I find that engineers often jump to solving a problem without clearly defining it first. When they come to me for help, I ask them to state the problem. At that point, they usually hesitate and struggle to articulate it. I work with them to define the problem verbally, and once it’s clearly stated, they’re often able to solve it on their own.
We’re so focused on taking action that we often overlook the importance of clearly defining the problem. At that point, it becomes like an amorphous shadow in our peripheral vision—we haven’t taken the time to look directly at it and understand what it really is. If that’s the case, we may move forward trying to solve the problem without actually knowing what we should be doing. All of this just makes problem-solving much harder.
At the most basic level, simply writing down one clear sentence that states the problem can help you move forward.