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CATWOE is a simple checklist that can be used to stimulate thinking about problems and solutions.

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GROW model

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GROW_model

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The four step innovation process

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Generating Innovative Solutions to Complex Problems

Imagine that you need to solve a complex problem. You ask everyone on your team to come up with solutions, and they provide a number of ideas. The problem is that the solutions don't have the impact you'd hoped for - they're wild ideas or quick, obvious fixes, and they won't add much value to what you do.

To solve problems effectively, it's essential that you and your team think in a creative and innovative way. You also need to ensure that your solutions address defined business needs, otherwise your ideas won't add much value.

Weiss and Legrand's Four-Step Innovation Process helps you come up with innovative and creative solutions to complex problems, which are securely grounded in a thorough understanding of the business context.

In this article, we'll look at the benefits of using this process, and we'll discuss how you can apply it to find innovative solutions to the problems you face.

About the Model

David Weiss and Claude Legrand developed the Four-Step Innovation Process, and published it in their 2011 book, " Innovative Intelligence: The Art and Practice of Leading Sustainable Innovation in Your Organization."

The four steps are:

1. Framework development.

2. Define issue.

3. Generate ideas.

4. Implement best solution.

The model's main, unique advantage is that it encourages you to define your business needs early in the innovation process. This means that you generate solutions that add real value to what you do, so that you can deliver better and more sustainable results.

Note:

Even though it involves a number of steps, the Four-Step Innovation Process is a relatively simple model. Despite its simplicity, however, it's by no means a "quick fix." It's best to work through the process slowly, and to give yourself plenty of time to think about each step.

Applying the Model

Let's look at each step in greater detail, and discuss how you can apply the model.

Step 1: Framework Development

This initial step encourages you to think about how you'll solve the problem. It also helps you ensure that the solution you develop robustly meets business needs.

Work through the following sub-steps:

1. Identify the problem's history - What is the history of this problem? Has anyone tried to solve it before? What worked, and what didn't?

2. Understand context - What's the higher strategy, or project, that the problem fits into? What other projects, problems, rules, or regulations could affect how you solve this problem? How much support will the organization and key stakeholders give to this project?

3. Ask "How"- Phrase the problem as a question, starting with "How to..." or "How will we...?" For instance, "How will we cut customer complaints by five percent?" or "How will we speed up the process by one hour?" This helps to set the objective and define how you'll measure success.

Note:

Use very specific, quantified words, and avoid vague words like "faster," "improve," "better," "higher," "expensive," or "more," unless you can quantify them.

If you're working with a team, get each person to write a "How will...?" question - one that he or she feels best describes the problem that you're all trying to solve. Then, discuss everyone's ideas, and decide which one is most suitable.

4. Define boundaries - What is your budget and timeline, and what resources do you have? What must the solution do, or not do? And what boundaries are outside your control?

5. Define outcome - Loosely define the type of solution, or outcome, that you think will solve the problem. Will you need to improve a process or product? Or do you need to rethink the way that you do marketing or sales, for example? This step helps focus your thinking in the later steps.

6. Identify the decision maker - Who really "owns" this issue, and who can make the final decision? If you're solving the problem as part of a project, this may be the project sponsor.

Take time to work through these six areas. Although you might feel ready to start coming up with solutions, wait. The work you put in now will help you in later steps.

If you're working on a complex project, it may be useful to put this information into a more formal Project Charter.

Step 2: Define Issue

The goal of this second step is to find the root cause of the problem, and to identify any sub-problems or issues that you haven't yet uncovered. This will help you ensure that you're looking at the right issue.

First, clarify your assumptions about the problem using a tool such as the Ladder of Inference.

Then, explore the problem using tools such as the 5 Whys technique, Cause and Effect Analysis, Root Cause Analysis, and Interrelationship Diagrams, so that you can identify the main issue that you need to deal with.

It can also help to identify how the problem fits into a larger system or process. Flow Charts and Swim Lane Diagrams can help you do this.

Once you feel that you've understood the problem clearly, make sure that you validate this understanding with the problem owner, or decision maker.

Step 3: Generate Ideas

Now that you've identified a framework for solving your problem, and you have a good understanding of what your problem is, you can focus on the fun, creative part of problem solving: idea generation!

There are four substeps in the idea generation process. Following these substeps ensures that you and your team generate ideas that fit within the boundaries and limits that you've already identified.

1. Prepare- Arrive at the brainstorming session with the right problem in mind, with an agenda, with a facilitator, and with plenty of creative brainstorming techniques to use.

2. Define a framework- Let everyone know what the final "How will...?" question is, and go over the boundaries, rules, and goals that you identified in previous steps. This helps you ensure that everyone is on the same page.

3. Start generating ideas- Put your creative brainstorming techniques to use, and start generating ideas. Try not to judge the quality of ideas; just concentrate on speed and quantity during this stage!

4. Identify best solutions - Look at all of the solutions that you and your team have generated. You may be able to combine some to create other meaningful solutions. Pick the solution (or combination of solutions) that best answers your "How will...?" question, but don't disregard the other solutions yet.

Note:

One of the most damaging things that can happen in stage c is that ideas are censored or judged. Make it clear to your team members that you should not disregard any ideas until you get to step d. There is a time and place for weeding out the weaker ideas, and this should not take place until the end of this step!

Come to the idea generation process prepared with brainstorming techniques that work well with a group. Conventional Brainstorming can work very well, but, if it gets bogged down, be prepared to use tools like Round Robin Brainstorming and Crawford's Slip Writing Method.

If any of you get stuck in the brainstorming process, use lateral thinking techniques such as Provocation or Random Input to come up with fresh ideas.

Step 4: Implement Best Solution

Now, you need to choose the best solution from Step 3, and develop a plan to implement it successfully. This includes thinking through the solution in detail, assessing risks, and creating detailed plans.

If you have several possible solutions to consider, use decision-making tools like Decision Tree Analysis and Decision Matrix Analysis to evaluate your options. Use the criteria you identified in Step 1 to choose between them.

For small projects, an Action Plan will be useful for implementing your solution. However, if you're implementing a large-scale project, you'll need to use a more formal project management approach.

Where your implementation affects several people, or groups of people, it's also worth thinking about how you'll manage change effectively. Remember, if you create a positive vision and communicate a compelling reason for the change, it'll be easier to build excitement and get buy-in from your team or organization.

Note:

The Four-Step Innovation Process is one of several useful problem-solving processes, and its strength lies in the way that it anchors innovation in the right organizational context.

Other approaches include Hurson's Productive Thinking Model, which is great for encouraging creativity and critical thinking at each stage of the problem-solving process; the Simplex Process, which embeds innovation in a process of continual improvement; and Soft Systems Methodology, which adopts a fluid and iterative approach to problem definition and problem solving.

The best problem-solving approach for your situation may involve a combination of all of these approaches.

Key Points

David Weiss and Claude Legrand published their Four-Step Innovation Process in their 2011 book, "Innovative Intelligence: The Art and Practice of Leading Sustainable Innovation in Your Organization."

The four steps are:

1. Framework development.

2. Define issue.

3. Generate ideas.

4. Implement best solution.

The benefit of using the Four-Step Innovation Process is that it provides a framework that you, along with your team, can use to work through the innovation process in a thorough and methodical way.

This leads to better, more innovative ideas because you've prepared the ground thoroughly, defined issues clearly, generated ideas in the right context, and planned implementation and change carefully.

