Think problem restatement

Skill product-on-purpose/thinking-framework-skills/skills/think-problem-restatement

Evidence-graded, agent-executable thinking-method skills - 56 frameworks reduced to their working mechanism, honestly graded, and producing a concrete artifact. 56 frameworks + 4 tools + 9 recipes for Claude Code, Codex, and other AI agents. Advanced (Gold) tier.

Install

npx -y skills add product-on-purpose/thinking-framework-skills --skill think-problem-restatement

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Generates several genuinely different framings of an ambiguous problem by varying altitude, stakeholder, and goal-versus-implementation, then selects the most useful one to solve and produces a reframed problem statement with How Might We angles. Use when a problem is vague, arrived as a symptom or a pre-baked solution, or before committing significant work to solving the wrong thing.

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SKILL.md

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Problem Restatement

The default failure is to solve a problem exactly as first stated, even though the first statement usually encodes a symptom, a presupposed solution, or one stakeholder's view. Problem restatement is a deliberate interrupt before solving: generate several genuinely different formulations of the problem, each by a distinct move (change altitude, separate goal from implementation, shift stakeholder, invert, bound with is/is-not), then choose the most useful one to work on. The output is a problem frame set ending in a single chosen working frame, not a longer list and not prose.

When to Use

The problem is ambiguous, ill-defined, or stated as a symptom.
The request names a solution ("build X") but the underlying goal is unstated.
Solving the wrong problem would be costly; this is upstream of significant work.
At the start of most reframing, discovery, or strategy workflows.

When NOT to Use

The problem is already well-defined and validated; reframing a correct, clear problem wastes effort and manufactures doubt.
For trivial or fully reversible tasks where a wrong frame costs little.
To generate solutions (use an ideation skill) or to choose among them (use a decision skill); this tool only sharpens the problem.
As endless reframing that avoids ever committing to solve. Restatement that never selects a working frame is the main failure mode.

Instructions

When asked to restate or reframe a problem, follow these steps:

Capture the problem as given. Record it verbatim. Note who framed it and whether it names a symptom or a presupposed solution.
Generate restatements with distinct moves, not rewordings. Produce 5 to 8 genuinely different frames using: altitude up ("what is this ultimately in service of?") and down ("what concretely is failing?"); goal versus implementation (separate the outcome wanted from the solution proposed); stakeholder shift (state it as each affected party would); inversion ("how would we cause this on purpose?"); and is / is not (what the problem explicitly is and is not).
Justify each briefly. For every restatement, add one line: why this might be the real problem.
Draw How Might We angles. From the most promising restatements, write 3 to 5 open "How might we ..." questions.
Select one working frame. Choose the single restatement that best serves the user's actual goal, and say in one or two sentences why. Converge; do not leave it open.
Emit the problem frame set. Produce the artifact in references/TEMPLATE.md: the original, the tagged restatement table, the How Might We angles, and the chosen working frame with rationale.

Output Format

Use the template in references/TEMPLATE.md. The deliverable is the frame set ending in one chosen working frame, not a prose essay.

Quality Checklist

Before finalizing, verify:

Restatements use distinct framing moves (altitude, goal-vs-implementation, stakeholder, inversion, is/is-not), not cosmetic rewordings.
The underlying goal is separated from any proposed implementation.
At least one restatement challenges a load-bearing assumption (an inversion or an is/is-not).
Exactly one working frame is selected, with a rationale tied to the user's actual goal.
The output is the frame set artifact, not prose.
No overclaiming: the skill sharpens the problem, it does not guarantee a better solution (see evidence/dossier.md).

Evidence

Tier M/P. That how a problem is framed affects the quality and originality of solutions has moderate support (problem-finding research, Getzels & Csikszentmihalyi and successors; Nutt on decision failure from poor definition), and design practice treats a tight problem statement as upstream of better ideation (Stanford d.school; Wedell-Wedellsborg, HBR 2017). The specific "restate it several ways" technique is practitioner-grade, and evidence is transferred from human studies, not AI-validated. The popular Einstein "55 minutes" quote is apocryphal and is not used as support. Full grading and caveats: evidence/dossier.md.

Examples

See references/EXAMPLE.md for a completed problem frame set.