I picked a book off the shelf this morning and browsed through it again. I'm always amazed at what I miss the first few times through a good read. This time, I actually read the preface!
The book was Shigeo Shingo - Zero Quality Control. In the publishers message, Norman Bodek talks about engineers and their approach toward quality. He says that according to Shigeo Shingo, there are three types of engineers - Table engineers - who spend their time in meetings arguing about problems on the shop floor, Catalogue engineers - who spend their time browsing for the latest gadget to solve these problems, and Nyet engineers - those who put the kibosh to any improvement suggestion.
He suggests that instead, we should strive to become Improvement engineers, by spending the majority of our time on the shop floor - observing problems, making suggestions and working with those who do the work to implement solutions to problems. Go to the Gemba!
His quote from Shingo really hit home - "My medicine works, but only if the patient takes it". How often have good suggestions been discarded, forgotten or ignored.
It’s tough to change the mindset when what we have done so far has brought us so far. Becoming a successful company was no accident.
Making the company the best that it can be means challenging your paradigm, looking at things differently, going to the gemba and working with your team to drive out waste. That's a lot of work - and not as comfy as the board room chair. I guarantee the result of this effort will not only open your eyes, but it will shock and amaze you. Because continuous improvement means just that - you can ALWAYS do better.
Norm
www.normanbain.com
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Friday, April 10, 2009
Gain focus with Strategy Deployment through A3
I received a timely note from Jim Womack this morning. He touched on the topic of strategy deployment and the loss of focus at GM in these trying times.
Several companies I contact are struggling with aligning their teams and establishing priorities. Even in this difficult economy, I’m surprised how many of these folks report their order books are overflowing and they are unable to keep up with customer demand. Between expediting materials, cooling the blazing customer calls and keeping product flowing out the door, there is little time for improvement initiatives. Juggling these demands means they are clearly unable to see the forest for the trees. It’s difficult working ON your business when you are so busy working IN your business.
Strategy deployment is all about focus. Many companies get overwhelmed with too many initiatives on the go. We seem to think we need a lot of different projects going or we’re not doing "it" right. During a recent value stream mapping exercise with a client, the team identified over 130 “opportunities” for improving their processes. While this low hanging fruit could help the organization, getting it done is the challenge. And how do we determine what to tackle first? Success is about getting the right things done.
Do we start at the top with senior management, or do we work on one departmental initiative to show success that we can build upon. In transitioning from a being a planning organization to becoming an execution based organization (just do it!), initiatives are driven from both top down and bottom up. We meet somewhere in the middle. The focus is on your zone of control, be it a team, department or facility.
Probably the most important thing to tackle is team leadership thinking. Transitioning from “thou shalt” to “what do you think” requires leaders to take responsibility for developing their people. Once that door has been opened, people come forward with ideas for eliminating waste and making process improvements that could not have been foreseen at the outset. Getting the people who do the work engaged in improving the work is key to success. The “thou shalt” philosophy is so ingrained in business culture that it has spawned a great following in the Scott Adams Dilbert cartoon series. We know its there, but exposing it directly could be a CLM (career limiting move). Many organizations utilize coaches, mentors or consultants to challenge the leaders mental models and guide the organization to better understanding.
How well your strategy will be implemented depends on how persuasive a story you can tell. How well have you engaged your team in developing the plan? How simple is it to explain to others?
The A3 process works because it is simple. Plans must be defined well enough to be presented on a single piece of paper – if you can’t express your plan on one page, you probably don’t understand it well enough. The A3’s tell a persuasive story, using the PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) methodology with its roots in TQM from the 1980’s. Using a storyboard format, the elements of storytelling are covered – what do we need to achieve, how did we do last year, what have we tried before, how did it work, what do we need to achieve our objectives, what is the plan, are there unresolved issues, what help do you need. Keeping the action plan tight – no more than 5 key action items – ensures that work will get done. Using SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Reasonable, Trackable) goals ensure we know where we’re going.
Aligning the A3’s to the organizational goals is a key part of the process. The senior leadership defines the organizations “True North”. The “mother A3” aligns the strategy with the true north. Departmental initiatives build on the mother A3 with “baby A3’s”. Using this methodology, activities and efforts are aligned and everyone starts pulling on the same rope.
