Change the Problem Landscape

Elon Musk's question, "What did you get done this week?", has become a meme for productivity.

Naval has a version of this too:

A better question is:

The Work Question

What problems did you solve, preempt, and set in motion this week - and what did you do to expose your proposed solutions to criticism?

Don’t just tell me what you did. Tell me how you changed the problem landscape. That is the real measure of useful work. A task list shows activity. It does not necessarily show impact.

Solving a real problem does not simply remove an item from a list. It changes the situation. It closes some paths, opens others, and reshapes what matters next. Every solution creates new conditions. Every neglected problem has the potential to grow into a worse one.

• What should our work revolve around instead of activity metrics?
  Problems.
• Our job is to not only solve present problems but be aware of {{c1::future}} problems too.

Of course, most real problems are not fully solved in a week. But that is still the right standard. A manager should emphasize outcomes, while making rational exceptions for work that clearly moves a hard problem forward. The point is not to reward people for merely naming the problems they are working on. It is to ask how those problems changed because of their work.

So yes, results matter. But the results that matter most are not just completed tasks. They change the problem landscape.

• Our work involves present and future problems, problems created by us and those that are not. What outcomes based question demands one think deeply about the problem landscape?
  What problems did you solve, preempt, and set in motion this week - and what did you do to expose your proposed solutions to criticism?

Email example

Subject:
Weekly Check-In: The Work Question

Body:
Each week I’ll ask you one question:

What problems did you solve, preempt, and set in motion this week - and what did you do to expose your proposed solutions to criticism?

This is not a task list. I’m not asking for a summary of activity. I’m asking how your work changed the situation. That is the standard I want us aiming at, because useful work is not just doing things. It is making progress against real problems.

I do not expect every week to produce a perfect answer. Some weeks are groundwork. Some important problems take longer than a week to move. The bar is high on purpose, but clear thinking and honest judgment matter more than forcing a strong-looking report.

Solved: What problem did you close? What changed, and how do you know?

Preempted: What problem did you see coming and act on before it arrived? What likely would have happened otherwise?

Set in motion: What new problems or conditions now exist because of this week’s work or lack of action? Which are the healthy next problems created by progress, and which are consequences of delay or inattention?

Criticism: How far did you push your ideas?

Keep your answer short and precise. I value clarity over length.

Links to this note:
The Pursuit of Productivity
Don't Protect Your Ideas
Documenting the Work Question, Replacing the Portfolio