Problems show up with symptoms they create. The symptoms make the problem known but obscure it at the same time.

Problems have root causes. An analysis of the symptoms is necessary to gain an idea of possible root causes, expertise allows to decide which one might be the most probable and a specialist will be best to deal with the root cause.

Problems exist within a context. Whatever the surrounding elements of the span between the given root cause and symptoms they can be changing. The shifting context might thus be creating a temporary problem or eliminating the problem and its root cause

Problems need resources. Whatever the symptoms of the problem, they capture attention and disrupt the process as it used to be. Addressing the problem can only be done within a range of available resources.

That’s why problems sometimes become a habit, disappear by themselves, or may bring the system to a halt.

Focusing solely on the problem is rarely efficient. It pays to figure out what the most probable outcome of the situation is.