Module 6 · Solving problems · Lesson 1 of 5

What is the real problem?

Most stuck problems are being defined wrongly. Defining it well is half the work.

8 min read · Free — no account needed to read

The idea

Many problems stay stuck not because they are hard to solve, but because they are defined in a way that cannot be solved, or that is not the real problem at all. “I need more time” may really be “I say yes to too much”. “My partner never listens” may really be “we only talk when we are both exhausted”.

Defining a problem well means describing what is actually happening, what you want to be happening instead, and what is in the way — in concrete terms. A useful trick is to rewrite the problem as a question beginning “How might I…?”, and then rewrite it two or three different ways. Each version points toward different solutions.

Sometimes the most useful discovery is that you have been working hard on the wrong problem. Stopping is not giving up; it is redirecting effort to where it can actually help.

Why it matters

Time spent defining a problem is rarely wasted. A well-defined problem often suggests its own solution, while a badly defined one can absorb months of effort with nothing to show.

See it happen

Ines feels she cannot save any money. For a year she has tried budgeting apps, cutting coffee and cancelling subscriptions, with little change.

The first read

The problem seems obvious — she spends too much on small things — so she keeps looking for more small things to cut.

With this idea

She rewrites the problem three ways and asks, “How might I keep more of my pay each month?” Looking at her statements, she sees most of her money goes on rent that takes half her income. The real problem is housing cost. She finds a flatmate, and saving becomes possible.

What changed

She redefined the problem and found she had been solving the wrong one.

Easy to get wrong

• Rushing to solutions before the problem is clear. The first definition is rarely the best one.
• Defining a problem as a person — “my boss is the problem” — which usually leaves nothing you can act on.

What this rests on

Practical wisdom. A widely used way of working. Useful to try — not a scientific law.

• George Pólya — How to Solve It (1945) — A mathematician’s method for problem solving: understand the problem, make a plan, carry it out, look back — useful far beyond maths.

Try it: Three ways to ask it

1. Write a problem that has been bothering you.
2. Rewrite it as “How might I…?”
3. Now write two more versions that come at it from a different angle.
4. Circle the version that suggests the most things you could actually do.

Reflect

• What problem have you been solving that might not be the real one?
• Which problem in your life is defined so vaguely that nothing can be done about it?

Use it in the coming days

Take one problem you are stuck on, redefine it this week using the three-ways exercise, and write the new definition as a goal or a journal entry.

Where to do it: My Journal

The journal is a good place to work a problem out in words before turning it into a plan.