Reframe: Shift the Way You Work, Innovate, and Think

Step 1: The Real Problem

First things first, spend some time on identifying and gaining clarity around the true problem. People often think they are articulating a problem, but really, they are just discussing their limiting factors or the baggage they bring to the table.

For example, one client asked us to help increase sales in their store. When we started asking about the specifics—like target audience type or in what way—for example, more products, more quantity of the same product, the more expensive products—they responded with how they didn’t have good metrics, they didn’t have enough budget to answer those specifics, and how their internal innovation team really owned this project, not them.

As you will see, these points may be true, and these compounding factors lead to paralysis.

Almost as a joke, we branded the term problonion [as shown in Figure 1] to talk about the various layers of problems and remind people to just focus on the one that feels like the trigger or starting point.

The first rule is to make sure that you have a problem that you are passionate about solving and that your intentions are motivated by a desire to see real change. Make sure you pick a problem that you want to fix versus a problem you wish someone else would fix. Can you see the end result being so powerful that it will shift the way the world works? Does it shift the way an audience perceives or handles a certain thing?

One way to get the ideas flowing is to think about something that makes you mad. What sparks the fire that makes you want to dive in and find a solution? Because solving this problem is going to take work—probably hard work—and it has to be important enough to make you want to solve it. Then work backward to figure out what is the first problem you need to solve. For example, I’d love to use this technique to solve for homelessness, but I’m guessing a one-day WIT STUDIO may not solve that in its entirety. So, maybe I start with the homeless man outside of my office. Then the homeless shelter in the downtown Manhattan area. And on and on.

What about a laundromat? It’s boring and tedious for pretty much everyone to go and sit at the laundromat, waiting to switch their clothes from the washer to the dryer. How can that annoyance be alleviated? A laundromat user sits there for two hours every week, waiting for clothes to spin around and dry. Is this a problem that is important to you?

You have a drive and a hunger to change the experience. You’re willing to work through the pain it takes to solve the problem because it’s important to you.

Many times people are overwhelmed by the clarity needed to define a problem, so we tried to simplify it in the Problem Brief. The Problem Brief contains four parts: the Problem Space, the Goal Space, the Consequence, and the Gaps and Barriers.

• Part 1 is the Problem Space, which is the reality or condition that prevents the goal or the state from being achieved. Spend time thinking about the way things are currently being done—the status quo. What do you expect? What’s overdone?
• Part 2 is the Goal Space, which details the desired outcome or situation. (You can use “should” or “shouldn’t” because it’s how you want the experience to be.) The Goal Space includes your vision of how it would work in the perfect world.
• Part 3 is the Consequence: What’s going to change if I solve this problem? Answer the “So what?” Begin small and build up: Why is this a meaningful goal? How will it help people? How does it benefit business? How does it benefit consumers? How does it benefit the industry? How could it benefit the world? In this case, the focus could be on community, energy preservation, or even learning/education.
• Part 4 is the Gaps and Barriers, which are the missing components or the reasons why the problem hasn’t been solved. Barriers can emerge from social, cultural, physical, technological, and industrial areas.

These four components—what it could be, what it is right now, why it matters, and what is missing/blocking—lead to a simple, powerful Problem Brief and lay the correct type of foundation … to define the real problem, which is the first step in the Reframework.

Problem Brief

Problem Space: Laundromats are icky and underutilized. They’re out of the way, smell funny, and sometimes weird people are there.

Goal Space: The laundromat should be fun and enjoyable. I have to go there anyway, so it should be something that I can’t wait to do or experience. I want it to help me make friends and learn new things and to feel like a great use of my time. I shouldn’t dread going there.

Consequence: By innovating a new use for the space that laundromats occupy, we will generate excitement for the laundromat brand, infuse fun into people’s lives, and build better community relationships.

Gaps & Barriers: We haven’t solved this problem yet because we don’t have the money or time to do so, and we think people would rather do laundry at home. Laundromats don’t offer a delightful experience because people just want to be in and out. It’s like going to the bank or the grocery store—it’s just an errand. (Note—Be careful to not include the solution in the Problem Brief. When you ask people to ideate, but have already given them a solution, you can’t expect to take it much further.)

The point of spending time on the Problem Brief is to make sure your team is focused. They need to be aligned and understand the scope of the problem, and the problem needs to spark creativity and innovation. You’re setting the stake in the ground and saying, “This is what we need to fix.”