Using Problem-Based Wisdom to Transform Governance Oversight to Insight

Abstract

Small-group “problem-based learning” (PBL) has been used for decades to educate physicians about creatively solving diagnostic and therapeutic dilemmas. A similar approach may be helpful to healthcare organizations’ boards of directors as they seek innovative ways to compete in an increasingly complex and competitive landscape. Close examination of PBL demonstrates that it relies on many of the key principles underlying the “wisdom of crowds” and “generative governance.” This paper provides an example of a board evaluating a new technology initiative, and reviews the published literature that demonstrates how usual governance in the boardroom can be supplemented with PBL-based wisdom of small groups and generative discovery.