Why Most Problem Solving Fails Before It Even Starts

Problem solving, using an A3 Problem Solving template, is one of the most powerful tools in a true lean culture. And yet, in many organizations Problem Solving efforts fail before they have properly started. A few scenario’s:

Jump to conclusions

Almost 70% of your time is typically spent on defining the problem and driving to try root causes. A quote attributed to Einstein has him say that if he had an hour to solve a problem, he’d use 55 minutes to define and understand the problem. The thinking here is that if you really and truly understand a problem and its causes, the solutions are typically very obvious and would just follow from the cause. A cause typically has the solution inside it. If your team faces a problem and is able to call out immediately what’s going on: red flag. Certainly, when the cause is an outside problem and the rootcause does not include the word ‘we’.

Using the A3 to find reasons to do what you’re already doing

I’ve seen it happen. Using A3-reports as wallpaper to look good, without actually doing the work. ‘Smart’ senior leaders understand the power of A3 problem solving but can’t resist the tendency to misuse the process. Imagine a Technology leader, wanting to push a great technology his/her team came up with. It’s based on what we can build, not necessarily on what we should build. If you ‘come up’ with a problem, that asks for your solution and you are able to put it in a nice-looking A3 format, you know it has a good chance to be accepted in the company. That’s why everyone, but foremost other senior leaders, need to be very critical and ask questions. A great way to check the reasoning is to look at every step in the 5 whys and validate if there’s sufficient evidence from gemba.

Basing your root causes on feelings

As said above a short cut to accelerate your A3 and/or convince your colleagues is to bypass Gemba. Just fill out what you know and what you think. If you always see your competitor in your Google search results, it must be that competitive pressure is hurting your sales. Not checking with the OPS team on delivery and quality performance is an unnecessary step…right…

Filling out a template as the main activity

Less mature teams, after having gone through the training, focus too much on the template. Their main take away is looking to a nice-looking A3 Problem Solving Report as the key deliverable and output of the process. Missing the key point. The A3-problem Solving Report has two main functions:

To guide your thinking and the process, proposing steps to take
Use the final report as a communication vehicle to all involved and all interested. A filled out report is not a solved problem.