45ck Purpose
Frame a business problem or opportunity before solutioning.
Use when
- a project is being initiated
- the team is jumping to solutions too quickly
- scope, objectives, assumptions, and options are blurry
Inputs
- project or problem context
- goals and constraints
- known stakeholders, systems, and documents
- level of formality required
Procedure
- State the business situation and trigger.
- Distinguish symptoms from root causes.
- Define objectives, desired outcomes, and success criteria.
- Identify assumptions, constraints, and non-negotiables.
- Define in-scope and out-of-scope boundaries.
- Generate multiple candidate solution directions.
- Compare options against business need, constraints, and feasibility.
- End with a recommended framing and unresolved questions.
Outputs
- problem statement
- root-cause notes
- objective and success criteria set
- scope statement
- assumptions/constraints log
- options summary
Guardrails
- Explicitly separate fact, inference, and assumption.
- Prefer evidence-backed conclusions over polished speculation.
- Where conflict exists, record it rather than smoothing it away.
- Produce artifacts that can be inspected, edited, and reused.
Completion criteria
- deliverable pack exists
- tradeoffs are explicit
- unknowns are logged
- next decisions are obvious