What’s the most useful skill you can have in your utility belt these days? For many people - including McGill Desautels Faculty of Management Strategy Prof Corey Phelps - that superpower is problem-solving.

As we have pivoted from a manufacturing-based economy to a services and knowledge-based one, our work “product” has shifted from the physical to the increasingly intangible - from making widgets to “building” presentations and spreadsheets. At the core of these new activities, however, is the attempt - and hopefully, ability - to solve a thorny problem that’s plaguing our company or client.

In a special episode of “Boiling the Ocean”, we sit down with Professor Phelps to discuss his new book, “Cracked it!: How to solve big problems and sell solutions like top strategy consultants”. In a wide-ranging chat, we discuss:

• The differences between problem-solving and making sound decisions (hint: it’s more subtle than it seems)

• His 4 S Framework (of course there is a framework! We’re consultants after all …)

• The one problem-solving step you probably aren’t consistently thinking about

• The two reasons why this is a critical skill set for everyone - not just strategy consultants or those who aspire to be one

• How you can apply this thinking to your everyday problems

• … and who authored the better aphorism on the power of preparation - Albert Einstein or Abraham Lincoln?

Dive into this episode to learn how to quickly build up one of the critical skills of the 21st century - and join the conversation about whether or not we all have to become professional problem solvers …