Defining the True North can be a challenge. One of the first questions to ask an organization is “What is your purpose”. The typical response of “to make money and grow” has nothing to do with the customer. Developing a customer focus is essential. The customer provides the money the organization needs to grow and prosper. So making money, growing and increasing shareholder value is an outcome of your strategy, rather than the strategy itself.
This takes us back to Jim Womack’s email this morning. In it, he told the story of GM losing focus. In 1921, GM's leader Alfred Sloan produced a simple memorandum on the topic of "Product Policy" that defined GM’s purpose for generations to come. Sloan stated that General Motors would provide a carefully configured range of products for "every purse and purpose", from used Chevrolets at the lower end of the market to a "fully loaded" Cadillac at the top end. This simple memo rationalized GM's chaotic product line-up so its vehicles would not overlap in the market. Instead, they would each have a clearly defined place in a status hierarchy and would always be more refined, a bit "classier" with a higher price, than competitor products in each market segment.
Somewhere, GM lost its focus. Like the Titanic sailing across the ocean oblivious to the dangers ahead, it crashed and burned, taking a world economy with it. And now they are restructuring. But before you restructure, state your purpose.
Your entire organization needs to align on your true north to focus the strategy. Many organizations have put significant effort into defining Vision, Values, and Mission statements. Refining that into your True North, and developing a strategy deployment plan will move the vision from its resting place on the lunchroom wall to a living, breathing process on your workplace floor. And that will create an execution culture in your organization with the mindset of “Get it Done”.
Norm
www.normanbain.com
Several companies I contact are struggling with aligning their teams and establishing priorities. Even in this difficult economy, I’m surprised how many of these folks report their order books are overflowing and they are unable to keep up with customer demand. Between expediting materials, cooling the blazing customer calls and keeping product flowing out the door, there is little time for improvement initiatives. Juggling these demands means they are clearly unable to see the forest for the trees. It’s difficult working ON your business when you are so busy working IN your business.
Strategy deployment is all about focus. Many companies get overwhelmed with too many initiatives on the go. We seem to think we need a lot of different projects going or we’re not doing "it" right. During a recent value stream mapping exercise with a client, the team identified over 130 “opportunities” for improving their processes. While this low hanging fruit could help the organization, getting it done is the challenge. And how do we determine what to tackle first? Success is about getting the right things done.
Do we start at the top with senior management, or do we work on one departmental initiative to show success that we can build upon. In transitioning from a being a planning organization to becoming an execution based organization (just do it!), initiatives are driven from both top down and bottom up. We meet somewhere in the middle. The focus is on your zone of control, be it a team, department or facility.
Probably the most important thing to tackle is team leadership thinking. Transitioning from “thou shalt” to “what do you think” requires leaders to take responsibility for developing their people. Once that door has been opened, people come forward with ideas for eliminating waste and making process improvements that could not have been foreseen at the outset. Getting the people who do the work engaged in improving the work is key to success. The “thou shalt” philosophy is so ingrained in business culture that it has spawned a great following in the Scott Adams Dilbert cartoon series. We know its there, but exposing it directly could be a CLM (career limiting move). Many organizations utilize coaches, mentors or consultants to challenge the leaders mental models and guide the organization to better understanding.
How well your strategy will be implemented depends on how persuasive a story you can tell. How well have you engaged your team in developing the plan? How simple is it to explain to others?
The A3 process works because it is simple. Plans must be defined well enough to be presented on a single piece of paper – if you can’t express your plan on one page, you probably don’t understand it well enough. The A3’s tell a persuasive story, using the PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) methodology with its roots in TQM from the 1980’s. Using a storyboard format, the elements of storytelling are covered – what do we need to achieve, how did we do last year, what have we tried before, how did it work, what do we need to achieve our objectives, what is the plan, are there unresolved issues, what help do you need. Keeping the action plan tight – no more than 5 key action items – ensures that work will get done. Using SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Reasonable, Trackable) goals ensure we know where we’re going.
