Problem Solving Using the Why Tree Video

Problem Solving Using the Why Tree by xtremelean.us

 

* This presentation is on problem solving using the why tree and is designed to teach a standardized approach for your people at all levels of the organization. Good problem solving skills within your company will cause your business to thrive while making everyone's life easier in the process.

* While problem solving does not have to be difficult, there are many that like to make it sound that way.

* People are not born as natural problem solvers and you don't need a college degree to learn to be a good problem solver either.

* Good problem solving skills can be taught and that is what I am going to do. My goal is to teach you a simple standardized approach that can be used in your business or personal life. You can also use this training video to teach others at your business. When completed, you will fully understand and be ready to use the concepts taught here.

* When we become good at problem solving, we start eliminating the problems that cause our head to spin once and for all. Our life becomes much easier and we suddenly have more time and less frustration. You are probably watching this video because that is exactly the direction you want to go in your life.

* Let's first discuss what a problem is or is not.

* A problem is the difference between actual conditions and the desired conditions and you don't know how to solve it.

* Let's put this in simpler terms.

* Let's change desired condition with "Want" and change actual condition with "Have"

* So the difference between what we have and what we want is the problem.

* And it's only a problem if you don't already know what the solution is.

* Let me give you a simple illustration of what a problem is. Barney here wants a female companion, but he does not have one, and he doesn't know exactly what to do about it. That is Barneys problem. That seems pretty straightforward doesn't it?

* The biggest type of problem people face is when something suddenly goes wrong.

* Captain Jack here is flying 300 passengers across the continent when all of a sudden, the plane starts to go down.

* In this case, the pilot WANTS to have full control of the plane again.

* But what he has is a plane that is going down and he doesn't know what happened or what to do about it.

* Does the pilot have a problem? 100% affirmative.

* Everyone has problems in their life at one time or another, so we all have the responsibility and opportunity to solve problems many times in our lives. It is absolutely best when we solve a problem so it never ever returns again. When you solve problems this way, your life becomes easier.

* When it comes to problem solving, some people just start shooting from the hip. This can be a very costly, time consuming, and frustrating approach. Preferable to this would be to take some aim at our target. After all, if we take the time to aim carefully at our target we increase the chance of hitting the bulls eye.

* Let's use a hypothetical problem that everyone can relate to. You arrived to work late.

* By the way, always clearly define the problem in as few words as possible, while also making sure everyone can understand what the problem is.

* And the reason we arrived to work late is because our car would not start.

* Many people put a lot of emphasis on root cause analysis, which is finding out what exactly what caused the car not to start.

* This is a fish bone diagram which is another tool that can be used for determining the root cause of a problem.

* And while sometimes finding the root cause is important, finding the best solution that will prevent the problem from reoccurring is THE most important objective.

* In this case, let's say you were at the end of your ropes with this piece of junk anyway and had decided you were going to buy a new car.

* Do you really care what exactly caused your old car not to start? Not really.

* Will the new car be a proper solution to your problem and get you to work reliably for many years to come? Absolutely

* My point is, solutions are more important than causes and in my opinion, outweigh them greatly.

* All right, let's do a reality check. You have a crap car, you were late to work because it would not start, and you have no money to buy a new car.

* You now need to know what caused your car not to start so you will not be able to fix it.

* The Why Tree method is the focus of this presentation, but it relies on knowing the 5-Why root cause analysis method. The 5-Why method for determining root cause is one of the simplest methods to learn and to complete. You start with a clear problem statement, then ask why the problem happened and write the answer down. If that answer did not identify the root cause, continue asking why until it does.

* Let's go through an example.

* For example our problem is we woke up late.

* We would then ask "why did we wake up late?"

* The alarm did not go off.

* "why did the alarm not go off?"

* Because the time reset on the alarm clock?

* Why did the time reset on the alarm clock?

* Because the power went out.

* Why did the power go out?

* Because of the severe thunderstorms.

* Why were there severe thunderstorms?

* We don't know.

* Notice that solutions are out of our control when the power went out? We do not have control over the power or the weather. So the line of questioning should stop when we do not have any control over the cause.

* One of the problems with the 5-Why root cause analysis is it only allows for one line of questioning. Based on the answers you give, you can get off the trail to solutions very quickly.

* Let's back up and change the answer to "why did the time reset on the clock?" to:

* Because the clock lost power

* Then why did the clock lose power?

* Because the alarm clock did not have the backup battery installed.

* Why was the backup battery not installed?

* Because we did not have one at the time.

* Take notice that the answers you give will dramatically change the outcome. You must also ensure the answers are accurate or once again you will be on a wild goose chase.

* We now have a root cause that we have control over and an easy solution to the problem. Having a backup battery installed in the alarm clock allows it to continue working in the event of a power outage. This solution is very simple and effective with a very low cost. It is easy to implement and has no negative consequences.

