Spend More Time Framing Problems

Framing a problem is almost always harder than designing the solution. This is typically because there is not sufficient understanding of all of the dimensions and the impact that it has on people, business processes, and systems.

Consulting firms often fall into this trap as well. Their proposals or statements of work often include significantly more time in the “design” and “build” phases, with a limited amount of time in the “discovery” phase.

In the most extreme cases, people jump to solutions without having defined any problem. You’ve probably noticed this with suggestions from senior leaders to evaluate switching vendors out of the blue or a mandate to integrate generative AI somewhere.

The more time that is spent unpacking and defining a problem, the greater the likelihood that a solution will not only solve it, but also fit appropriately within the organization as it evolves.

While there are a bunch of frameworks available with fancy acronyms, here are the three that I prefer:

• 5Ws: at the very least, identify the who, what, where, when, and why

• Process flows: create a visual representation that shows how a process is executed, data flows between systems, etc

• Measures before metrics: collect quantitative details around the current state, identify the influence it has on the problem, then define metrics with targets

All of those work to define problems at any scale, whether it’s a multi-year, enterprise transformation program or a small change for a “Main Street” growth business.

As an aside, the Five Whys used to be on this list, although it can come off as confrontational to certain stakeholders. If you encounter this, transition to asking those questions with “what” or “how”.

TLDR: Spend more time defining the problem and understanding its impact before jumping to potential solutions.