Development of strategy begins with situational assessment and problem identification. As both a business executive and professor, I am astonished at the variation in the problem identification process. This variation is cause for much confusion in organizations as we tend to believe others will evaluate the facts and come to roughly the same conclusion as our own. As you can see from the class responses to last week's assignment, wide variation to problem identification exists in even the simplest assessments. This leads to even wider variation in the alternatives and approaches that would direct resources in an organization.

For thisoptionalExtra Credit discussion post, students will consider the questions below and review the problem statements identified by their classmates in the file attached:Problem Statements from McDonald's Assignment

1. Describe the difference between a problem and a symptom.

2. Other than your own problem statement, which one do you think is best? Why?

3. As a leader who must align resources to address the problem, what makes a good problem statement (consider both style and content)?