Part l
FRAME – Understand your problem
Remember you need the following components to solve your problem1:
- •The overarching question that summarises your problem – the quest
- •Various alternatives to answer that question
- •Criteria that will help you identify which of these alternatives you prefer
- •The evaluations of each alternative on each criterion.
Framing helps you get to that first piece, the quest. Developing a good frame is harder than it looks. It is usually best achieved as an iterative process. To guide you, Chapter 1 helps you identify an initial quest and contextualise it. Chapters 2 and 3 help you enhance the frame by fixing any misalignments and refining your quest.
Through this journey you will likely realise that, at the outset, you only have a superficial understanding of your problem. This is a common pitfall – and a dangerous one. Fixing a symptom is often much less effective than fixing the cause of the pain. To sidestep this trap, Chapter 3 will show you how to diagnose your problem – that is, identify its root causes – and use these insights to improve your quest.
By the end of Part I, you will know how to synthesise your problem in a clear and concise frame that includes a protagonist (the hero), a goal that the hero wants to achieve (the treasure), an obstacle between the two (the dragon) and the key question you want to address (the quest) (see below).
A good frame is clear and concise
Hero: Solveable Media provides marketing services to the US health care industry; its revenues have been constant for the last five years. I am the CEO of Solveable Media.
Treasure: I want to increase Solveable Media’s revenues by 10% annually over the next five years.
Dragon: However, Solveable Media’s current sales force doesn’t have enough people.
Quest: How can I increase Solveable Media’s revenues by 10% annually over the next five years, given that Solveable Media’s current sales force doesn’t have enough people?