Finding the Real Problem: The Art of Framing Work Challenges

How being a great framer of problems can be more valuable than the solution itself

You're in a meeting. Agenda item three gets a mention: a lingering issue, something that needs action.

"What are we going to do about that?" someone asks.

Ideas fly. Names are suggested. Tasks assigned. Within minutes, there’s a slick action plan. Boxes will get ticked. People nod. Progress feels good.

But pause for a moment.

What exactly are you solving? Is the plan built on a clear understanding of the real issue? Or just the loudest symptom? Weeks later, when results fall short or the problem reappears under a different name, there’s a moment of confusion. Didn’t we deal with this already?

Too often, we skip the most valuable part of problem-solving: defining the problem properly in the first place.

Why framing matters more than fixing

Let’s borrow an example from medicine.

A patient visits a GP complaining of persistent headaches. The doctor prescribes painkillers. They help for a while, then the pain returns, but stronger. More medication follows. Still no lasting change. Eventually, another practitioner takes a step back and asks a better question: What’s causing the headaches in the first place?

Further tests reveal high blood pressure. Untreated for years, it’s now manifesting as chronic tension headaches. When the root cause (hypertension) is addressed through lifestyle changes and appropriate medication, the headaches disappear. No more escalating quick fixes. Just clarity, and a resolution.

This is the difference between treating symptoms and solving the real problem. It’s not just a better result – it’s a completely different kind of thinking.

And it’s something that isn’t hard to do – as the skill is in knowing when it needs to be done.

“A problem well-stated is a problem half-solved.”
Charles Kettering, Head of Research at General Motors (1920–1947)

The hidden cost of poor framing

In organizations, poor framing leads to misaligned actions, wasted time, and misplaced energy.

Take a drop in sales. The knee-jerk diagnosis might blame the marketing team. Maybe the budget gets cut or campaigns are tweaked. But what if the real issue lies elsewhere – say, in a confusing onboarding experience that drives away new customers?

Or consider a team focused on improving employee performance. The conversation centres on productivity tools. But what if the real issue is a lack of psychological safety?

Another risk: sticking with an outdated frame. What made sense six months ago may no longer hold. The business landscape evolves, but our mental framing stays stuck.

And perhaps most challenging: the discomfort of truth. Sometimes we subconsciously resist framing a problem honestly because it might step on toes or lead to difficult change. Instead, we create a frame that’s safer, smaller, and easier to control. But it also makes our thinking – and impact – smaller.

What is problem framing, really?

Framing is the deliberate process of defining the boundaries, context, and core nature of a challenge. It means asking:

• Are we tackling a surface symptom or the actual cause?

• What assumptions are baked into how we’re viewing this?

• Have we included the full ecosystem of people, systems, and pressures?

Framing turns vague concerns into solvable challenges. But it also helps us know what not to solve. A problem framed too narrowly leaves out important parts. A problem framed too broadly becomes overwhelming and paralysing.

Looking practically – and artistically – if you owned a Monet or a Matisse, the frame would make no difference to the value of the painting. However, when Madison, your three-year-old daughter, does her first finger painting at nursery, you can simply stick it on the fridge with a magnet – or you can put it into a basic Ikea frame and show her what you’ve done.

The framing will delight her.

And similarly, that’s what value it brings to issues in your work environment, too. The frame contains the issue and helps people focus on what’s inside the frame – and NOT on anything outside of it.

Take an issue you’re working on right now. Do you believe it’s been properly framed? If not - does it make sense to challenge it? What aspect? Why is it friving you down the route it is? Maybe this issue needs someone like you to probe it with some challenging questions…

Reframing in action: a sales challenge

A team once framed their problem as: “Our sales team needs to convert better.” The solutions focused on sales training, scripts, and incentives.

But when they reframed the problem as: “New customers are dropping off at the onboarding stage, so what’s causing friction?”, everything changed. The focus shifted to customer experience, product guidance, and onboarding communications. The result? Conversion improved significantly.

The sales team hadn’t been failing. The frame had.

Techniques for smarter framing

1. Play your ‘newbie’ card

If you are new to the business; the team; the project; or even just the meeting – ask if someone could reframe the issue for your education. This will give you the chance to ask further framing questions.

2. Play your ‘oldie’ card

If you’ve been involved with this issue for a while, suggest that you review the situation to make sure any assumptions are still valid – or to check if anything has changed. This is another chance to reframe the issue.

3. Reframing questions

If relevant, instead of: “Why can’t we xxxx?” ask: “How might we xxxx?”

4. Ask better questions before you solve anything

When you face a challenge, try posing questions that shift the perspective:

• What if we reversed the problem – what would the opposite be?

• What would a customer or outsider say is the real issue?

• If we had to solve this in 48 hours, what would we do differently?

• What metaphor helps describe this situation (traffic jam, tug-of-war, domino chain)?

• What experiment could we run to learn more?

• Is this a symptom, a system flaw, or a mindset issue?

• What could we stop doing that might be fuelling the problem?

5. The 5 Whys

Your fallback position is to keep asking “Why?” until you get past the symptom to the root cause. The fifth “Why” is often where the truth lives.

From solver to framer: your thinking edge

Every team needs solvers. But the person who defines the right problem? They shape the conversation before it even begins.

Framing is not loud work. It’s not always rewarded immediately. But over time, the person who consistently brings clarity – who spots what others miss - becomes indispensable.

Not because they always have the right answers. But because they’re asking the right questions.

Framers don’t fix faster. They fix smarter.

And to be that framer, simply speak up when you feel clarity is needed.

This week’s thinking edge

Give this a go on an issue you’re dealing with this week – big or small.

Don’t try to solve it. Just reframe it.

Then step back and ask: What shifted when I reframed the problem?

An extra thinking edge for your personal life…

Apply these principles to your personal situation, too. What specific problem do you need to overcome? What great opportunity might you want to progress which is thwarting you today?

Reframe it. You might find that the real issue – the one worth solving – wasn’t even on your original agenda.

Framing is a skill that will deliver value for you in all aspects of your life.

Be brilliant at it!