Research shows that companies devote too little effort to examining problems before trying to solve them. By jumping immediately into problem-solving, teams limit their ability to design innovative solutions. The authors recommend that companies spend more time up front on problem-framing, a process for understanding and defining a problem. Exploring different frames is like looking at a scene through various camera lenses while adjusting your angle, aperture, and focus. A wide-angle lens gives you a very different photo from that taken with a telephoto lens, and shifting your angle and depth of focus yields distinct images. Effective problem-framing is similar: Looking at a problem from a variety of perspectives helps you uncover new insights and generate fresh ideas. This article introduces a five-phase approach to problem-framing: In the expand phase, the team identifies all aspects of a problem; in examine, it dives into root causes; in empathize, it considers key stakeholders' perspectives; in elevate, it puts the problem into a broader context; and in envision, it creates a road map toward the desired outcome.

This topical case covers the period from 2019 to 2022, when Prakash Arunkundrum, head of global operations and sustainability at Logitech, was focusing on reducing the company's carbon footprint. It recounts how he and his team gained internal support to embark on an ambitious carbon labeling initiative and created a transparent methodology to assess, validate and communicate the life cycle carbon value of Logitech's products. The case highlights Logitech's journey to becoming climate positive, based on four key pillars; 1) reducing carbon in its products, 2) transitioning to renewable energies, 3) restoring forests and supporting climate impacted communities, and 4) rethinking how to support and enable reuse. However, Prakash realized that the real hurdle would be gaining industry-wide adoption of carbon labeling by other companies and competitors in the tech sector. Logitech tried to garner support for Carbon Clarity by making its approach open source, by investing significant time and energy to raise awareness about the benefits of carbon labeling, and by holding discussions with interested companies, including competitors. Yet despite interest from other companies, they had not yet committed to supporting Carbon Clarity. Prakash was baffled as to why they would not commit and wondered how to make progress to drive sustainability.