Problem Solving

What is the most important problem you need to solve with greatest urgency? How do you know?

Step	Question	Go Deeper
Classify	What type of problem?	Classification
Define	What's the real problem?	Constraints
Align	Do we agree it's THE problem?	Consensus Gap
State	Can we articulate it clearly?	Problem Statement
Value	Is it worth solving?	Problem Valuation

What if every problem was defined so clearly that anyone could start solving it immediately?

Classification

What type of problem are you solving? See Systems Thinking for frameworks.

Type	Description	Approach
Simple	Cause and effect well-defined	Best practice exists
Complicated	Requires domain expertise	Best practice analysis
Complex	No obvious pattern, experts don't exist	Experimentation proves what works
Chaotic	Can't understand cause/effect relation	Probe for black swan exposure
NP-Hard	Can't solve in polynomial time	Verify solutions quickly

Constraints

Before solving, follow the stream to the extremes to make a map of reality.

What are the actual constraints vs assumed constraints?
What's the root cause vs the symptoms?
Who benefits from the current state?

Consensus Gap

"I see a problem" → "We agree on THE problem"

This is where coordination dies.

Failure	Sound
Different perception	"That's not a problem for me"
Different priorities	"This other thing is more urgent"
Different definitions	"When you say X, I hear Y"
Different incentives	"Solving this helps you, not me"

To build consensus: share raw data, find root causes together, commit only when aligned.

Problem Statement

A problem well stated is half solved. Follow the streams to get a true map of reality.

What is the problem that needs to be solved?
Where is the problem observed? (location, product)
What is the origin of the problem?
Who is impacted? (customers, businesses, departments)
When does the problem occur? (triggers)
Why the problem matters, and why it prevents progress
How is the problem observed? (symptoms)
How often is the problem observed? (error rate, magnitude, trend)
Quantify loss of money, time, quality, environmental, motivation
Importance to individuals and organisations to quantify urgency

If I had an hour to solve a problem I'd spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and five minutes thinking about solutions — Albert Einstein

Systems Thinking

Approach	When to Use
First Principles	When conventional wisdom isn't working
Inversion	When stuck - ask "how would I make this worse?"
Design Thinking	When the problem involves human needs
Matrix Thinking	When connecting patterns across domains

Problem Valuation

A problem is the gap between where you are and where you want to be. The size of the gap is the size of the opportunity. Problems are raw material. The right questions are the catalyst that converts them into opportunities.

Progress: What does progress look like?
Performance: How can quality and quantify progress?
Perspective: Who needs this? Who understands this?
Platform: What infrastructure and know-how required?
Product: How can the solution sell itself?

Can you sell that the reward is worth the effort?

1. What annoyed you? (trigger)
         ↓
2. What was the actual problem? (root cause)
         ↓
3. How should it work? (vision)
         ↓
4. What would success look like? (artifacts)
         ↓
5. Will you bet on fixing it? (appetite)

Mantra

Measure what matters

Example

A great problem statement quantifies the gap:

Weak: "Our onboarding is confusing"

Strong: "40% of new users abandon signup before completing step 3 (email verification), costing ~$12K/month in lost conversions. Users who complete onboarding have 8x higher 30-day retention."

Question	Answer
What	40% abandonment at step 3
Where	Email verification step
Who	New users
How much	$12K/month, 8x retention difference
Why it matters	Direct revenue impact + retention signal

The gap is clear: 40% → 15%. The bet is obvious.

Classification​

Constraints​

Consensus Gap​

Problem Statement​

Systems Thinking​

Problem Valuation​

Example​

Context​