The Phoenix list is a famous checklist to highlight problems from many different angles. The origin is a tool used by the US intelligence organisation CIA for the training of its agents. The checklist includes both the problem and the plan to solve it.
The problem
- Why is it necessary to solve the problem?
- What benefits do you get by solving the problem?
- What are the unknown factors?
- What are you not yet understanding?
- What information do you have?
- What is not the problem?
- Is the information you have sufficient? Insufficient? Superfluous? Contradictory?
- Can you describe the problem in a chart?
- Where is the limit for the problem?
- Can you distinguish the different parts of the problem? Can you write them down? What are the relationships between the different parts of the problem? What is common to the different problem areas?
- Have you encountered this problem before?
- Have you seen this problem in a slightly different form? Do you know a related issue?
- Try to think of a familiar problem with the same or similar unknown factors.
- Suppose you find a problem similar to yours that has already been resolved. Can you use it? Can you use the same method?
- Can you reformulate your problem? How many different ways can you reformulate it? More generally? More specifically? Can the rules change?
- What are the best, worst and most likely outcomes you can imagine?
The plan
- Can you solve the whole problem? Part of the problem?
- What would you like the solution to be? Can you imagine it?
- How much of the unknown can you influence?
- Can you deduce something useful from the information you have?
- Have you used all available information?
- Have you taken into account all the essential factors in the problem?
- Can you identify the steps in the problem solving process? Can you determine the accuracy of each step?
- What creative techniques can you use to generate ideas? How many different techniques?
- Can you imagine the result? How many different types of results can imagine?
- How many different ways can you try to solve the problem?
- What have others done?
- Can you intuitively see the solution? Can you check the result?
- What should be done? How should it be done?
- Where, when and by whom should it be done?
- What do you need to do right now?
- Who will be responsible for what?
- Can you use this problem to resolve any other issues?
- What are the unique qualities that make this problem what it is and nothing else?
- Which milestones can best highlight your progress?
- How do you know when you are successful?
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