Aligning the A3’s to the organizational goals is a key part of the process. The senior leadership defines the organizations “True North”. The “mother A3” aligns the strategy with the true north. Departmental initiatives build on the mother A3 with “baby A3’s”. Using this methodology, activities and efforts are aligned and everyone starts pulling on the same rope.
Defining the True North can be a challenge. One of the first questions to ask an organization is “What is your purpose”. The typical response of “to make money and grow” has nothing to do with the customer. Developing a customer focus is essential. The customer provides the money the organization needs to grow and prosper. So making money, growing and increasing shareholder value is an outcome of your strategy, rather than the strategy itself.
This takes us back to Jim Womack’s email this morning. In it, he told the story of GM losing focus. In 1921, GM's leader Alfred Sloan produced a simple memorandum on the topic of "Product Policy" that defined GM’s purpose for generations to come. Sloan stated that General Motors would provide a carefully configured range of products for "every purse and purpose", from used Chevrolets at the lower end of the market to a "fully loaded" Cadillac at the top end. This simple memo rationalized GM's chaotic product line-up so its vehicles would not overlap in the market. Instead, they would each have a clearly defined place in a status hierarchy and would always be more refined, a bit "classier" with a higher price, than competitor products in each market segment.
Somewhere, GM lost its focus. Like the Titanic sailing across the ocean oblivious to the dangers ahead, it crashed and burned, taking a world economy with it. And now they are restructuring. But before you restructure, state your purpose.
Your entire organization needs to align on your true north to focus the strategy. Many organizations have put significant effort into defining Vision, Values, and Mission statements. Refining that into your True North, and developing a strategy deployment plan will move the vision from its resting place on the lunchroom wall to a living, breathing process on your workplace floor. And that will create an execution culture in your organization with the mindset of “Get it Done”.
Norm
www.normanbain.com
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Thought for today
If you want 1 year of properity, plant seeds
If you want 10 years of prosperity, plant trees
If you want 100 years of prosperity, plant people.
Norm
www.normanbain.com
If you want 10 years of prosperity, plant trees
If you want 100 years of prosperity, plant people.
Chineese Proverb
Norm
www.normanbain.com
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Staying in touch with your customers
Several months ago, I joined Linked-In. Its a pretty good tool for connecting with people if you are job hunting, or looking for someone at a particular company. My direct linked in network has grown to over 4,000,000 people over the past few months!
Last month, we talked about starting a newsletter and a direct marketing campaign for our products and services. Great idea! We have lots of customers and people we network with!
Ha! I discovered, after some painful research, that our opt in list of people that we can contact directly is really quite small.
So I set out to see if we could purchase a contact list. I found a good company that had great referrals on their website and I discovered I could get a targeted list for just over $229. The list was several thousand names. Seemed like a pretty good start!
Working on the list, I pared it down to my target start area, eliminated duplicate companies, and discovered my list had dropped to 671 names. But 8% of the mailing addresses bounced at the post office (and that, it turns out, is MUCH better than the 20% bounce rate others have experienced). So, when all is said and done, $0.47 a contact is what I paid. At a less than 1% response rate, this is not a great way to get leads!
There must be a better way.
I have heard alot of buzz about this thing called attraction marketing ... but the secret to its success seems elusive. While my network of contacts has grown substantially over the past few months, my network of customers - those that pay the bills - has not! In fact, in this economy, its shrinking at a steady rate.
Remember Kevin Costner’s character in “Field of Dreams”? He based his plans on whispers from the corn fields … “If you build it, they will come”. And in the movie, they actually did come. The real world takes a lot more work.
Start by listing everyone that you know. You’ll be amazed at the size of the list you come up with. According to Jeffrey Gitomer, all things being equal, people prefer to do business with people they know - their friends. So listing the people you already know is a great place to start building your network.
Now that you have a start, don’t be afraid to ask if these contacts know anybody else who should be on your list. Assuming you’re pleasant and not too pushy, they’ll be glad to help you. Remember, its not who you know that makes you successful - its who knows you!
Get out from behind that computer and get some face time! A great way to build your pipeline is to get out and meet new people. Look for relevant events or trade shows in your area where you can network and collect business cards.
Don’t forget to network with other local business owners as well. Strategic partnerships are built by businesses seeking similar customers, but for completely different, non-competitive products or services.
