Case Studies

Solving the Right Problem

Battery Fires on Airplanes

As lithium battery fires on airplanes became more common, much of the discussion focused on emergency response.

How should flight crews respond?
What equipment should be carried onboard?
How should passengers be protected?

These are important questions. They assume the primary problem is managing a battery fire once it occurs.

A different question is: 

Why are higher-risk batteries allowed onboard in the first place? 

And how do we solve that problem in a way that does not inconvience passengers?

The conversation shifts from emergency response to prevention. 

Instead of focusing only on what happens after a battery ignites, the focus becomes reducing the likelihood of the event occurring at all.

The challenge wasn't a lack of smart people or technical expertise.

The challenge was determining which problem was actually being solved.

Different problem definitions led to very different solutions.

What Changed

Before:

• Focus on containing fires after they started.
• Discussion centered on emergency response.

After:

• Focus shifted toward reducing the likelihood of battery failure.
• New solution ideas emerged around certification, manufacturing standards, and risk reduction.

User Knowledge Wasn't the Problem

Song Chef ®

Many songwriting tools assume people struggle because they lack musical knowledge.

The obvious solution is more education:

* music theory
* lyric-writing lessons
* songwriting courses

Before building Song Chef, we interviewed users, mapped behaviors, analyzed workflows, and tested assumptions.

The research revealed something different. Most users already had ideas. What they lacked was a process. 

They weren't getting stuck because they didn't know enough. 

They were getting stuck because they didn't know what to do next. 

That shifted the project from teaching songwriting to designing a step-by-step system that helped users move from idea to completed song.

The challenge wasn't building better lessons.
The challenge was identifying the real obstacle.

Once the problem became clear, the solution became obvious.

What Changed

Before:

• Assumed users needed more education.
• Product concepts focused on teaching songwriting.

After:

• Research showed users primarily needed a clearer process.
• The product evolved toward guided workflows and confidence-building rather than more instruction.

When Experts Disagree

Mold Testing & Remediation

A homeowner received conflicting opinions from multiple professionals.

One expert said the home had a serious mold problem.

Another said there was no problem.

Lab results appeared to support both conclusions.

The disagreement wasn't caused by bad data or unqualified people. The experts were answering different questions.

One was asking: “Is mold present?”
Another was asking: “Is there an exposure problem?”
Another : "Does remediation make sense?"

Until the objective was clarified, the data appeared contradictory. Once everyone agreed on the question being answered, the path forward became much clearer.

The problem wasn't the mold. 

The problem was that people were solving different problems.

What Changed

Before

• Experts appeared to be contradicting one another.
• The data seemed inconsistent.

After

• It became clear different experts were answering different questions.
• The same data became easier to interpret once the objective was clarified.

The Team Was Debating Solutions and Not the Objective

Money Creation and Lending

Many discussions about economic inequality focus on outcomes.

Why are housing prices rising?
Why does wealth concentrate?

Why does it seem easier for large institutions to get ahead than ordinary people?

The debate often centers on taxes, wages, regulation, or corporate behavior. These are important questions. They assume the primary problem is how wealth is distributed after money enters the economy.

A different question is:

How does new money enter the economy in the first place? 

That shifts the discussion toward lending, credit creation, incentives, and who gets access to newly created purchasing power.

The challenge wasn't a lack of data or intelligent people. The challenge was determining which problem was actually being solved. One group was focused on wealth distribution. Another was focused on money creation.

Different problem definitions led to very different solutions.

Still Not Sure What Problem You're Solving?

When smart people disagree, the same problem keeps returning, or the path forward isn't clear, the issue is often not the solution—it's the problem definition.

Let's talk.

 

 Past work and engagements include: