# Think Problem Restatement > Generates several genuinely different framings of an ambiguous problem by varying altitude, stakeholder, and goal-versus-implementation, then selects the most useful one to solve and produces a reframed problem statement with How Might We angles. Use when a problem is vague, arrived as a symptom or a pre-baked solution, or before committing significant work to solving the wrong thing. - **Type:** Skill - **Install:** `agentstack add skill-product-on-purpose-thinking-framework-skills-think-problem-restatement` - **Verified:** Yes — security-reviewed for prompt injection and unsafe behavior - **Seller:** [product-on-purpose](https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/product-on-purpose) - **Installs:** 0 - **Category:** [AI & ML](https://agentstack.voostack.com/c/ai-and-ml) - **Latest version:** 0.1.0 - **License:** Apache-2.0 - **Upstream author:** [product-on-purpose](https://github.com/product-on-purpose) - **Source:** https://github.com/product-on-purpose/thinking-framework-skills/tree/main/skills/think-problem-restatement - **Website:** https://product-on-purpose.github.io/thinking-framework-skills/ ## Install ```sh agentstack add skill-product-on-purpose-thinking-framework-skills-think-problem-restatement ``` Requires the [AgentStack CLI](https://agentstack.voostack.com/docs/cli). Works with Claude Code, Cursor, and any MCP-compatible agent. ## About # Problem Restatement The default failure is to solve a problem exactly as first stated, even though the first statement usually encodes a symptom, a presupposed solution, or one stakeholder's view. Problem restatement is a deliberate interrupt before solving: generate several genuinely different formulations of the problem, each by a distinct move (change altitude, separate goal from implementation, shift stakeholder, invert, bound with is/is-not), then choose the most useful one to work on. The output is a **problem frame set** ending in a single chosen working frame, not a longer list and not prose. ## When to Use - The problem is ambiguous, ill-defined, or stated as a symptom. - The request names a solution ("build X") but the underlying goal is unstated. - Solving the wrong problem would be costly; this is upstream of significant work. - At the start of most reframing, discovery, or strategy workflows. ## When NOT to Use - The problem is already well-defined and validated; reframing a correct, clear problem wastes effort and manufactures doubt. - For trivial or fully reversible tasks where a wrong frame costs little. - To generate solutions (use an ideation skill) or to choose among them (use a decision skill); this tool only sharpens the problem. - As endless reframing that avoids ever committing to solve. Restatement that never selects a working frame is the main failure mode. ## Instructions When asked to restate or reframe a problem, follow these steps: 1. **Capture the problem as given.** Record it verbatim. Note who framed it and whether it names a symptom or a presupposed solution. 2. **Generate restatements with distinct moves, not rewordings.** Produce 5 to 8 genuinely different frames using: altitude up ("what is this ultimately in service of?") and down ("what concretely is failing?"); goal versus implementation (separate the outcome wanted from the solution proposed); stakeholder shift (state it as each affected party would); inversion ("how would we cause this on purpose?"); and is / is not (what the problem explicitly is and is not). 3. **Justify each briefly.** For every restatement, add one line: why this might be the real problem. 4. **Draw How Might We angles.** From the most promising restatements, write 3 to 5 open "How might we ..." questions. 5. **Select one working frame.** Choose the single restatement that best serves the user's actual goal, and say in one or two sentences why. Converge; do not leave it open. 6. **Emit the problem frame set.** Produce the artifact in `references/TEMPLATE.md`: the original, the tagged restatement table, the How Might We angles, and the chosen working frame with rationale. ## Output Format Use the template in `references/TEMPLATE.md`. The deliverable is the frame set ending in one chosen working frame, not a prose essay. ## Quality Checklist Before finalizing, verify: - [ ] Restatements use distinct framing moves (altitude, goal-vs-implementation, stakeholder, inversion, is/is-not), not cosmetic rewordings. - [ ] The underlying goal is separated from any proposed implementation. - [ ] At least one restatement challenges a load-bearing assumption (an inversion or an is/is-not). - [ ] Exactly one working frame is selected, with a rationale tied to the user's actual goal. - [ ] The output is the frame set artifact, not prose. - [ ] No overclaiming: the skill sharpens the problem, it does not guarantee a better solution (see `evidence/dossier.md`). ## Evidence Tier **M/P**. That how a problem is framed affects the quality and originality of solutions has moderate support (problem-finding research, Getzels & Csikszentmihalyi and successors; Nutt on decision failure from poor definition), and design practice treats a tight problem statement as upstream of better ideation (Stanford d.school; Wedell-Wedellsborg, HBR 2017). The specific "restate it several ways" technique is practitioner-grade, and evidence is transferred from human studies, not AI-validated. The popular Einstein "55 minutes" quote is apocryphal and is not used as support. Full grading and caveats: `evidence/dossier.md`. ## Examples See `references/EXAMPLE.md` for a completed problem frame set. ## Source & license This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code. - **Author:** [product-on-purpose](https://github.com/product-on-purpose) - **Source:** [product-on-purpose/thinking-framework-skills](https://github.com/product-on-purpose/thinking-framework-skills) - **License:** Apache-2.0 - **Homepage:** https://product-on-purpose.github.io/thinking-framework-skills/ Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above. ## Pricing - **Free** — Free ## Security capabilities Automated source analysis of v0.1.0 — what this tool can access: - **Network access:** no - **Filesystem access:** no - **Shell / process execution:** no - **Environment & secrets:** no - **Dynamic code execution:** no *"Yes" means the capability is present in the source — more access means more to trust, not that it is unsafe.* ## Versions - **0.1.0** — security scan: passed — Imported from the upstream source. ## Links - Listing page: https://agentstack.voostack.com/l/skill-product-on-purpose-thinking-framework-skills-think-problem-restatement - Seller: https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/product-on-purpose - Browse the marketplace: https://agentstack.voostack.com/browse --- Listed on AgentStack — the marketplace for AI agent skills and MCP servers. Every listing is security-reviewed. Creators keep 70%.