Understanding when there is problem is usually never difficult. Understanding the root level problem of an issue requires a little bit of structured thought. Doing this within a group not only endorses your own interpretation of root level issues it also voices other opinions and takes. While away at UX Cambridge, I came across the game storming approach to creative thinking through collaborative game workshops. The one game that struck me the most was “The Five Whys”:http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2013/07/16/why-is-not-enough-overcoming-flaws-of-the-five-whys/. Based on a principle developed by Toyota Motors (Japan) by Sakichi Toyoda to help solve training and manufacturing problems on the production line. Fast forward this approach into a new century and new age, we can take this approach to solve a number of known issues. Before I jump too far forward, let me explain the process. You have a known problem, for an easy example “Chelsea have not won the Champions League (as of 2011)”, and yes I am a Chelsea fan. You then ask all participants to take 5 Post-It notes, and number them 1 to 5. Working independently at this stage, the first answer (Post It number 1) is to the known problem, for example “Our team has not been good enough compared to others”. On the next Post It, the participant is asked “Why is number 2 true?” On this occasion, lets answer this with “There is not enough strength in depth to compete in all four footballing competitions”. You follow this down until you have made an answer to Post It number 4. Please note: this is not restricted to 5 answers, you can go as low level as you like. You should then come across a structure such as this: “Chelsea have not won the Champions League (as of 2011)” Why is this true?: 1- Our team has not been good enough compared to others. Why is 1 true?: 2- There is not enough strength in depth to compete in all four footballing competitions. Why is 2 true?: 3- We need more quality players on the budget we have. Why is 3 true?: 4- Our youth academy is not producing enough quality players who can participant in the first-team and perform on the biggest stage. Why is 4 true?: 5- We need to focus on restructuring our youth development policy and/or youth team coaching staff. As you can see, you take one high level problem and then move slowly towards the low level problem by answering each level problem one at a time. Now imagine this, how about we ask why users are not signing up to our newsletter form? Using this approach, it is easy to see how we can come up with creative solutions to each level of problems faced within an overall issue. By doing this as a collaboration, you are not only getting insights from other stakeholders, users, designs, etc, you are also brainstorming ideas together. Yes, this is based on opinion and will not solve all issues known to man, but it will stimulate a debate, get ideas on the board and help you think about problem solving in a structure form. With this in mind, it could be an idea to get Roman Abramovich into one of my workshops :-)