Agile Method for Problem Solving and Planning, Part 1/3

5 min readFeb 3, 2022

This article is for people who want to summarize their thoughts and ideas into explainable plans efficiently.

I currently work as a senior product manager, and I’ve been lecturing this in my workplace to mainly to product managers, but also to people working in sales, strategy, etc.

I hope you find this method useful.

Have you suffered from situations like the below?

Discussions diffuse in meetings, ending nowhere.
In the middle of a presentation, everyone is arguing about details… and eventually everyone is wondering what the issue or purpose was in the first place.
You are listening to a proposal — you feel something is missing, but you aren’t sure what it is. You end up unable to make a decision.

This method hopes to prevent such situations.

Defining the problem

When you are proposing something, you want to solve a problem. You want to change a specific situation into something different.

Since most issues in business are intangible, it is extremely important to communicate in clear expressions. I cannot stress this more.

No matter how great the proposal is, it will be meaningless if the issues are misaligned.

If your solution is based on a misunderstanding, it will be pointless. It’s like telling the owner of a vegetarian restaurant how to make the best cheeseburger in the history of mankind. (I love cheeseburgers)

Equation of a problem

So, how do you define a problem?

I recommend using this simple equation.

[To-do] = [To-be] - [As-is]

The [To-be] is the ideal state. The place where you want to be.
The [As-is] is the current state.
The difference between the two is the [To-do] — this is the problem to be solved.

Let me explain each of them in detail.

As-is

[As-is] refers to the current state. The current state is easy to put into words because it is something real, thus easy to observe.

On the other hand, the interpretation of the present tend to vary.

For example, person A thinks that the current state is close to ideal, while person B thinks that it is far from ideal.

Therefore, it is very important to define the current state in clear terms to come to a mutual understanding.

To-be

The [To-be] is the ideal state.

Compared to the [As-is], the ideal state is often only in each individual’s mind.

This means that everyone can be imaging a different “ideal” state.

This can cause a lot of problems when you are running a project.

Like the [To-be], it is important to express the ideal state in a unique and concrete way, and to explain it to stakeholders.

To-do

Finally we can talk about the [To-do], the problem.

The [To-do] needs to come only after defining the [To-be] and the [As-is], because it is the gap between the two elements.

Even if you defined the [As-is] but have not defined the [To-be], you cannot define the [To-do], the problem. You don’t know where the goal is.

Even if you defined the [To-be] but have not defined the [As-is], you can’t define the [To-do], the problem. This is because we don’t know where we stand.

Definition of a solution

Taking into account all the 3 factors, [To-be], [As-is], and their gap, [To-do], a “solution” should be defined as the most efficient and sufficient way to fill the gap. It can be pictured below.

Likely situations in everyday life

[To-be] is missing so you can’t say what the problem is.

You haven’t defined the [As-is], the current state. You can’t define the problem.

You have a solution but it is not enough:

The solution is irrelevant to the problem:

I hope this super-simple framework provides a clear way to define problems leading to solutions.

As a senior product manager, I have used this framework for more than 10 years, and it has not failed me once.

When presenting someone an idea, I will always start from defining the [To-do] = [To-be] minus [As-is].

Beginning from this will always ensure we have a mutual understanding of where we want to go(the To-be) and where we are now(the As-is), thus what we should do(the To-do and the solution).

This article is part one of a series where I share my “agile” approach toward problem solving and crafting a plan/proposal.

You can find the second article here, where I share a quick and efficient way to construct ideas. I use this method, 6w2h+S, all the time.

I hope you find this article useful. Please feel free to comment or ask questions! I am always willing to help others.