The Most Underrated Skill in Management

March 13, 2017 | Nelson Repenning, Don Kieffer, Todd Astor | Leadership

According to the authors, there are few questions in business more powerful than “What problem are you trying to solve?” The authors argue that leaders who can formulate clear problem statements get more done with less effort and move more rapidly than their less-focused counterparts. Clear problem statements can unlock the energy and innovation that lies within those who do the core work of an organization, whether it be manufacturing, product development, or service.

As valuable as good problem formulation can be, it is rarely practiced. Psychologists and cognitive scientists have suggested that the brain is prone to leaping straight from a situation to a solution without pausing to define the problem clearly. Such “jumping to conclusions” can be effective, particularly when done by experts facing extreme time pressure, like fighting a fire or performing emergency surgery. But, when making change in an organization, neglecting to formulate a clear problem statement often prevents innovation and leads to wasted time and money.

A good problem statement has five basic elements:

It references something the organization cares about and connects that element to a clear and specific goal;
it contains a clear articulation of the gap between the current state and the goal;
the key variables — the target, the current state, and the gap — are generally quantifiable, even if they cannot be measured objectively;
it is as neutral as possible concerning possible diagnoses or solutions;
and it is sufficiently small in scope that it can be tackled quickly.

To tackle complex problems, executives need to complement good problem formulation with a structured approach to problem-solving. The authors recommend an approach using a modified version of the A3 form, which was originally developed by Toyota Motor Corp. to support knowledge sharing in its factories by summarizing a structured problem-solving effort in a single page.

Purchase Options

PDF $6.95

PDF + Permission to Distribute $5.90

Educator and Student Discounts Available. Learn more »

SELECT c.parent_id, c.format_id
                    FROM products AS p, products AS c
                    WHERE p.prod_id = c.parent_id AND
                        c.avail_id IN ('A','B','D') AND
                        c.type_id = 'V' AND
                        (
                            c.sku = 'the-most-underrated-skill-in-management' OR
                            if(c.format_id = 'Certificate', '', p.url_friendly) = 'the-most-underrated-skill-in-management'
                        )
                    LIMIT 1

SELECT `products`.`parent_id`
FROM (`transaction_lines`)
JOIN `products` ON `products`.`sku` = `transaction_lines`.`sku`
JOIN `product_categories__products` ON `products`.`parent_id` = `product_categories__products`.`prod_id`
WHERE `products`.`avail_id` = 'A'
AND TO_DAYS(transaction_lines.updated_at) < (TO_DAYS(NOW()) - 90)
AND `product_categories__products`.`cat_id` IN ('246')
GROUP BY `products`.`parent_id`
ORDER BY COUNT(*) DESC
LIMIT 6

SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS media_id, position
FROM (`media`)
WHERE `foreign_key_table` =  'products'
AND `foreign_key_column` =  'prod_id'
AND `foreign_key_value` =  '3421'
AND `kind` =  'image_600x600'
ORDER BY IF(position = 0, 1, 0) ASC , `position`

SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS media_id, position
FROM (`media`)
WHERE `foreign_key_table` =  'products'
AND `foreign_key_column` =  'prod_id'
AND `foreign_key_value` =  '3421'
AND `kind` =  'gallery_image'
ORDER BY IF(position = 0, 1, 0) ASC , `position`

SELECT *
FROM (`products`)
WHERE `avail_id` IN ('A', 'B', 'C', 'H')
AND `parent_id` = '3421'
AND `type_id` = 'V'
ORDER BY IF(position = 0, 1, 0) ASC , `position`, `title`

SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS media_id, position
FROM (`media`)
WHERE `foreign_key_table` =  'products'
AND `foreign_key_column` =  'prod_id'
AND `foreign_key_value` =  '3422'
AND `kind` =  'thumbnail'
ORDER BY IF(position = 0, 1, 0) ASC , `position`

