Journey 43 · Becomingbuildinggrindingexpanding
Become a Problem Solver
“Every problem lands on someone else's desk eventually. I want to be the desk.”
You become: The person people bring the broken thing to
Problem-solving is a procedure, not a gift: state it properly, find the real cause, try the smallest thing, ask well. Ten actions on real problems from your actual life.
Understand
Why most 'problems' are actually symptoms, badly stated.
Practice
The procedure, run on real problems from your week.
Create
Three real problems actually solved.
Evidence
The write-ups, with what worked and what didn't.
State it properly
A problem well stated is half solved. Most are never stated at all.
- Practice20m
Write the problem in one sentence with a number in it
Pick a real problem from your week. 'The kitchen is chaos' becomes 'we cook at 7pm and the sink is still full from breakfast, five days out of seven.' If you can't put a number or a specific in it, you have a mood, not yet a problem.
You’ll have:One problem stated with a number in it.
- Practice25m
Ask why five times and write the chain down
Take the stated problem and ask why. Then ask why of the answer. Five levels down you usually hit something structural — a missing routine, an unowned decision — rather than a person to blame. Solving at level one is why the same problems keep coming back.
You’ll have:A five-why chain, written.
- Understand20m
Separate what you control from what you don't
Two columns for your problem: things you can act on, things you can only respond to. Every hour spent on column two is rehearsal of helplessness. The solvable version of any problem lives entirely in column one — restate it so it does.
You’ll have:The problem restated inside your control.
6 more actions · 4h 30m of work
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Try the smallest thing
Solvers run cheap experiments. Everyone else runs meetings.
- Practice30m
Design the ten-minute test
- Practice30m
Ask someone who has solved it, with a good question
- Practice15m
Write down what the test showed, even if it's 'nothing'
Make it who you are
Three solved problems is a skill. The write-ups are the proof.
- Create1h
Solve a second problem — someone else's
- Create1h 30m
Take on one problem that scares you a little
- Evidence45m
Write up all three, one page each