Today let's use the Phoenix Checklist to approach problem solving from various angles.
It's supposedly developed and used by CIA, The Central Intelligence Agency. The Phoenix checklist questions help us to look at challenges from many different viewpoints.
I have added a some related question and organized the list into a set of categories to make more easy to understand, use in everyday life and solve a wide variety of problems.
Phase A - The Problem
With the first set of question we are going to explore, understand, identify, analyse, reframe, clarify, and prioritize problems, etc..
Category 1: Understanding the Importance of (solving) the Problem
- Why is it necessary to solve the problem?
- What benefits will you receive by solving the problem?
- What is the unknown?
Category 2: Understanding Information and Boundaries of the Problem
- What don't you yet understand?
- What information do you have?
- What isn't (part of) the problem?
- Is the information sufficient, insufficient, redundant, or contradictory?
- Should you draw a diagram or a figure of the problem?
- Where are the boundaries of the problem?
Category 3: Analysing Components and Relationships of the Problem
- Can you separate the various parts of the problem?
- Can you write them down?
- What are the relationships between them?
- What are the constants?
- What is common to the different problem areas?
Category 4: Drawing from Past Experience
- Have you seen this problem before?
- Have you seen this problem in a slightly different form?
- Do you know a related problem?
Category 5: Thinking About Familiar Problems
- Try to think of a familiar problem having the same or a similar unknown.
- Have you encountered this problem before?
- Have you seen this problem in a slightly different form?
- Do you know a related issue?
Category 6: Learning from Previous Solutions
- Suppose you find a problem related to yours that has already been solved.
- Can you use it?
- Can you use its method?
Category 7: Problem Reformulation and Exploration of Possibilities
- Can you restate your problem?
- How many different ways can you restate it?
- More general? More specific?
- Can the rules be changed?
Category 8: Examining Potential Cases / Scenarios
- What are the best, worst, and most probable cases / scenarios / outcomes you can imagine?
Phase B - The Plan
With the second set of questions, the plan set we are trying to design and guide solution planning and implementation, monitoring.
Category 1: Visualize when it's solved
- What would you like the resolution to be?
- Can you intuit the solution?
- Can you see the result?
- Can you check the result?
- How many different kinds of results can you see?
- Have you taken into account all essential notions in the problem?
- What creative thinking techniques can you use to generate ideas? How many different techniques?
Category 2: Problem Analysis
- Can you separate the steps in the problem-solving process?
- Can you solve the whole problem? Part of the problem?
- Can you determine the correctness of each step?
- How many different ways have you tried to solve the problem?
- What have others done?
- How much of the unknown can you determine?
- Can you derive something useful from the information you have?
- Have you used all the information?
Category 3: Planning and Execution
- What should be done? How should it be done?
- Where should it be done?
- When should it be done?
- Who should do it?
- What do you need to do at this time?
- Who will be responsible for what?
Category 4: Problem Transformation and Utilization
- Can you use this problem to solve some other problem?
- What is the unique set of qualities that makes this problem what it is and none other?
Category 5: Measurement and Progress Evaluation
- What milestones can best mark your progress?
- How will you know when you are successful?
