Finding Problems Worth Solving with ChatGPT

By the end of this lesson, learners will be able to:

1. Explain what a problem portfolio is at the company level and how it differs from a simple to-do list.

2. Describe the three archetypes of company problem portfolios: operational excellence, innovation-driven tech, and customer-obsessed.

3. Identify how different archetypes weight Run, Improve, and Transform problems in their portfolios.

4. Explain the idea of ambidexterity and the balance between Exploit (Run/Improve) and Explore (Transform) in top companies.

5. Recognize common mistakes when companies try to be “everything at once” without a conscious strategic choice.

6. Evaluate whether a company’s current work looks more like a deliberate problem portfolio or a chaotic to-do list.

By the end of this lesson, learners will be able to:

1. Define what makes a problem “Customer-Obsessed” rather than an internal-only issue.

2. Describe the three customer pillars: Customer Insight, Customer Experience, and Relationship & Value.

3. Differentiate between Run, Improve, and Transform problems in a Customer-Obsessed context.

4. Classify example problems into the appropriate pillar and horizon (Run / Improve / Transform).

5. Evaluate whether a list of current business problems is aligned with a Customer-Obsessed strategy.

By the end of this lesson, learners will be able to:

1. Define what makes a problem “Operational Excellence–relevant” in terms of work, reliability, flow, and cost.

2. Describe the three core pillars of Operational Excellence: Process Reliability & Quality, Flow & Speed, and Cost & Asset Productivity.

3. Classify operational problems into the three time horizons: Run (protect today), Improve (sharpen the engine), and Transform (rebuild the engine).

4. Differentiate between passive operations problems (reacting to breakdowns) and active operations problems (raising the standard).

5. Map real-world operational issues into the 3×3 portfolio (pillars × Run/Improve/Transform) to see gaps and imbalances.

6. Evaluate whether their current “top problem list” is consistent with an Operational Excellence strategy or reveals misalignment.

To show learners that if a company chooses Innovation-Driven as its strategy, then it must carry a specific portfolio of problems about

• how it discovers opportunities,

• how it experiments and develops solutions,

• and how it commercializes and scales them
  across Run / Improve / Transform horizons.

By the end of this lesson, learners will be able to:

1. Explain the difference between a company’s public strategy story and its power story.

2. Identify which strategy archetype (Customer-Obsessed, Operational Excellence, Innovation-Driven) best describes their company’s real behaviour.

3. Describe their team’s “mini-game” inside the larger company strategy in one clear sentence.

4. Write a job-to-be-done sentence for their own role using the pattern “My job is to ___ for ___ so that ___.”

5. Judge whether a problem is on-strategy or off-strategy by checking alignment with company game, team job, and personal role.

By the end of this lesson, learners will be able to:

1. Identify which problems in their recent workweek are Run, Improve, or Transform problems.

2. Explain the different goals and strategies for handling Run, Improve, and Transform problems.

3. Choose one Run problem and define a simple “firebreak” action to prevent recurring crises.

4. Select one Improve problem and design a small, practical upgrade to reduce friction.

5. Select one Transform problem and frame it as a small, low-risk experiment to try in the next 7 days.

By the end of this lesson, learners will be able to:

1. Distinguish Busy Problems from Leverage Problems using the two axes: alignment with company strategy and level of leverage/impact.

2. Identify off-strategy problems in their own work and recognise why they are Busy even if they are real and concrete.

3. Apply a simple 5-question test (frequency, blast radius, upstream/downstream, metric link, repeat payoff) to classify problems as Busy or Leverage.

4. Re-evaluate their 7-day Run / Improve / Transform plan to ensure at least one chosen problem is on-strategy and high-leverage.

5. Consciously de-prioritise some Busy Problems and commit to giving more focus to a small set of Leverage Problems.

By the end of this lesson, learners will be able to:

1. Define the difference between Passive and Active problems in their daily work.

2. Identify which problems in their current list are Passive (imposed by reality) and which are candidates for Active (chosen by raising standards).

3. Explain why not all leverage problems should automatically become their personal Active problems.

4. Select 1–2 Active, aligned, leverage problems that are realistic for their role and worth investing extra effort into.

5. Describe a healthy strategy for managing Passive problems (triage, containment, escalation) without over-owning them.

By the end of this lesson, learners will be able to:

1. Identify whether a given work problem fits best in the Simple, Complicated, Complex, or Chaotic domain using key cues.

2. Describe the default response strategy for each domain (Simple → standardise, Complicated → analyse, Complex → experiment, Chaotic → stabilise).

3. Classify their own high-priority problems into Cynefin Lite domains using a short set of diagnostic questions.

4. Match common workplace situations to an appropriate problem-solving posture (checklist, analysis, experiments, or crisis response).

5. (Optional AI link) Choose an appropriate way to use ChatGPT as a thinking partner based on the domain of the problem.

By the end of this lesson, learners will be able to:

1. Explain why the phrase “Don’t bring problems, bring solutions” is misleading and how it is often misinterpreted by employees.

2. Describe how leaders typically perceive different types of “problem bringers” (complainer, firefighter, solver-in-a-cave, architect).

3. Identify the key elements that make a problem “leader-ready” (clarity, context, scope, nature, possible directions).

4. Distinguish between a vague complaint and a structured, leader-ready problem statement.

5. Draft a short, leader-ready version of a work problem that is clear, on-strategy, leverage, and includes possible next steps.