One of those “little devils” that often gets overlooked is the need to construct an effective problem statement. You’ll want to do that at the start of any improvement project.

How Customer Problem Statements Can Solve Real Paint Points Innovation starts with understanding your customer. This simple framework helps uncover real problems and engineer meaningful solutions.

Example: The current “inquiry to sales” conversation ratio is 1:20. Based on the problem statement, the objective would be to increase the conversion ratio from 5 to 15 percent.

To help it buy the right technology from IT companies, the Defense Information Systems Agency said it will publish a list of problem statements this fall alongside its annual tech priorities watchlist ...