Problem solvers are valuable members of any organization. And as long as we’re solving familiar challenges, we can be fairly confident in quick solutions. As problems become more complex, though, leaders need to spend more time and effort to define the problem. We may find that what we perceive to be the issue is different from what a thorough investigation reveals.
Julia Binder and Michael Watkins recently wrote in Harvard Business Review that it is important to examine problems through multiple frames to get different perspectives. Instead of starting with brainstorming, which introduces solutions based on a predetermined perspective, they recommend beginning with “frame-storming”: thinking about different angles you might use to explore what the real problem is.
We can imagine a church leadership meeting when someone brings up the need to get the youth more active in the life of the church. Almost immediately, you’ll hear lots of programmatic ideas of what the church should do to bring back the young people. These ideas, often rooted in nostalgia, are well-intentioned, but they presume that the problem is the church doesn’t have enough programs. That could be true. However, it might also be true that something about the lives of young people and their families has changed in a way that makes current programming models obsolete.
Reframing problems is something Jesus did. One of the most memorable examples occurs in John 9, when he and the disciples encounter a man who was born blind. The disciples asked Jesus whether the man’s sin or his parents’ sin caused the blindness. Jesus made it clear that the disciples were asking the wrong question (John 9:3). The man’s blindness wasn’t about sin. It was a prelude to the glory of God.
Do you know what the real problem is?
