Often I’m asked (or ask myself) “What should we do?” and realize I need to back up and ask another question. “What problem are we trying to solve?” I’ve found this seemingly-obvious question to be surprisingly powerful.

Sometimes there isn’t a problem, and we’re just trying to fill space. Sometimes the problem we are implicitly trying to solve isn’t one that actually aligns with our goals. Sometimes we haven’t understood the problem enough to allow our brains to tackle it in a meaningful way.

Gathering relevant data and organized thoughts for a clear and specific formulation of the problem is more than half the battle.