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The Four-Step Innovation Process: Generating Innovative Solutions to Complex Problems

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Generating Innovative Solutions to Complex Problems Imagine that you need to solve a complex problem. You ask everyone on your team to come up with solutions, and they provide a number of ideas. The problem is that the solutions don't have the impact you'd hoped for - they're wild ideas or quick, obvious fixes, and they won't add much value to what you do.

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soft systems methodology

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Understanding Very Complex Issues

Some problem solving tools can oversimplify the world when, in reality, it can be complex and messy.

In cases where many different factors contribute to an issue, and there are lots of different perspectives to consider, it can be difficult to tell where the root of the problem really lies. All this confusion can make finding a solution seem impossible. What you need is a problem solving approach that gives you a clear view of what's involved, so that you can focus on what you can do to improve the situation. In situations like this, Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) might be just what you need.

How SSM Was Developed

Soft Systems Methodology grew out of general systems theory, which views everything in the world as part of an open, dynamic, and interconnected system. The various parts of this system interact with one another, often in a nonlinear way, to produce a result.

According to general systems theory, organizations consist of complex, dynamic, goal-oriented processes - and all of these work together, in a coordinated way, to produce a particular result. For example, if a company's strategy is to maximize profits by bringing new products to market quickly, then the systems within the company must all work together to achieve this goal.

When something goes wrong within the system, or any of its subsystems, you must analyze the individual parts to discover a solution. In hard sciences, you can do this in a very controlled, analytical way. However, when you add human or "soft" elements - like social interaction, corporate politics, and individual perspectives - it's a much more difficult process.

That's why Peter Checkland, a management scientist and systems professor, applied the science of systems to the process of solving messy and confusing management problems. The result was Soft Systems Methodology - a way to explore complex situations with different stakeholders; numerous goals; different viewpoints and assumptions; and complicated interactions and relationships.

SSM helps you compare the "real world" with a model of how the world could be. Through this modeling process, you can go beyond the individual perspectives that might limit your thinking - and you can recognize what's causing the problems within the system.

Using SSM

Because SSM deals with real-world situations, it needs to reflect real-world problems, which often have nonlinear relationships that are not well defined. As a result, SSM activities are also nonlinear and not perfectly defined. Many other problem-solving tools can be shown as flow charts with a series of clearly defined steps. But diagrams used in SSM are more like mind maps - they show relationships between activities, but they don't show a linear route through them.

Checkland warns against thinking of SSM as a step-by-step process. However, if SSM is to be useful, you need to know where to begin. In this article, therefore, we'll give you a series of steps to help you get started (you can abandon this stepwise approach when you're more familiar with the methodology). To learn more about using the SSM approach, read "Learning for Action" by Peter Checkland and John Poulter.

Although it's easy to think of Soft Systems Methodology as a "problem-solving approach," Checkland encourages SSM users to avoid thinking of a "problem" that can be "solved" by a "solution." These words imply that something is well defined and straightforward. Instead, he prefers the terms problematical situation and improvements.

Here's an example: "My car won't start" is a problem that might be solved by the solution "Charge the battery." However, consider "People don't enjoy driving this new model of car." This is a problematical situation for the manufacturer, which needs to look for actions that might improve the driving experience for customers.

Step 1: Explore the Problematical Situation

Create what Checkland calls a "rich picture" of what's happening. This is, in effect, a mind map. It shows the main individuals, groups, organizations, relationships, cultures, politics, and processes involved in the situation. Also, try to identify the different perspectives, or "worldviews," that different groups have of the situation.

Then, among these individuals or groups, identify the "client" who wants an improvement in the situation, the "practitioner" who is carrying out the SSM-based investigation, and the stakeholders who would be affected by an improvement in the situation.

Your goal, here, is to include as much relevant information as possible on a large sheet of paper.

Step 2: Create Purposeful Activity Models

Identify the "purposeful activities" being carried out by people involved in the situation. These are things that they're doing, as well as the actions they're taking to improve the problematical situation. Make note of which activities belong to which worldview.

Then, create a "root definition" of each activity. This is a more sophisticated description of the basic idea, and it contains enough detail to stimulate an in-depth discussion later on.

Checkland proposes two tools for developing the root definition. The first is called PQR:

P stands for "What?"

Q stands for "How?"

R stands for "Why?"

If you answer the above questions, you can complete this formula: "Do P, by doing Q, to help achieve R."

The other tool is CATWOE. Use this to further improve the root definition by thinking about the following:

Customers - Who receives the system's output?

Actors - Who performs the work within, or implements changes to, the system?

Transformation - What is affected by the system, and what does it do? This is often considered the most important part of CATWOE.

Worldview - What is the big picture?

Owner - Who owns the process?

Environment - What are the restrictions and limits on any solution? What else is happening around it?

Finally, develop these into purposeful activity models. Ideally, you'll have 5-7 steps to cover all of these descriptions for each purposeful activity model, although you can break down individual steps into their own root definitions and activity models.

Checkland recommends reviewing these in the light of "three E's":

Efficacy - Ways to monitor if the transformation is, in fact, creating the intended outcome.

Efficiency - Ways to monitor if the benefits of the transformation are greater than the cost (in time, effort, and money) of creating them.

Effectiveness - Ways to identify if the individual transformation also contributes to higher-level or longer-term goals.

Step 3: Discuss the Problematic Situation

Discuss in detail each purposeful activity model. Your goal is to find ways to improve the problematic situation. Some of the following questions may help:

Does each part of the model truly represent what happens in reality?

Do the dependencies and relationships between activities in the model also exist in reality?

Is each activity efficacious, efficient, and effective?

Who performs each activity? Who else could do it?

How is each activity done? How else could it be done?

When and where is each activity done? When or where else could it be done?

Having created a list of possible improvements, you may want to create purposeful activity models for each one. Following the process for doing so helps ensure that you've considered all of the various worldviews involved, which is necessary for the improvement to have a realistic chance of being implemented.

Step 4: Define "Actions to Improve"

The group doing the SSM-based analysis of the problematical situation now has to agree on which actions it thinks will improve the situation, and the group must define those actions in enough detail to create an implementation plan.

Remember, because people have different worldviews, there won't necessarily be agreement on which actions to take to improve the situation. However, everyone involved should reach what Checkland describes as an "accommodation" or compromise, so that they agree on practical options that meet the three E's - efficacy, efficiency, and effectiveness.

Note 1:

Change generally involves people, processes, and things. New "things" are usually the easiest to change: you can simply buy new equipment or systems. New processes need a lot of definition, but they can also be reasonably clear and straightforward to implement. Changes to people - involving culture or attitudes - are typically much more difficult. For more on this, see our article on Change Management.

Note 2:

We've presented Soft Systems Methodology here as a set of steps, but experienced SSM practitioners usually perform its activities in a repeated and ongoing manner - and they're flexible with SSM ideas, rather than following a strict process.

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Soft Systems Methodology (SSM)Understanding Very Complex Issues

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Understanding Very Complex Issues Some problem solving tools can oversimplify the world when, in reality, it can be complex and messy. In cases where many different factors contribute to an issue, and there are lots of different perspectives to consider, it can be difficult to tell where the root of the problem really lies.

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The 5 whys

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Children respond well to positive reinforcement. When a child misbehaves or does not follow directions, yelling or using negative language often does little to correct the behavior in the long run. Teachers can learn positive reinforcement techniques to get children to exhibit appropriate behaviors, such as using positive phrasing, offering choices, presenting problem-solving opportunities and creating an environment conducive to the behaviors children are expected to exhibit.

