# Strategic Problem Solving — Resources

## Knowledge

### Books

- **Book: _Good Strategy Bad Strategy_ — Richard Rumelt** (2011)
  Foundational text on what strategy actually is vs. what people call strategy. The "kernel" of a good strategy (diagnosis, guiding policy, coherent action) is directly applicable to problem framing. Use for: understanding the difference between a real problem diagnosis and vague ambition.
- **Book: _The Minto Pyramid Principle_ — Barbara Minto** (1987/2010)
  Original source of the MECE principle and structured reasoning. Teaches how to organize thinking hierarchically — essential for issue trees and presenting problem analyses to execs. Use for: learning how to structure any problem analysis for clarity and exec-level communication.
- **Book: _Thinking, Fast and Slow_ — Daniel Kahneman** (2011)
  The psychology behind why we misdiagnose problems (confirmation bias, anchoring, availability heuristic). Use for: understanding your own cognitive blind spots when framing problems.
- **Book: _The Art of Problem Solving_ — Russ Ackoff** (1978/2010)
  Systems-thinking approach to problems. Ackoff distinguishes between "messes" (systems of problems) and discrete problems — crucial for org-level strategic thinking.

### Frameworks & Articles

- **Wikipedia: Issue tree / Logic tree**
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Issue_tree
  The core tool for breaking big vague problems into analyzable components. MECE-based decomposition. Use for: structuring any ambiguous problem.
- **Wikipedia: Cynefin framework — Dave Snowden**
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynefin_framework
  Classifies problems into Clear/Complicated/Complex/Chaotic. Each requires a different approach — don't solve a complex problem with a complicated method. Use for: figuring out *what kind* of problem you're facing before trying to solve it.
- **Wikipedia: MECE principle — Barbara Minto**
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MECE_principle
  Mutually Exclusive, Collectively Exhaustive — the gold standard for clean problem decomposition. Use for: validating your issue tree branches don't overlap or miss things.
- **Wikipedia: OODA loop — John Boyd**
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OODA_loop
  Observe–Orient–Decide–Act. A rapid-iteration decision cycle. Use for: staying tactical while being strategic — especially when you need to adjust your problem framing as new info arrives.
- **Wikipedia: First principle (philosophy) / First principles thinking**
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_principle
  Breaking problems down to fundamental truths and reasoning up from there. The Elon Musk / Aristotle approach. Use for: when conventional wisdom about a problem is wrong.

### Influential Online Writing

- **"Chesterton's Fence" — G.K. Chesterton (via Farnam Street)**
  https://fs.blog/chestertons-fence/
  A principle about understanding why something exists before changing or removing it. Use for: avoiding the trap of proposing solutions to problems you don't fully understand.
- **"First Principles: The Building Blocks of True Knowledge" — Farnam Street**
  https://fs.blog/first-principles/
  Practical guide to reasoning from first principles, with examples from Musk, Aristotle, and Feynman.
- **"Why Every Executive Should Focus on Problem-Finding, Not Problem-Solving"**
  *Harvard Business Review* / various authors — search for articles on "problem finding" vs. "problem solving" by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and others.
- **"The Cynefin Framework" — Dave Snowden (Cognitive Edge)**
  https://www.cognitive-edge.com/
  The official source for Cynefin, with case studies and sense-making tools.

## Wisdom (Communities)

- **r/ExperiencedDevs** (Reddit)
  Discussions about engineering strategy, org dynamics, and stakeholder management at senior+ level. Use for: seeing how experienced engineers frame real-world problems.
- **r/ProductManagement**
  Problem framing is core to product — reading how PMs frame problems is directly transferable.
- **Local: Engineering leadership meetups / roundtables**
  ⚠️ Gap: Need to find Singapore/Australia-based engineering leadership groups where senior engineers discuss problem framing.
- **Martin Fowler's blog — bliki** (https://martinfowler.com/bliki/)
  Not community but high-trust solo practitioner writing on technical strategy, architecture trade-offs, and problem decomposition. Use for: real examples of technical problem framing.

## Gaps

- No high-quality resource found yet specifically on "presenting problem analysis to VPs" — the art of communicating your framing. The Minto Pyramid Principle covers some of this, but a practical engineering-focused guide would be valuable.
- Need to find specific case studies of senior engineers applying problem framing strategies to real incidents/decisions (post-mortems, RFCs, design docs).