Introduction
A course of action is a step, plan, or policy that follows a stated problem or situation. You judge whether the
proposed action(s) are a reasonable, practical, and directly relevant response — not whether they're the "best"
or only conceivable solution.
Criteria for a Valid Course of Action
- It must directly address the problem described — not a vague or tangential response.
- It must be practically implementable, not requiring unrealistic resources or authority.
- It should be a reasonable next step given the situation, even if not the single best possible option.
- Reject actions that treat only symptoms while ignoring the actual root problem stated.
Q. Statement: "A significant number of loan applicants in a particular branch have been submitting incomplete documentation, delaying loan approvals."
Course of Action I: The branch should introduce a document checklist to be handed to every applicant at the time of application.
Course of Action II: The bank should stop processing loan applications from that branch entirely.
Course of Action I directly and practically addresses the root cause (incomplete documentation) by proactively
preventing it → follows. Course of Action II is an extreme, disproportionate response that
doesn't solve the actual documentation problem and would harm legitimate applicants too →
does not follow.
⚠️ Key Insight: An extreme action (completely stopping a service, banning an entire group) is
almost always a weak course of action unless the statement specifically justifies that severity — moderate,
targeted actions are usually the stronger answer.
✅ Practice Focus: Testing direct relevance to the stated problem · Rejecting disproportionate or
extreme actions · Identifying practical, implementable next steps.