SELECT `product_categories__products`.`cat_id`
FROM (`product_categories__products`)
JOIN `product_categories` ON `product_categories__products`.`cat_id` = `product_categories`.`cat_id`
WHERE `product_categories__products`.`prod_id` =  '3421'
AND `product_categories`.`parent_id` =  1
AND `product_categories__products`.`cat_id` NOT IN (1, 261)

SELECT `cat_id` AS id, `parent_id` AS parent, `status_id`, `name`, `description`, `url_friendly`, `page_title`, `meta_keywords`, `meta_description`, `position`, `updated_at`
FROM (`product_categories`)
WHERE `cat_id` != 1
ORDER BY `parent_id`, IF(position = 0, 1, 0) ASC , `position`, `name`

Loading Time: Base Classes	0.0010
My Controller Construct	0.0003
Build Nav	0.0006
Controller Execution Time ( Products / Route )	0.0802
Total Execution Time	0.0811

0.0008	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = '4a500352737007b9eaa33153bd02d349' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0005	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = '4a500352737007b9eaa33153bd02d349' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0001	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = '4a500352737007b9eaa33153bd02d349' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0006	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = '4a500352737007b9eaa33153bd02d349' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0001	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = '4a500352737007b9eaa33153bd02d349' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0007	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = '4a500352737007b9eaa33153bd02d349' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0006	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = '4a500352737007b9eaa33153bd02d349' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0001	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = '4a500352737007b9eaa33153bd02d349' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0001	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = '4a500352737007b9eaa33153bd02d349' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0001	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = '4a500352737007b9eaa33153bd02d349' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0001	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = '4a500352737007b9eaa33153bd02d349' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0001	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = '4a500352737007b9eaa33153bd02d349' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0001	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = '4a500352737007b9eaa33153bd02d349' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0001	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = '4a500352737007b9eaa33153bd02d349' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0001	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = '4a500352737007b9eaa33153bd02d349' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0001	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = '4a500352737007b9eaa33153bd02d349' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0001	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = '4a500352737007b9eaa33153bd02d349' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0001	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = '4a500352737007b9eaa33153bd02d349' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0001	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = '4a500352737007b9eaa33153bd02d349' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0001	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = '4a500352737007b9eaa33153bd02d349' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0001	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = '4a500352737007b9eaa33153bd02d349' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = '4a500352737007b9eaa33153bd02d349' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0001	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = '4a500352737007b9eaa33153bd02d349' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0001	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = '4a500352737007b9eaa33153bd02d349' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0001	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = '4a500352737007b9eaa33153bd02d349' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0001	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = '4a500352737007b9eaa33153bd02d349' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0002	SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS cat_id FROM (`product_categories`) WHERE `status_id` = 'A' AND `url_friendly` = 'the-most-underrated-skill-in-management' AND `parent_id` = 1
0.0118	SELECT c.parent_id, c.format_id FROM products AS p, products AS c WHERE p.prod_id = c.parent_id AND c.avail_id IN ('A','B','D') AND c.type_id = 'V' AND ( c.sku = 'the-most-underrated-skill-in-management' OR if(c.format_id = 'Certificate', '', p.url_friendly) = 'the-most-underrated-skill-in-management' ) LIMIT 1
0.0002	SELECT `parent_id` FROM (`products`) WHERE `prod_id` = 3421
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`products`) WHERE `products`.`prod_id` = '3421'
