How to make sure you are solving the right problem
I recently read Cracked it!, and my biggest takeaway was the TOSCA framework. It significantly increases your odds of success in any non-trivial endeavor by helping you define an accurate problem statement. This translates to working on the right thing, which is just as important as, if not more than, working hard.
Here’s what TOSCA looks like:
- Trouble: What are the symptoms, and why do they matter right now? Focus on symptoms, not candidate solutions. Think: “I have a headache,” not “I have no Advil.”
- Owner: Whose problem is this? From whose perspective are we considering it?
- Success criteria: We meet later to celebrate resolving the problem. What date is it? How will you know for sure it’s resolved, and what can we observe then?
- Constraints: Resources, time, or unacceptable means to an end.
- Actors: Who else has a say in, or is needed to resolve, this problem?
Here’s an example. Imagine thinking this after a streak of bad work weeks: I need to get a new job. That’s merely a candidate solution. Accepting it blindly is impulsive and often suboptimal. Let’s use TOSCA instead:
- Trouble: Tired of dealing with a manager who’s always in firefighting mode, sees everything as an emergency, and shifts priorities multiple times a day.
- Owner: Me.
- Success criteria: 60 days from now, my priorities won’t have shifted more than 4 times in the previous two weeks.
- Constraints:
- Must not commit to more than 40 hrs/week.
- Must still take home at least $80k/yr.
- Should not burn bridges with anyone.
- Commute must be shorter than 45 minutes each way.
- Actors:
- Manager (might be reasoned with).
This quick list exposes the true domain of candidate solutions. We can then state the problem:
What should I do or say to my manager so that by June 22, I am no longer suffering from constantly shifting priorities at work, while still taking home $80k/yr, working 40 hrs/week, preserving good relationships, and enjoying a quick commute?
Getting a new job is still an option, but now you have clarity on exactly what it should look like. You could also share this problem statement with your manager, build resilience to shifting priorities, or even become a landlord (since there’s no constraint on investing capital). These are all valid options you might never have considered if you’d impulsively picked the first one.
P.S. I drafted this example in a few minutes. If this were a real problem, we’d spend more time on it: challenging assumptions, revisiting each TOSCA element, and discussing candidate solutions to uncover forgotten symptoms or constraints.