* While you now have a good solution to this problem, let's not forget that batteries do not last forever. You will need to check the batteries in the alarm clock on a regular basis if your want to eliminate this particular problem forever.

* Even though this approach is called 5-Why, 5 is just a rule of thumb for the number of times to ask why. It could be more or less though depending on the problem. When you no longer know the answer to the question that is a good place to stop. Speculation will rarely serve you well.

* While the 5-Why root cause analysis is a good and simple tool, I find the Why Tree diagram is a much better tool for brainstorming multiple possible causes of the problem. Discovering multiple causes of the problem allows you to develop multiple potential solutions to the problem. You would use the same 5-why approach but the tree diagram allows you to list multiple potential causes to each why. There is no limit to the size or shape of your Why Tree. Let me share an example of using the Why Tree.

* Let's use a real life problem I experienced recently. We put in a new lawn at our house and it wasn't very long before I noticed the grass was dying is some areas. I was upset and wanted to know why and the solution to the problem.

* It did not take long to put two and two together. The dog peeing on the lawn was causing it to die. The reason I want to share this example with you is to show you there are almost always several solutions to any given problem.

* While you may have multiple solutions for any given problem, and even though all of the solutions may solve the problem, there are costs or consequences to consider. Your job in good problem solving is to come up with:

A: The simplest

B: Most effective solution

C: At the lowest cost

D: That is the easiest to implement

E: With no negative consequences.

 

* The description of my problem is very simple "my grass is dying in small sections". So the 1st question why is the grass dying? Because the dog is peeing on the grass, why is the dog peeing on the grass? Because he is not trained to go elsewhere.

* I must confess, when I first saw that the dog peeing on the grass was causing it to die, I jumped to my first solution and that was a well planned hunting accident where the dog had more to worry about than the bird.

* But that solution would end up in divorce court. Although this solution would be simple, 100% effective, relatively low cost, and easy to implement, the consequences of this solution would make it a very poor choice.

* Then I thought how can I train the dog to stay off the nice new lawn?

* Someone suggested setting up an electric fence and I thought that would be a perfect solution. So off to the pet store I went only to discover these fences aren't cheap. Although this solution would be very effective and there were no negative consequences I could foresee, the cost was high and not simple to install or implement. Still the best solution I have found up to this point.

* I realized I needed to dig deeper to find more causes and therefore more solutions so I asked myself again, "why is the grass dying?"

* Because of the dog pee. I don't have any control over the natural functions of the dog so there is no solution there.

* Why is the dog pee causing the grass to die?

* I had to do some research on the internet, but quickly found my answer. Because dog pee has high levels of Nitrogen.

* Why are there high levels of Nitrogen in the dog pee?

* I also found the answers on the internet that it could be related to their diet

* Or they are not drinking enough water.

* I investigated changing the diet for my dog and found that over the lifetime of the dog, you will probably spend more than the electric fence. I also found out there are health risks for the dog with this diet. I found this solution to be simple, but the effectiveness in my mind was questionable. The cost was again high and the negative consequences of the health of the dog were not exciting. Bordering again on the divorce court thing.

* The dog not drinking enough water was another cause looking for a solution.

* I also thought I could probably teach my dog to read before I could get her to drink more water. So while this solution may be effective at a low cost with no negative consequences, I did not feel this would be simple or easy to implement at all.

* We might not be able to get the dog to drink more water which would dilute the Nitrogen, but maybe we can dilute the Nitrogen another way. What if we adjusted the sprinklers to come on more frequently in the area the dog goes potty? Here is an extremely simple and easy to implement solution that should be totally effective with no cost or negative consequences. Guess what solution I chose to solve my problem?

* There is a simple way to cross check the solution you have chosen. Just read your Why Tree in reverse order and substitute the question why with the word because. Let's try this.

* We are going to adjust the sprinklers to come on more frequently because we need to dilute the high levels of Nitrogen because of the dog pee, because the dog pee is killing the grass. Make sure when you do the cross check that your solution makes sense all the way down the line.

* Root cause analysis is definitely a team effort. After all, two heads are better than one. Choose your team members wisely and keep the team size to a manageable group however.

* Don't worry about the repeatability of this problem solving process. In my mind, problem solving is a very creative process.

* If you give the same problem to three different teams, depending on the creativity of each team, you will most likely end up with three different solutions to the problem. This is absolutely normal. Just be creative and focus on the best solution to the problem you face and implement it.

* If this process does not give you a solution that is clearly correct, you may need to use a different problem solving tool.

* In the future, I will be posting videos on all of the problem solving tools including, Pareto charts, flow charts, fishbone diagrams, brainstorming tools, mind maps, failure mode and effects analysis, and TRIZ. So stay tuned.

 

This is the end of the presentation, but the beginning of your journey towards realizing the benefits of good problem solving at your own company. We have many years experience in the tools of Six Sigma with problem solving skills at the forefront. Let us know how we can help you.

If you need help in training or implementing problem solving, visit us at www.xtremelean.us

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