Positive Phrasing

Whenever giving a child instructions, refrain from using the word "don't." Children often tune out negative instructions but will respond to statements of request. Instead of saying "Don't touch that," say "Please leave that alone" or "Please put that toy away." A phrase such as "Don't leave your crayons on the table" can be reworded as "Your crayons belong in the box." Encourage children in positive behaviors through praise. If Sally is putting away her crayons and Mary is not, say "I really like the way Sally is putting away her crayons" to motivate Mary to exhibit the appropriate behavior. When Mary puts away her crayons, provide her with the same praise.

Offering Choices

Not only does offering children choices provide them with the opportunity to develop mentally, it allows them to take ownership of an activity or behavior. Allow children to make simple choices, such as what kind of juice to have for a snack or which book to read. When creating artwork, children can choose between markers and crayons and other art supplies. Provide time in the classroom during which children can choose to play at different stations, rather than requiring all children to complete the same activity at the same time.

Problem-Solving Strategies

Telling a child he is doing something wrong can often have a negative impact. If a child is completing an activity incorrectly or is not getting the desired results, explain the situation to the child and work together with solutions to fix the problem. For example, if a child volunteers to clean off the table and just wipes all of the crumbs onto the floor, say to the child "Thank you for cleaning the table, but now we have crumbs all over the floor. What can we do to clean them up?" This approach can also be used when a child is angry or sad. If a child is angry because someone else took a toy she wanted to play with, say something like "I understand you are angry because she took your toy. Are there any other toys that can make you happy?" or "How about if she plays with the toy for five minutes and when the timer goes off, you can have the toy? Would that solve the problem?"

Changing the Environment

Often children exhibit negative behaviors simply because of the environment surrounding them. For example, a classroom without a clearly labeled system of organization for toys, crayons and other supplies is more likely to be messy than one with a system in which children participate and understand. Whenever a child spills something, does not pick up after herself or refuses to take a nap, for example, consider the environment and changes that could be made to prevent the problem. Did the child spill his milk because the cup was too flimsy? Were toys not picked up because the toy bin was not easily accessible? Is nap time not working because the classroom is too loud or too bright?

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Positive Guidance Techniques in the Early Childhood Classroom | Synonym

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Children respond well to positive reinforcement. When a child misbehaves or does not follow directions, yelling or using negative language often does little to correct the behavior in the long run. Teachers can learn positive reinforcement techniques to get children to exhibit appropriate behaviors, such as using positive phrasing, offering choices, presenting problem-solving opportunities and creating an environment conducive to the behaviors children are expected to exhibit.

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Success Secrets!

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Success secrets are not really that secret. It takes a strong problem solver, critical thinker and decision maker.

These traits coupled with a great deal of hard work, time urgency and passion and a willingness to make significant sacrifices are the common elements to become successful. In other words, an expert in a field.

An expert in a field is someone who has a deep and broad knowledge about his or her chosen profession. He or she is someone who solved the mystery of that field.

One of the elements to becoming an expert is embracing and internalizing a field of expertise. Extensive study, practice, observation and analysis are some of the critical thinking skills that a person applies to become an expert.

An individual who solves the mystery of a profession (success secrets) can frequently replicate those efforts over again. Let's look at a few examples of prominent people who have solved the mystery of their profession.

Warren Buffett has solved the mystery of investing. His success at making money by investing in undervalued companies and then selling them for large gains is legendary. It earned him the nickname, the Oracle of Omaha (Warren Buffett was born in Omaha Nebraska).

Bill Gates is a person who solved the mystery of marketing effectively. He quit college at Harvard to be in the beginning of the personal computer revolution. Today, because of his marketing savvy he and Microsoft are household names.

Steve Wozniak was responsible for much of the early success of Apple Computer. He solved the mystery of making early home computers simple.

For example, he found a way on the Apple II to allow the video display and microprocessor share the same memory. He also developed a floppy disk controller that only used a fourth of the integrated circuits used by other controllers at the time.

Solving the mystery of a profession has been explained for two reasons.

First, is to show the power of problem solving, critical thinking and decision making when they are applied effectively to a field of expertise.

And second, knowing the success secrets of others can help shine a light to lead your way if you decide to go down that path in your life.

Other sections in this website have been created help you decide on the best career for yourself; wherein you may become an expert.

Return from Success Secrets to Problem Solving Techniques

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Success secrets are not really that secret. It takes a strong problem solver, critical thinker and decision maker. These traits coupled with a great deal of hard work, time urgency and passion and a willingness to make significant sacrifices are the common elements to become successful. In other words, an expert in a field.

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Difference Reduction Method

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These notes lean heavily on Anderson, Chapter 8.
Problem Solving as Searching a State Space
Cognitivist explanations of problem solving are based on a generalized model of searching in a state space.
A state space consists of the tree of symbolic states that are generated when all possible operators are iteratively applied to the current state of symbols representing objects composing the problem. If the problem is solvable, then eventually the goal state will be symbolically generated. The solution to the problem then consist of applying in sequence the real-world operators that are represented on the branch that terminates in the goal state.

Example: The Towers of Hanoi
In this famous problem, a number of perforated disks (64 in the mythic problem, 3 in this example), each a different size, are placed on top of each other in order of size, biggest at the bottom, on one of three pillars. The task is to transfer the entire pile to a specified pillar, moving only one at a time onto a pillar, and only placing a smaller disc on top of a larger one.
The state space tree generated by this problem is illustrated below for two transitions. If the tree were fully expanded, the goal state would eventually be reached — if it can actually be done!

Note that, because some transitions return the disks to an earlier state, the tree if fully expanded would be of infinite size. So whilst generating the entire tree, searching it for the goal state, and reading off the transitions that lead to that state, is a guaranteed method of solving the problem, it's not actually possible to do (in a finite universe).

Whilst this is an extremely simple example, the contention is that any problem that involves transforming either material or abstract objects from one state to a goal state — that is ANY PROBLEM — can be analysed in this way.

As we don't appear to have infinite resources of material or time at our disposal, the issue then becomes how to manage the expansion and search of the state space so that a solution can be found economically.

For example, in the Towers of Hanoi problem, we could avoid expanding any branch that would result in the generation of a previous state, as we can be certain that the best solution to the problem will not be found by following that line.

However, we can't come up with a general solution like that to trim every problem tree. There will be some problem that every general strategy will not work for. (Developing a full understanding of this will take you into the realms of mathematical logic. For an entertaining and provocative introduction to this topic see Hofstadter, and for an extremely readable introduction to this in computer science see Harel.)

However, some methods are applicable to a wide range of problems, and whilst there is no guarantee that they will always work, they can be very successful. These are heuristic methods. ("heuristic: ... principles used in making decisions when all possibilities cannot be fully explored" Chambers English Dictionary.) A number of heuristic approaches which it is conjectured that humans use, are described below.

General Problem Solving

Difference-Reduction Method
Try to resolve the difference between the current state and the goal state. I.e., select the operator that will make the current state most like the goal state. This implies a need for a means of evaluating similarity between states.

Experimental Evidence
Evidence that humans do apply this method is given by Atwood and Poulson ( Atwood) using a water jug problem. Subjects were told:
You have three jugs, which we will call A, B, and C. Jug A can hold exactly 8 cups of water, B can hold exactly 5 cups, and C can hold exactly 3 cups. A is filled to capacity with 8 cups of water. B and C are empty. We want you to find a way of dividing the contents of A equally between A and B so that both have 4 cups. You are allowed to pour water from jug to jug.
The two shortest paths to the solution are:

1. 1:A>C, 2:C>B, 3:A>C, 4:C>B, 5:B>A, 6:C>B, 7:A>C, 8:C>B

2. 1:A>B, 2:B>C, 3:C>A, 4:B>C, 5:A>B, 6:B>C, 7:C>A

The subjects preferences for changes of state were recorded.
From the initial state, twice as many preferred 2.1 (A>B) as 1.1 (A>C). This results in a state more like the goal (i.e., B containing water).
For many steps, similarity to the goal is a good heuristic, but in both 1.5 (B>A) and 2.4 (B>C) which are crucial steps, it does not apply.
At these critical steps, 50% the time, subjects deviated in favour of moves that appear closer to the goal.
HCI Design Implication
Task steps which appear to move away from the goal may present particular problems for new users, and will require careful support.
If possible, design a task so that progression towards the goal at each step is obvious.

