What
Preliminary list of standard 'What' questions.
- What is the real problem?
- What are the key questions that need to be answered?
- What do you know about the problem?
- What don’t you know about the problem?
- What are the essential elements of the problem?
- What is at the “heart” of the problem?
- What is most critical area of concern?
- What part of this situation is most important to focus on?
- What part stands out and demands attention?
- What are the parts of the problem?
- What are the sub-problems?
- What is the problem a part of?
- What belongs to it?
- What elements of the problem are related to one another?
- What are in the areas adjacent to the situation?
- What can be changed about it?
- What cannot be changed?
- What are your strengths?
- What are their strengths?
- What do you do well?
- What advantages do you have?
- What relevant resources do you have access to?
- What are your weaknesses?
- What are their weaknesses?
- What is done badly?
- What could be improved?
- What are others doing better?
- What do others see as your weaknesses?
- What are the interesting trends?
- What opportunities are available to you?
- What is the biggest opportunity?
- What are the risk factors?
- What are the threats?
- What are the obstacles?
- What is preventing you from getting what you want?
- What obstacles do you face?
- What may possibly go wrong?
- What are some of the difficulties that could occur?
- What weakness could lead to catastrophic failure?
- What is the worst imaginable thing that could occur?
- What are the constraints?
- What restrictions must you accept to solve the problem?
- What is your competition doing?
- What changes in technology threaten your position?
- What changes in cash flow would threaten your position?
- What values underlie it?
- What is the value base of the problem?
- What sensory perceptions can be observed (i.e. see, hear, touch, smell, and taste)?
- What do other people see as the problem?
- What will it be like if the problem is solved?
- What will it be like if it isn’t solved?
- What are the good points of a bad situation?
- What are the bad points of a good situation?
- What do you like about the problem?
- What do you dislike about it?
- What do you feel is most important about the problem?
- What do you feel is least important about it?
- What would increase your motivation and enthusiasm?
- What makes you angry, tense, or frustrated about the problem?
- What makes you really excited about solving the problem?
- What outcomes would be inspiring?
- What do you want?
- What do you need?
- What are the rules or regulations?
- What are the financial constraints?
- What are the other resource limitations?
- What are the paradoxes in the situation?
- What else do you need to know?
- What data are important?
- What data might be grouped together?
- What patterns do you see in the data?
- What does the system do to convert inputs into outputs?
- What assumptions are you making about the problem?
- What are the consequences of having this problem?
- What happened before it?
- What happened after it?
- What happens at the same time?
- What is the context of it?
- What is the context o that context?
- What is the irritant we see? Is it the actual problem or merely a symptom?
- What can be substituted?
- What can be eliminated?
- What can be combined with it?
- What can be altered?
- What if it were exaggerated?
- What can be rearranged?
- What can be reversed?
