Framing is the process of breaking down a problem into a set of choices, trade offs, and options that enable a team to make a call and move forward.

• Benefits of good framing

  • Common language: facilitate better conversations

  • Question prioritization:

  • Option enumeration

  • Inclusion

  • Faster decisions that stick: if you have roll back a fast decision, it wasn't really fast

• Techniques to frame better

  • Eigenquestions

  • Great diagrams

  • Your team

• Eigenquestion: question where, if answered, it likely answers the subsequent questions as well.

  • Convert decisions into principles for future decision making

• Great diagrams

• Your team: great ideas come from everywhere

  • Wallow: Idea and problem statement generation. These are inputs to the frame.

  • Frame: Synthesize the questions and options. This is where the frame matures into a diagram.

  • Propose: Pick one of the options. This is where the frame is narrowed to its conclusion.

  • Close: Commit and execute. Get your team’s buy-in and move forward!

Author: Shishir Mehrotra & Matt Hudson

Source: https://coda.io/@shishir/eigenquestions-the-art-of-framing-problems