tkersey/creative-problem-solver

Creative Problem Solver

Purpose: generate a five-tier portfolio that compounds (Artifact Spine), then stop for a human choice.

Contract (one assistant turn)

• Name the current Double Diamond stage: Discover / Define / Develop / Deliver.
• If Define is weak: propose a one-line working definition + success criteria, and treat the portfolio as learning moves.
• Deliver options, then stop and ask for human input before executing.
• Always include a five-tier portfolio: Quick Win, Strategic Play, Advantage Play, Transformative Move, Moonshot.
• Before generating tiers, name the default solution basin and ensure at least two tiers come from different conceptual frames.
• For each option: accretive artifact + expected signal + escape hatch.
• Run an Aha Check after reframing.
• Keep a short Knowledge Snapshot (facts/risks/assets) + Decision Log.
• Keep output compact: target <= 60 lines; 1-3 bullets per section.

When to use

• Progress is stalled or blocked.
• Repeated attempts fail the same way.
• The user asks for options, alternatives, tradeoffs, or a strategy portfolio.
• The problem is multi-constraint, cross-domain, or high-uncertainty (architecture, migration, integration, conflict resolution).

Quick start

1. Choose Double Diamond stage: Discover / Define / Develop / Deliver.
2. Choose lane: Fast Spark or Full Session.
3. Reframe once using the supported technique for the stage.
4. Aha Check. If none, run one second and final pass with First Principles.
5. Define gate: state a one-line problem statement + success criteria (or mark unknown and ask).
6. Diversity gate: name the default solution basin and choose at least two different conceptual frames for the tiers.
7. Define an Artifact Spine (1-3 shared artifacts) so the tiers can stack.
8. Generate the five-tier portfolio (learning moves in Discover/Define; solution moves in Develop/Deliver).
9. Score options (1-5): Signal, Accretion, Ease, Reversibility, Speed.
10. Ask the user to choose a tier or update constraints.
11. Close with an Insights Summary.

Double Diamond alignment

• Discover (diverge): broaden context; focus options on learning (research, instrumentation, repro, characterization).
• Define (converge): lock the problem statement + success criteria; surface unknowns and ask.
• Develop (diverge): generate solution paths; prototype/experiment if needed.
• Deliver (converge): pick a tier to execute; hand off to tk for incision + proof.

Mode check

• Pragmatic (default): ship-this-week options only.
• Visionary: only when asked for long-horizon strategy or systemic change.

Lane selector

• Fast Spark: skip ideation; produce the portfolio directly.
• Full Session: diverge (10-30 ideas), cluster, score, then select one option per tier.

Reframe selection (required)

• Supported techniques:
  • Discover default -> Assumption Mapping
  • Define default -> How Might We
  • Develop default -> SCAMPER
  • Deliver default -> Pre-mortem
  • Final fallback -> First Principles
• Rule: start with the stage default. If there is no Aha, run exactly one second pass with First Principles.
• If the user asks for an out-of-catalog technique, choose the nearest supported technique and disclose the supported Reframe used.
• Chat disclosure: include only Reframe used: <technique> + a one-line why.

Aha Check (required)

• Definition: a restructuring insight (new representation/model).
• Output: one-line insight. If none after the second pass, state N/A after second pass and continue with the most conservative portfolio that still satisfies the contract.

Portfolio rule

• Every response must include all five tiers.
• If stage is Discover/Define (problem unclear), the tiers are learning moves (not build proposals).
• If stage is Develop/Deliver (problem clear), the tiers are solution moves.

Diversity guard

• Name the default solution basin before generating tiers.
• Ensure at least two tiers come from different conceptual frames, not just different sizes of the same idea.
• Valid frame shifts include substrate, interface, constraint, proof surface, incentive, time horizon, operating model, or user ritual.
• If the five tiers cannot honestly diverge, say so and mark the portfolio as same-basin.

Accretion (required)

• Accretive artifact: a durable asset you keep even if the option is wrong (measurement, harness, spec, test, automation, interface, dataset, doc).
• Rule: every tier must name one accretive artifact.
• Artifact Spine: define 1-3 named artifacts shared across tiers; each tier's artifact must be one of these or an extension of one (otherwise explicitly state why it is a different spine).
• Spine output: for each spine artifact, include purpose + minimal shape/interface + timebox + where it lives (repo path or conceptual home).
• Ladder: prefer stacking (Quick Win builds the base; higher tiers reuse/extend it). If it does not ladder, say so explicitly.

