Problem-Solving Framework Examples: 10 Evidence-Based Coaching Practices

Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For Problem-Solving Framework Examples, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.

Practices that may help

1. Problem Reframing: Solving the Right Problem First
   Problem reframing means deliberately reconsidering what problem you are actually trying to solve before generating solutions. Min Basadur’s work on creative problem-solving shows that the framing you start with strongly constrains the solutions you find — changing the framing often unlocks solutions that were invisible under the original definition.
2. Use morphological analysis for wicked problems with many interdependencies
   The method shines on problems too complex for brainstorming to cover adequately.
   Morphological Analysis, Made Practical
3. Use proven MECE frameworks as starting structures
   Standard frameworks (profit tree, 4Ps, Porter’s Five Forces) are pre-built MECE structures — use them rather than rebuilding from scratch.
   Issue Tree Analysis
4. Climb the why–why ladder
   Ask "why is this a problem?" repeatedly to reveal the higher-level goal your current framing may be missing.
   Problem Reframing: Solving the Right Problem First
5. Import a frame from a different domain
   Describe your problem as if it were a challenge in an unrelated field, then steal the solutions from that field.
   Problem Reframing: Solving the Right Problem First
6. Reframe problems using cross-domain language
   Describe your problem in a different field’s vocabulary — then use that vocabulary to search for solutions.
   The Medici Effect: Innovation at the Intersection
7. Define — frame the right problem
   Synthesize your research into a single, sharp problem statement before solving.
   Design Thinking, Step by Step
8. Distinguish diagnostic trees (why?) from solution trees (how?)
   Use a "why?" tree to find root causes and a "how?" tree to generate solutions — mixing them produces confusing structures.
   Issue Tree Analysis
9. Map who actually owns the problem
   Identify whose problem it truly is before investing in a solution — the framing often changes when you name the real owner.
   Problem Reframing: Solving the Right Problem First
10. Exception Finding: When Is the Problem Already Less Severe?
    Identify times when the problem was absent or less severe — these are evidence that solutions already exist.
    Solution-Focused Brief Therapy: Building On What Works

Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?

• This problem is so knotty and interdependent that every time we brainstorm it, the room just locks onto whoever framed it first, and half the disagreement is really people picturing entirely different versions of the same mess.→
• I’m trying to build the whole breakdown of this problem from a blank page, reinventing the structure from scratch, and it’s slow and I keep missing obvious pieces→
• I keep fixing the thing right in front of me and the same trouble just keeps coming back in a new shape, which makes me think I’ve only been swatting at the surface→
• I feel like I’m staring at this from inside my own little field with no fresh ideas, but I have a nagging sense that somebody, somewhere→
• I’m stuck on a problem because the way I’ve described it boxes in the solutions I can even see→

Describe your situation in your own words to search the complete practice library.