{"id":537,"date":"2021-04-01T13:51:13","date_gmt":"2021-04-01T13:51:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/misfitdesignthinking.com\/wordpress\/?p=537"},"modified":"2021-04-08T18:20:01","modified_gmt":"2021-04-08T18:20:01","slug":"blog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/misfitdesignthinking.com\/wordpress\/?p=537","title":{"rendered":"Identifying the Problem"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"537\" class=\"elementor elementor-537\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-58da75b6 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"58da75b6\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-267d39be\" data-id=\"267d39be\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-74a61c92 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"74a61c92\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><\/p>\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Over the last few years, I&#8217;ve been invited to observe or participate in a lot of working groups to solve problems. Some were touted as design thinking working groups and others just ended up being meetings to discuss situations. One common area I found with many of the underperforming groups that I observed was that solutions were readily provided, yet the problem had not been identified.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">\n<\/p><p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><br><\/p>\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">In a recent example, I had a teleconference with an organization to discuss a transformation that had already been briefed to senior management. When the presentation was over, I asked the group what the problem was they were trying to solve. The team had developed all sorts of interesting solutions, but it wasn&#8217;t clear to me what problem was being solved. Was there one problem or many problems? Were symptoms of problems separated from problems?<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">After stumbling for a minute or so, the team lead replied that the organization was just not happy with the way things were going. I asked what specific things the organization was not happy with.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">&#8220;I don&#8217;t know, higher management just wants changes and they don&#8217;t know what they want,&#8221; came the reply from one of the team members.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Creative solutions are great&#8230;if we know the problem we are tackling. We may have great ideas and awesome solutions, but we might be trying to solve the wrong problem.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">It is critical that we properly identify problems before we generate solutions, even if we are experimenting to probe the situation.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized is-style-default\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-715\" src=\"https:\/\/misfitdesignthinking.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/puzzle-problem-3d-1721464-1024x517.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"580\" height=\"293\" srcset=\"https:\/\/misfitdesignthinking.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/puzzle-problem-3d-1721464-1024x517.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/misfitdesignthinking.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/puzzle-problem-3d-1721464-300x151.jpg 300w, https:\/\/misfitdesignthinking.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/puzzle-problem-3d-1721464-768x388.jpg 768w, https:\/\/misfitdesignthinking.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/puzzle-problem-3d-1721464.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 580px) 100vw, 580px\" \/><\/figure>\n<p><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Over the last few years, I&#8217;ve been invited to observe or participate in a lot of working groups to solve problems. Some were touted as design thinking working groups and others just ended up being meetings to discuss situations. One common area I found with many of the underperforming groups that I observed was that [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[9,8,10],"class_list":["post-537","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-problemsolving","tag-problem-identification","tag-problem-solving","tag-solutions"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Identifying the Problem - Home to Misfit Design Thinking<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"design thinking, problem solving, creative thinking, innovation, solutions\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/misfitdesignthinking.com\/wordpress\/?p=537\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Identifying the Problem - Home to Misfit Design Thinking\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"design thinking, problem solving, creative thinking, innovation, solutions\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/misfitdesignthinking.com\/wordpress\/?p=537\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Home to Misfit Design Thinking\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-04-01T13:51:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-04-08T18:20:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/misfitdesignthinking.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/puzzle-problem-3d-1721464-1024x517.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Gord\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Gord\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/misfitdesignthinking.com\\\/wordpress\\\/?p=537#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/misfitdesignthinking.com\\\/wordpress\\\/?p=537\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Gord\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/misfitdesignthinking.com\\\/wordpress\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/29ebb4f877fd8eed1afb7d632b811d2f\"},\"headline\":\"Identifying the Problem\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-04-01T13:51:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-04-08T18:20:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/misfitdesignthinking.com\\\/wordpress\\\/?p=537\"},\"wordCount\":254,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/misfitdesignthinking.com\\\/wordpress\\\/?p=537#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/misfitdesignthinking.com\\\/wordpress\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/puzzle-problem-3d-1721464-1024x517.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"problem identification\",\"problem solving\",\"solutions\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Problem Solving\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/misfitdesignthinking.com\\\/wordpress\\\/?p=537\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/misfitdesignthinking.com\\\/wordpress\\\/?p=537\",\"name\":\"Identifying the Problem - Home to Misfit Design Thinking\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/misfitdesignthinking.com\\\/wordpress\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/misfitdesignthinking.com\\\/wordpress\\\/?p=537#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/misfitdesignthinking.com\\\/wordpress\\\/?p=537#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/misfitdesignthinking.com\\\/wordpress\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/puzzle-problem-3d-1721464-1024x517.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-04-01T13:51:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-04-08T18:20:01+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/misfitdesignthinking.com\\\/wordpress\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/29ebb4f877fd8eed1afb7d632b811d2f\"},\"description\":\"design thinking, problem solving, creative thinking, innovation, solutions\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/misfitdesignthinking.com\\\/wordpress\\\/?p=537#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/misfitdesignthinking.com\\\/wordpress\\\/?p=537\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/misfitdesignthinking.com\\\/wordpress\\\/?p=537#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/misfitdesignthinking.com\\\/wordpress\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/puzzle-problem-3d-1721464.