When I teach critical thinking as a part of my courses I have the biggest issues getting student to correctly define the issues. I appreciated the way this course broke it down into immediate issue and long term issues. So often when dealing with conflict there is a loss of focus on the actual issue rather than the supporting and resulting issues. I often try and have student break down a complex problem into smaller more manageable sections until they come to the root of the problem. This can be a lengthy process. Are there any suggestions to a more succinct way of accomplishing this same goal?