Not All Problems Are Created Equal

How to identify and approach dilemmas.

- Arnaud Chevallier And Albrecht Enders

Problem solving is bridging the gap between where you are and where you want to be. It requires designing a strategy—which includes making decisions—and putting it into action.

This sounds easy. But problems come in all shapes and forms: some are obvious to pinpoint while others are hard to even identify. Some are simple while the complexity of others makes them paralyzing. Some have insignificant outcomes while others have gargantuan stakes. This implies that not all problems deserve the same effort or the same approach. Here’s how to decide.

What kind of problem are you solving?

There are many ways to classify problems. One is to organize them by the level of complexity:

1. Simple problems: The easiest problems don’t have many variables—sometimes just one—and don’t involve many risks. How should I dress for a meeting with my client? Solving this problem shouldn’t require much analysis, and you can usually follow your intuition.

2. Intermediate problems: Slightly more complex, intermediate problems might have several variables, yet you understand these variables and the importance of the decision isn’t terribly high. An example: figuring out where to take your family on your next vacation.

3. Complex problems: Otherwise known as complex, ill-defined, non-immediate, and important (CIDNI) problems. Complex means that you might have various dynamic and interdependent variables. Ill-defined means that your initial conditions, final conditions, and the paths to a solution are unclear. An implication is that there usually isn’t one “right” answer—in fact, there may not be any solution at all … or various, each with different tradeoffs that speak differently to various stakeholders, so the quality of the solution is subjective.