0.0003	SELECT * FROM (`authors`) JOIN `products__authors` ON `authors`.`author_id` = `products__authors`.`author_id` WHERE `products__authors`.`prod_id` = '3421' ORDER BY `sort` ASC
0.0001	SELECT `cat_id` FROM (`product_categories__products`) WHERE `prod_id` = '3421'
0.0001	SELECT * FROM (`product_flags__products`) WHERE `prod_id` = '3421'
0.0003	SELECT `sku` FROM (`products__xsell`) WHERE `prod_id` = '3421' ORDER BY IF(position = 0, 1, 0) ASC , `position`
0.0362	SELECT `products`.`parent_id` FROM (`transaction_lines`) JOIN `products` ON `products`.`sku` = `transaction_lines`.`sku` JOIN `product_categories__products` ON `products`.`parent_id` = `product_categories__products`.`prod_id` WHERE `products`.`avail_id` = 'A' AND TO_DAYS(transaction_lines.updated_at) < (TO_DAYS(NOW()) - 90) AND `product_categories__products`.`cat_id` IN ('246') GROUP BY `products`.`parent_id` ORDER BY COUNT() DESC LIMIT* 6
0.0002	SELECT `parent_id` FROM (`products`) WHERE `prod_id` = '4013'
0.0003	SELECT * FROM (`products`) WHERE `products`.`prod_id` = '4013'
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`authors`) JOIN `products__authors` ON `authors`.`author_id` = `products__authors`.`author_id` WHERE `products__authors`.`prod_id` = '4013' ORDER BY `sort` ASC
0.0001	SELECT `parent_id` FROM (`products`) WHERE `prod_id` = '97'
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`products`) WHERE `products`.`prod_id` = '97'
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`authors`) JOIN `products__authors` ON `authors`.`author_id` = `products__authors`.`author_id` WHERE `products__authors`.`prod_id` = '97' ORDER BY `sort` ASC
0.0001	SELECT `parent_id` FROM (`products`) WHERE `prod_id` = '3421'
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`products`) WHERE `products`.`prod_id` = '3421'
0.0004	SELECT * FROM (`authors`) JOIN `products__authors` ON `authors`.`author_id` = `products__authors`.`author_id` WHERE `products__authors`.`prod_id` = '3421' ORDER BY `sort` ASC
0.0001	SELECT `parent_id` FROM (`products`) WHERE `prod_id` = '901'
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`products`) WHERE `products`.`prod_id` = '901'
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`authors`) JOIN `products__authors` ON `authors`.`author_id` = `products__authors`.`author_id` WHERE `products__authors`.`prod_id` = '901' ORDER BY `sort` ASC
0.0001	SELECT `parent_id` FROM (`products`) WHERE `prod_id` = '1015'
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`products`) WHERE `products`.`prod_id` = '1015'
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`authors`) JOIN `products__authors` ON `authors`.`author_id` = `products__authors`.`author_id` WHERE `products__authors`.`prod_id` = '1015' ORDER BY `sort` ASC
0.0001	SELECT `parent_id` FROM (`products`) WHERE `prod_id` = '4189'
0.0001	SELECT * FROM (`products`) WHERE `products`.`prod_id` = '4189'
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`authors`) JOIN `products__authors` ON `authors`.`author_id` = `products__authors`.`author_id` WHERE `products__authors`.`prod_id` = '4189' ORDER BY `sort` ASC
0.0008	SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS media_id, position FROM (`media`) WHERE `foreign_key_table` = 'products' AND `foreign_key_column` = 'prod_id' AND `foreign_key_value` = '3421' AND `kind` = 'image_600x600' ORDER BY IF(position = 0, 1, 0) ASC , `position`
0.0001	SELECT * FROM (`media`) WHERE `media`.`media_id` = '1575'
0.0001	SELECT * FROM (`mime_types`) WHERE `mime_types`.`extension` = 'jpg'
0.0001	SELECT * FROM (`media_metadata`) WHERE `media_id` = '1575'
0.0003	SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS media_id, position FROM (`media`) WHERE `foreign_key_table` = 'products' AND `foreign_key_column` = 'prod_id' AND `foreign_key_value` = '3421' AND `kind` = 'gallery_image' ORDER BY IF(position = 0, 1, 0) ASC , `position`
0.0003	SELECT * FROM (`products`) WHERE `avail_id` IN ('A', 'B', 'C', 'H') AND `parent_id` = '3421' AND `type_id` = 'V' ORDER BY IF(position = 0, 1, 0) ASC , `position`, `title`
0.0001	SELECT `c`.`format_id`, `c`.`price`, `c`.`sale_price` FROM (`products` AS c) WHERE `c`.`prod_id` = '3422' LIMIT 1
0.0002	SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS media_id, position FROM (`media`) WHERE `foreign_key_table` = 'products' AND `foreign_key_column` = 'prod_id' AND `foreign_key_value` = '3422' AND `kind` = 'thumbnail' ORDER BY IF(position = 0, 1, 0) ASC , `position`
0.0005	SELECT `product_categories__products`.`cat_id` FROM (`product_categories__products`) JOIN `product_categories` ON `product_categories__products`.`cat_id` = `product_categories`.`cat_id` WHERE `product_categories__products`.`prod_id` = '3421' AND `product_categories`.`parent_id` = 1 AND `product_categories__products`.`cat_id` NOT IN (1, 261)
0.0004	SELECT `cat_id` AS id, `parent_id` AS parent, `status_id`, `name`, `description`, `url_friendly`, `page_title`, `meta_keywords`, `meta_description`, `position`, `updated_at` FROM (`product_categories`) WHERE `cat_id` != 1 ORDER BY `parent_id`, IF(position = 0, 1, 0) ASC , `position`, `name`
0.0003	SELECT * FROM (`product_categories`) WHERE `status_id` = 'A' AND `parent_id` = 1 AND `cat_id` NOT IN (1, 261) ORDER BY `name`
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`site_settings`) WHERE `option_key` = 'announcement'

