Are Your Lights On?: How to Figure Out What the Problem Really Is

Monthly Book Review

How would you remind drivers to turn their headlights off when they don’t need them on?

It’s an interesting problem, because you need to account for many scenarios. And if cars are driving, you only have a few seconds of a driver’s attention. So many problems to solve…

I don’t recall now how this book ended up on my reading list. But I’m glad it did. It isn’t a common one you’ll see on “most popular reading lists for product managers” or “must read business books,” which is a shame. It’s a dark-horse for sure, but worth it.

Are Your Lights On? explores the art of problem-solving. Instead of offering straightforward solutions, it challenges readers to think critically about what constitutes a problem and how to identify the actual issues. Through a collection of stories, the authors show common pitfalls in problem-solving and how our assumptions and perceptions can lead us astray.

The book emphasizes the importance of understanding the context of problems and all the stakeholders involved in a problem. It argues that a well-defined problem is more likely to lead to an effective solution.

So, what are the key takeaways? Let’s dive in to a few.

Key Takeaways

The Problem Is Not Always What It Seems

The authors stress that the first step in solving a problem is to ensure you've correctly identified what the problem actually is. This might seem obvious, but many errors in problem-solving stem from misunderstandings or misidentifications of the true issue.

I see this all the time in my work as a product manager. It is easy to think we understand a problem or to jump past the problem step to get to the solutions. This is always a mistake.