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/misfitdesignthinking.com\\\/wordpress\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/puzzle-problem-3d-1721464.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":646,\"caption\":\"puzzle, problem, 3d\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/misfitdesignthinking.com\\\/wordpress\\\/?p=537#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/misfitdesignthinking.com\\\/wordpress\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Problem Solving\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/misfitdesignthinking.com\\\/wordpress\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/misfitdesignthinking.com\\\/wordpress\\\/\",\"name\":\"Home to Misfit Design Thinking\",\"description\":\"Think different, Solve problems, Get results\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/misfitdesignthinking.com\\\/wordpress\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/misfitdesignthinking.com\\\/wordpress\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/29ebb4f877fd8eed1afb7d632b811d2f\",\"name\":\"Gord\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/33601312e8bf981afdd040b2b4f221970abe4f2dfa5ded910e6c425530666017?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/33601312e8bf981afdd040b2b4f221970abe4f2dfa5ded910e6c425530666017?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/33601312e8bf981afdd040b2b4f221970abe4f2dfa5ded910e6c425530666017?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Gord\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/misfitdesignthinking.com\\\/wordpress\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/misfitdesignthinking.com\\\/wordpress\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Identifying the Problem - Home to Misfit Design Thinking","description":"design thinking, problem solving, creative thinking, innovation, solutions","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/misfitdesignthinking.com\/wordpress\/?p=537","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Identifying the Problem - Home to Misfit Design Thinking","og_description":"design thinking, problem solving, creative thinking, innovation, solutions","og_url":"https:\/\/misfitdesignthinking.com\/wordpress\/?p=537","og_site_name":"Home to Misfit Design Thinking","article_published_time":"2021-04-01T13:51:13+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-04-08T18:20:01+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/misfitdesignthinking.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/puzzle-problem-3d-1721464-1024x517.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Gord","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Gord","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/misfitdesignthinking.com\/wordpress\/?p=537#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/misfitdesignthinking.com\/wordpress\/?p=537"},"author":{"name":"Gord","@id":"https:\/\/misfitdesignthinking.com\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/29ebb4f877fd8eed1afb7d632b811d2f"},"headline":"Identifying the Problem","datePublished":"2021-04-01T13:51:13+00:00","dateModified":"2021-04-08T18:20:01+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/misfitdesignthinking.com\/wordpress\/?p=537"},"wordCount":254,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/misfitdesignthinking.com\/wordpress\/?p=537#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/misfitdesignthinking.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/puzzle-problem-3d-1721464-1024x517.jpg","keywords":["problem identification","problem solving","solutions"],"articleSection":["Problem Solving"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/misfitdesignthinking.com\/wordpress\/?p=537","url":"https:\/\/misfitdesignthinking.com\/wordpress\/?p=537","name":"Identifying the Problem - Home to Misfit Design Thinking","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/misfitdesignthinking.com\/wordpress\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/misfitdesignthinking.com\/wordpress\/?p=537#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/misfitdesignthinking.com\/wordpress\/?p=537#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/misfitdesignthinking.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/puzzle-problem-3d-1721464-1024x517.jpg","datePublished":"2021-04-01T13:51:13+00:00","dateModified":"2021-04-08T18:20:01+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/misfitdesignthinking.com\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/29ebb4f877fd8eed1afb7d632b811d2f"},"description":"design thinking, problem solving, creative thinking, innovation, solutions","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/misfitdesignthinking.com\/wordpress\/?p=537#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/misfitdesignthinking.com\/wordpress\/?p=537"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/misfitdesignthinking.com\/wordpress\/?p=537#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/misfitdesignthinking.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/puzzle-problem-3d-1721464.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/misfitdesignthinking.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/puzzle-problem-3d-1721464.jpg","width":1280,"height":646,"caption":"puzzle, problem, 3d"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/misfitdesignthinking.com\/wordpress\/?p=537#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/misfitdesignthinking.com\/wordpress\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Problem Solving"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/misfitdesignthinking.com\/wordpress\/#website","url":"https:\/\/misfitdesignthinking.com\/wordpress\/","name":"Home to Misfit Design Thinking","description":"Think different, Solve problems, Get results","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/misfitdesignthinking.com\/wordpress\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/misfitdesignthinking.com\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/29ebb4f877fd8eed1afb7d632b811d2f","name":"Gord","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/33601312e8bf981afdd040b2b4f221970abe4f2dfa5ded910e6c425530666017?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/33601312e8bf981afdd040b2b4f221970abe4f2dfa5ded910e6c425530666017?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/33601312e8bf981afdd040b2b4f221970abe4f2dfa5ded910e6c425530666017?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Gord"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/misfitdesignthinking.com\/wordpress"],"url":"https:\/\/misfitdesignthinking.com\/wordpress\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/misfitdesignthinking.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/misfitdesignthinking.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/misfitdesignthinking.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/misfitdesignthinking.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/misfitdesignthinking.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=537"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/misfitdesignthinking.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/537\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":788,"href":"https:\/\/misfitdesignthinking.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/537\/revisions\/788"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/misfitdesignthinking.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/misfitdesignthinking.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/misfitdesignthinking.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}