harmonize problem space
Although sharing the same sets of concerns is a phenomenal and hard won first step in tackling a wicked problem, one of the most frustrating next steps is that, while you now tacitly agree on the problem space and constraints, you rarely start navigating that space at the same stage. An individuals’ prior experience and the tools and techniques they have at their disposal typically dictate the lens through which they polorize the solution space, but regardless of the lens it’s critical that communication occur at the same stage or we risk leaving that meeting with only vague objectives, overblown expectations, and a murkier picture than when we first started.
In my anecdotal experience, the most frustrating conversations are with those who derail forward progress with stage 2 musings that (very often) throw away all of the shared concerns we’ve attempted to cultivate in favor of solutions that almost always ignore some of the very real friction experienced by the do-er or forego limitations on very finite resources (compute, time, and then money are the most common). I like to dream too, but we’re here to work, not brainstorm. One of the best ways I’ve found of ensuring that we start at the same point is to extensively document the current state of our (practical) knowledge through data-driven pathways, and placing the scale of our puzzle front and center so that we all grasp the size of the puzzle we’re trying to solve.
Sources: Pittampalli (2019), Wheatley (2015)