People-Problem-Solution Purpose Questions
Clarify meaningful work by linking people, needs, and solutions.
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~days to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 98%
This framework opens career ideation through three linked questions: whom do you want to help, what problem or desire do they have, and which solution excites you? Each answer constrains and strengthens the others, converting vague purpose into a plausible contribution. The sequence is flexible. Someone who starts with an audience can identify its need and then possible solutions; someone who already loves a craft such as coding can reverse-engineer who should benefit from it and what need it should address. The output is not a guaranteed job title. It is a grounded direction that connects personal motivation to service, making later experiments and career research more focused.
Origin
Coleman said he developed the three questions after coaching thousands of people and wished he had used them during his own career uncertainty.
Core principles
- 01Honourable work helps somebody.
- 02Purpose becomes concrete when a person and need are named.
- 03Excitement about a solution reveals motivational fit.
- 04The questions can be entered in any order.
How to run it
- 1
Choose an entry point
Start with whichever of people, problem, or solution feels most vivid.
Pro tip Do not force the published order if another answer comes naturally.
- 2
Name the people
Define the group whose progress or relief you genuinely care about.
Watch out Avoid an audience so broad that no specific need can be named.
- 3
Specify the need
Describe the concrete problem they face or result they desire.
Pro tip Use the audience's lived language where possible.
- 4
Identify energising solutions
List forms of help you would be excited to create or deliver.
Watch out A useful solution that drains you may not be a durable personal fit.
- 5
Build work hypotheses
Combine the three answers into roles, projects, or businesses worth testing.
Pro tip Treat each combination as a hypothesis, not a permanent identity.
In the wild
A person begins with the solution they love: coding. By asking who should benefit, they choose children. They then identify the desire as enjoyable learning and play, producing a possible direction in educational video games.
→ A generic interest in coding becomes a specific career hypothesis to test.
Common mistakes
Demanding a fixed order
The questions are connected and can be reverse-engineered from the clearest answer.
Treating the answer as proof
The exercise creates a direction for testing; it does not replace real-world evidence.
Is it for you?
Best for
People exploring a new career direction or a more meaningful use of an existing skill.
Not ideal for
People selecting between offers that already serve the same audience, problem, and solution.
From the transcript
“Ask yourself, who are the people I want to help?”
“What's the problem or desire that they have?”
“what's the solution or solutions to that problem or desire that I get excited about?”
From the episode
Ken Coleman: Get Clear on Your Purpose, Find the Work You're Wired to Do
Ken Coleman