"Want to Solve a Big Problem? Start Small"

"If you want to solve a big problem, it's often best to start out thinking small.

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found a way to make progress toward that goal by solving smaller problems first.

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The key is to identify a problem that is big enough to matter but small enough to be solved.

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Our initial problem phrasing is open-ended enough to permit many possible answers. A common mistake is to embed a single answer in the question. For example, 'How do I create a mobile application to reduce food waste?' This assumes that the answer is a mobile app. We rephrase that to say, 'How do I reduce food waste?'

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Always remember: closed questions reduce your chances of being creative by suggesting there is a single 'correct' solution to your problem. Open questions give you more choices for creative solutions. This is true even as you narrow down your question.

Once vou've decided on vour open-ended 'how' question, you can test whether it's too broad or narrow. To do this, think of an upside-down pyramid. Up top, at the widest level, you have the huge problem. At the bottom, the narrowest level, you have a tiny problem, and in between are different gradations. You move up or down the pyramid, making your problem wider or narrower, until you find the right level. I call this Step Analysis: 'Step up' to widen your problem. 'Step down' to narrow it. Step up and your solution makes a bigger impact, but it's harder to solve; step down and your solution makes a smaller impact, but it's easier to solve."

Trecho retirado de "Want to Solve a Big Problem? Start Small" publicado na Rotman Magazine deste Outono

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