PERFORMING AN ISSUE ANALYSIS

The process of developing diagnostic frameworks is sometimes called "Issue Analysis." However, the term Issue Analysis is so often used more broadly (and quite imprecisely) to mean almost any logic tree, that people have become confused about how to use either diagnostic frameworks or the other logic trees available. To that end, I want to explain exactly where the confusions lie.

First of all, the word "issue." Strictly speaking, an issue is a question so phrased as to demand a yes or no answer. It comes from the legal phrase "at issue," and it implies there are two sides arguing a point, one of which will prevail. Thus "How should we reorganize?" is not an issue, since there is nothing at issue. "Should we reorganize functionally?" is an issue, and it implies that the thinking has been sufficiently developed to bring one to decision point.

We have seen that yes-no questions are vital to problem solving because they enable clear-cut answers. It is the ability to formulate clear-cut, yes-or-no questions that dictates how efficient a problem-solving effort will be. Consequently, to avoid confusion at least in the language, I suggest you use “concerns" when you are simply listing topics that indicate what worries the client, and leave "issues" to denote yes no questions.