RAINMAKERS
The Straw Man: An
Important Tool For
Problem Solving
By Dr. Clifford Ferguson
A
s a Firm, Rainmakers UK if often
engaged to work on a client's
most
challenging
problems
and Rainmaker teams apply structured
approaches to arrive at the best answers.
The "straw man" is an important tool for
collaborative problem solving in all phases
and at every level of a client engagement.
In this article we will explain what a straw
man is, why they're important, and caveats
for their use...
What is a straw man?
In the context of problem solving, a "straw
man" is a draft version of something that a
team can debate, pick apart, and improve.
The use of a straw man is aligned with a
couple of hallmarks of Rainmakers problem
solving. The straw man is hypothesis-
driven and it enables an iterative process
for getting to increasingly better solutions.
Like anything else hypothesis-driven, the
team should be prepared to discard it if
necessary and resume work with a new
straw man.
Disclaimer: This "straw man" should not
be confused with the political/debating
version of a "straw man" in which your
opponent takes Position "A", you find a
similar but easily attacked Position "B",
and argue against Position "B" (the "straw
man") rather than your opponent's actual
Position "A".
Common examples of where
a straw man might be used
This list is not meant to be exhaustive,
but includes some examples of occasions
when a straw man could be used to drive
team problem solving: Initial hypothesis
for the overarching answer for a client
engagement; Preliminary outline ("dot-
The arguments and ideas that arise from
the straw man provide valuable feed-
back that inform and improve the final
answer. Sometimes, the most successful
straw man is the one that gets discarded
but adds tremendous value by revealing
where the answer is NOT. Often, the best
arguments against a straw man end up
being or leading to the actual solution.
60 MAL31/19 ISSUE
dash") for a PowerPoint presentation
(deck) storyline; Draft version of a
PowerPoint page for making a particularly
challenging point; and simple, working
model in Excel that will eventually require
more complex functionality
Why the straw man is
important
In each of the examples above, it is much
easier for a group of people to engage
in discussion about a draft version of
something rather than debating it in
abstract. The intent is never for the straw
man to be the ultimate answer, instead, it
is a tool to help get to the best answer.
The arguments and ideas that arise from
the straw man provide valuable feedback
that inform and improve the final answer.
Sometimes, the most successful straw man
is the one that gets discarded but adds
tremendous value by revealing where the
answer is NOT. Often, the best arguments
against a straw man end up being or
leading to the actual solution.
Consider how a collaborative problem-
solving session can get derailed without
a straw man. Here are some ways group
work can get derailed without a straw
man...
• Lack of common understanding of the
problem and/or potential solutions results
in miscommunication, frustration, and
wasted effort