Part 3-A: Examine the Problem | Break it Apart

Find a useful seam in a problem before you try to solve the whole thing.

Three simple places to look when a problem feels too big to break apart.

Find the dimensions, people, or points in time hiding inside one big problem.

One big judgment can hide several different qualities moving in different directions. Separate them before you judge the whole.

A problem can look completely different once you separate who is acting, who is affected, and who actually has control over what happens next.

A problem that feels permanent can look very different once you ask when it started, when it changes, and what happened around it.

When the pieces are visible but the problem still feels confusing, trace what happens first, what causes what, and what the evidence actually supports.

Find where in the sequence the problem actually appears instead of treating the whole process as broken.

Stop at “this keeps happening” and ask the next question: what is producing the result?

Separate what actually happened from what you think it means so you can examine the interpretation instead of accidentally turning it into a fact.

Some questions stay confusing because the answer depends on something you haven’t specified yet.

Before judging whether something is working, make sure you know what result you actually want it to produce.

A claim can be true in one situation and false in another. Find the conditions that make the difference.

Words like better, worse, expensive, successful, and safe need a reference point. Name the comparison before you trust the judgment.