Next, do some research. Head to the local library and check out recent issues of trade journals relating to your business. You’ll find articles about people who buy what you have to offer. Check the daily newspapers, particularly in the business section.
Keep building your list and touching base with your contacts. Remember that it takes between 5 and 8 touches to a prospect before they may decide to buy from you!
Best Success! And happy Networking!
Norm
www.normanbain.com
PS: If you are looking for great on-line tools to help you stay in touch, try the links below:
http://www.stayintouch.onlinenow.ca
http://www.freecrm.onlinenow.ca
Last month, we talked about starting a newsletter and a direct marketing campaign for our products and services. Great idea! We have lots of customers and people we network with!
Ha! I discovered, after some painful research, that our opt in list of people that we can contact directly is really quite small.
So I set out to see if we could purchase a contact list. I found a good company that had great referrals on their website and I discovered I could get a targeted list for just over $229. The list was several thousand names. Seemed like a pretty good start!
Working on the list, I pared it down to my target start area, eliminated duplicate companies, and discovered my list had dropped to 671 names. But 8% of the mailing addresses bounced at the post office (and that, it turns out, is MUCH better than the 20% bounce rate others have experienced). So, when all is said and done, $0.47 a contact is what I paid. At a less than 1% response rate, this is not a great way to get leads!
There must be a better way.
I have heard alot of buzz about this thing called attraction marketing ... but the secret to its success seems elusive. While my network of contacts has grown substantially over the past few months, my network of customers - those that pay the bills - has not! In fact, in this economy, its shrinking at a steady rate.
Remember Kevin Costner’s character in “Field of Dreams”? He based his plans on whispers from the corn fields … “If you build it, they will come”. And in the movie, they actually did come. The real world takes a lot more work.
Start by listing everyone that you know. You’ll be amazed at the size of the list you come up with. According to Jeffrey Gitomer, all things being equal, people prefer to do business with people they know - their friends. So listing the people you already know is a great place to start building your network.
Now that you have a start, don’t be afraid to ask if these contacts know anybody else who should be on your list. Assuming you’re pleasant and not too pushy, they’ll be glad to help you. Remember, its not who you know that makes you successful - its who knows you!
Get out from behind that computer and get some face time! A great way to build your pipeline is to get out and meet new people. Look for relevant events or trade shows in your area where you can network and collect business cards.
Don’t forget to network with other local business owners as well. Strategic partnerships are built by businesses seeking similar customers, but for completely different, non-competitive products or services.
Next, do some research. Head to the local library and check out recent issues of trade journals relating to your business. You’ll find articles about people who buy what you have to offer. Check the daily newspapers, particularly in the business section.
Keep building your list and touching base with your contacts. Remember that it takes between 5 and 8 touches to a prospect before they may decide to buy from you!
Best Success! And happy Networking!
Norm
www.normanbain.com
PS: If you are looking for great on-line tools to help you stay in touch, try the links below:
http://www.stayintouch.onlinenow.ca
http://www.freecrm.onlinenow.ca
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
The CRM search
Customer Relationship Managers - CRM.
So, my first attempt at CRM was the same as many folks; outlook on my personal laptop. I was simply looking for way to manage client conversations and an easy follow-up system. While it worked great for my email, outlook seemed too cumbersome for this task.
So I migrated to a similar product called Chaos Intellect. I found it much simpler, friendlier and flexible in managing emails and accounts. But the functionality for client conversations was simply not there.
I hired a telemarketing company last year who did some impressive and significant work on a shared outlook database. While I found it fastinating and useful, it was cumbersome and was not delivering what I was looking for – there must be an easier way, I kept thinking.
With my limited success I began searching for a web based product. Alas, all the CRM systems out there seemed horrendously expensive, in fact many did not even quote a price on their site. So I set about to identify what I want this software to do.
Here's my list so far;
1) Manage my contacts. Keep my contact information at my fingertips and be available anywhere I want it, anytime.
2) Conversation tracker and followup reminder. I have many people that I touch base with and need a good reminder system to ensure I am regularly following up with prospective customers. Several prospects that I missed calling back signed on with other companies. Sucks when you drop the ball.
