Pick a global problem to solve with no budget limit, staff the team, set success metrics

Imagine you have been handed unlimited resources (money, people and technology) to tackle one problem facing the world today. Answer three things: which problem you would take on, who you would put on the team, and which measurable goals would show whether you succeeded. ### Clarifying Questions - Does "unlimited resources" include the authority to make governments act, or only money, talent and technology? - Over what time horizon will success be judged: the first few years, or a decade or more? - Does "fix" mean eliminating the problem entirely, or a large, lasting and measurable reduction? - Should the problem be one where a technology company is well placed to help, or can it be anything at all? ### Part 1 — Choose the problem Pick one problem and explain why it deserves unlimited resources more than the alternatives you considered. Define its scope precisely enough that progress could be measured. ```hint What is still scarce? Once money stops being the limit, something else will be. Compare your candidate problems on what is actually holding each one back today. ``` #### What This Part Should Cover - Explicit selection criteria applied to a few candidates, not a single favorite cause. - A scoped problem statement: who is affected, where, and what solved would look like. - Why unlimited resources change the outlook for this problem in particular. ### Part 2 — Build the team Describe who would be on your team: the roles, how they are organized, and why each one is needed for this problem. ```hint Beyond the builders Think about who keeps the solution working after launch, and who checks whether it worked, not only who designs and builds it. ``` #### What This Part Should Cover - Roles that map to the problem's real bottlenecks, including local and domain expertise. - A structure that separates strategy, delivery and independent evaluation. - Partners outside the team, such as governments, communities and existing organizations, and how ownership is handed over. ### Part 3 — Define success Set measurable goals that would tell you, and anyone backing you, whether the effort is succeeding. ```hint Counting versus caring Separate what you can count quickly from what you actually care about, and consider how you would know that your work, rather than something else, caused the change. ``` #### What This Part Should Cover - A primary outcome metric supported by input and output metrics. - Guardrails for unintended harm, and for whether results last once funding or attention fades. - Targets with time frames and a credible way to measure and attribute change. ### What a Strong Answer Covers - A coherent thread from problem choice to team to metrics, with each part shaped by the chosen problem's specific constraints. - Product habits applied to a problem that is not a product: scoping, piloting, iterating and prioritizing what comes first. - An honest treatment of the risks and second-order effects of a very large intervention. ### Follow-up Questions - Two years in, your output metrics are ahead of plan but the outcome you care about has not moved. How do you work out why? - A government in a key region refuses to cooperate. How does your plan change when money cannot buy its consent? - If you had to show visible results within 12 months to keep public support, what would you do first?