HTTP_ACCEPT	/
HTTP_USER_AGENT	Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)
HTTP_CONNECTION
SERVER_PORT	443
SERVER_NAME	mit-sloan.rarebirdinc.com
REMOTE_ADDR	3.141.0.181
SERVER_SOFTWARE	Apache
HTTP_ACCEPT_LANGUAGE
SCRIPT_NAME	/index.php
REQUEST_METHOD	GET
HTTP_HOST
REMOTE_HOST
CONTENT_TYPE
SERVER_PROTOCOL	HTTP/2.0
QUERY_STRING
HTTP_ACCEPT_ENCODING	gzip, br, zstd, deflate
HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR

session_id	f08b05a99dcf1de0750df7a65f793984
ip_address	3.141.0.181
user_agent	Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)
last_activity	1739379573
user_data
cart	Array ( [cart_id] => 4a500352737007b9eaa33153bd02d349 [subtotal] => Array ( [Physical] => 0 [PDF] => 0 [Zip] => 0 [Audio] => 0 [Video] => 0 [Digital Replica] => 0 [eBook] => 0 [Certificate] => 0 [Print Sub] => 0 [Digital Sub] => 0 [Combo Sub] => 0 [Shippable] => 0 ) [item_count] => Array ( [Physical] => 0 [PDF] => 0 [Zip] => 0 [Audio] => 0 [Video] => 0 [Digital Replica] => 0 [eBook] => 0 [Certificate] => 0 [Print Sub] => 0 [Digital Sub] => 0 [Combo Sub] => 0 [Shippable] => 0 ) [contains_books] => 0 )