Means-Ends Analysis
Carries out state space searching by state evaluation and operator ordering. If a difference is detected between the current and goal states, then a subgoal to eliminate the difference is created.
Apply the operator that will make the most important difference to the current state.
In selecting the operator to apply, match the conditions of the operator to the current state to identify the most important difference.

An example of this:

I am hungry and I want to be full. What's the difference between what I have and what I want? An empty stomach. What changes the emptiness of my stomach? Eating food. But I don't have any food.
I want to have some food. What's the difference between what I have and what I want? The presence of food. What changes the presence of food? Searching, shopping, hunting, growing food.
I search for food, but there is nothing available.
I decide to shop for food. What do I need to shop? Money.
But I don't have any money.
I want some money. How do I get money? Withdraw from the bank, sell something, steal.
I decide to withdraw from the bank.
I want some money from the bank. What do I need to get money from the bank? I must be at the bank.
I want to be at the bank. What is the difference between where I am now and where the bank is? Distance. What changes distance? Walk, cycle, drive, bus.
.....
and so on.
The means-ends algorithm expressed in pseudo code (after Anderson p.212) is:
To Transform current state into goal state
Match current state to goal state to find the most important difference.
While difference detected between current and goal states.

Subgoal: Eliminate the difference.
If fail then EXIT: Failure.
Match current state to goal state to find the most important difference.
Exit: Success.
To Eliminate the difference.
While there are operators to be examined and difference has not been eliminated.
Search for operator relevant to reducing the difference.
If no operators found then EXIT: Failure.

While success do.

Match condition of operator to current state to find most important difference.
If differences are detected then

Eliminate the difference. (N.B. a recursive step)
Else
EXIT: Apply operator.

Newell and Simon's GPS
A very influential early artificial intelligence system that used means-ends analysis developed by Newell and Simon in the late 60's ( Newell). GPS stood for "General Problem Solver. It can be seen as a direct ancestor to the cognitive architecture, SOAR which we will be examining in later lectures.
HCI Design Implication
As intermediate goals must be kept in mind, there is a danger of the user forgetting where in the task they are. Thus, subgoals should be kept to a minimum, and assistance in remembering where the user is should be given.
E.g., in a complex task presented as choices from a menu, order the menus in sequence of steps in the task, and indicate to the user which steps have already been accomplished.

Working Backwards and Non independent Goals
One method of problem solving that is frequently met with in areas such as proofs in mathematics, is to work backwards from the goal. Formally, this makes use of the logical rule of implication, modus ponens:
(p & (p -> q)) -> q

I.e., if we wish to prove q, and we have the rule p -> q, them we need to prove p.

When this is applied to planning problems, issues of subgoals interfering with each other arise. For example, for the problem of painting both a ceiling and a ladder green, when the ladder is needed to reach the ceiling, what follows is not a great subgoal decomposition, (sequence is implied by horizontal ordering) ( Anderson p.217 after Sacerdoti):

Additional constraints need to be taken into account, e.g., that painting the ladder will make it unavailable for use.

Difficulties in problem solving can occur when such non independent goals arise. A whole range of techniques have been developed in artificial intelligence, particularly as applied to planning, to deal with these issues. However, how humans actually do this is an open question.

HCI Design Implication
Ensure that all parameters that may have a bearing on the constraints applicable to a task action are presented to the user.
Prevent the user considering actions that would break constraints by disabling them and making their status obvious to the user (e.g., by "greying out" options from a menu, etc.)

Use of Analogy
In this method, the known solution to one problem is used to guide the development of a solution to another problem. One straightforward example of this method in use is when a programmer takes a piece of code that implements a complicated function and modifies it to serve another purpose.
More subtle analogies may also be used. For example, Gick and Holyoak ( Gick) presented subjects with a medical problem involving the use of radiation to destroy cancerous tumour without killing the surrounding tissue. Very few of their subjects were able to come up with an appropriate solution. However, after they were told a story about a fortress being attacked by small bands of soldiers approaching simultaneously from many different directions, nearly 100% of the subject came up with an analogous solution to the cancer problem.

HCI Design Implication
This capability is behind the use of metaphor in user-interface design. For example, the manipulation of computer files and directories is presented as the physical manipulation of documents and folders on an office desk, as implemented in the Macintosh and Windows operating systems.
However, analogies are never perfect, and metaphors are sometimes stretched. (E.g., most people do not keep their waste-bin on top of their desk, and pulling disks into it to remove them from the drive, as done on the Mac, defies explanation!) The user has to be aware of the limitations of the metaphor, and if it is fundamentally ill chosen, or inappropriately stretched, it may get in the way.

References
Anderson, J. R., 1985 "Cognitive Psychology and Its Implications" (Second Edition) W.H. Freeman and Company, New York.
Atwood, M. E., & Polson, P. G., 1976 "A process model for water jug problems" Cognitive Psychology, 8, 191-216, in Anderson, 208-211.

Gick, M. L., & Holyoak, K. J., 1980 "Analogical problem solving" Cognitive Psychology, 12, 306-355.

Harel, D., 1987 "Algorithmics: The spirit of computing" Addison-Wesley.

Hofstadter, D., 1979 "Godel, Escher, Bach: An eternal golden braid" Harvester Press.

Newell, A., & Simon, H. 1972 "Human problem solving" Prentice-Hall.

Sacerdoti, E. D., 1977 "A structure for plans and behaviour" Elsever North-Holland.

This page is maintained by Richard Griffiths and does not necessarily reflect the official position of the University of Brighton.
Index Previous Next

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These notes lean heavily on Anderson, Chapter 8. Cognitivist explanations of problem solving are based on a generalized model of searching in a state space. A state space consists of the tree of symbolic states that are generated when all possible operators are iteratively applied to the current state of symbols representing objects composing the problem.

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the  simplex process

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RPR rapid problem resolution

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RPR_problem_diagnosis

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A Critical Thinking Book!

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This Critical Thinking Book teaches the 101 course on critical Thinking, Decision Making and Problem Solving

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Decision Making

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Decision Making comes in all sizes and degrees of difficulties. Some decisions are small and insignificant.

Others are large and life altering. Many are in between.

Your decisions are affected by money, stress, time, facts, data and resources.

These factors need to be individually and collectively considered when making your decisions.

Money - It governs what you can and can't afford.

For example, if you want a $50,000 car, but can only afford a $20,000 car then you will only look for cars in that price range.

Or, you must be willing to readjust (or violate) your budget.

Stress - Internal or external pressures can affect your decisions. Although some stress is always present when making any decision, it can be managed. If you are under a lot of pressure and time is available, hold off your decision until later. If time is short, then acknowledge that you are under stress and strive to minimize its effects on your decision.

Time - Sometimes there will be adequate time available to make a good decision. At other times it will be limited. You may not be able to investigate as many aspects of your decision making as you might like.

