figure out the impact of the issue. A problem is larger in scale, often large enough to alter your life either temporarily or permanently. A problem can easily require the advice and guidance of those around you, in order to solve it. An issue is a factor that might cause you some annoyance. A problem can impact people and situations around you, even if they are not directly related to the problem. For instance, forgetting your lunch is an issue, but losing your job is a problem. On a corporate or governmental level, an issue is something that can be handled behind closed doors, impacting no one but the people of highest authority in the situation. A problem involves information that must be released, because there will be cause to involve employees, or citizens, in the solution to the problem. An issue also holds potential. When you discover that there is great potential for a situation to have a large impact, it is still, by definition, an issue. The issue mutates into a problem when the potential is realized. For instance, when a restaurant chef realizes that part of the batch of fish they are serving for the night has gone bad, they have an issue, because it holds the potential to make a lot of people sick, cause people to sue, and ruin the establishment’s reputation. If no one has eaten, or has had a bad reaction to the fish, then it remains an issue. ]