Finding Diverse Optimal Solutions of Complex Problems with Human Global-Optimization Protocols
Abstract
When working on solving a complex problem, or coming up with a creative solution to an unknown problem, a team of people working together often produces inferior outcomes because they reach consensus too quickly on the most immediately viable option, leading to a local minima in the solution landscape. This is despite the fact that human beings are uniquely creative and capable of creating many diverse and inventive alternate solutions to complex problems. The challenge is to structure, direct, and develop people towards being able to do both of these orthogonal tasks, and to smoothly transition between both modes towards the best outcome. To date there is no known theory, or practice on what protocol would tend to produce the desired high quality outcome. Furthermore, it is not clear how the parameters of the specific protocol can be adjusted and optimized to iteratively approach the best possible solution. We want to explore the space of protocols and the space of parameterizations of those protocols that produce the best trade-off between the creative generation of hypothetical solutions and the collaborative refinement of any one specific hypothesis.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Aug 12, 2016
- Source ID
- N000141512780
Entities
People
- Zoran Popovic
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy
- University of Washington