Be the person execs turn to when decisions stall. The Problem Framing Playbook helps you lead high-stakes conversations with clarity and confidence — in just one day.
Most teams think the issue is the roadmap. Or a lack of buy-in. Or a slow executive.
But those are symptoms.
Your team isn’t aligned on what problem to solve — or why it matters.
It's the skill product teams, consultants, and innovation leaders need now more than ever:
In a world full of solutions, the real advantage is knowing what problem to solve.
A clear walkthrough of the entire Problem Framing session — from context to defining a focused problem statement — so you can guide your team from ambiguity to alignment in just one session.
A step-by-step guide through problem discovery, workshop preparation and problem framing team assembling - to help you set the stage for an effective decision-making session.
Examples from product, strategy, and innovation teams to help you apply the method to your own challenges — whether you’re launching a new feature, planning an AI initiative, or unblocking a stalled project.
Stakeholder Mapping, 4U Framework, Proto-Persona, Weather Forecast, House Inspection, Problem Statement Builder, a step-by-step guidance, visual examples, and a suggested facilitation flow.
The biggest names — Amazon, EY, BCG, HSBC — learned our Problem Framing system to get alignment when the stakes were high.
But here’s the thing: you don’t need an executive title or a 6-figure consulting budget to run the same method.
If you’re the person teams turn to when direction is unclear and momentum stalls, this playbook was built for you.
Because strategy shouldn’t be locked behind closed doors.
Customer Solutions Manager
@ Amazon Web Services
Design Sprint Academy's "Problem Framing" workshop was fun and most importantly packed with great contents and well planned delivery style.
Our team not just learnt but also applied the methodology through an interactive Mural facilitated workshop.
Strategic Foresight Manager
DSA delivered an exceptional Problem Framing workshop, skillfully facilitated with insightful case studies and extensive brainstorming sessions. The session was easy to follow and helped us take the first step of diagnosing problems. The workshop materials were great addition. I would highly recommend this workshop and John's expertise.
Experience Design Lead
I attended the Problem Framing training virtually and the training course content and delivery was superb. It is beneficial to understand the problem first (embracing and loving the problem) before loving the solution -- that is one big thing I took away from the course, and there are a lot other more that I will surely apply!
Problem Framing is more than a method — it’s your go-to system for leading tough conversations, guiding strategic decisions, and turning complexity into clarity. Since 2018, teams across banking, tech, construction, media, and consulting have used it to break deadlocks, align leaders, and prioritize what truly matters.
Here’s how real teams apply it when the pressure is on:
Facilitate focused conversations with decision-makers to define the real problem, success criteria, and trade-offs — so everyone moves in the same direction.
Use visual tools to map out blind spots, surface misalignment, and uncover overlooked opportunities — especially powerful for AI, innovation, and transformation work.
Problem Framing gives you the structure to reset direction, rebuild stakeholder buy-in, and unblock teams fast — without weeks of meetings.
Problem Framing works in product strategy, innovation, internal ops, digital transformation, customer experience — and beyond. Whether you're a consultant or an internal team, this is your go-to method for getting to clarity, fast.
We didn’t set out to create a new method. We set out to solve a real problem we kept running into.
As consultants leading Design Sprints for large organizations, we noticed something that kept derailing even the best workshops:
The real problem wasn’t clear — and stakeholders weren’t aligned.
Too many teams were rushing into solution mode without fully understanding what was worth solving.
So we built a structured way to define the problem first — to align teams, uncover opportunities, and make better strategic decisions before investing time and resources.
That became Problem Framing .
In 2018, Google — the birthplace of the Design Sprint — invited us to run a deep-dive session at their campus in San Francisco. They saw exactly what we had seen: teams moving fast, but not always in the same direction.
Since then, Problem Framing has been adopted by product, innovation, and strategy teams at SAP, HSBC, Red Bull, eBay, the World Bank, RGA, Adidas , and many more.
We’ve taught this method inside government, media, finance, tech, and consulting — because it’s flexible, scalable, and works in any domain.
This Playbook is the distilled version of everything we’ve learned.
Problem Framing gives you a repeatable system for when stakes are high, priorities clash, and direction is unclear. It helps you define what really matters before people rush to solutions.
Whether you’re shaping strategy, launching new products, or fixing what’s stuck — this is your foundation.
This isn’t just a workshop format. It’s a decision-making framework you can lead.
You’re not just here to execute. You’re here to guide the conversation.
When you frame the problem, you shift the dynamic.
You become the person who can create alignment when no one else can.
That’s what strategic partners do.
AI can generate options — but it can’t lead hard conversations.
It doesn’t see political landmines, competing agendas, or emotional undercurrents.
That’s your job — and this method gives you the tools to do it well.
This is the system strategic teams use to get unstuck — and make smarter, faster calls when it counts