Framing

REFRAMING Once we are aware of a problem, we tend to plunge ahead in search of a solution, yet often we’d do better to first reconsider the question. Reframing problems can lead to much better solutions.

The need to frame problems within radically large, spatio-temporal contexts that include the past (how the problem evolved over long periods of time), present (how the problem manifests at different levels of scale) and future (visions of the long-term future in which the problem has been resolved).

The n

I have always used frameworks to force insight. It’s an old trick of rhetoric: start in front of a large audience with the sentence “There are three key aspects to [name of topic]...” and even if you only think of one at the beginning, the other two will always come to mind; to what I call the prepared mind. So my flip charts have been about forcin

When a team takes the time to visualize their options, they build a shared understanding of how they might reach their desired outcome. If they maintain this visual as they learn week over week, they maintain that shared understanding, allowing them to collaborate over time. We know this collaboration is critical to product success.

How do you gain the benefits of flow without creating a chaotic, ever-changing experience for customers?

Much of the work when tackling an ill-structured problem is framing the problem itself.5 How we frame a problem has a big impact on how we might solve it.