Problem Solving · Lesson 1 of 4

Define the actual problem

State the problem as a gap between what is and what should be. If it contains a solution, it is not yet a problem statement.

6 min read · Free — no account needed to read

Problems arrive already framed, usually as a proposed solution: "we need a better tool", "I need a course". Both of those are answers wearing the costume of a problem, and accepting the frame means you will never examine the answer.

The move is to restate it as a gap. What is happening now, what should be happening, and for whom. "I need a course" becomes "I cannot get interviews for roles I can do". Those lead to completely different weeks.

Then separate symptoms from causes. A symptom is what you noticed; a cause is what produces it. Fixing symptoms works and it works repeatedly, which is exactly why it is so easy to spend years doing it.

See it happen

Your team says, for the third week running: "We really need a project management tool."

The read that arrives on its own

Fair enough. You start comparing three tools.

The same situation, with this idea

What is happening that should not be? "Two people did the same task last week and nobody noticed until Friday." That is the gap. A tool is one candidate answer to it; so is a five-minute Monday call.

What changed

The original sentence had a solution inside it, so the search was over before it began. Stated as a gap, other answers become visible — some of them free.

The takeaway

State the problem as a gap between what is and what should be. If it contains a solution, it is not yet a problem statement.

Easy to take the wrong way

Writing a problem statement that is just the solution phrased as a lack: "we lack a tool" is the same sentence with more words.

Try this

Take a problem you are working on. Rewrite it three times, each time without naming any solution.