2.2 Getting the Problem Right

Explainer | 5-6 minute read

Why most consulting engagements struggle before they even begin

Many consulting engagements begin with a clear request. A strategy needs updating. A service needs redesigning. A review needs to be conducted. On the surface, the problem appears well defined.

Yet, despite clear scopes and capable delivery, a significant number of consulting engagements fail to deliver meaningful impact. Not because the work was poorly executed, but because the wrong problem was being solved.

Getting the problem right is one of the most important, and most overlooked, steps in any consulting engagement.

The Difference Between the Stated Problem and the Real One

When organisations engage consultants, they typically articulate a problem in practical or technical terms. They may ask for a specific technique, artefact, or activity that feels tangible and actionable.

However, what is requested is not always the underlying issue. In many cases, it is a proxy for something less clear, less comfortable, or harder to articulate.

The stated problem often reflects what feels solvable within existing constraints. The real problem may relate to misaligned priorities, unclear decision-making, cultural dynamics, capability gaps, or unresolved tensions between stakeholders.

Effective consulting begins by distinguishing between these two.

Why Organisations Gravitate Toward Solutions Too Early

Jumping quickly to solutions is understandable. It creates a sense of progress and reduces discomfort in the face of ambiguity. Techniques, frameworks, and deliverables provide structure when uncertainty is high.

However, moving too quickly into solution mode carries risk. It can lock an organisation into addressing symptoms rather than causes, or into applying familiar tools to unfamiliar challenges.

This is particularly true in complex environments, where issues are interconnected and outcomes are shaped by human behaviour as much as formal processes.

Without adequate time spent understanding the problem, even well-designed solutions can fail to take hold.

Expressed Needs and Unexpressed Needs

One of the most common challenges in consulting is the gap between what organisations say they need and what they actually need.

Expressed needs are the requests made visible through briefs, scopes, and conversations. Unexpressed needs sit beneath the surface. They may relate to confidence, reassurance, alignment, risk mitigation, or the desire for an external voice to legitimise difficult decisions.

These unexpressed needs are rarely malicious or intentional. They emerge from organisational pressure, personal accountability, and the realities of operating in complex systems.

Ignoring them does not make them disappear. Instead, they tend to resurface later in the engagement, often as dissatisfaction with outcomes that technically meet the brief.

The Role of Context and Readiness

Problems do not exist in isolation. They are shaped by organisational context, including culture, capability, governance, and readiness for change.

A problem that appears identical on paper may require very different approaches depending on where an organisation sits on its journey. Levels of trust, decision-making maturity, and tolerance for uncertainty all influence what is achievable.

When problem definition fails to account for context, engagements risk setting unrealistic expectations or proposing solutions that the organisation is not equipped to adopt.

Understanding readiness is therefore not a preliminary exercise. It is central to getting the problem right.

Why Getting the Problem Right Feels Uncomfortable

Defining the real problem often involves confronting uncomfortable realities. It may challenge existing narratives, expose gaps in capability, or require acknowledging trade-offs that cannot be avoided.

This discomfort is one reason organisations sometimes resist deeper problem exploration. It can feel safer to proceed with a clearly scoped activity than to pause and question fundamental assumptions.

However, avoiding discomfort early tends to amplify it later, when time, money, and reputational capital have already been invested.

Reframing the Consulting Conversation

Rather than beginning with “What do we need delivered?”, organisations may benefit from starting with different questions.

What are we really trying to achieve?

What would success look like beyond the immediate output?

What constraints are shaping how we see this problem?

What assumptions are we making that may not hold?

These questions do not delay progress. They increase the likelihood that effort is directed toward issues that matter.

A Strong Problem Definition Is an Investment

Time spent getting the problem right is not inefficiency. It is risk management.

When organisations and consultants invest in shared understanding early, engagements are more likely to adapt as insights emerge, respond to complexity rather than oversimplify it, and deliver outcomes that endure beyond the final presentation.

In the next article in this series, we explore how choosing the right tools and techniques depends entirely on having the right problem in focus, and why artefacts alone are rarely the answer.