In these cases you must depend on your current knowledge, experience, schooling, reasoning, intuition, common sense and confidence. In other words; your critical thinking skills.

Facts, data and resources - There are vast information resources available today. The primary ones include: the web, bookstores and libraries, experts, colleagues and friends, classes and software.

Digging deeper
People who grow as critical thinkers and become good at making decisions make it a point to learn from every decision (right or wrong). They are willing to experience new things and learn ideas and concepts with an open mind.

Experience and book knowledge coupled with common sense leads to wisdom. Wisdom leads to better and more confident decisions. Better and more confident decisions lead to a better existence in general.
The Decision Process
"When all is said and done, more is said than done."
~Lou Holtz

Click here to learn the 7 Decision Making Steps.

Return from Decision Making to Problem Solving Techniques

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Decision Making comes in all sizes and degrees of difficulties. Some decisions are small and insignificant. Others are large and life altering. Many are in between. Your decisions are affected by money, stress, time, facts, data and resources. These factors need to be individually and collectively considered when making your decisions.

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IDEAL

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Analytical ability, problem solving skills and using initiative are among the top ten skills for recruiters of graduates. They want people who will take the personal responsibility to make sure targets are met ; who can see that there might be a better way of doing something and who are prepared to research and implement change; people who don't panic or give up when things go wrong but who will seek a way around the problem .

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http://www.problem-solving-techniques.com/Critical-Think-Tank.html

The critical think tank

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The Straw Man

http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_84.htm

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solution focused brief therapy

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Solution-focused brief therapy is an approach to psychotherapy based on solution-building rather than problem-solving. It explores current resources and future hopes rather than present problems and past causes and typically involves only three to five sessions. It has great value as a preliminary and often sufficient intervention and can be used safely as an adjunct to other treatments. Developed at the Brief Family Therapy Center, Milwaukee (de Shazer et al, 1986), it originated in an interest in the inconsistencies to be found in problem behaviour. From this came the central notion of 'exceptions': however serious, fixed or chronic the problem there are always exceptions and these exceptions contain the seeds of the client's own solution. The founders of the Milwaukee team, de Shazer (1988, 1994) and Berg (Berg, 1991; Berg & Miller, 1992), were also interested in determining the goals of therapy so that they and their clients would know when it was time to end! They found that the clearer a client was about his or her goals the more likely it was that they were achieved. Finding ways to elicit and describe future goals has since become a pillar of solution-focused brief therapy.

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Solution-focused brief therapy | Advances in Psychiatric Treatment | Cambridge Core

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Solution-focused brief therapy is an approach to psychotherapy based on solution-building rather than problem-solving. It explores current resources and future hopes rather than present problems and past causes and typically involves only three to five sessions. It has great value as a preliminary and often sufficient intervention and can be used safely as an adjunct to other treatments.

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Four frame aproach

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Finding Other Ways Forward

Managers who master the hammer and expect all problems to behave like nails find organizational life confusing and frustrating. - Lee Bolman and Terrence Deal

Tony runs a small team of IT developers. He helps his people meet their objectives by setting clear goals, and by making sure that everyone knows their roles.

The problem is that Tony's organization is currently being restructured, and projects he has been championing are being called into question. As a result, Tony is stressed, and is struggling to motivate his team.

Although we may not like to admit it, many of us are like Tony; we rely on only a few approaches for leading our teams. Then, when things change, or when we're in new situations, we're not as effective as we could be.

One way to overcome this common problem is to use Bolman and Deal's Four Frame Approach. This tool teaches us to view situations using four different perspectives. This then helps us to think about different ways of managing difficult situations.

About the Model

The Four Frame Approach is a concept developed by Lee Bolman and Terrence Deal, and was first published in their 1991 book, "Reframing Organizations". The model is a set of four frames, or perspectives, that we can use to analyze a situation in the workplace.

The four frames are:

The Structural Frame.

The Human Resource Frame.

The Political Frame.

The Symbolic Frame

The idea is that you use the model to get a more rounded view of a situation by looking at it from several different angles. This helps you see issues that you may not have considered, had you only looked at the situation from one perspective.

Once you've looked at a situation using each frame, you can then choose which frame (or frames) to apply to that particular situation.

Overall, the Four Frame Approach will allow you to become a more flexible manager and leader. You'll also feel confident that you've considered all perspectives when making a decision.

We'll now look at each frame in greater detail.

The Structural Frame

The Structural Frame focuses on the existing structure of an organization or hierarchy. This frame assumes that the organization exists to achieve established goals, that specialization and division of labor enhances productivity, and that the chain of command should function in an efficient way to meet objectives. Control and coordination is important with this frame.

When leaders use the structural frame, they focus on goals, implementation and control to push their teams. They hold themselves and their teams accountable, and they make rational decisions for the good of the team and organization, instead of focusing on personal preferences.

The Human Resource Frame

The Human Resource Frame focuses on the organization's people. It assumes that the organization will succeed if it meets the needs of everyone who works there.

When leaders use the Human Resource Frame, they focus on employee needs, morale, individuality, and motivation. They try to create a work environment that's caring, that's full of trust and where people communicate openly. Team members have access to training and skill development, and they create a culture of empowerment and possibility.

The Political Frame

The Political Frame is all about power. It assumes that decisions and change don't happen unless key stakeholders and interest groups are engaged in the decision making process. Here, conflict can be common, as people jockey for position in the organization.

When leaders use the Political Frame, they focus on negotiation to secure key resources, and to win people's support for their projects. They also recognize that there are very real differences between the needs of individuals, and the needs of groups (for example, departments and teams.) Here, it's important to understand where the power lies in an organization, and to learn how to use it effectively.

The Symbolic Frame

The Symbolic Frame focuses on vision and inspiration. With this frame, what happens in an organization isn't as important as what it means to the workforce and customers.

When leaders use the Symbolic Frame, they recognize the importance of meaning and satisfaction to people, and they help their teams create meaning from confusion, especially during turbulent times. They also use rituals, symbols, roles, and shared values to create bonds, and to help others understand events and celebrate milestones.

Applying the Model

To apply the model, consider each of the four frames when analyzing a situation. Then, once you've considered what you can learn from each frame, decide how you will approach the situation.

We'll now look into when to apply each frame, and explore how you can develop your skills in each frame area.

Structural Frame

This frame is most useful when roles are clear, goals are definite, and there is little or no conflict or ambiguity. This is also a useful frame to use when quality is important, because it deals with problems using rationality and logic.

To enhance your skills for the Structural Frame, start by reading our article on Managing by Objectives, and by taking our Bite-Sized Training session on Setting Goals for Your Team.

Understanding team roles can be important here, and our articles on Belbin's Team Roles and Benne and Sheats' Group Roles will give you a greater understanding of people's roles so that you can improve performance.

Note:

Although many people may resist using the Structural Frame because of its bureaucratic, "red tape" overtones, structure is a necessary and important part of every organization. Without this, organizations may have ineffective processes, inefficient training programs, or technology that doesn't fit the needs of the workforce.

The Human Resource Frame

This frame is best used when morale and motivation are issues. This is also a useful frame to use when motivation and commitment are essential to the success of a project or organization.

To apply this frame, start by taking our How Well Do You Motivate Your People? quiz. You'll also want to learn more about what your team truly needs to stay motivated and empowered in its work. Our articles on Herzberg's Motivators and Hygiene Factors and McClelland's Human Motivation Theory will help here.

Also, learn more about training and coaching your team effectively (our How Well do You Develop Your People? test will help you assess your skills). Use techniques such as Active Training, Gagne's Nine Levels of Learning, and
team coaching to help your people grow.

