Brain Teasers
Clever Jenny VII
Situation
Situation puzzles (sometimes called lateral thinking puzzles) are ones where you need to ask lots of yes or no questions to figure out what happened in the situation. These are good puzzles for groups where one person knows the puzzle and answers the questions.Situation
Jenny took a seat at her meeting. She used to hate meetings, because she always worried somebody might ask her a question, and she didn't want to look foolish in front of the Boss. Since she started going to Toastmasters, though, she was starting to enjoy meetings and even spoke up once in a while.
The Boss began talking about the new marketing project. She had seen an email about this less than an hour ago and hadn't really had time to get any good ideas about it. Suddenly the Deputy Boss asked, "Jenny, what sort of contribution can your group make to this new initiative?"
Jenny had a moment of panic. Then she remembered what she had seen at Toastmasters meetings and responded.
What did Jenny say? How did she handle this unanticipated question?
The Boss began talking about the new marketing project. She had seen an email about this less than an hour ago and hadn't really had time to get any good ideas about it. Suddenly the Deputy Boss asked, "Jenny, what sort of contribution can your group make to this new initiative?"
Jenny had a moment of panic. Then she remembered what she had seen at Toastmasters meetings and responded.
What did Jenny say? How did she handle this unanticipated question?
Hint
What would you do in such a circumstance?Answer
Jenny bought herself a few precious seconds by standing up, thanking the Deputy for his question, and repeating the question. Then she extemporized:"This is a challenging enterprise; I received an email about it just a short while ago and have only had time to form a general concept. I will ask my group to form three teams. One will brainstorm slogans for the campaign. The second will draft text for sample ads. And the third will develop graphics to go with the text. That's what the planning looks like so far. We will know more tomorrow after the teams have had a chance to get together. We will want to coordinate with other groups working on similar issues. And we will be very interested in feedback and coaching from Ms. Hawkins." She nodded to her supervisor, who grinned and gave her a thumbs up.
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Comments
i dont get it... one of the worst teasers.
igot really confused with this one
Thanks for your comments. I'm sorry you didn't like this teaser, isdodgers, but everyone doesn't like the same things.
Can you tell me what you found confusing, al111? Maybe I didn't explain it well enough. If so, I'm really sorry.
Can you tell me what you found confusing, al111? Maybe I didn't explain it well enough. If so, I'm really sorry.
I guessed that she would say that she would say, "I need time to brainstorm, let's have a toast to such a wonderful boss!"
Why didn't she say "I just received an email about this and haven't had time to review it, so I can't give you an answer yet...?"
(just going by the hint)
(just going by the hint)
True, she could have gotten by with that excuse, but what she did probably made more points with her supervisor and the Boss.
Hey, wouldn't the toast to her boss make points, too?
Mosca -- I would guess that the frustration jsdodger had with this is similar to my frustration -- there is no answer. When people look to solve brain teasers, they are looking for a way to challenge themselves to find the right answer. With most situation teasers, there are cues or hints that lead you to a conclusion. Here, Jenny could have just as easily said, "Boss, it seems inappropriate to push your staff to have responses to problems you only introduced 60 minutes ago." I think a lot of your other Clever Jenny teasers are very well constructed and do lead to the answers provided, but this one fell short of the high standard you have set.
You're right, tsimkin, several people came up with a number of different answers. What's interesting about the comments here is the ingenuity displayed by so many Brainglers. The real answer is that there is no one right answer; there are many right answers, depending on where an individual is coming from. And the teaser caused all these people to think about what they would do. The answer I gave for Jenny was the right answer for me, which may not be right for everyone.
I agree with Tsimkin here. I enjoy thinking through most of the Clever Jenny problems, but this one is quite open ended. I would argue that in a situation teaser there should be only one answer, or at least one simple answer (most situation teasers could have alternative very complicated answers). When there is a situation teaser with many suitable answers it isn't particularly fun or satisfying to solve it. That's my thoughts anyway.
That's a good thought, fishhooky. It all depends on one's personal orientation. In Jenny's case, the job is her bread and butter, and she would be interested in giving a response that would ensure her continued employment, and possible promotion. With that in mind, impressing the boss becomes very important. If the job is just a summer thing, making the best impression might not be quite so important, but creating a favorable impression on the right person could have vital, career-changing effects.
I thought maybe she came up with an exceedingly clever solution on the spot, going by the hint. Never heard of Toastmasters before so I don't know their strategies.
Extemporaneous speeches. Those are quite hard.
Though I have not much experience with Jenny problems, I' can't say about the standards.
I'll probably say that this is still better than some teasers out there.
Though I have not much experience with Jenny problems, I' can't say about the standards.
I'll probably say that this is still better than some teasers out there.
I didn't see this as a teaster at all because it can't be answered. Not good at all.
The real mistery is.... someone wss trying to leave Jenny out of the loop - Hope Jenny get's that sorted or she's in the hot seat again soon.
GO JENNY GO!!!
GO JENNY GO!!!
All you people saying there is no answer, I dunno..... I got it straight away! That's exactly the answer I immediately thought of!
I think the problem people have is that this isn't what we normally think of as a brain teaser - it's not a puzzle, rather an exercise. As such it may be quite valuable. Though it doesn't sound as if this business's meetings are much use. True to life I suppose.
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