How to Turn 60 Problems into One Clear Path
A practical guide to cutting through the chaos, structuring fuzzy problem spaces, and finding what actually matters.
We recently got handed a project the way you get handed a toddler’s crayon drawing: no context, lots of colour, and the implicit expectation that you’ll be available to engage with it. The brief was simple and so so vague: “Something isn’t working, and we need your help.”
Cool. I secretly really like these, even though they make my head hurt sometimes.
One of my team members dove in with genuine curiosity and came back with a list of sixty problems. Not a list, really, more of a catalogue. We were so close to the classic Jay-Z song 99 Problems, I couldn’t help but ask; “Think you could find another 39?”. We shared an awkward laugh.
Then we did what you do when you’re staring at a jellyfish of a project. We call them jellyfish because they have none of the spines of a fishbone diagram. There is no structure of cause and effect that starts to order your problems; they’re just a blob of unrelated limbs. This can still feel like a lot at times, especially when stakeholders don’t align. But this is the approach we worked through:
Step 1: Don’t Fear the Chaos. Just Don’t Get Stuck There
More exploration almost always means more problems. The key is not to solve them all. The point of wading into an ambiguous challenge is to sit with all the problems and context until the goal is clear. You need a desired outcome to anchor to, one that resonates across the key stakeholders.
This is easier said than done for some personality types. Ambiguity can be a big stressor. Don’t undervalue how your resilience to it can be a big service to others.
Step 2: Go from Jellyfish to Fishbone
Putting the goal in the centre of the project, we could filter any problems that weren’t relevant. We started going from Jellyfish, to a centipede all the way through to a manageable fishbone:
Jellyfish: Soft, wobbly, chaotic. Everything is a problem. All problems are equal and no logic is applied to sort them.
Centipede: If you have lots of problems, but you can order them by cause and effect. It looks like a looooong fishbone diagram. A centipede with many legs. Focus cuts it down.
Fishbone: Fishbone diagrams are a useful structure of causes and effects. Effects point to a spine, and the spine points to a central issue.
We finalised grouping the problems using cause and effect logic, and identified any gaps in knowledge we needed to engage further on.
Step 3: Ask What Actually Moves the Needle
We tied each problem back to a core question:
“If we solved this, would it actually help us hit the goal?”
This is the shift from cataloging problems to identifying leverage points. Sometimes there isn’t enough oil to go around for every squeaky wheel, and we need to focus on best bang for buck.
Moving Forward
We’ve traded 60 problems for one clear direction for further engagement. Now we can find a critical few strategic solutions that will actually matter.
Remember: Jellyfish are useful, but build them a spine, and use it to walk forward.