked in a similar situation. Both give evidence why the plan will get it done.
120 Math Word Problems To Challenge Students Grades 1 to 8
Whether you're a 3rd grade teacher or an 8th grade teacher preparing students for high school, translating math concepts into real world examples can certainly be a challenge. This resource is your jolt of creativity. It provides examples and templates of math word problems for 1st to 8th grade classes. There are 120 examples in total.
Problem-Solving Interview Questions: How-to + Examples
To put these skills to the test, recruiters use "problem-solving" job interview questions, also known as analytical questions. Here are some common ones: Tell me about a situation where you had to solve a difficult problem. Give me a specific example of a time when you used good judgment and logic in solving a problem.
PDF How to approach and tackle a problem question
Alternatively, if the question consists of a number of unconnected points, events, or characters, then these should be addressed in turn and typically in isolation. The important thing to remember when tackling a problem question is that you should not be afraid to state the obvious. If, for example, it is obvious from the scenario that the area.
Finding Hidden Questions in Multi-Step Word Problems
Help your students learn to find the hidden question in multi-step word problems. Problem solving is challenging for students and this power point lesson and gallery walk activity will encourage students to apply their skills and identify what has to be solved before the problem question can be answered. Uses CCSS grade 4, math standard OA.3.
25 Design Thinking Questions: What To Ask + Answer Examples
Questions guide you through these iterations. Problem Framing: Before diving into solutions, design thinking encourages an in-depth understanding of the problem itself. Your questions should focus on framing the issue from multiple perspectives. Collaboration: Design thinking is a collaborative effort.
26 Good Examples of Problem Solving (Interview Answers)
Examples of Problem Solving Scenarios in the Workplace. Correcting a mistake at work, whether it was made by you or someone else. Overcoming a delay at work through problem solving and communication. Resolving an issue with a difficult or upset customer. Overcoming issues related to a limited budget, and still delivering good work through the ...
50 Interview Questions About Problem Solving (With Answers)
Demonstrating your ability to tackle challenges effectively can set you apart from other applicants. Here are five tips to help you showcase your problem-solving skills during an interview: 1. Use the STAR Method. Structure your responses using the Situation, Task, Action, and Result (STAR) method.
8 Common Problem-Solving Interview Questions and Answers
2. Tell me about a time when you faced an unexpected challenge at work. Tip: For this question, you'll want to choose a specific example from your work history to demonstrate your ability to be flexible while solving problems. To stay focused, you can use the STAR method to answer this question.
Chapter 3 Solving Problems by Searching
The abstraction is useful if carrying out each of the actions in the solution is easier than the original problem. 3.2 Example Problems A standardized problem is intended to illustrate or exercise various problem-solving methods. It can be given a concise, exact description and hence is suitable as a benchmark for researchers to compare the ...
Top 20 Problem Solving Interview Questions (Example Answers Included)
MIKE'S TIP: When you're answering this question, quantify the details. This gives your answer critical context and scale, showcasing the degree of challenge and strength of the accomplishment. That way, your answer is powerful, compelling, and, above all, thorough. 2. Describe a time where you made a mistake.
Hidden Markov Models Explained with a Real Life Example and Python code
Hidden Markov Models are probabilistic models used to solve real life problems ranging from something everyone thinks about at least once a week — how is the weather going to be like tomorrow?[1] — to hard molecular biology problems, such as predicting peptide binders to the human MHC class II molecule[2].
Navigate Unexpected Interview Questions with Creative Problem-Solving
1 Stay Calm. The first reaction to an unexpected question might be panic, but it's essential to remain calm. Take a deep breath and give yourself a moment to think. Remember that the interviewer ...
51 Examples of Powerful Open-Ended Sales Questions
The key is to avoid closed-ended questions that can be answered with a simple "yes" or "no.". Instead, use questions that start with words like "what," "how," "when," and "why.". This encourages the buyer to provide more detailed, insightful responses. We've compiled a list of open-ended sales question examples to help ...
Are 'Forever Chemicals' a Forever Problem?
Featuring Kim Tingley. Produced by Clare Toeniskoetter , Shannon M. Lin , Summer Thomad , Stella Tan and Jessica Cheung. With Sydney Harper. Edited by Devon Taylor. Original music by Dan Powell ...
The Sunday Read: 'What I Saw Working at The National Enquirer During
Inside the notorious "catch and kill" campaign that now stands at the heart of the former president's legal trial.
A.I.'s Original Sin
A Times investigation found that tech giants altered their own rules to train their newest artificial intelligence systems. Hosted by Michael Barbaro. Featuring Cade Metz. Produced by Stella Tan ...
The Opening Days of Trump's First Criminal Trial
Featuring Jonah E. Bromwich. Produced by Rikki Novetsky , Will Reid , Lynsea Garrison and Rob Szypko. Edited by Paige Cowett. Original music by Dan Powell , Marion Lozano and Elisheba Ittoop ...