You are facing a project overrun
It is often unclear how to handle potential delays in a project plan, and hard to assess the knock-on effects. To sort it out, it makes sense to take a step back and explore what other options you might have to address your current dilemma.
Complex problems are often vague and have many possible solutions. The Meta-Problem Method may lead you far away from the dilemma that started your quest. That’s because the method forces you to clarify what you really want and what you are willing to give up. It enables you to compare objectively the possible pathways and their trade offs. It prevents you locking into solutions mode too early and then doubling down on solving a low-yield problem that does not serve your goals as well as the alternatives. At the end of this process, you will have a better understanding of your priorities and how to achieve them.
Steps in the Meta-Problem Method
Dilemma
The high-level issue you are trying to address
Decide the best way to deal with a project overrun.
Goal
The changes you want to make to address the dilemma. There are usually many options.
Supporting Goals
- The new plan matches reality.
- The remedy fits in the originally planned time.
Other goals could include minimizing the cost of completing the task or maximizing the value of the work done.
Problem Space
The set of problems you could chose to solve to advance your goals, plus the constraints that hold you back.
Example Problems
- How can we ensure the plan matches reality? Maybe the problem to solve is “What is the most realistic updated plan?”
- How can we pivot so the task fits in the originally planned time? Maybe the problem to solve is “What’s optional from our original plan so we can maintain the original deadlines?”
There are many other potential problems to solve related to managing a project overrun. Each goal has many possible problems we could link to it. Are there other problems linked to these first two goals? Which options come to mind for the other goals?
High-Yield Problems
Sometimes solving one problem helps make progress towards several goals. In this step, we identify these “two-for-the-price-of-one” problems.
Which options will advance more than one goal?
- Bringing in a new set of eyes could help identify issues that led to the delays and lead to a more accurate revised plan while ensuring the value of the project is maximized. However, the overall timeline and costs are likely to be extended due to the extra input.
- Adding extra people to a project can help speed up delivery which will prevent the task delaying other subsequent parts of the project. However, it usually increases cost and sometimes the same people who are asked to shift their focus end up behind on other projects as a result.
There are many potential solutions that will have varying effects on the set of goals. Which alternatives improve the most important goals? How might the unknown change the right path forward? What other possible solutions are there to address the dilemma?
Problem Selection
Which of the many possible options in the high-yield problem step is the best set to address the dilemma?
- Which solutions make the most sense as a manager?
- Which solutions will best address the dilemma?
- Which solutions will deliver the best outcome for the least amount of time, effort and money?
Implement, Learn and Adapt
Check continuously that you are still solving the best problem, as new information emerges.
Observe and learn as you go. As new information reveals itself, check continuously that you’re still solving the right problem.