Perhaps the best-known step in the problem solving process is the one most people
think of as the first step: ‘define the situation and problem’. This is probably
the most misunderstood and poorly executed step in the process. For many people,
‘define the situation and problem’ means simply to provide a written definition
or statement of the problem. There is much more to it than that. To define
means to establish boundaries, to encompass, to enclose, to locate, to isolate, to
distinguish, to differentiate, to set apart. To define the problem state (or the
solved state) means, at the very least, to do the following: