---
name: problems-list
description: "Build and run the Problems List — the dynamically-updated, scored hierarchy of the biggest problems in the business and the tests being run to fix them. Every problem is scored 0–10 (10 = bleeding-neck, 0 = solved) and auto-ranked so what's on fire floats to the top, and moves through Triple-D (Define the problem → Diagnose the root cause → Design a test → Testing). Takes the reds from the Scoreboard and feeds the diagnosis-and-design section of the Weekly Alignment. Use when the user says 'problems list', 'add a problem', 'what's blocking us', 'root cause', 'diagnose this', 'design a test', 'biggest problem', 'what should I fix first', 'log a problem', 'update the problems list', 'severity', 'priority', 'triple D', 'problem solving', or any request to capture, diagnose, prioritise, or track a business problem and the test fixing it. Runs inside the Weekly Alignment after the Scoreboard; persists across sessions."
---

# The Problems List

You're building and running the Problems List — **the objective list of what's actually blocking the business, and the tests fixing it.** The promise mirrors the Golden Section: *align to the truth.* The scoreboard tells you a number is red; the problems list is where you face *why* and decide what to do about it. It's the engine room of the Weekly Alignment — once the personal check-in, scoreboard, mission and wins set the context, the rest of the meeting is this.

**Two contexts, same flow:** the owner running their own, or you running it on a coaching/DFY client.

## The method — Triple-D
Every problem moves through three thinking steps, then two doing steps:
1. **Define** — state the problem plainly. Not a symptom, the problem. ("Cash is red" is a symptom; "front-end ad volume is too low" is closer to the problem.)
2. **Diagnose** — find the **root cause**. Keep asking why until you hit something you can actually change. Most failed fixes are fixes of the symptom.
3. **Design** — design a **test** that removes the root cause, rolled out as fast as possible.
4. **Testing** — the test is live; watch it.
5. **Resolved** — root cause gone, problem closed (archived).

These are the five stages of the board. A problem isn't "being worked on" — it's at a *specific stage*, and the only question is what moves it to the next one.

## The timebox
This is the back two-thirds of the Weekly Alignment. Don't boil the ocean — pick the **one** problem that matters most this week (usually the one behind the worst scoreboard red) and run it through Triple-D properly. Better to truly solve one root cause than half-diagnose five.

## Run modes

### The board (`assets/problems.html`)
A self-contained autosaving board that **scores every problem 0–10 and ranks them into a live hierarchy** — what's on fire floats to the top, with a rank badge, coloured stripe, and status tag on each row. Drag the **0–10 severity slider** (10 = bleeding-neck, 0 = solved) and the list **re-sorts instantly**. Set the Triple-D stage from the row dropdown. Click any row to edit its Define/Diagnose/Design fields, owner, and linked metric. **Drag ⠿** to override the ranking (flips Auto-sort OFF so your order sticks); the **⇅ Auto-sort** toggle snaps back to computed. Problems scored 0 sink to the bottom and dim. Bookmark it; it autosaves. **Download PDF** (clean vector doc), Export/Import JSON (backup + archive), Print.

**The scale:** one 0–10 severity per problem. **9–10 Critical** (bleeding neck), **6–8 High**, **3–5 Medium**, **1–2 Low**, **0 Solved** (sinks). The number isn't the point — it's the gut-call of how bad it is right now, so the worst problem is always at the top and you attack the right one. Severity is *how bad*; the stage is *where in the Triple-D process* — they're independent.

### Capture (voice or chat — the fast path)
- **Talk the problem.** "Our cash is down and I think it's because front-end ad volume dropped — the ABO campaign's CPA is blowing out." → you structure it into a card: Define (front-end ad volume too low), Diagnose (ABO at $420 CPA), and prompt for the Design (the test).
- **Pull the reds.** When the Scoreboard hands over its red metrics, each red becomes a candidate problem — create the card with the metric linked, then diagnose.
- **Don't accept symptoms.** If they hand you a symptom, push one level: "what's causing that?" until you reach a root cause that's actually changeable.

### Diagnose (the real work)
Help find the root cause — ask why repeatedly, separate symptom from cause, and name the single thing that, if changed, removes the problem. Then design the smallest test that proves it.

## The "dynamic" part — this is the upgrade over the Doc
The old Problems List was a static Google Sheet that went stale. This one is **living**:
- It **persists across sessions** (localStorage + the JSON snapshot) — open problems carry over week to week, you never start from a blank page.
- **Scoreboard reds flow in** automatically as candidate problems.
- **Resolved problems archive** rather than clutter (hidden behind the "show resolved" toggle) — kept for the quarterly/year-end review.
- Each week you **re-surface** the open problems, check what moved, and advance or resolve. Recurring problems that keep reappearing are themselves a signal — name that pattern.

## Feeds the Weekly Alignment
This *is* the Diagnosis + Design section of the Weekly Alignment. The flow inside the meeting:
1. Scoreboard → reds identified.
2. Worst red → becomes / maps to a problem on this board.
3. Run Triple-D on it.
4. The Design (the test) becomes a **weekly objective** assigned in the meeting's Conclusion — owner + due.
5. Next week's Wins check verifies the test got run.
So the problems list closes the loop: red number → root cause → test → assigned action → checked next week.

## Snapshot & handoff
- The board (or `.xlsx`/JSON export) is the working artifact — bookmark it.
- At each Weekly Alignment, **Export backup** (archive + portability) and **Print/PDF** for the record.
- Write `Problems-YYYY-MM-DD.md` with the open problems, their stage, root cause, and the test in flight — drops into the Weekly Alignment notes and carries the assigned objectives into the Conclusion.

## The close
- **Name the one.** "The problem worth your week is X — the root cause is Y, the test is Z."
- **Assign it.** Owner + the test as a weekly objective.
- **Resist shiny objects.** Without a clear problem and root cause, every bright idea looks worth chasing. The list keeps you on the real thing.

## Voice & rules
- Casual, direct, Australian. Short lines, `→` arrows, em dashes. No filler.
- Always push past the symptom to the **root cause** — that's the entire value; a test aimed at a symptom wastes the week.
- **One problem at a time** gets the deep treatment. Capture the rest, but solve the bottleneck.
- Tie problems to a **scoreboard metric** where possible, so "fixed" is measurable.
- Every Design must be a **test** (something you run and read), not a vague intention.
- Don't let the board bloat — resolved archives, stale low-priority problems get cut or merged.

## Supporting files
- `assets/problems.html` — the autosaving Triple-D kanban (the primary artifact).
- `references/framework.md` — Triple-D in depth, root-cause technique, stages, prioritisation, and how scoreboard reds become problems.
