Which project should you invest in?
Sometimes it is not obvious which projects will yield a good Return on Investment, or maybe you have too many competing options. 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 which of a portfolio of projects will yield the best return.
Goal
The changes you want to make to address the dilemma. There are usually many options.
Supporting Goals
- Increase revenue.
- Grow your customer base.
Other goals could include increasing profitability, reducing costs, or more new product launches.
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 could we increase revenues as a company? Maybe the problem to solve is “Will better margins or better marketing serve us best?”
- How can we grow our customer base as a company? Maybe the problem to solve is “Should we focus on growing our repeat customers, or adding new ones?”
There are many other potential problems to solve related to choosing which projects to invest in. 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?
- Developing a better pricing strategy could help improve both revenue and profit. However, it will not lead to new products in the future and may mostly grow business with existing customers.
- Developing a better marketing strategy would improve revenues and bring in new customers. However, profits may not grow in the short term given the cost of the campaign and it may not lead to new products for the future.
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.