Exercise: Problem evaluation

- And now, let's turn back to you. In your list of problems, you indicated those that are of the highest priority to you. Pick one of them. Ask, what are its causes? (gentle guitar music) Now ask yourself, what are the signs that there is a problem? How do you recognize them? What are the consequences of not solving the problem? Do the consequences increase with time, the longer the problem goes unsolved? What barriers are created by the absence of a good solution? (gentle guitar music) Who else is affected by the problem that you have? Who are the different stakeholders in the problem? How does the problem affect them? What are the different dimensions of the problem? Personal, economic, emotional, strategic, organizational, societal. (gentle guitar music) These are all important questions to ask, for as we now know, understanding the problem deeply is essential for solving it well. In Samantha's case, she wanted to support the emotional and educational wellbeing of her students. But to do that, she first needed to be able to track how her students were feeling each day. Without that information, she couldn't give the students the support they needed. That was a very important piece of knowledge. The more you understand the problem, the closer you get to solving it.