Discover how clever problem-solving and strategic thinking can turn challenges into innovative solutions.
Why Defining a Problem Can Be Harder Than Solving It
Problems are all around us, and finding solutions is rarely as simple as we would like. But you know what can be tougher than solving a problem? Defining it! Especially, when it comes to developing the right AI or technology solution. As a Product Manager, I’m the person who works with an incredibly intelligent team to make sure we are developing the right AI technology for clients.
Understanding and solving a problem, especially a business problem, is rarely a magical walk-on-water moment. And, if you are like me, you’ve tried to walk-on-water in the past (and in the present, like a bad habit) and have found yourself nestled at the bottom of a lake, covered in retention pond muck. There’s rarely a moment of un-hustled inspiration; where there is inspiration, it’s born out of effort. There, I said it: the key to inspiration is hard work. Ugh.
It takes time to really dig into the issues, to do the research, to have awkward, and many times unwanted, conversations just to understand the perceived problem. Did you catch that? It’s hard work just to understand the perceived problem, not necessarily the actual problem that needs to be solved. The real challenge is often bridging the gap between perception and reality to find the true problem worth solving. The good news, though, once the actual problem is understood, solving it is quite inspirational!
The Jack and Jill Analogy for Strategic Problem-Solving
The analogy that I often use to describe the importance of problem definition is the riveting poem of Jack and Jill, both of whom fell down a hill as they tried to “fetch a pail of water.”
Now, you may not know this, but Jack and Jill are inspiring successful entrepreneurs and the water they fetch is instrumental to their business success. If they were to hire a team of water-fetching specialists to help them with their dilemma, they may articulate their problem something like this “Jack is clumsy, and Jill is empathetic. We need a way to safely climb the hill without falling.”
If this team of specialists are like many other consultants, they may just take Jack and Jill’s perceived problem as fact. They may begin to implement a series of solutions like building stairs, designing shoes for the exact topography of the hill or maybe even create something like a ski lift. All of these (expensive) solutions would solve Jack and Jill’s perceived problem.
But is climbing up the hill the problem that needs to be solved?
I would argue, and I have fervently with my local (and too busy for my soapboxing) barista, that Jack and Jill’s problem is not their inability to get up a hill without falling. Their actual problem is water. They need easier access to water!
Climbing up a hill without falling and access to water are two very different problems with very different solutions. The more brilliant water-fetching specialists pierce through perception to understand the reason for going up the hill in the first place.
Thinking Beyond the Pail
Instead of walking through the importance of discovery, looking at the data, and being brave enough to challenge assumptions (the best way to win a Nobel prize, by the way); I’ll leave you with one high-level thought to carry with you as you define and solve problems, be clever.
I like what cleverness implies in the product management context, which is the freedom to explore and connect points of intrigue in a way that reveals the real problem (and maybe the solution too). Being clever is about being sharp, asking questions, and not settling for the easy answer. It’s about trusting yourself to break through perception so that you’re solving the right problem, not just the one handed to you.
If you were one of the more brilliant water-fetching specialists mentioned above, you might respond to Jack and Jill’s dilemma by questioning their true goal. Is their goal to climb the hill, or is it to get water? You might research why they need a full pail instead of just a cup. And, if you’re really clever, you might even question whether they need water at all—maybe this task is simply a legacy activity they’re reluctant to abandon.
That’s cleverness to me. It’s about challenging the obvious with curiosity and permitting yourself to look at a problem from different angles than the one presented. To think “outside of the pail” is the function of a great Product Manager developing AI solutions; but, it should also be your function, regardless of your role. Maybe then, you’ll be the one responsible for helping Jack and Jill walk-on-water instead of fetching it in a pail.
