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3 tips that will help you better

define a problem
Jorge in Creativity, Innovation 0 Shares   

If you start with the wrong problem, it’s unlikely you’ll ev

arrive at an effective solution.

Think about a problem you’d really like to solve, and before y

spend a lot of time and energy trying to solve that problem, f
define exactly what the problem is. Or better yet, redefine the
problem.

In the video below, Stephen Dubmner talks about Takeru

Kobayashi, a hot-dog-eating champion, and how he thought
long and hard with a lot of experimentation about how to win
competitive eating contest. It is an example of how think tho
problems by asking the right questions from his new book
Takeru Kobayashi (Photo credit:
Like A Freak.
yamchild)

Takeru Kobayashi, instead of asking himself, “How do I eat m

hot dogs?” he asked, “How do I make hot dogs easier to eat?”

As you’ll hear in the video, his solution was to take the hot dog out of the bun, break it in tw
easier to chew pieces, and, while eating those, dunking the bun in hot water. He then eats th
bun, and, voila–down the hatch it all goes.
help you better define a problem 0 Shares     

Takeru Kobayashi knew how to ask the right questions. By doing so, he redefined his proble
and tackled an issue that his competitors had overlooked.

How do you ask the right questions to find the right answe
One of the most common reasons that programs, products, services and change initiatives
don’t work is that the wrong question has been asked. It is very easy to start off with obviou
and often incorrect problem statements. And then time, energy and money is spent on goin
straight to the solution without putting any thought as to what that solution is really trying
accomplish.

Innovation is as much about attitude and perspective than it is about process, and shifting
perspective by asking better questions is a very powerful way to discover insights that are
hidden in plain view.

I’ve written previously about how to define a problem, but I still get lots of questions about
Defining a problem is the most important step in the innovation process because it’s where
you decide what you’ll do. And the question that suddenly unblocks your thinking is
exhilarating and can take you to unforeseen places!

Honestly, defining a problem is not easy and it doesn’t come natural to most people.

So, how do you define a problem?

Adding to my previous approach to defining a problem, here are some more tips:

Turn statements into questions

In many creative and innovation facilitation circles there is a high emphasis in constructin
problem statements, but most of the time they are useless because they are static and don’t
invite any answers.

For example, a common issue in business is we don’t have a large salesforce. Turn that
statement into a question such as though we don’t have a big team, what capabilities of a larg
sales force do we have and how might we best use them?

Define your objective in the broadest terms

As stated before, people and teams usually jump into action without putting much thought
beforehand. So, a good tripwire to stop yourself from going into mindless mode is to ask
yourself the following question: What are we really trying to accomplish?
For example, instead of saying we need a new tire, it may be better to say, we need a tire
that won’t wear off after burnouts from an 800+ bhp engine.

Better defining the problem focuses the mind on new opportunities for solving it.

Ask different variations of the initial question

Defining a problem comes down to asking different variations of the question to expand th
scope of your thinking. It is very effective to use notes from your key themes/topics from y
immersive work that you did while trying to understand the context in which the solution
exists or will exist. Also, the intent is to create questions that will invite long lists of answer
not close down the conversation.

For example, suppose that your question is how might we make better team decisions?
this into how might we stop making bad decisions? How might we know when we are about to
make a bad decision? How can we reduce the number of bad decisions we make?

Bottom line: Throughout history, great thinkers have recognized that the single most
important step a person can take in thinking creatively is to find the right question. Again,
defining a problem takes lots of mental effort. And it is best if you allocate time to broadly
defining the problem you are trying to address before the start of any project because most
the time you really need to redefine the problem you’re trying to solve in order to ask a bet
question to get better answers.

If you have any questions or need help defining and/or reframing a challenge, let me know

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 Written by Jorge in Creativity, Innovation on Jun 03, 2014
Tagged Competitive eating, Creativity, Innovation, problem definition, Stephen Dubner, Takeru Kobayashi,
freak.

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