Understanding and defining the problem correctly is the most important factor in finding a good solution. Most organizations are not rigorous enough in articulating their problems and identifying which ones are crucial to their strategies. Some even try to solve the wrong problems—missing opportunities, wasting resources, and creating other problems in the process.

Understand the real problem
Understand the problem before coming up with a solution. In surveys of 106 C-suite executives from 91 private and public-sector companies in 17 countries, Thomas Wedell-Wedellsborg found that 85% of the participants agreed that their organizations were bad at problem diagnosis, and 87% agreed that this flaw came at a significant cost. The issue is clear: Urged by the need to act right away, managers tend to switch quickly into solution mode without checking whether they really understand the problem.

Ask the right questions
The key is to ask the right questions. The right questions can redirect a team or a company’s focus, thereby cutting through years of complacency. Often the problem as given is misleading, and companies have to work through a ton of data to define the real problem. Some years ago, the head of the Industrial Engineering Department of Yale University aptly said, “If I had only one hour to solve a problem, I would spend up to two-thirds of that hour in attempting to define what the problem is.”

As you assess your problems, think through the following:

  • Articulate the problem in the simplest terms possible and establish the need for a solution. Understand the basic need and how your organization stands to benefit from a solution.
  • Justify the need to solve the problem and explain why your organization should attempt to solve the problem. Is solving this problem crucial to your strategy?
  • Understand the overall context regarding the problem. If other organizations have tried to solve the problem, figure out why they have failed to address it. Does your organization have internal or external constraints in implementing a solution? Examining past efforts can save valuable time and resources.
  • Write down the problem statement which captures all that your organization has learned through the questions in the previous steps. This will help you determine what a viable solution would be, what resources would be required to achieve it, whether the solution meets all the requirements, and how your organization plans to evaluate the successful implementation of the solution.

Most problems are multi-causal and can be addressed in a number of different ways. Having a problem-solving framework helps you define the problem, provides a different understanding of the problem, and might even help you reframe the problem to see if there is a better or easier problem to solve. A problem-solving framework can help you identify different aspects of the problem which can sometimes deliver radical improvements—and even spark solutions to problems that have persisted for decades.