The Political Frame

The Political Frame is best used when a major decision must be made that depends on the support of key stakeholders or large groups of people. Because this focuses on power and politics, knowing how to navigate this minefield effectively is paramount.

Start by learning how to recognize key stakeholders with Influence Mapping and with Stakeholder Analysis. You might also want to read our articles on handling office politics, and French and Raven's Five Forms of Power, which covers where power comes from in the workplace. Good negotiation and conflict resolution skills are important here.

The Symbolic Frame

The Symbolic Frame is best used when goals are unclear, or when you need to help a group or organization through a difficult time. This is also a useful frame to use when you're experiencing conflict with your team.

You can work with the Symbolic Frame by learning more about mission and vision statements and business storytelling, which will help inspire and influence your team. You'll also want to understand your corporate culture and organizational values, and learn how to shape your organization's culture to align it with the proper strategy.

Tip 1:

When you're solving a problem, don't restrict yourself to using just one frame - you may get useful insights from several of them.

Tip 2:

If you'd like to learn more about leadership styles, and when to apply them, take our Leadership Styles Bite-Sized Training class.

Key Points

Bolman and Deal's Four Frame Approach highlights four different perspectives that you can use to analyze a situation in the workplace. You can then choose the best frame to apply to the situation.

The Structural Frame prompts you to consider the organization's hierarchy and chain of command. This frame relies on goals and accountability.

The Human Resource Frame is all about team development, empowerment and building morale.

The Political Frame requires you look at the politics of an organization or team. Recognizing and catering to key stakeholders is necessary when you need groups to work together.

The Symbolic Frame focuses on an organization's corporate culture. This frame is best applied when a team is going through a dramatic change, or when morale is low.

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The Four Frame ApproachFinding Other Ways Forward

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Finding Other Ways Forward Managers who master the hammer and expect all problems to behave like nails find organizational life confusing and frustrating. - Lee Bolman and Terrence Deal Tony runs a small team of IT developers. He helps his people meet their objectives by setting clear goals, and by making sure that everyone knows their roles.

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Checklists

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This is a compilation of techniques gathered from various sources on the Internet regarding the topic of problem solving.

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Retrace your steps to find how the problem started

http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/7-steps-to-find-lost-objects-after-panic-sets-in/

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OODA loop

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As stated by Boyd and shown in the "Orient" box, there is much filtering of the information through our culture, genetics, ability to analyze and synthesize, and previous experience.

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Drill Down Technique

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Drill Down is a simple technique for breaking complex problems down into progressively smaller parts.

To use the technique, start by writing the problem down on the left-hand side of a large sheet of paper. Next, write down the points that make up the next level of detail on the problem a little to the right of this. These may be factors contributing to the problem, information relating to it, or questions raised by it. This process of breaking the problem down into its component part is called 'drilling down'.

For each of these points, repeat the process. Keep on drilling down into points until you fully understand the factors contributing to the problem. If you cannot break them down using the knowledge you have, then carry out whatever research is necessary to understand the point.

Drilling into a question helps you to get a much deeper understanding of it. The process helps you to recognise and understand the factors that contribute to it. Drill Down prompts you to link in information that you had not initially associated with a problem. It also shows exactly where you need further information.

Example

The owner of a windsurfing club is having complaints from its members about the unpleasant quality of the water close to the clubhouse. This seems like a huge problem. She carries out the analysis in Figure 1:

This gives her a starting point in which to begin thinking about the problem. It highlights where she does not fully understand the problem, and shows where she needs to carry out further research.

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The Drill Down TechniqueBreaking Problems Down Into Manageable Parts

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Drill Down is a simple technique for breaking complex problems down into progressively smaller parts. To use the technique, start by writing the problem down on the left-hand side of a large sheet of paper. Next, write down the points that make up the next level of detail on the problem a little to the right of this.

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brainstorming

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http://www.problem-solving-techniques.com/Train-of-Thought.html

Train of thought

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Simplex

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Problems are only opportunities in work clothes. - Henry Kaiser (American industrialist)

Having good, strong problem solving skills can make a huge difference to your career.

Problems are at the center of what many people do at work every day. Whether you're solving a problem for a client (internal or external), supporting those who are solving problems, or discovering new problems to solve, the problems you face can be large or small, simple or complex, and easy or difficult.

A fundamental part of every manager's role is finding ways to solve them. So, being a confident problem solver is really important to your success. Much of that confidence comes from having a good process to use when approaching a problem. With one, you can solve problems quickly and effectively. Without one, your solutions may be ineffective, or you'll get stuck and do nothing, with sometimes painful consequences.

There are four basic steps in solving a problem:

1. Defining the problem.

2. Generating alternatives.

3. Evaluating and selecting alternatives.

4. Implementing solutions.

Steps 2 to 4 of this process are covered in depth in other areas of Mind Tools. For these, see our sections on Creativity for step 2 (generating alternatives); Decision Making for step 3 (evaluating and selecting alternatives); and Project Management for step 4 (implementing solutions).

The articles in this section of Mind Tools therefore focus on helping you make a success of the first of these steps - defining the problem. A very significant part of this involves making sense of the complex situation in which the problem occurs, so that you can pinpoint exactly what the problem is. Many of the tools in this section help you do just that. We look at these, and then review some useful, well-established problem-solving frameworks.

Defining the Problem

The key to a good problem definition is ensuring that you deal with the real problem - not its symptoms. For example, if performance in your department is substandard, you might think the problem is with the individuals submitting work. However, if you look a bit deeper, the real issue might be a lack of training, or an unreasonable workload.

Tools like 5 Whys, Appreciation and Root Cause Analysis help you ask the right questions, and work through the layers of a problem to uncover what's really going on.

Understanding Complexity

When your problem is simple, the solution is usually obvious, and you don't need to follow the four steps we outlined earlier. So it follows that when you're taking this more formal approach, your problem is likely to be complex and difficult to understand, because there's a web of interrelated issues.

The good news is that there are numerous tools you can use to make sense of this tangled mess! Many of these help you create a clear visual representation of the situation, so that you can better understand what's going on.

When your problem occurs within a business process, creating a Flow Chart, Swim Lane Diagram or a Systems Diagram will help you see how various activities and inputs fit together. This will often help you identify a missing element or bottleneck that's causing your problem.

Problem-Solving Processes

The four-step approach to solving problems that we mentioned at the beginning of this article will serve you well in many situations. However, for a more comprehensive process, you can use Simplex, Appreciative Inquiry or Soft Systems Methodology (SSM). These provide detailed steps that you can use to solve a problem effectively.

Key Points

Using established tools and techniques will help you improve your approach to solving the problems that your team and your organization face. You'll be more successful at solving problems and, because of this, more successful at what you do. What's more, you'll begin to build a reputation as someone who can handle tough situations, in a wise and positive way.

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Problems are only opportunities in work clothes. - Henry Kaiser (American industrialist) Having good, strong problem solving skills can make a huge difference to your career. Problems are at the center of what many people do at work every day.

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Eight Disciplines Problem Solving

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Eight disciplines problem solving - Wikipedia

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Eight disciplines ( 8Ds) problem solving is a method developed at Ford Motor Company used to approach and to resolve problems, typically employed by engineers or other professionals. Focused on product and process improvement, its purpose is to identify, correct, and eliminate recurring problems. It establishes a permanent corrective action based on statistical analysis of the problem and on the origin of the problem by determining the root causes.

