What is Problem shape?
The structural form of a problem, independent of industry. It is what makes proof from one sector usable in another.
Across 85+ documented engagements the problems reduce to four: a human reads a document and types it in again; the answer exists and nobody can find it; too much arrives to check it all so you sample; the same judgment gets made differently every time. Sector is almost never the useful axis, because a telecom's invoice problem and a contractor's invoice problem are the same engineering problem in different uniforms.
The practical use is selection. Once a problem's shape is identified, the evidence for what works on that shape already exists - and so does the knowledge of what fails on it, which is the more valuable half.
| On this | Problem shape | Sorting proof by client industry |
|---|---|---|
| What a reader concludes | That is my problem, in someone else's uniform | They do not serve my industry |
| How much evidence is usable | Most of it | Only the rows matching their sector |
| Risk | Claiming a shape transfers when it does not - so the source industry is always stated | Looking narrower than the record actually is |
- When it is the right answer
- When you are judging whether somebody's experience is relevant to you. Ask what shape their proof is, not what industry it came from.
Start here
If a term here is the one your board paper turns on, ask us about it.
We will send the entry, the evidence behind it, and the honest note about where it does not apply.
You get a reply within one working day, from the engineer who would do the work - not a sales sequence.