What's Your Problem Flashcards
The way you ______ determines which solutions you come up with.
Frame a problem
By shifting _______ (that is, by _____ it), you can sometimes find radically better solutions.
The way you see the problem
Reframing
Most of the problems we encounter in the real world have already been framed for us. “The problem is that the elevator is slow.”
In our eagerness to find a solution, many of us:
- Don’t notice how _______.
- We take it for _____.
- We start coming up with ideas to _____.
The problem is framed
Granted
Solve the problem (“how to make the elevator faster” (upgrade the motor, replace elevator, etc).)
A solution space is a ______ that share assumptions about _______.
The elevator example of this is _____.
cluster of solutions
what the problem is
Problem: The elevator is too slow.
Solution Space: Make it faster (upgrade motor, etc).
At the heart of reframing is a counterintuitive insight:
Sometimes, to solve a hard problem, you have to ________.
Instead, you must turn your attention to ______—not just to analyze it, but to _________.
stop looking for a solution to it
the problem itself
shift the way you frame it
Reframing is different than analyzing a problem.
Analysis is when you ask (elevator example) ______ and try to understand the _________.
Reframing is when you ask _______.
“Why is the elevator slow”
various factors that influence the speed
“is the speed of the elevator the right thing to focus on?”
2 ways of reframing a problem are _____ and_______ the frame.
Exploring
Breaking
Exploring the frame is when you ____ the problem by delving deeper into the _______.
reframe
original problem statement (first framing)
Exploring the frame is similar to _____ the problem, but with the added element that you keep an eye out for ________.
Analyzing
Overlooked aspects of the situation that might make a difference.
Breaking the frame is when you step away completely from the _______ of the problem.
initial framing
If you don’t master ________, you will get trapped by the _____ of the problem.
breaking the frame
initial framing
Much of problem solving depends on our ability to ____ our own beliefs, and to _____ assumptions that we may have held onto for a long time.
question
challenge
By introducing reframing early in the process, before people fall in love with a specific solution, you can prevent _____ and achieve your ______.
wasted effort
goals faster
The very idea that a ____ exists can be misleading because problems typically have _____ and can be addressed in ______.
single root cause
multiple causes
many ways
Reframing is not about finding ____. It’s about finding _______.
the real problem
a better problem to solve
Tackling problems involves 3 activities that you cycle through repeatedly:
- ____ and ____ the problem. Determine what to focus on.
- ____ the problem. Study the chosen framing of the problem in depth, trying to quantify it and understand the finer details.
- _____ the problem. The actual steps you take to fix it, things like experimentation, prototyping, and eventually implementing the full solution.
Framing, reframing
Analyzing
Solving
_____ is a loop off of the straight line path. It’s a brief, deliberate redirection that temporarily shifts people’s focus to the higher-level question of how the problem is framed. And then getting back on the path with a new or improved understanding of the problem.
Reframing
The reframing loop is _____ throughout the problem solving journey.
Repeated
3 steps of reframing
- Frame
- Reframe
- Moving forward
Step 1, Frame: What’s the __________?
problem we’re trying to solve?
Step 2, Reframe: Is there a different way to ______? Challenge your initial ______ of the problem.
see the problem
understanding
The aim of reframing is to rapidly uncover as many ______ as possible.
potential alternative framings
Reframing is like brainstorming, only instead of____, you’re looking for ______.
Ideas
Different ways to frame the problem
Step 3, Moving forward, is about closing the ____ and switching you back into _____.
loop
action mode
The key task of step 3, Moving Forward, is to determine how you can _____ the framing of your problem through ______, making sure your ______ is correct.
validate
real-world testing
diagnosis
The ability to use reframing in ______ is crucial to making it useful in an everyday setting. The longer you make the process, the ______.
short bursts
less you’ll use it
______ are generally way too diverse for one size fits all questions to work.
Real-world problems
The important thing is not the exact ______ but rather the _______ that led someone to ask that question. What is the _____ of the questions that are asked? Focus on how to ____, not on what to say.
question
underlying thinking
intent
think
Reframing is not about the ____. It’s more about the _____ and having the ability to _________.
details
big picture
consider situations from multiple perspectives
Problem statements should be…
Short
Use full sentences
The problem statement isn’t intended to be a _______ of the issue. It’s simply ______ for the process that follows.
perfect description
raw material
3 types of complex problems are:
- An ill-defined mess or pain point
- A goal we don’t know how to reach
- A solution someone fell in love with
“Our sales are dropping like a rock.”
“My career feels like it has stalled.”
“Our industry is in decline.”
“My sister is on a bad path.”
These are examples of:
an ill defined mess or pain point (type of problem)
Pain points often cause people to jump to solutions without…
pausing to consider what’s going on.
“Our new product isn’t selling. We need to invest more in marketing.”
This is an example of…
jumping to solutions.
If you don’t understand ______, giving people what they ask for can be a bad idea.
the problem to be solved
“We need to find money to pay for the new elevator. Can you help me figure out what to cut from the budget?”
This is an example of…
a solution disguised as a problem.
- Is the statement true?
- Are there simple self-imposed limitations?
- Is a solution baked into the problem framing?
- Is the problem clear?
- With whom is the problem located?
- Are there strong emotions?
- Are there false trade-offs?
These are all…
Questions that can help reframe the original problem statement.
To find _______, simply review the framing of the problem and ask “How are we framing this? Is it too narrow? Are we putting constraints on the solution that aren’t necessarily real?”
self-imposed limitations
“We want to develop better nutrition education to promote healthier eating at the school.”
This is an example of…
a solution being baked into the problem framing.
Problems presented as ______ ask you to choose between two or more predefined options. “Do you want A or B?”
false trade-offs
Expert problem solvers don’t get stuck with _______. They try to explore the issue in more depth and generate a new, superior option.
false trade-offs
Don’t tinker with the specifics of the problem statement before you are fairly confident that you are ________. You have to __________.
looking at the right problem
zoom out before you dive in
4 tactics that can help keep you from framing a problem too narrowly are:
- Look beyond your own expertise
- Look to prior events
- Look for hidden influences
- Look for non obvious aspects of the situation
People often frame a problem to match whatever techniques they are ______.
most proficient in
By unthinkably defaulting to your _____, you can fail to spot a much better way forward.
“hammer”
If the problem you are facing is one you’ve repeatedly failed to solve with your preferred solution, then there’s a good chance you need to ________.
reframe the problem
You can sometimes shed new light on problems by noticing what happened ______ you are currently focusing your attention on. Consider whether you are framing the problem ______ from a time perspective.
before the slice of time
too narrowly
Because our subconscious mind tries to be as efficient as possible when it frames a problem, it allows only what it deems the most ______ to be include in the framing.
essential features
“_________” is our tendency to focus only on the most common uses for things, and overlook less obvious uses. (Lightbulb heat example)
Functional fixedness
“What objects are involved in the situation?”
“What other properties do they have? Can they be used in nontraditional ways?”
“What else do we have available?”
These are all questions that help cut through…
functional fixedness
Putting focus on the obstacle—how do we get around it?—prevents us from questioning a more important thing: ________.
the goal we’re trying to reach
Sometimes, the key to radical breakthroughs is not to analyze the obstacle but to ask a different set of (2) questions:
“Are we pursuing the right goal?”
“And is there a better goal to pursue?”
By questioning ________, you can sometimes find a way forward that creates dramatically better results.
what you are trying to achieve
A better way to think about goals is to see them as part of a _______, going from lower- to higher-level “good things.”
hierarchy or causal chain
Make sure the framing of the goals doesn’t imply a ______ unless it’s genuinely necessary.
specific solution