base_url	https://mit-sloan.rarebirdinc.com/
index_page
uri_protocol	AUTO
url_suffix
url_allowed_suffixes	Array ( [0] => html )
language	english
charset	UTF-8
enable_hooks	1
subclass_prefix	MY_
permitted_uri_chars	a-z 0-9~%.:_\-
allow_get_array	1
enable_query_strings
controller_trigger	c
function_trigger	m
directory_trigger	d
log_threshold	4
log_path	/var/www/mit-sloan.com/logs/
log_date_format	Y-m-d H:i:s
cache_path
encryption_key	pIck\|3j@rZ
sess_cookie_name	ci_session
sess_expiration	7200
sess_expire_on_close
sess_encrypt_cookie
sess_use_database	1
sess_table_name	sessions
sess_match_ip
sess_match_useragent
sess_time_to_update	3000
cookie_prefix
cookie_domain	.mit-sloan.rarebirdinc.com
cookie_path	/
cookie_secure
global_xss_filtering
csrf_protection
csrf_token_name	csrf_test_name
csrf_cookie_name	csrf_cookie_name
csrf_expire	7200
compress_output
time_reference	local
rewrite_short_tags
proxy_ips
globals	Array ( [org] => SMR [company_name] => MIT Sloan Management Review [cs_address_1] => 238 Main Street E48-570 [cs_address_2] => [cs_city] => Cambridge [cs_state] => MA [cs_zip] => 02142 [cs_phone] => 617-253-7170 [cs_fax] => 617-258-9739 [cs_hours] => 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. [EST] Mon. - Fri. [cs_email] => smr-help@mit.edu [triliteral_email] => orders@triliteral.org [mit_issues_email] => smr-issues@mit.edu [order_confirm_email] => smr-noreply@sloan.mit.edu [webmaster_email] => webmaster@rarebirdinc.com [inventory_recips] => developer@rarebirdinc.com [meta_description] => MIT Sloan Management Review's online store [meta_keywords] => [copyright] => Copyright © Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2025. All rights reserved. [ga_account] => [recaptcha] => Array ( [public_key] => [private_key] => ) [enable_users] => [doc_root] => /var/www/mit-sloan.com/web [media_path] => /var/www/mit-sloan.com/web/media [data_path] => /var/www/mit-sloan.com/web/../data [csv_path] => /var/www/mit-sloan.com/web/../data/csv [ini_path] => /var/www/mit-sloan.com/web/../data/ini [pdf_path] => /var/www/mit-sloan.com/web/../data/pdf [certificate_pdf_path] => /var/www/mit-sloan.com/web/../data/certificate_pdf [audio_path] => /var/www/mit-sloan.com/web/../data/audio [video_path] => /var/www/mit-sloan.com/web/../data/video [zip_path] => /var/www/mit-sloan.com/web/../data/zip [epub_path] => /var/www/mit-sloan.com/web/../data/epub [mobi_path] => /var/www/mit-sloan.com/web/../data/mobi [cli_path] => /var/www/mit-sloan.com/application/controllers/cli [title_suffix] => - MIT SMR Store [seo] => Array ( [default_title] => MIT SMR Store [og_image] => http://mit-sloan.rarebirdinc.com/assets/images/mit-smr-social-default.png ) [default_meta] => Array ( [description] => MIT Sloan Management Review's online store [keywords] => [copyright] => Copyright © Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2025. All rights reserved. [author] => MIT Sloan Management Review ) [main_site_url] => http://sloanreview.mit.edu [license_agreement_pdf_url] => /pdf/MgmtReportLicensingAgreement.pdf [permission_to_copy_min_qty] => 5 [adminbghex] => #c9c9c9 [adminfghex] => #e9e9e9 [adminac1hex] => #a9a9a9 [default_product_thumbnail] => /assets/images/MITSMR_cover.jpg [default_product_cover] => /assets/images/MITSMR_cover.jpg [sendgrid_api_key] => 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 )
template	Array ( [default_layout] => layouts/application [enable_view_path_comment] => 1 )
sfg	Array ( [debug] => 0 [log] => 1 [notify] => 1 [timeout] => 10 [test_mode] => [remote_host] => api.sfgnetwork.com [remote_port] => 443 [remote_uri] => /websvcapps/services/https/process_xmlrpc.php [remote_method] => process_xmlrpc [services] => Array ( [ecommerce_order] => Array ( [user] => 122f2eb252faa4e4b86193e483bd2b52 [pass] => 21598fa307e843648856f0c3f41bfbc5 ) [product_status] => Array ( [user] => 1ec0e02302ef35e38fb75f6d13670357 [pass] => 36375bce7741df326faec39f71240d5e ) ) )

The Most Underrated Skill in Management

You may also be interested in:

The Strategic Agility Project

What Makes Work Meaningful — Or Meaningless

The Most Underrated Skill in Management

How to Manage Virtual Teams

How to Have Influence

The New Leadership Playbook for the Digital Age: Reimagining What It Takes to Lead