Why Product Success Depends on Solving The Right Problem

The subtle art of discovering root problems

“You never actually own a Patek Philippe. You merely look after it for the next generation.”

Imagine you join a company that sells classic, Swiss watches.

You are tasked with selling more watches & decide to start by improving your offer statement (i.e. outlining what problem you solve & which desired outcome you will deliver for your target audience).

But what problem are you solving with this classic, Swiss watch?

You would be forgiven for saying something like, “Well, we help people tell the time.”

But you would be wrong.

Why? If that watch were just bought to tell the time, we have phones to do that nowadays, or you could buy a cheap, plastic watch from China for a few dollars instead.

The “helping people tell the time” is what we call the surface-level problem. It’s the problem a product seems to solve, but it not in fact the root problem we are attempting to solve.

Patek Philippe, a classic watch company based in Geneva, understands this well. Take the advert below:

Their offer is as follows:

“You never actually own a Patek Philippe. You merely look after it for the next generation.”

Why? Because they are addressing the root problem that their products are there to solve: A problem of status & legacy.

Status because buying a Patek Philippe watch is expensive & relatively scarce. Having one visible on your wrist therefore signals to others, “I am a successful, wealthy man.”

Legacy because they address a deep-rooted need for purpose with that statement, “merely look[ing] after it for the next generation.” It is about more than the watch. Its about passing on your wealth, your experience, your self to your children. And the watch represents this legacy.

Products Build in The Wrong Direction

Far too many product teams focus on the surface-level problem (e.g. telling the time), but fail to understand what the root problem is that they are really there to solve.

This is true of new products, as well as existing products.

This means that:

1. The initial solution those teams develop are going to fail
   
   If they are focused on the wrong problem, those teams will target the wrong type of user, they won’t be able to create value for their target users, they won’t be able to create a product users think is worth paying for
   
   

2. The team are blinded to other possible solutions
   
   Considering nearly 90% of product solutions fail, we need to be open to completely different ways of solving a problem.

   
   However, when we are not clear about what root problem we are solving, it becomes extremely hard to generate solution ideas. Why? Well, how can we come up with solutions if we don’t know what problem we are really solving?
   
   Yet not only do teams make the mistake of coming up to a solution for the wrong ( or a non-) problem.

   
   They are also blinded to the possibility that there may be other ways to solve a problem.

   
   If, for example, we build a “leadership coaching tool with AI”, we may become so laser-focused on building that solution, that we forget why we are building it: To help people become better leaders. That may mean we simply can’t even conceive of another, potentially better solution, such as a marketplace for leaders & potential mentors.
   
   Clarity around the root problem we are solving means we are less likely to blinded to other solutions.
   
   

3. Even with a bank of possible solutions, the team is unable to pivot
   
   Pivoting in theory is easy. Many teams (early-stage in particular) bounce around - or “effervesce” - trying lots of ideas, but with no clear focus and nothing to tie those ideas together, for example.
   
   Pivoting successfully, however, is hard. It only works when we a clear anchor to pivot around: Clarity about the root problem we are solving. We need to be able to ideate - and then execute upon - solutions that we believe will solve that root problem.
   
   For example, say we are solving the root problem of “how to build better remote work culture”. First, we might try a solution to improve onboarding. If that doesn’t work, maybe a communications tool. If that doesn’t work, a product for planning great quarterly work retreats. Because we are clear about what problem we are solving, we can assess ideas quickly & effectively.
   
   In contrast, without a clear, root problem to solve, it’s easy for teams to just bounce around - to “effervesce” - trying lots of ideas, but with no clear focus and nothing to tie those ideas together.
   

Clarity around what the true problem is we are there to solve means we are far more likely to discover the kind of solutions that our target user will consider valuable. Furthermore, it means we are able to generate - & be open to - other solutions. This in turn means we can pivot effectively to eventually discover the right solution.

How to Identify The Right Root Problem

We need to dig in to work out: Are we solving the wrong, surface-level problem? Or have we in fact got to the root of the problem?

Once we’ve done so, we also want to ask ourselves: Is this the “right problem to solve”?

I.E. Is this problem worth us committing lots of resources to trying to solve? Or should we, in fact, look at a different problem entirely?

There are 4 specific questions we want to ask ourselves when assessing whether we should explore solving a specific problem, which I will outline briefly below:

1. Is the problem acute?
   
   If the problem is what we call a “vitamin” (i.e. nice-to-have), rather than a painkiller (i.e. essential & urgent), then we might want to look at another problem.
   
   Products can be successful when they solve a non-acute problem, but it’s a lot harder to attract, acquire, retain & charge users for your product when they aren’t super motivated to solve their problem.
   

2. Is the market addressable?
   
   If you don’t know where to find your market, you’ll struggle to get a consistent stream of the right kind of users to your product.
   
   Whether a new or existing product, you want to be laser focused in finding where they hang out & how to attract that market to your product offer.
   
   

3. Are you motivated to solve the problem?
   
   Product work is hard. Many tasks to juggle, many stakeholders to juggle, and lots of uncertainty around what we should work on.
   
   If you’re not interested in the problem you are trying to solve, you will lack the persistence, obsessive thinking & the passion to help you drive results. Better, in such a case, to move role to find a problem you are intrinsically motivated to solve.
   
   

4. What is the market potential?
   
   Although we should always start by being laser-focused on a very specific audience, it is worth considering long-term potential of a market.

   
   To do so, we can look at things like potential related markets we could move into long-term, spending power of our market, “heuristics” of our market (i.e. what kind of behaviours and beliefs they follow), as well as how persistent certain trends are in that market.
   
   

By asking these 4 questions, we can get a sense of whether we are addressing the right problem. However, it’s worth noting that we can never know that we have selected the perfect problem.

We can do some analysis. We can ask the right questions. But we can never predict the market.

If we do need to pivot, for new products it’s fairly easy. The team is small. It’s used to uncertainty & rapid action. For existing product, it’s a lot harder. However, without clarity around the root problem you are solving, you will fail.

So you must take action to define what problem you are solving — and give yourself the best chance of building the kind of solutions that will create massive value for your user, and allow you to capture that value in the form of revenue for your business.

Tomorrow, we’ll look at how to avoid jumping straight into building a solution and, instead, work out what your product is really there for.

See you then,

Henry