You may be excellent at solving problems — but pause for a moment: are you sure you’re solving the right ones?

In business, many leaders are too driven or impatient to spend enough time on problem definition. That means first validating that the problem is the right one, and second, assessing whether it’s even worth solving — in terms of time, effort, and strategic value.

In a 2012 Harvard Business Review article, Dwayne Spradlin noted:

“We now know that the rigor with which a problem is defined is the most important factor in finding a suitable solution. But we’ve seen that most organizations are not proficient at articulating their problems clearly and concisely.”

In other words, many teams struggle to identify which problems are truly critical to their mission and strategy.

Context matters. The best way to define the right question varies by industry, function, and circumstance. Rather than offer a formula, I’ll leave you with a challenge:

👉 Slow down, and test your judgment. Have you taken the time to define the right question?

Questions serve many purposes. They can help:

> Deepen understanding by surfacing key facts or trends

> Invite conversation, concerns, or divergent viewpoints

> Clarify issues and align perspectives

> Validate whether a proposed solution is even viable

But the most powerful questions do one thing: They help define the right problem. They point to the root cause.

The hardest work isn’t typically solving problems; it’s choosing the right questions.