Lipoproblems: Developing a Strategy Omitting a Key Problem

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According to Wikipedia, a lipogram (from Greek lipogrammatos or lipagrammatos, "missing letter") is a form of constrained writing or word game consisting of writing texts in which a common letter or group of letters is omitted -- usually a common vowel. The challenge is trivial for uncommon letters; the greatest challenge in English is omitting the letter "e", especially when the text is grammatically correct and smooth-flowing.

This approach is one initiative of Oulipo (French abbreviation for: Ouvroir de littérature potentielle; roughly translated: "workshop of potential literature"). This is a group of writers, poets and mathematicians interested in the creation of literature using constrained writing techniques (see Harry Mathews and Alastair Brotchie, The Oulipo Compendium, 1998/2005 -- contents). One purpose of such constraints is to trigger new ideas and new thinking. The group is associated with several others (see also Ou-X-Po) having similar objectives with regard to other forms of representation.

The lipogram constitutes an interesting metaphor for the challenge of articulating a strategy in response to a complex of problems (a problematique) whilst omitting a single problem -- where problems might be understood as the "letters" of the strategic alphabet. Clearly the challenge is relatively trivial in the case of uncommon problems in any problematique.

It would then be appropriate to speak of such a constrained global strategy as a "lipostrategy" responding to the challenge of a "lipoproblem" (from Greek lipoproblema, "missing problem", where problem may also be understood as "question").

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