3) Relationship tracker. People move about quickly these days and its good to know where they worked before and in what roles.
4) Campaign scripting. Unfortunately, cold calling is still a big requirement at this stage of the game. What I learned early in my career (and again from the telemarketer) was that scripting not only helps, its absolutely essential.
A few cool tools may be on the radar for the future, but they are not needed just yet. These include:
a) While sharing my data with others in the sales team is coming, its not high on my agenda right now.
b) an auto-responder for signups on my website with inclusion in my contacts list.
c) tag tracking for emails, newsletters and websites so I can see which of my contacts are interested in what topics.
d) Newsletter (email) delivery and tracking software.
The first stab at developing a CRM came from a family genealogy search I was doing. I created the site networking.onlinenow.ca which looked quite promising. But other demands pulled resources from the project and it lay dormant far too long.
The second stab at CRM came as a result of a job search. I created the website findtalent.ca as a search engine and built a CRM into it. While it worked fairly well, its interface was not as simple as I envisioned it should be. Back to the drawing board!
So I set about to “build a better mouse trap”. As part of the business made easy suite, I've included a CRM in the frey. Surely I'm not the only one looking for this! So its being tested and released for free use by all. As I get feedback on what works and what doesn't, the mousetrap gets better!
So if you find yourself in the same boat, post your thoughts on what features you need. The voice of the customer makes the best product, so I’m all ears. Try the pilot at freecrm.onlinenow.ca Lets build an affordable and power packed tool for the small business entrepreneur.
Norm
www.normanbain.com
So, my first attempt at CRM was the same as many folks; outlook on my personal laptop. I was simply looking for way to manage client conversations and an easy follow-up system. While it worked great for my email, outlook seemed too cumbersome for this task.
So I migrated to a similar product called Chaos Intellect. I found it much simpler, friendlier and flexible in managing emails and accounts. But the functionality for client conversations was simply not there.
I hired a telemarketing company last year who did some impressive and significant work on a shared outlook database. While I found it fastinating and useful, it was cumbersome and was not delivering what I was looking for – there must be an easier way, I kept thinking.
With my limited success I began searching for a web based product. Alas, all the CRM systems out there seemed horrendously expensive, in fact many did not even quote a price on their site. So I set about to identify what I want this software to do.
Here's my list so far;
1) Manage my contacts. Keep my contact information at my fingertips and be available anywhere I want it, anytime.
2) Conversation tracker and followup reminder. I have many people that I touch base with and need a good reminder system to ensure I am regularly following up with prospective customers. Several prospects that I missed calling back signed on with other companies. Sucks when you drop the ball.
3) Relationship tracker. People move about quickly these days and its good to know where they worked before and in what roles.
4) Campaign scripting. Unfortunately, cold calling is still a big requirement at this stage of the game. What I learned early in my career (and again from the telemarketer) was that scripting not only helps, its absolutely essential.
A few cool tools may be on the radar for the future, but they are not needed just yet. These include:
a) While sharing my data with others in the sales team is coming, its not high on my agenda right now.
b) an auto-responder for signups on my website with inclusion in my contacts list.
c) tag tracking for emails, newsletters and websites so I can see which of my contacts are interested in what topics.
d) Newsletter (email) delivery and tracking software.
The first stab at developing a CRM came from a family genealogy search I was doing. I created the site networking.onlinenow.ca which looked quite promising. But other demands pulled resources from the project and it lay dormant far too long.
The second stab at CRM came as a result of a job search. I created the website findtalent.ca as a search engine and built a CRM into it. While it worked fairly well, its interface was not as simple as I envisioned it should be. Back to the drawing board!
So I set about to “build a better mouse trap”. As part of the business made easy suite, I've included a CRM in the frey. Surely I'm not the only one looking for this! So its being tested and released for free use by all. As I get feedback on what works and what doesn't, the mousetrap gets better!
So if you find yourself in the same boat, post your thoughts on what features you need. The voice of the customer makes the best product, so I’m all ears. Try the pilot at freecrm.onlinenow.ca Lets build an affordable and power packed tool for the small business entrepreneur.
