Ask about the concerns/interests of the key people, as a result problem statements are captured. Sometimes personal interviews of the key players help. Possible Questions:

• Why does a person/organization act in a certain way?
• Why do others act in another way?
• Are the actions counter-indicated?

The problem statement phase is a learning process relating to the needs, concerns, and interests of all concerned people. No one is asked to change during the problem statement phase.

During the 1st Rough Draft of Problem Statements:

• everyone is asked to suggest improvements to the statement of problems. People may easily give criticism and avoid acting in a new and different way at the same time. Concessions are not required. No one wants to concede and then be requested to concede again and again.

During the 2nd Rough Draft of Problem Statements:

• everyone can share in the critique of the problem statements. During the critique, a more complete understanding of all problem statements are built. Again, third, fourth, etc rough drafts ask for criticism.
• As the problem statements take shape, each person will tend to raise important issues, not trivial details. Without conceding anything, key people will emerge to make sure everyone else fully understands their needs.
• No one is committed to any draft. Thus, the best possible statement of the concerns/interests, limits of costs & time, is created.

During the Problem Statement Phase:

• Key people emerge because of their understanding of all of the cause and effect relationships.
• Key people are not defined by position or title in an organization.
• Key people define themselves by their ability to understand and then suggest effective and efficient solutions in the NEXT phase.
• When problem statements are separated from alternative solution statements, decisions relating to the optimal solutions are deferred.
• Key people are free of the fear of making a hasty commitment.
• No one has to abandon the way they currently act while sharing in the process of jointly critiquing the problem statements as they take shape.

When No More Comments Arise:

• the effort can shift to solve the problems stated in the final draft.
• The capture of problem statements will ultimately make a phase change shift to explore the options and limits of solution statements. But, solution statements are premature during the problem statement phase.
• Each person now has only to decide: yes or no with respect to a solution. The outcome of the decision is known before the action to solve is executed.
  • A ‘yes’ may or may not be contingent on others also saying ‘yes
• The final list of problem statements shifts from defending a fixed position to inventing alternative solutions and deciding jointly on one solution
• Each key person becomes an active participant by coordinating their portion of the problem statements
• Key persons mediate their own conflict. Working toward one final list of problem statements minimizes the number of decisions, minimizes the uncertainty of each decision, and minimizes a ‘lock-down’ into a fixed position.