Problem Neighborhood

Once you have a statement of a problem, you can test if there are any similar-but-better problems to solve by using the idea of the problem neighborhood.

The basic idea is simple, take a problem statement, and tweak some component of it. If the sponsor has said the goal is to maximize revenue, ask them if profit is part of the problem too? If they mention profit and revenue, ask if they mean profit dollars or profit percent. If they mention a 6 month timeline, ask if 3 months would be better or if 9 months would be unacceptable.

In a personal context, you can use the same idea to meander away from the original version of the problem. If someone says they have too much work, you could ask if there are too many different tasks, or if certain ones just take too long. If they mention work has been overwhelming, you could check if it's related to a specific project or individual. The goal is to take whatever version of the problem you start with, and test how similar-but-different problems resonate. Are any of them better because they are more specific, more actionable, more accurate, or more beneficial?

Once you've explored problem space, decide which problem you actually want to solve.