Problem-first hiring beats job-post hiring

A job post is a solution in disguise. By the time you write “Senior Shopify developer, 3 months”, you have already decided the shape of the answer — often before anyone has checked whether the store is the constraint at all.

Problem-first intake inverts that. You describe the outcome you need and the constraint you are living with. Discovery then produces the scope, the price band and the delivery shape together, so the choice between an expert, a service, a squad or a managed outcome is made with evidence rather than habit.

The practical effect is fewer restarts. When scope is derived from the problem, the acceptance criteria are written before the contract is signed, and the argument at the end of the engagement simply does not happen.