SOLVING THE RIGHT PROBLEM?

How Well defined problems lead to break through solutions.

Idea in brief
If I were given 1 hour to save the planet , I would spend 59 minutes defining the problem and one minute resolving it Albert Einstein

Eager to start working on solution to business innovation problem, we dont spend enough times and recourses on defining the problem & establishing their importance to the organization. The results are missed opportunities, wasted recourses , and initiatives that are out of sync with the strategy.

Credit for this idea /construct goes to Dwayne Spradlin who is president and CEO of Innocentive an online market place. Views on PPT are my interpretation/learnings from his article in HBR. Vikas Mahendra

Problem Definition steps

It

involves four steps to define problems and articulate their strategic importance.
Researching how your firm and other organization have already tried to solve the problem

Clarifying the internal/external need for a solution.

Articulating the strategic importance of solution to the firm.

Creating a clear and complete description of the problem.

Problem Definition Process.

Establish the need for a solution
What is the basic need? What is the desired outcome? Who stands to benefit and why?

Justify the need

Is the effort aligned with strategy? What are the desired benefits for the company and how will it be measured? How will we ensure that a solution is implemented?

Contextualize the problem

What approach have we tried?? What have others tried? What are the internal and external constrains on implementing a solution?

Write the problem statement

Is this problem actually many problems? What requirement must a solution meet? Which problem solver should we engage? What information and language should the problem statement include? What incentive/ resources do solvers need? How will the solution be

Stage Tollgate

Establish the need for a solution: The purpose of

this step is to articulate the problem in simplest possible terms & clarifies the importance of the issue and help secure resources to address it.

Justify the need: The purpose of answering question in this

step is explain why your organization should attempt to solve the problem.

Contextualize the problem: Examining past efforts to

find solution can save time & resources and may generate innovative thinking, if the problem is industry wide, its crucial to understand why market has failed to address it?

Write the problem statement : Full description of

problem you are seeking to solve which captures all that organization has learned through answering the question in the pervious steps, helps establish a consensus on a viable solution would be & what resources would be requires to achieve it.

Thanks
Credit for this idea /construct goes to Dwayne Spradlin who is president and CEO of Innocentive an online market place. Views on PPT are my interpretation/ learnings from his article in HBR. Vikas Mahendra