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quality circles

http://www.inc.com/encyclopedia/quality-circles.html

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Brainstorming

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After distillation, the top ranked ideas may be sent back to the group or to subgroups for further brainstorming. For example, one group may work on the color required in a product. Another group may work on the size, and so forth. Each group will come back to the whole group for ranking the listed ideas.

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http://www.problem-solving-techniques.com/Scientific-Method.html

The scientific method

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Common sense.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_sense

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KPI

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Key performance indicators (KPI) are a set of quantifiable measures that a company uses to gauge its performance over time. These metrics are used to determine a company's progress in achieving its strategic and operational goals, and also to compare a company's finances and performance against other businesses within its industry.

KPI can also be referred to as key success indicators (KSI) and vary between companies and industries, depending on the pertinent priorities or performance criteria. For example, if a software company's goal is to have the fastest growth in its industry, its main performance indicator may be the measure of revenue growth year over year (YOY). In the retail industry, same-store sales is a key metric used to measure growth.

Key performance indicators tied to the financials are usually focused on revenue and profit margins. One of the basic profit-based measurements is the net profit, also known as the bottom line. This number represents the amount of revenue that remains as profit for a given period after accounting for all the company's expenses, taxes and interest payments for the same period.

Since net profit is calculated as a dollar amount, it must be converted into a percentage of revenue, or net profit margin, to be used in comparative analysis. For example, if the standard net profit margin for a given industry is 50%, a new business in the industry knows it needs to work toward meeting or beating that figure to be competitive. The gross profit margin, which measures revenues after accounting for only those expenses directly associated with the production of goods for sale, is another common profit-based KPI.

The current ratio is a financial KPI focused on liquidity and is calculated by dividing a company's current assets by its current debts. A financially healthy company typically has more than enough cash and cash equivalents on hand to meet all its financial obligations for the current 12-month period. However, different industries use different amounts of debt financing, so comparing a company's current ratio to those of other businesses within the same industry is a good way to establish whether the business' cash flow is in line with industry standards.

KPI doesn't have to be tied the financials, as a business' success depends on more than its profits and debt levels. Its relationship with customers and employees are important as well. Some common non-financial KPI includes measures of foot traffic, employee turnover, the number of repeat customers versus new customers, and various quality metrics. The specific metrics a company tracks are dictated by its current aims and may change over time as the business evolves and sets new performance measures.

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Key performance indicators (KPI) are a set of quantifiable measures that a company uses to gauge its performance over time. These metrics are used to determine a company's progress in achieving its strategic and operational goals, and also to compare a company's finances and performance against other businesses within its industry.

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3 Steps

http://www.inc.com/gene-marks/problem-solving-technique-for-any-problem.html

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interview questions

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fish-bone diagram

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Common uses of the Ishikawa diagram are product design and quality defect prevention to identify potential factors causing an overall effect. Each cause or reason for imperfection is a source of variation. Causes are usually grouped into major categories to identify and classify these sources of variation.

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Flowchart.

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BBC - GCSE Bitesize: What is a system flowchart?

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A secondary school revision resource for GCSE ICT looking at system flowcharts and their use in ICT.

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Plan, Do, Check, Act (PDCA)
Simplified Failure Modes and Effects Analysis

Brain Storming

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While most people associate lean with tools and principles such as value stream mapping, one-piece flow, kanban, 5-S, Total Productive Maintenance and kaizen events, few people think about the more mundane aspects of lean. Problem solving is one of the keys to a successful lean implementation because it empowers all of those involved.

Lean manufacturing has a unique way of solving problems. It does not just look at the effect of the problem and try to cover it with a Band-Aid. Rather, the root cause of the problem is identified and the root cause, as well as all contributing factors, is eliminated from the system, process or infrastructure in order to permanently solve the problems. What is the difference in these two approaches? Simple, when you find and rectify the root causes, the problem will be solved forever. Even other problems occurring due to these root causes will be eliminated in this effort.

It is very clear now that we must find out the root causes of the problems before we think about rectifying them in lean manufacturing environments. So, how should we do this? What are the tools available to perform these tasks? Let's look at what problem solving is about. We'll begin by asking the question: "What is a problem?" A good definition of a problem is a variation from a recognized standard. In other words, you need to know how things should be before you can recognize a possible cause for them not being that way. After a problem has been recognized, a formal problem-solving process should be applied.

High performance work teams typically use four problem-solving tools:
1. Plan, Do, Check, Act (PDCA)
2. 5-Why Analysis
3. Ishakawa (Fishbone) Diagram
4. Simplified Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (SFMEA)

Plan, Do, Check, Act (PDCA)
The Deming PDCA cycle provides effective guidelines for successful problem solving. The cycle
includes:

Collect Evidence of Problem (P2)
This activity focuses on obtaining information/data to clearly demonstrate that the problem does exist. In the case of team problem solving, this should be a quick exercise since the reliability engineering function must have been looking at data in order to create the team. The output of this activity will be a list of evidence statements (or graphs) to illustrate that the problem exists, its size and the chronic nature of it.

Identification of Impacts or Opportunities (P3)
This part of the Plan segment focuses on identifying the benefits if this problem solving is successful. This activity needs to be thought of in two different perspectives because Project Team work can take the form of control work, e.g. fixing a problem that stands in the way of expected results or pure improvement (attempting to take results to a new level of performance). In each case the output of this activity will be a list of statements. The impact statements and opportunity statements should be stated in terms of loss of dollars, time, "product", rework, processing time and/or morale.

Measurement of Problem (P4)
Before problem solving proceeds, it is important for the team to do a quick check on the issue of how valid or reliable the data is on which the team is making the decision to tackle the problem. For the parameter(s) that are being used as evidence of the problem, is there any information known by the team that would question the validity, accuracy or reliability of the data? This question should be examined whether we are relying on an instrument, a recorder or people to record information or data. If the team suspects that there are significant issues that "cloud" the data, then these measurement problems need to be addressed, fixed and new measures obtained before proceeding with the other segments of PDCA.

Measure(s) of Effectiveness (P5)
At this point, the team needs to identify how they intend to measure success of their problem-solving efforts. This is one of the most important steps in PDCA and one that certainly differentiates it from traditional problem solving. The strategy is to agree on what and how, to obtain the benchmark "before" reading, perform the PDCA activities and re-measure or obtain the "after" measure. At that point, the team will need to decide whether they need to recycle through PDCA in order to achieve their pre-stated objective.

Broke-Need-Fixing Causes Identified, Worked On (D2)
Before proceeding to carry out either an Action Plan (for Cause Remedies) or an Experimental Test Plan, there are often parts of the process that are "broke". This could take on many different forms.

Write Experimental Test or Action Plan (D3/4)
Depending upon the type of problem being worked on, the PDCA strategy will take one of two different directions at this point. The direction is based on whether it is a "data-based" problem or "data-limited" problem. Shown in the table below is the distinction between these two strategies and in particular, the difference between an Action Plan and Experimental Test Plan. Note that in some cases, it will be necessary to use a combination of Action Plans and Experimental Test Plans. That is, for some cause areas an Action Plan is appropriate and for other causes within the same problem, carrying out an Experimental Test Plan is the best route.

Write Action Plan for Cause Remedies (D3)
In order to get to the point of writing the Action Plan, the team needs to brainstorm possible solutions or remedies for each of the "cause areas" and reach consensus on the prioritized solutions. This work can be carried out as a team or split into sub-teams. Either way, the entire team will have to reach agreement on proposed remedies and agree to the Action Plan. The Action Plan will be implemented in the Check segment.

Write Experimental Test Plan (D4)
The Experimental Test Plan is a document which shows the experimental test(s) to be carried out. This will verify whether a root cause that has been identified really does impact the dependent variable of interest. Sometimes this can be one test that will test all causes at once or it could be a series of tests.

