Monthly Archives: May 2025

My Learning on Problem Solving

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We all face problems, big and small—from fixing a simple technical glitch, managing family issues, to navigating complex career decisions. But here’s the truth: problem-solving isn’t just a talent; it’s a learnable skill. Just as we use formulas to solve math problems in school, we can use structured frameworks at work and in life to find solutions. While preparing for the Services Selection Board, during high school, I got exposed to Situation Reaction Tests. At work, I learnt concepts like Lean, Six Sigma, PDCA…etc, providing me with some understanding of frameworks to solve problems. At its core, problem-solving is the process of defining a problem, identifying its root cause, generating potential solutions, and taking action to implement the best one.

Among the various approaches to problem solving & innovation, I liked the one which focusses on the people – the Design Thinking framework. You solve the right problem, by putting the users at the center, generate better solutions or products, and learn quickly through real-world feedback.

Image generated using Gemini

Empathise

Empathy is the foundation. It allows you to set aside your own assumptions, to understand the psychological and emotional needs of your users. You aren’t just looking at data; you’re looking at lives.

The Goal:
Understand users’ goals, motivations, behaviours, wants, needs, challenges & frustrations.
– What they think?
– How they feel?
– What makes their life miserable?
– What might makes their life easy?
– What is meaningful to them?

What to Capture:
– Personas: Fictional profiles of typical users.
– User Journey Maps: The steps a user takes to reach a goal with your product or service, showing what they do, think, and feel at each step so you can spot pain points and improve the experience.

If a persona is the character, a user journey map is the story.

Tools: User Interviews, Direct Observation, Role Plays, User Journey Maps, Personas.

Define

After researching, identify the gap between the current state and the desired state. Then, clearly articulate & define the problem or the unmet user need you are trying to solve, for whom & why. Write the problem statement.

Kidlin’s Law: If you write down the problem clearly and specifically, it is already half solved.

Kidlin’s Law works because writing forces clarity. What feels overwhelming in your head becomes manageable on paper.

  • The Problem Statement Formula: A great statement avoids jumping to solutions. Focus on:
    • WHO is experiencing the problem?
    • WHAT it is?
    • WHERE it happens?
    • WHY it matters?
      • Example: “Families (WHO) at the airport (WHERE) feel overwhelmed by the visa process (WHAT), which ruins the start of their holiday (WHY).”
      • “We are experiencing [issue] in [location/time], affecting [who], resulting in [specific negative impact].”
  • The 5 Ws and 1 H: When a problem feels vague, use this journalistic approach to get clarity:
    • What is the problem?
    • Who is affected by the problem?
    • Where does the problem occur?
    • When did the problem start or when does it occur?
    • Why is this a problem (what is the negative impact)?
    • How is the problem currently being handled?

      Example: Instead of saying, “The project is delayed,” you would define it as: “What: The marketing deliverable is three days late. Who: The design team is waiting on content. When: It became noticeable over the last 48 hours. Why: It will cause us to miss the product launch window.”

Symptoms are what you see; root causes are what you fix. Before you solve the problem, determine why the problem is happening. Use the 5 Whys or a Fishbone Diagram to find the Root Cause.

  • The 5 Whys: This is a powerful technique for finding the root cause of a problem. Write the symptom at top; ask “Why?” five times (or as many times as it takes) until you reach a controllable cause; validate with data.
    1. Why did the server crash? Because the application ran out of memory.
    2. Why did the application run out of memory? Because there was a sudden spike in traffic.
    3. Why was there a sudden spike in traffic? Because the advertising campaign launched early.
    4. Why did the advertising campaign launch early? Because the marketing and development teams weren’t coordinated. (Root Cause)
  • Fishbone (Ishikawa) Diagram: Categorize potential causes under People, Process, Tech, Data, or Environment.
  • Stakeholder Map: Identify who is affected (customers), who decides (owners), and who helps (enablers).
    • Example: Finance ops (owners), Sales leaders (customers), IT data team (enablers).
  • SMART Goal: Make your desired outcome Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.
    • Example: “Reduce EU month-end reporting delay from 2 days to 4 hours by next quarter.”
    • “Achieve [target] by [date], measured by [metric], owned by [team/person].”

Tools: Problem Statement Formula, SMART Goals, The 5 Ws and 1 H, 5 Whys, Fishbone Diagram, Stakeholder Mapping.

Ideate

Diverge > Converge

  • Divergent Thinking: Brainstorm. Generate as many creative ideas as possible. Don’t judge or critique the ideas yet. Just get as many as possible on paper.
    • Brainwriting: Participants write ideas individually for 5 minutes before sharing. This prevents the loudest person in the room from dominating the conversation.
  • Convergent Thinking: Sort the ideas generated (Card Sorting). Find patterns. Use the Decision Matrix, Translate ideas into insights. Select the best solution based on feasibility and impact (Concept Voting).
    • Impact–Effort Matrix: Map your ideas to find “Quick Wins” (High Impact, Low Effort).
  • How Might We: Reframe and transform challenges into opportunity questions.
    • How Might We make the visa process simpler for the whole family?
    • How Might We take off some of the logistical load of the family?

