Reader Resources
Resources for readers of Solving the Right Problem and The New Art of Problem Solving.
Worksheets, prompts and other resources for working more carefully with real problem situations.
The books can be read on their own. But some ideas become more useful when you work with them in relation to a real situation.
This page brings together resources that can support that work.
At the moment, you will find worksheets and prompts that help you slow down, explore perspectives, make assumptions visible and begin seeing more clearly what kind of problem you are dealing with.
Over time, other resources may be added when they are useful and available.
How to use these resources
A good starting point is one situation that is still alive for you: a project that keeps getting stuck, a problem formulation you are unsure about, a decision that keeps returning, or a situation where people see the problem differently.
Use the resources to support your thinking.
Not to replace judgement.
Not to force a fixed method.
Not to make the situation simpler than it is.
They are meant to help you look more carefully before deciding what to do.
Available resources
1. Actor, Perspective & Distance Worksheet
Use this worksheet to explore who is involved in a situation, how different actors may see it, and how their view changes when you move closer to lived detail or farther toward pattern, meaning, and context. It is a good first step when a situation still feels messy and you want to understand it through multiple lenses before building models or considering interventions.
2. Goal Hierarchy Worksheet
Use this worksheet to clarify what matters in a situation before you start tracing causes or designing solutions. It helps you move upward through meaning and downward through concrete indicators, while keeping goals descriptive rather than turning them into hidden action plans.
3. Causal Diagram Worksheet
Use this worksheet to explore how factors in a situation may influence one another. It helps you move from structure to movement: not to find the one true model, but to make your assumptions visible, test relationships, and discover where meaningful influence may lie.
Go further
These resources are meant to help you begin working with the ideas from the books in your own practice.
Some situations benefit from more guided work. Especially when multiple people are involved, when the stakes are high, or when a team needs a shared way of seeing and modelling the situation.
If that is the case, you do not need to choose a fixed session or programme first.
You can bring the situation, question or problem formulation into a first conversation. We can then explore whether a working lecture, work session, team session, small learning group, guidance process or online form of work would be appropriate.