The 1-3-1 framework: how to bring solutions, not just problems, to your manager
Early in my career, I walked into my founder’s cabin with a problem.
That was the whole pitch. A problem. No solution, no options, no point of view. I was stuck, I wanted help, and I assumed that’s what you do when you’re stuck.
He listened, and then he asked me one thing.
What’s your 1–3–1?
I had no idea what he meant. I stood there trying to work out whether it was a framework I was supposed to know, a document I’d forgotten to write, or a test. He could tell I was lost, so he explained it. It took about thirty seconds, and I’ve been using it ever since.
What 1–3–1 means
1 problem. 3 solutions. 1 decision.
- Problem: define it well. One problem, clearly stated, with no cloud of worries around it.
- Solutions: come with three possible ways to solve it.
- Decision: tell me which one you’d go ahead with, and why.
Then he added that if those three things are clear, you already know what you need to do.
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He was right. Most of the time I didn’t need his answer. I needed to do my own thinking before asking for his. Once I’d defined the problem properly and laid out three real options, the choice was usually sitting right there. On the days it wasn’t, I could bring him a sharper conversation, because we were debating options instead of staring at a blank page.
It stayed with me
That question has followed me through every role since. Today I lead a team of product designers, and I pass 1–3–1 down to my mentees the way it was passed to me. When someone comes to me with a problem and nothing else, I ask what their 1–3–1 is. They usually give me the same blank look I gave my founder. A few conversations later, they stop coming with problems and start coming with decisions.
This changes how people grow. Designers who frame problems well and choose between options with confidence get trusted with bigger problems, fast.
Why three
One option is a guess. You have nothing to compare it against, so you end up polishing the first thing you see.
Ten options is a pile, and you spend your energy sorting instead of thinking.
At three, comparison becomes useful. You can see the tradeoffs and still hold all the options in your head. It also stops you from accepting the first answer, because two others are sitting right next to it.
Try it this week
Pick a problem you’d normally take straight to someone else. Write it in three sentences with real constraints. Come up with three genuinely different ways to solve it, and choose one. Then say out loud why you’d pick it.
Next time you’re stuck, before you go to anyone with a problem, ask yourself the question my founder asked me.
What’s my 1–3–1?
In Part 2, I cover how the same framework changes the way I work with AI in the design process.
