# Turn a problem into an action plan with clear success measures

A structured plan to solve a work problem: steps, owners, dates, checkpoints, and the evidence that will show it is really solved.

- Topic: Projects & Operations
- Framework: RTF
- Level: Standard
- Tags: Analyze, Plan, Fill-in Template
- Source: https://www.thinkwithprompt.com/prompts/turn-a-problem-into-an-action-plan-with-clear-success-measures

## Prompt

```text
Help me build a practical plan to solve a problem, and decide how we'll know it's actually solved.

**The problem:** [WHAT IS WRONG, how often, and the impact]
**What we know about the cause:** [ROOT CAUSE FINDINGS, or "not yet clear"]
**The solution or direction we've chosen:** [IF ANY]
**People available and their roles:** [NAMES OR ROLES]
**Deadline and constraints:** [DATES, BUDGET, APPROVALS NEEDED]

The plan should follow this approach: define, diagnose (if the cause isn't clear), fix, check, and lock in. Skip the diagnose phase only if the cause is confirmed.

Return:
1. Problem statement and goal in one sentence each (the goal must be measurable).
2. An action table: Step | What exactly | Owner | Due date | Depends on | Done when.
3. Success measures: the metric that shows the problem is solved, its current baseline (or [ADD BASELINE]), the target, and how long it must hold (e.g. "zero late invoices for 3 consecutive months") so we don't declare victory too early.
4. Guardrail measures: what must not get worse while we fix this.
5. Checkpoints: when we review progress, and what would make us change the plan.
6. How we lock in the fix: process change, documentation, training, or automation, and who owns it after the project ends.
7. Top risks to the plan and how to reduce each.

Rules: keep steps concrete and small enough to assign. Don't invent baselines or targets; leave placeholders where I haven't given numbers.
```

## What to fill in

- WHAT IS WRONG, how often, and the impact
- ROOT CAUSE FINDINGS, or "not yet clear"
- IF ANY
- NAMES OR ROLES
- DATES, BUDGET, APPROVALS NEEDED
- ADD BASELINE

Free to copy and use. From ThinkWithPrompt (https://www.thinkwithprompt.com/), a library of 2,663 curated AI prompts.