For complex choices, a simple Pro/Con list isn’t enough. A Decision Matrix helps you weigh options against specific criteria:

Solution OptionCriteria 1 (Cost) (Weight: 3)Criteria 2 (Time to Implement) (Weight: 2)Criteria 3 (Impact) (Weight: 5)Total Score
A: Buy New ToolScore: 2 (2×3 = 6)Score: 4 (4×2 = 8)Score: 5 (5×5 = 25)39
B: Re-train StaffScore: 5 (5×3 = 15)Score: 3 (3×2 = 6)Score: 3 (3×5 = 15)36

(Higher scores are better. Multiply the Option’s Score by the Criteria’s Weight to get the Weighted Score.)

Stretching Your Thinking

  • SCAMPER: Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to another use, Eliminate, Reverse.
  • Constraints Flip:
    • “How would we solve this if we only had $10?”
    • “If we had to deliver this in 1 hour instead of 1 week, what would we have to change?”
  • Reverse Brainstorming: “How could we make this problem 10x worse?” (Then flip those answers to find solutions).

Tools: Brainwriting, Brainstorming. Crazy 8s, How Might We, Decision Matrix, (to weigh options against cost/impact) Miro, Slido.

Prototype

Pilot before scale. Bring the best Ideas to life quickly, with a low-fidelity, scaled down version. Put the prototype into the hands of real users. Observe. Understand how they use, their pain points. Prototypes can speed up the process of innovation because they allow quick identification of strengths and weaknesses of proposed solutions before you spend real money or time.

  • Low-Fidelity: Start with paper sketches, Lego models, or wireframes.\
  • Experience Simulation: If it’s a service, role-play the interaction.
  • The Mantra: “Fail fast to succeed sooner.”

Tools: Paper Sketches, Wireframes, Storyboards, Scenario Flows, Role-playing, Experience simulation, Lego, Clay Models.

Test


Put your prototype into the hands of real users. Observe them. Don’t defend your idea—listen to their frustrations, test your assumptions. Get early feedback. Learn & Iterate.

  1. Leading Metrics: What can we measure now to see if we’re on track? (e.g., % of data sources connected).
  2. Lagging Metrics: What is the final result? (e.g., final hours to publish the report).
  3. Visual Controls: Use simple dashboards so the team can see progress in real-time.
  4. Feedback Loops: Weekly check-ins to capture issues and decisions.
  5. After-Action Review (AAR): Ask: What was expected? What actually happened? Why? What will we do next time?

Tools: User Testing, A/B Testing, Surveys & Feedback Forms.

Quick Recap: Common Tools and When to Use Them

  • Problem Statement & SMART Goal: When kickoff is vague or solution-driven.
  • 5 Whys & Fishbone: When you need to understand causes, not symptoms.
  • Brainwriting & SCAMPER: When ideation stalls or voices are unequal.
  • Impact–Effort & Decision Matrix: When you must select among several viable options.
  • Pilots & Metrics: When uncertainty is high and you need evidence fast.
  • AAR & Standard Work: When you want improvements to stick.

Don’t let analysis paralysis keep you stuck. Next time you face a challenge, grab a piece of paper and write down the four steps, then use the 5 Whys to drill down to the true cause. You’ll be surprised how quickly you move from confusion to clarity! The best thing you can do to solve a problem: Start.

Please click & expand for a wealth of resources & the references

Lean Problem Solving

Level 0: Foundation of problem. Investigating non adherence to standards. 4 steps.
Step 1: Problem Definition
Step 2: Process Verification
Step 3: Root Cause Identification
Step 4: Counter measures & process confirmation
Methods: PDCA , (Plan, Do Check, Act) Go & See, Checklists, 5 Whys

Practical Problem Solving: If L0 fails to solve the problem, then move to PPS. 8 steps
Step 1: Clarify the problem
Step 2: Identify the point of cause
Step 3: Set the target
Step 4: Cause and effect(brainstorming) and root cause investigation
Step 5: Identify the countermeasures
Step 6: Implement countermeasures
Step 7: Check results
Step 8: Standardise and share

6 Sigma: Used to solve highly complex issues. DMAIC.
Define the Customer critical parameters
Measure how the process performs
Analyse the causes of the problem
Improve the process to reduce defects/variability
Control process to ensure sustained improvement

Books on Problem Solving

Lessons from my favourite book on Problem Solving