Problem-Solution examples
Problem-Solution proposes a change: a problem and who it affects, a specific solution that answers it, and what people would gain, predicted or, if tried, reported.
These are fictional teaching examples, not accounts of real events.
Example 1
What change would you propose to how we welcome new starters?
I would pair every new starter with a buddy from another team for their first month.
At the moment, new starters save up questions for their manager that anyone could answer, and in the last survey most said their first fortnight felt slow.
A buddy gives them someone to ask on day one, and managers can spend their time on the work itself. The support team has run buddies for a year: their new starters now take calls alone after three weeks instead of five. I would expect a similar gain here, and we can check it in the next survey.
How the answer works
- Solution
- Propose a specific change that answers that problem.
- Problem
- Say what is wrong, who it affects, and how often or how much.
- Benefits
- Show what the people affected would gain: predicted if untried, reported if tried.
Why it works: It opens with the recommendation, shows who the problem affects, and backs the benefit with another team’s real result instead of a promise, while saying how it will be checked here.
Example 2
How could we make club announcements easier to follow?
Important dates are scattered across several messages, so members have to search to know what is current. Last month, two people arrived at the old start time because they had saved an earlier message and never saw the correction.
Keep one dated announcement page and use messages to point to it when something changes. One volunteer could update that page, and each message could include the same link instead of repeating the full schedule.
Members would have a single place to check, and fewer people would act on an old version. We should test it at the next event before making it the club’s usual way of announcing changes.
How the answer works
- Problem
- Say what is wrong, who it affects, and how often or how much.
- Solution
- Propose a specific change that answers that problem.
- Benefits
- Show what the people affected would gain: predicted if untried, reported if tried.
Why it works: The solution directly addresses scattered information; the benefits explain the expected improvement rather than merely praising the page.
Example 3
How could the crossing outside the primary school be made safer?
About two hundred children cross Station Road at home time, at a bend where drivers see them late, and parents report children nearly being hit most weeks.
I propose we ask the council for a crossing patrol for the forty minutes after school.
An adult in a bright coat would stop the traffic, so children could cross together at one safe point, and parents who now drive the short distance might let older children walk. We should also ask the council to record, for a term, how often children are nearly hit, so the patrol can be judged on evidence.
How the answer works
- Problem
- Say what is wrong, who it affects, and how often or how much.
- Solution
- Propose a specific change that answers that problem.
- Benefits
- Show what the people affected would gain: predicted if untried, reported if tried.
Why it works: The problem says who is affected and how often. The solution is specific and answers the danger at the bend. The benefit is predicted, because the patrol is untried, and a check is planned.
What makes the difference?
The same kind of answer can sound complete while leaving an important part unclear.
How could our warehouse cut picking errors?
Not quite
Errors are a problem. Color-coded shelves could possibly help a bit, though it is hard to say.
The problem has no size, and the benefit sounds unsure, even though the speaker knows the night shift has already tried color-coded shelves. Listeners cannot judge the proposal when both the size of the problem and the evidence for the fix are left out.
Make it clearer
Wrong items go out in about thirty orders a week, and each one costs a return and an apology.
Color-code the shelves by product type, as the night shift did in the spring.
Their picking errors fell by about half over three months, so the day shift should see a similar drop.