In last week’s blog, we discussed how to identify problems in a process. Today I want to share with you a couple of mistakes I see people do in problem identification and how you can avoid them.
Mistake #1: Identifying problems as the root cause
People tend to mistakenly identify the root cause of the problem as the problem itself. For example, they’ll say the problem is an employee wasn’t trained. That’s not actually the problem but more of its root cause. The employee’s lack of training resulted in problems such as duplication of work or wasted inventory.
Mistake #2: Naming the solution as the problem
Another common error is seeing the solution or the countermeasure as the problem. In working with teams doing process improvement, it’s common for them to say that the problem is they don’t have this particular system, for example, a CRM. In naming problems, it’s important to keep in mind that the lack of something is not a problem. That’s more of a countermeasure.
What happens is our mind tends to lump all of them—the root cause, the result, and the solution— together as problems.
Important questions to ask when identifying and solving problems in a process
Don’t fix what’s not broken. Many times I see organizations waste their resources in trying to solve a problem that a problem that’s not really a problem. Before spending time to solve what seemed to be a problem, you must first ask these questions:
Question #1: How many times has this problem happened? Does it happen frequently?
If you are talking about an issue that happened one time and it’s not a considerable weight on the operation or the organization, then it’s not worth the effort in trying to solve it. The ROI is not there in solving the problem.
Question #2: What’s the real problem we are trying to solve?
This is another question you can pose to your teams. No one has more problems than a person who claims to have no problems.
If you want to get problem-solving right, identify the right problems first
By properly identifying what the real problems are, you can solve problems in your operation with ease in a systematic way. This is one of the reasons I love my work. I am able to help my clients find so much peace knowing they have a system for solving problems that’s incremental and consistent over time, rather than reactive and putting out fire drills. Problems will always be there but you do not have to solve all of them at once.
If we get clear on what really matters, what really is a problem, and how big of a problem it actually is, you can drive improvements that have a more significant impact and ROI to your operation. You’ll avoid getting pulled into the biggest problem of the day or the problem being communicated by the loudest person.
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Ready to solve 20% of your problems without changing ANYTHING in your business? What if I told you we could do this easily and accurately in just two days?
If you’re ready to get clear on the state of your business, then I would love to invite you to apply for my Flowstate Workshop.
You can visit hilarycorna.com/workshop to learn more. I only have space for 2 clients next month so be sure to apply now.
In love and respect,
Hilary Corna