Option template

Quick Win:
- Accretive artifact (spine):
- Expected signal:
- Escape hatch:

Strategic Play:
- Accretive artifact (spine):
- Expected signal:
- Escape hatch:

Advantage Play:
- Accretive artifact (spine):
- Expected signal:
- Escape hatch:

Transformative Move:
- Accretive artifact (spine):
- Expected signal:
- Escape hatch:

Moonshot:
- Accretive artifact (spine):
- Expected signal:
- Escape hatch:

Scoring rubric (1-5, no weights)

• Signal: how much new information this yields.
• Accretion: durable value you keep even if you're wrong.
• Ease: effort/complexity to try.
• Reversibility: ease of undoing.
• Speed: time-to-learn.

Preference: high Signal + Accretion + Reversibility, then Ease + Speed.

Deliverable format

• Lane (Fast Spark / Full Session).
• Double Diamond stage (Discover / Define / Develop / Deliver).
• Problem statement + success criteria (or marked unknown).
• Reframe used.
• Aha Check (one line).
• Default solution basin + diversity guard.
• Artifact Spine (1-3 shared artifacts; purpose + minimal interface + where it lives).
• Five-tier portfolio with accretive artifacts + signals + escape hatches.
• Scorecard + brief rationale.
• Knowledge Snapshot (facts/risks/assets; 1-3 bullets).
• Decision Log + Assumptions/Constraints.
• Human Input Required (choose tier or update constraints).
• If execution is chosen: hand off to tk.
• Insights Summary.

Fast Spark example (compact)

Lane: Fast Spark
Stage: Deliver

Problem: Search API p95 latency is ~800ms; target <= 200ms at current infra cost.
Success: p95<=200ms, p99<=400ms, CPU +<=10%, no relevancy regression.

Reframe used: Pre-mortem
Why: the current system already exists, so the main risk is choosing a move that adds work without cutting the real latency driver.
Aha: The dominant cost is JSON serialization + payload size, not the query.

Default basin: tune the query engine directly.
Diversity guard: Quick Win/Strategic stay in measurement + payload reduction; Transformative shifts the interface to streaming; Moonshot shifts the substrate to engine bakeoff.

Artifact Spine:
- bench/search/ (perf harness + fixed dataset; outputs: p50/p95/p99 + diff)
- perf/tracing/ (capture scripts + flamegraphs; timebox: 30m per hypothesis)

Quick Win:
- Accretive artifact (spine): baseline run + 3 worst traces captured in perf/tracing/
- Expected signal: stable baseline + top-3 hotspot list within 1 day
- Escape hatch: disable extra tracing if overhead/noise

Strategic Play:
- Accretive artifact (spine): harness-backed PR reducing payload/serialization (bench/search/ diffs)
- Expected signal: p95 improves >= 30% on harness with no regression
- Escape hatch: guard behind flag; revert commit

Advantage Play:
- Accretive artifact (spine): cache experiment wired into harness (hit-rate + tail tracked)
- Expected signal: p95 meets target for warm traffic; CPU stays flat
- Escape hatch: kill-switch cache and keep harness

Transformative Move:
- Accretive artifact (spine): response contract + streaming plan validated by harness
- Expected signal: tail latency collapses under large result sets
- Escape hatch: ship streaming as opt-in client capability

Moonshot:
- Accretive artifact (spine): evaluation kit (dataset + harness) to compare engines/architectures
- Expected signal: order-of-magnitude tail improvement in a bakeoff
- Escape hatch: keep kit as decision tool; no migration until winner is clear

Scores (S/A/E/R/Sp):
- Quick Win: 5/5/5/5/5
- Strategic: 4/4/4/4/4
- Advantage: 4/4/3/3/3
- Transformative: 4/5/2/3/2
- Moonshot: 3/5/1/2/1

Human Input Required: pick a tier (Quick Win .. Moonshot) or update constraints.

Activation cues

• "need options" / "alternatives" / "tradeoffs" / "portfolio"
• "brainstorm" / "ideate"
• "stuck" / "blocked" / "nothing works"
• "outside the box" / "fresh angles"
• "ambiguous" / "uncertain" / "unknowns"
• "architecture" / "system design" / "migration" / "integration"