7d • General discussion
The Most Underrated Skills in Business Analysis & Project Management: The Ability to Frame the Problem
Many delivery issues aren’t caused by poor execution, but trying to solve the wrong problem. Problem framing is the highest-leverage skill in Business Analysis and Project Management and one most professionals rush past.
But Steve Jobs said "if you define the problem correctly, you almost have the solution."
Here’s a glimpse for how My Consulting Academy teaches effective problem framing skills:
1. Describe the problem in one sentence - If you need a paragraph to explain the problem, you're not understanding it yet.
2. Remove assumptions - Half of what project teams call problems or issues are conclusions or biases; strip these back, you're not the decision-maker (unless you are).
3. Problem Ownership - Who feels the pain from the problem? If you're not sure or there are "many" owners, the problem won’t get solved.
4. Be clear on the impact - You need to size up costs, time, compliance, brand, and any other relevant impacts; this helps confirm magnitude and also give gusto for why the problem should be solved in the first place. To note: if the impact isn’t real, the priority won’t be either.
5. Define success - If you cannot answer the question "what does success look like?" the chances are high your solution won't hit the invisible mark.
6. Test the problem with stakeholders - If three stakeholder groups interpret the problem in three different ways, no one is ready for a solution.
A well-framed problem accelerates requirements gathering, improves solution design, it will sharpen decision-making, and eliminates months of rework.
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The Most Underrated Skills in Business Analysis & Project Management: The Ability to Frame the Problem
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