Norm
www.normanbain.com
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Your Morning Smile
This is one of the cleverest e-mails I've received in awhile.
Someone out there has way too much time on their hands.
Clever Anagrams ...
DORMITORY:
When you rearrange the letters:
DIRTY ROOM
PRESBYTERIAN:
When you rearrange the letters:
BEST IN PRAYER
ASTRONOMER:
When you rearrange the letters:
MOON STARER
DESPERATION:
When you rearrange the letters:
A ROPE ENDS IT
THE EYES:
When you rearrange the letters:
THEY SEE
GEORGE BUSH:
When you rearrange the letters:
HE BUGS GORE
THE MORSE CODE:
When you rearrange the letters:
HERE COME DOTS
SLOT MACHINES:
When you rearrange the letters:
CASH LOST IN ME
ELECTION RESULTS:
When you rearrange the letters:
LIES - LET'S RECOUNT
SNOOZE ALARMS:
When you rearrange the letters:
ALAS! NO MORE Z 'S
A DECIMAL POINT:
When you rearrange the letters:
IM A DOT IN PLACE
THE EARTHQUAKES:
When you rearrange the letters:
THAT QUEER SHAKE
ELEVEN PLUS TWO:
When you rearrange the letters:
TWELVE PLUS ONE
AND FOR THE GRAND FINALE:
MOTHER-IN-LAW:
When you rearrange the letters:
WOMAN HITLER
Start your day every day with a smile!
Norm
www.normanbain.com
Someone out there has way too much time on their hands.
Clever Anagrams ...
DORMITORY:
When you rearrange the letters:
DIRTY ROOM
PRESBYTERIAN:
When you rearrange the letters:
BEST IN PRAYER
ASTRONOMER:
When you rearrange the letters:
MOON STARER
DESPERATION:
When you rearrange the letters:
A ROPE ENDS IT
THE EYES:
When you rearrange the letters:
THEY SEE
GEORGE BUSH:
When you rearrange the letters:
HE BUGS GORE
THE MORSE CODE:
When you rearrange the letters:
HERE COME DOTS
SLOT MACHINES:
When you rearrange the letters:
CASH LOST IN ME
ELECTION RESULTS:
When you rearrange the letters:
LIES - LET'S RECOUNT
SNOOZE ALARMS:
When you rearrange the letters:
ALAS! NO MORE Z 'S
A DECIMAL POINT:
When you rearrange the letters:
IM A DOT IN PLACE
THE EARTHQUAKES:
When you rearrange the letters:
THAT QUEER SHAKE
ELEVEN PLUS TWO:
When you rearrange the letters:
TWELVE PLUS ONE
AND FOR THE GRAND FINALE:
MOTHER-IN-LAW:
When you rearrange the letters:
WOMAN HITLER
Start your day every day with a smile!
Norm
www.normanbain.com
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Making 5-Why work for you
One of the simplest tools to use in solving problems is a 5-why analysis. It is also one of the least understood and poorly applied tools. It seems that simple concepts can be the most difficult to apply and execute.
In almost every instance where I have seen it used, the answers to the "why" seem shallow and the root cause of the problem - or even the real problem - is seldom identified or resolved.
So how does a tool that we all learn to master at an early age become obsolete as an adult? Kids at 4 years of age are masters at this … why-dad, why-mom, why, why, why, they’ll drive you nuts if you let them. And they get the answers and the understanding they seek through the process. But we lose that mastery when we grow up and enter the world of business.
Problem solving can be a bit like swatting flies. We see a fly (the problem) and swat it. But we don’t get to the source of the flies … what is attracting them and what the cause is in the first place.
In many businesses, problem solving takes a similar approach. We solve the problems as we find them, but we don’t know if we are working on the right problem, or the biggest problem with our limited resources.
That becomes increasingly important in these tough economic times. When everyone is tightening their belts, how do I make sure my limited resources are focused on the biggest problems in the organization?
Using 5-why is not enough. The 5-why process is most effective when it is used in combination with “therefore” and “so that”. If that sounds confusing, its because we lost the art of asking “why” when we grew up. As 4 year olds, we did not accept an irrelevant answer. So lets re-learn the key to making this work.
