2. Solution phase
The right to build is earned by thinking.
"The best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas and then throw away the bad ones." — Linus Pauling
What it is: The iterative process of theorizing solutions to the defined problem, presenting them to clients and internal stakeholders, incorporating received feedback, and going back to the drawing board until organizational consensus is reached on both the problem and the solution. It doesn't end until that consensus exists.
Who participates: The product team, relevant internal stakeholders (business, technology, design, operations depending on context), and selected clients or users for validation. The breadth of the group depends on the solution's impact.
What questions are answered: What solutions are possible for this problem? Which one solves the problem with the greatest precision and least friction? What constraints exist — technical, business, regulatory? Are all stakeholders aligned not just on the solution but on the problem it solves? What assumptions are we making and which are the riskiest?
What it produces: A Solution Brief — a clear description of the proposed solution, the problem it solves, the decisions made and their justifications, the assumptions it contains, and the agreed-upon success criteria. This document is the foundation for Context Phase.
When it's complete: When explicit organizational consensus exists on both the problem and the solution. Not when there's a majority. Not when the person in charge says yes. When the agreement is real and relevant disagreements have been resolved or consciously documented.
Real organizational consensus is the most valuable asset this phase produces. It's not the Solution Brief — it's the deep agreement behind the Solution Brief. A Solution Brief without real consensus is a document nobody will defend when things get complicated.
Why
The distance between a well-defined problem and a well-aligned solution is larger than it seems.
Good Solution
Thinking before deciding. Decomposing the problem into addressable pieces and examining the four dimensions of every AI solution.
What it is
Solution Phase is an iterative alignment process, not a hierarchical approval event.
Who
The group composition changes from Phase 1: stakeholders excluded from discovery are needed for alignment.
Thinking about AI
The team begins thinking about how AI will process the solution, without writing a single line of context.
→ Phase 3
How the Solution Brief translates into AI-processable context: the transition from human thinking to Context Phase.