Problem Identification Worksheet

Step 1: Analyzing the Environment & Recognizing Problems

Activity	Completed	Observations
Practice constant vigilance: Actively look for problems and opportunities in your daily life	□
Compare current performance with prior objectives or benchmarks	□
Thoroughly describe current conditions in your target market/industry	□
Identify unmet objectives or opportunities to exceed objectives	□
Document personal frustrations and inconveniences you experience	□

Activity	Completed	Observations
Envision an idealized situation and compare to current reality	□
Use checklists to analyze situations (strategic, management, quality audits)	□
Conduct group discussions to facilitate problem recognition	□
List everything you know about the situation/market	□
dentify patterns and relationships in available information	□

Technique	Applied	Key Findings
Fishbone Diagram: List all possible causes of the problem	□
Why-Why Diagram: Ask "why" repeatedly to find root causes	□
Kepner-Tregoe Analysis: Define the problem (what, where, when, how, how big)	□
Pareto Analysis: Identify the biggest factors contributing to the problem	□
Five Whys: Drill down to root causes	□

Component	Completed	Details
□ Focus on the real problem, not just symptoms	□
□ Establish clear objectives for the problem-solving process	□
□ Create a specific problem statement	□
□ Frame as a "to" statement with an object and action verb	□
□ Ensure the problem statement is agreed upon by all stakeholders	□

Activity	Completed	Insights Gained
□ Conduct customer interviews to understand pain points	□
□ Develop and use a discussion guide with targeted questions	□
□ Create empathy maps for target customers	□
□ Apply the "Jobs to Be Done" framework	□
□ Gather both qualitative and quantitative data	□
□ Analyze customer feedback for patterns	□

Activity	Completed	Results
□ Translate vision into falsifiable hypotheses	□
□ Design experiments to test each hypothesis	□
□ Execute experiments and gather data	□
□ Analyze results and refine hypotheses	□
□ Iterate based on findings	□

Analysis	Completed	Data/Findings
□ Define total addressable market (TAM)	□
□ Calculate serviceable available market (SAM)	□
□ Estimate serviceable obtainable market (SOM)	□
□ Research market growth rate	□
□ Identify key market trends	□

Component	Addressed	Notes
□ Customer Segments: Who are your target customers?	□
□ Value Propositions: What problem are you solving?	□
□ Channels: How will you reach customers?	□
□ Customer Relationships: What type of relationship?	□
□ Revenue Streams: How will you generate revenue?	□
□ Key Resources: What resources do you need?	□
□ Key Activities: What activities must you perform?	□
□ Key Partnerships: Who are your key partners?	□
□ Cost Structure: What are your major costs?	□

Potential Pitfall	Risk Level (Low/Med/High)	Mitigation Strategy
□ Assuming you know what customers want
□ "Build it and they will come" mentality
□ Over-reliance on early adopters
□ Focus on features instead of benefits
□ Confirmation bias
□ Analysis paralysis
□ Ignoring negative feedback
□ Building in a vacuum

Based on all the above work, write your final problem statement:

[PROBLEM STATEMENT HERE]

Next Steps: