The client's acceptance of the final problem statement leads to a contract that will guide subsequent work. Both practitioner and client agree to work toward solution of the problem as formulated. The problem may -- often should be -- revised as the case proceeds, or the client may simply decide it is no longer important enough to work on. Such changes should be deliberate, thoughtful, and worked out collaboratively by the practitioner and client. In this way both can avoid aimless drift into tangential issues, or fruitless jousting with the "problem of the week," whatever that may turn out to be. Moreover, a contracted problem provides a fixed point of reference against which to measure progress as well as to assess the client's motivation for task work. If the client appears to lack interest in doing tasks, the practitioner can raise questions about the client's commitment to solving the problem as stated. Perhaps it should be revised or replaced? Such returning to a motivational source is difficult to do in the absence of an agreed upon problem.
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Task-Centered WebPages 1998, Matthias J. Naleppa