Program Overview
Program Overview
- Week 1: Problem definition frameworks and common pitfalls teams encounter when starting too fast
- Week 2: Stakeholder analysis and understanding different perspectives within your team
- Week 3: Constraint mapping and determining what is actually negotiable versus fixed
- Week 4: Building shared problem statements that everyone can agree on
- Week 5: Case study analysis of teams that solved wrong problems and why it happened
- Week 6: Facilitation techniques for keeping problem discussions productive
Session format details
Live sessions are interactive workshops, not lectures. You will spend most of the time working through problems with other participants. Async exercises are designed to take 2-3 hours and involve applying techniques to a problem from your own work.
Detailed Information
Most teams jump straight to solutions without understanding what problem they are solving. This program teaches you how to slow down, ask better questions, and create a shared understanding before anyone suggests an answer.
You will work through real case studies where teams failed because they solved the wrong problem, and learn techniques to avoid those same mistakes. We focus on defining problems clearly, understanding different perspectives within a team, and building consensus around what success looks like.
What you will actually do
Each session involves working through a different problem scenario with a small group. You will practice techniques like problem reframing, stakeholder mapping, and constraint identification. The emphasis is on messy, real-world situations where the problem is not obvious.
We also cover how to handle disagreements about problem definition without letting them derail the entire process. You will see examples of teams that navigated these conflicts well and learn what made their approach work.
Who finds this useful
This works best for people who are part of cross-functional teams or leading groups that need to solve problems together. If you have ever been in a meeting where everyone is talking past each other or proposing solutions to different problems, this will help.