Problem Statement [1b] The problem statement puts what is learned during the definition stage into a brief description of the problem to be solved. Almost always, one sentence is sufficient. Good problem statements have four parts: (1) an invitational stem, (2) an ownership component, (3) an action component, and (4) a goal component (Evan, 1991). The following sample problem statement contains the four parts: “In what ways can we improve system response time to reduce how long customers must wait for an answer to an inquiry about school vaccination requirements?”