Problem Framing: Defining Issues Before Seeking Solutions
Proper problem framing is crucial as it affects the quality of solutions and reveals root issues rather than symptoms.
What is this page about?
An explainer of problem framing, defining what problem you are actually solving before generating solutions, opening with the Dutch highway case where reframing congestion from "insufficient road capacity" to "why do so many drive at the same time?" cut peak congestion 20% at a fraction of the cost. It covers why framing determines what you solve and the danger of jumping to solutions, systematic techniques (5W+H, current-versus-desired state, Jobs-to-Be-Done, stakeholder mapping), recognizing and debiasing biased frames, testing a frame, and reframing techniques for stuck teams.
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Attribution to 'William Occam at the Otis Elevator Company' is unverified; the mirror anecdote is commonly told without that source.
Beforedocumented in the work of William Occam at the Otis Elevator Company,
Afterwidely recounted in management and design thinking literature,
Why: The attribution to 'William Occam at the Otis Elevator Company' was unverified; the mirror anecdote is commonly told without that specific source. Verified the live article body already removes the unverified attribution. The faq field does not mention Occam or Otis Elevator at all, so no secondary fix was needed there.
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