Problem Finding vs. Problem Solving
The case for why scoping the right problem is more important than finding an answer (and how to do it well).
Albert Einstein famously said: “If I had an hour to solve a problem I'd spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about solutions.”
And Albert Einstein, as we all know, was not stupid.
Unfortunately, solving problems is what most of us are trained to do. We encounter a problem that’s already identified and defined (i.e. “sales are down,” “the website is slow,” “we need to cut costs”) and our task is to generate solutions, pick the best one, and execute.
The issue with this approach is that it assumes the definition of the problem is correct and complete.
Problem finding, on the other hand, comes one step before working on an answer. It’s the process of noticing and framing problems that aren’t obvious yet. Pausing to scope, question, (re)frame, and (re)define a challenge.
Another way to say this is that problem solving is about answers. Problem finding is about asking better questions.
Before Airbnb, the ‘problem’ in hospitality was: “How do we create a great hotel experience for our guests?” Lots of hotels approached problem-solving around this question in interesting and creative ways. But if you were really problem finding vs. jumping into problem solving, the problem might have been: “What might it look like to travel like a true local?” or “How might we use existing spaces to create a more connected travel ecosystem?” (hey Airbnb).
The problem itself matters!
So how do you switch your mindset from problem-solving to problem-finding in your own work? Here are six practical frameworks to help.
Reframe the Question
Instead of jumping straight to “How do we solve X?”, try rephrasing the problem several different ways, first. For example:
The initial problem: “How do we increase revenue?”
Different ways of framing the initial problem:
“How do we get customers to stay with our company for longer?”
“How do we reduce friction in terms of trying us out for the first time?”
“How do we create a product people can’t help but talk about?”
Each reframe surfaces very different solutions. This is why asking the right question can be more important than (because it leads to…) finding the right answer.
5 Whys
Channel your inner toddler and keep asking “Why?” until you reach a deeper issue. Then push yourself to go even further.
The initial question: “Why are sales down?”
Because customers aren’t renewing.
Why? They don’t feel engaged.
Why? Our onboarding is confusing.
Why? Because our instructions are text-heavy and hard to follow.
Why? People don’t have time to read dense text on their phones, and most of our users onboard through mobile.
→ Potential problem statement: “How might we revamp our onboarding experience to lead to stickier customers and more sales, with the understanding that most people onboard via a mobile experience?” That’s a much more nuanced and insightful question to answer than “How can we increase sales?”
Challenging Assumptions
List all the assumptions you’re making about a situation. Then challenge them by asking “What if this wasn’t true?”
“Our customers only buy in stores.” → What if they’d actually prefer digital-only?
“We can’t afford a private chef.” → What if we’re spending more already, between groceries, take-out, and dinners out?
“I’m not good at math.” → What if the concepts have just never been framed in a way that was compelling to me?”
Jobs to Be Done
Instead of thinking “we sell product X,” ask: “What job is the customer looking to get done?”
The famous example is that people don’t buy a drill because they want a drill…they want a hole in the wall.
People don’t always go to a coffee shop because they want coffee. The “job to be done” is often a cozy place to work, or a gathering spot to meet another person. Enter: co-working and community spaces.
In my own work I’ve expanded my product offering to include not just Executive Coaching but also group coaching, training, workshops, offsites, and systems design (this isn’t an ad, I promise). I did this because people would reach out asking about coaching as a product, but once I got to the root of what they needed — a more connected leadership team, higher performing managers, strategic alignment, etc — I realized quickly that coaching was just one of the tools for the root cause job to be done.
Think in Spectrums, Not Poles
If you find yourself assuming you have two choices in a situation, that’s a big yellow flag to ask yourself whether there’s an in-between you’re not considering. Some problems are tensions to manage, not binary choices to make.
“Should we live in the city or the country?”
What would it look like to spend a month or two every year living in and exploring a new city, and then retreating back to a house in the country?
“Should we build a direct-to-consumer or business-to-business sales strategy?”
What would it look like to do both?
“Should we hire Martha Stewart or Snoop Dogg?”
By spotting binaries, you shift the problem from “which side is right?” to “how might we hold both?”
Zoom in and out
When you’re stuck, try zooming way in and way out to see how the problem changes.
For example, let’s say you’re struggling to hire a CMO.
Zooming way out might look like:
Do we need a CMO at all? What would it look like to run marketing with the resources we have today?
What are all of the alternatives to hiring a full-time CMO? (Acquihire a firm with great marketing? Outsource to fractional CMOs or agencies?)
What’s shifting in the global marketing space that could impact all CMOs this year? What might we learn from that?
Zooming in might look like:
How could we redesign our JD to attract the best possible candidates?
Where in the process can we leverage our CEO to sell the role better?
The common theme across all of these re-frames: slow down before solving your next problem.
Spend more time in ambiguity, curiosity, and question-framing. I promise your eventual solutions will be far more powerful as a result. Even Albert Einstein says so.