It is better to have several definitions of a problem than risk reliance on the wrong one. 

Do not assume you have the right definition of the problem. Human beings are blessed with an innate gift for identifying patterns in situations. This gift serves us well in many situations...often past experiences are very good guides for understanding the future consequences linked to present situations.

However, the times are really changing and because of the escalated pace of change the innate human ability - pattern identification - is not as reliable as it used to be. While in the past consideration of what happened in the past was a fairly good indicator of what would happen in the future, now what happened in the past is having trouble keeping up with what will happen in the future. 

Put another way - it is getting more difficult to identify the causes behind problem situations.

So, business people are making more mistakes when they define problems and define the causes of problems.

A more-creative approach will lead to better definition of problems.

A more-creative approach will lead to more flexibility in future action. And, more flexibility is required because it is getting harder to predict the future.

That said, huge prizes await those who are better-than-average at identifying problems with accuracy and creating action-plans that actually remedy the problems. Huge prizes! 

So:

• consider expanding creativity when you work at identifying problems [as one example, consider Edward de Bono's 'Six Thinking Hats'],
• spend more time exploring the root causes underlying problems, &
• spend more time designing flexibility into your action-plans...so you can adapt to fit what actually happens in the future.