Whoville. The top 50 problem solving questions.

Creativity Central & Inotivity

Whoville. 50 Top Problem Solving Questions.

I keep six honest serving-men(They taught me all I knew);Their names are What and Why and When And How and Where and Who Kipling

The greatest barriers to solving problems is lack of relevant information, lack of time, and lack of meaningful questions. The six “Ws” of Kipling is a shorthand. The longhand version can be hundreds of questions. Arthur B. VanGundy wrote a book for my publishing company (Prentice Hall) that contained a distilled list of the top 50 question stimulators. Here is that list with some adaptations

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Whoville. 1-7Who is affected by the problem?

Who else has the problem?

Who decided that the situation is a problem?

Who would be happy if the problem was solved?

Who would be sad if the problem were solved?

Who could prevent the problem from being solved?

Who needs to solve the problem more than you?

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Whatville. 8-14What do think will change about the problem?

What are the problem’s major weaknesses?

What do you like about the problem?

What do you dislike about the problem?

What can be changed about the problem?

What can’t be changed about the problem?

What do you know about the problem?

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Whatville. 14-21What don’t you know about the problem?

What will it be like if the problem were solved?

What will it be like if the problem isn’t solved?

What have done in the past with similar problems?

What is the principle underlying the problem?

What value systems underlie the problem?

What problem elements are related to one another?

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Whatville. 22-27What assumptions are you making about the problem?

What seems to be most important about the problem?

What seems to be least important about the problem?

What subproblems are there?

What are your major objectives about the problem?

What else do you need to know about the problem?

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Whereville. 28-33Where is the problem most noticeable?

Where is the problem least noticeable?

Where else does the problem exist?

Where is the best place to begin looking for solutions

Where does the problem fit into the larger scheme of things?

Where can you find the best people to solve the problem?

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Whenville. 34-40When does the problem occur?

When doesn’t the problem occur?

When did the problem first become a problem?

When will the problem stop being a problem?

Wen do other people see your problem as a problem?

When does the problem need to be solved?

When is the problem likely to occur again?

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Whenville+Whyville. 41-48When will the problem get better? Or worse?

Why is this situation a problem?

Why do you want to solve this problem? Why don’t you want to solve this problem?

Why would someone else want to solve this problem?

Why is the problem easy to solve? Or hard to solve?

Why doesn’t the problem just go away?

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Whyville. 49-50Why are you equipped to solve the problem?

Why are you not equipped to solve the problem?

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