Think of problem solving as the branches of a tree (or the file structure in your computer).
5-why is useful in identifying potential causes of the problem. The “why” opens up more branches of the tree. This gives us many more potential avenues to pursue.
Using “therefore” moves us closer to the trunk. If the answer opened by the “why” question can not be returned by a “therefore” test, the answer to the why is not relevant. For example, if we follow the line of questioning that Kent Blumberg used on his blog post:
The “why” process takes us DOWN the chain
The gas bill is high, Why
The gas consumption is high, Why?
We turned up the thermostat, Why?
We shiver if it is set lower, Why
We are wearing shorts
The “therefore” process takes us UP the chain
We are wearing shorts, therefore
We are shivering, therefore
We turned up the thermostat, therefore
The gas consumption was high, therefore
The gas bill is high
By validating the “why” answers with a “therefore” statement we ensure the path remains relevant and we are on track. This process will help eliminate the shallow responses.
Now that we have validated the “why’s” with “therefore’s” we need to ask “so that”. The “so that” statement relates how effective our solution is to our goal.
We are not wearing shorts “so that” the gas bill is not high.
Our solution of “not wearing shorts” to meet our goal of “lowering the gas bill” may not be the most effective. Perhaps we could have had a better answer when we asked why the gas consumption was high.
By combining the “why” analysis with “therefore” checking and “so that” validation we have an effective tool to get to the right problem and the right solution.
How did problem solving become so complicated? It seemed so much simpler when we were 4 year olds.
Norm
www.normanbain.com
In almost every instance where I have seen it used, the answers to the "why" seem shallow and the root cause of the problem - or even the real problem - is seldom identified or resolved.
So how does a tool that we all learn to master at an early age become obsolete as an adult? Kids at 4 years of age are masters at this … why-dad, why-mom, why, why, why, they’ll drive you nuts if you let them. And they get the answers and the understanding they seek through the process. But we lose that mastery when we grow up and enter the world of business.
Problem solving can be a bit like swatting flies. We see a fly (the problem) and swat it. But we don’t get to the source of the flies … what is attracting them and what the cause is in the first place.
In many businesses, problem solving takes a similar approach. We solve the problems as we find them, but we don’t know if we are working on the right problem, or the biggest problem with our limited resources.
That becomes increasingly important in these tough economic times. When everyone is tightening their belts, how do I make sure my limited resources are focused on the biggest problems in the organization?
Using 5-why is not enough. The 5-why process is most effective when it is used in combination with “therefore” and “so that”. If that sounds confusing, its because we lost the art of asking “why” when we grew up. As 4 year olds, we did not accept an irrelevant answer. So lets re-learn the key to making this work.
Think of problem solving as the branches of a tree (or the file structure in your computer).
5-why is useful in identifying potential causes of the problem. The “why” opens up more branches of the tree. This gives us many more potential avenues to pursue.
Using “therefore” moves us closer to the trunk. If the answer opened by the “why” question can not be returned by a “therefore” test, the answer to the why is not relevant. For example, if we follow the line of questioning that Kent Blumberg used on his blog post:
The “why” process takes us DOWN the chain
The gas bill is high, Why
The gas consumption is high, Why?
We turned up the thermostat, Why?
We shiver if it is set lower, Why
We are wearing shorts
The “therefore” process takes us UP the chain
We are wearing shorts, therefore
We are shivering, therefore
We turned up the thermostat, therefore
The gas consumption was high, therefore
The gas bill is high
By validating the “why” answers with a “therefore” statement we ensure the path remains relevant and we are on track. This process will help eliminate the shallow responses.
Now that we have validated the “why’s” with “therefore’s” we need to ask “so that”. The “so that” statement relates how effective our solution is to our goal.
We are not wearing shorts “so that” the gas bill is not high.
Our solution of “not wearing shorts” to meet our goal of “lowering the gas bill” may not be the most effective. Perhaps we could have had a better answer when we asked why the gas consumption was high.
By combining the “why” analysis with “therefore” checking and “so that” validation we have an effective tool to get to the right problem and the right solution.
How did problem solving become so complicated? It seemed so much simpler when we were 4 year olds.
Norm
www.normanbain.com
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