Sense and decide
How Might We…
Reframe a problem as an open how-might-we question before anyone proposes a solution.
Borrowed from the "How might we" question, first used at Procter & Gamble in the 1970s and popularized by IDEO and the Google Ventures design sprint. Read the original source.
One session · Minutes to start · Anyone on the team can start it
Try this first
Phrase the problem once as how might we.
Use it when
Teams jump to solutions before the problem is framed.
Skip it when
It suits open problems with room for creative answers, not decisions with a right answer or urgent calls that need a direction now.
How to introduce it
Before jumping to solutions, turn the problem into an open question. How might we cut review time without losing quality. It is deliberately optimistic and open-ended, which invites a range of answers instead of a debate about one. Design practice runs on this, because the framing shapes everything after it.
How to show up
Land the group on a question that is neither too broad to be useful nor so narrow it smuggles a solution inside. Hold them in the framing before they rush to answer.
How long it takes
A few minutes to frame the question before working on solutions.
What makes it hard
People want to solve, so pausing to frame takes discipline. Scope is the skill. Too broad and it is useless, too narrow and the answer is already hiding in the question.
What it looks like when it's working
The question generates a real range of ideas rather than a fight over one. Arguing about a single answer before the problem is framed means the reframing got skipped.
How long until it sticks
Several problems before reframing-before-solving becomes a natural first step.
How you know it stuck
The team frames a problem as an open question before reaching for solutions.
The idea behind it
How you frame a problem decides which solutions you can see. An open question opens the space. A narrow one closes it before you start.
Where it comes from
Design practice. A model will answer whatever question you hand it. Framing the question is what decides whether the answers are any good. Turn the problem into an open question that starts with how might we, before anyone proposes an answer.