PROBLEM-SHAPING — Stop at the earliest honest problem-side result

• Situation: Something matters, but the team may have only signals worth preserving, a direction for inquiry, a question about competing explanations, or enough clarity to accept a problem statement.
• Question: What can you honestly produce now: preserved signals, a routed direction for inquiry, an explicit question that contrasts possible explanations, or a problem statement ready for acceptance?
• First useful result or blocker: A preserved set of signals, a clear inquiry route, a question about plausible explanations, an accepted problem statement, or the exact missing anchor, route, subject, constraint, or acceptance basis.
• Mantra: Keep what was noticed before declaring a problem. Route the inquiry only when the signal has a stable anchor. Ask about explanations only when the open question and contrast are clear. Accept a problem statement only when the subject, constraints, unresolved relations, important distinctions, and basis can be stated. Stop at the earliest useful truth; return when its basis changes.
• Start with: A.16.1 for a cue pack, B.4.1 for routed cues, B.5.2.0 for an abductive prompt, and C.22.2 for an accepted ProblemCard.
• Stop or return: Do not force a cue into a problem. Open C.22.PFR only when whether the adverse relation obtains changes the next use.