Note: If there is a suspicion that there is an interaction between causes, those causes should be included in the same test.

The Experimental Test Plan should reflect:

Time/length of test

How the cause factors will be altered during the trials

Dependent variable (variable interested in affecting) of interest

Any noise variables that must be tracked

Items to be kept constant

Everyone involved in the Experimental Test Plan(s) should be informed before the test is run. This should include:

Purpose of the test

Experimental Test Plan (details)

How they will be involved

Key factors to ensure good results

When solutions have been worked up, the team should coordinate trial implementation of the solutions and the "switch on/off" data analysis technique.

Resources Identified (D5)
Once the Experimental Test Plan or the Action Plan is written, it will be fairly obvious to the team what resources are needed to conduct the work. For resources not on the team, the team should construct a list of who is needed, for what reason, the time frame and the approximate amount of time that will be needed. This information will be given to the Management Team.

Revised PDCA Timetable (D6)
At this point, the team has a much better feel for what is to be involved in the remainder of its PDCA activities. They should adjust the rough timetables that had been projected in the Plan segment. This information should be updated on the team Plan, as well as taken to the Management Team.

Management Team Review/Approval (D7)
The team has reached a critical point in the PDCA cycle. The activities they are about to carry out will have obvious impact and consequences to the department. For this reason, it is crucial to make a presentation to the Management Team before proceeding. This can be done by the team leader or the entire team. The content/purpose of this presentation is:

− Measure of Effectiveness with "before" measure

− Priority causes

− Action Plan (for Cause Remedies) or Experimental Test Plan

− Revised PDCA timetable

Conduct Experimental Test Plan(s) to test and verify root causes or

Work through the details of the appropriate solutions for each cause area. Then, through data, verify to see if those solutions were effective.

Carry out Action Plan (C1)
In the case of Action Plans, where solutions have been worked up and agreed to by the team, the "switch on/switch off" techniques will need to be used to verify that the solutions are appropriate and effective. To follow this strategy, the team needs to identify the dependent variable - the variable that the team is trying to impact through changes in cause factors.

Carry out Experimental Test Plan (C2)
During the Check segment, the Experimental Tests to check all of the major prioritized causes are to be conducted, data analyzed and conclusions drawn and agreed to by the team.

Analyze Data from Experimental or Action Plan (C3)
Typically, one person from the team is assigned the responsibility to perform the analysis of the data from the Test Plan. When necessary, this person should use the department or plant resource available to give guidance on the proper data analysis tools and/or the interpretation of outputs. The specific tools that should be used will depend upon the nature of the Test Plan.

Decisions-Back to Do Stage or Proceed (C4)
After reviewing the data analysis conclusions about the suspected causes or solutions that were tested, the team needs to make a critical decision of what action to take based on this information.

Implementation Plan to Make Change Permanent (C5)
The data analysis step could have been performed in either of the following contexts:

After the Action Plan (solutions) was carried out, data analysis was performed to see if the dependent variable was impacted. If the conclusions were favorable, the team could then go on to develop the Implementation Plan.

The Experimental Test Plan was conducted; data was analyzed to verify causes. If the conclusions were favorable (significant causes identified), the team must then develop solutions to overcome those causes before proceeding to develop the Implementation Plan. (e.g., It was just discovered through the Test Plan that technician differences contribute to measurement error.)

Force Field on Implementation (C6)
Once the Implementation Plan is written, the team should do a Force Field Analysis on factors pulling for and factors pulling against a successful implementation - success in the sense that the results seen in the test situation will be realized on a permanent basis once the solutions are implemented.

Management Team Review/Approval (C7)
The team has reached a very critical point in the PDCA cycle and needs to meet with the Management Team before proceeding. This meeting is extremely important, because the team will be going forward with permanent changes to be made in operations. The Management Team not only needs to approve these changes but also the way in which they will be implemented.

Post-Measure of Effectiveness (A2)
After all changes have been made and sufficient time has passed for the results of these changes to have an effect, the team needs to go out and gather data on all of the Measures of Effectiveness. The data then needs to be analyzed to see if a significant shift has occurred.

Analyze Results vs. Team Objectives (A3)
In the previous step, the team looked at whether the Measure(s) of Effectiveness had been impacted in any significant way by the permanent implementation of the changes. The team cannot stop here. If the answer to that question is favorable, then the team needs to verify if the amount of improvement was large enough to meet the team objective.

Team Feedback Gathered (A4)
Once the team decision has been made that the PDCA cycle has been successfully completed (based on Measure of Effectiveness change), the team needs to present this information to the Management Team. Before this is done, the team leader needs to gather feedback from the team. This feedback will be in the form of a questionnaire that all team members (including the team leader) should fill out. The results will be tallied by the team leader and recorded on form A3.

Management Team Close-out Meeting (A5)
Before disbanding, the team needs to conduct a close-out meeting with the Management Team. The major areas to be covered in this meeting are:

Wrap up any implementation loose ends

Review Measure of Effectiveness results, compare to team objective

Ensure team documentation is complete and in order

Share team member feedback on team experiences (standardized forms and informal discussion)

5-Why Problem Solving
When you have a problem, go to the place where the problem occurred and ask the question "Why" five times. In this way, you will find the root causes of the problem and you can start treating them and rectifying the problem.

5-Why analysis is a technique that doesn't involve data segmentation, hypothesis testing, regression or other advanced statistical tools, and in many cases can be completed without a data collection plan. By repeatedly asking the question "Why" at least five times, you can peel away the layers of symptoms which can lead to the root cause of a problem.

Here is a simple example of applying the 5-Why analysis to determine the root cause of a problem. Let's suppose that you received a large number of customer returns for a particular product. Let's attack this problem using the five whys:

1. Question: Why are the customers returning the product?
Answer: 90 percent of the returns are for dents in the control panel.

2. Question: Why are there dents in the control panel?
Answer: The control panels are inspected as part of the shipping process. Thus, they must be damaged during shipping.

3. Question: Why are they damaged in shipment?
Answer: Because they are not packed to the packaging specification.

4. Question: Why are they not being packed per the packaging spec?
Answer: Because shipping does not have the packaging spec.

5. Question: Why doesn't shipping have the packaging spec?
Answer: Because it is not part of the normal product release process to furnish shipping with any specifications.

Using the five whys in this case revealed that a flaw in the product release process resulted in customers' returning of a product.

Ishikawa Diagram
In some cases, a problem can be due to more than one root cause or may have multiple forcing functions that either singularly, or in combination, will result in the problem. The 5-Why process may not provide the ability to address these more complex problems. The pictorial representation of this root cause analysis can be achieved using an Ishikawa or Cause and Effect Diagram. Because of its shape, this process is also called a Fishbone Diagram. This helps people communicate the root cause and the potential contributing factors and/or forcing function in a simple, straightforward graphic format. This method is very clear way of representing the relationship between the root cause of the problem and all of the possible factors that may be associated with the problem.

The Cause and Effect Diagram or Fishbone Diagram is a graphical tool for identifying the relationship between a problem and its potential causes. One of the most effective ways of constructing such a diagram is to brainstorm potential causes in a team environment. For example, a cause and effect diagram might be used to determine possible causes of a recurring defect in a manufacturing process.

The Fishbone Diagram is drawn to resemble the skeleton of a fish, with the issue (problem or process condition) on the right side. The major cause categories are written in the boxes on the left side of Cause and Effect Diagram. Summarize the major causes under the categories. These categories are usually Methods, Measurements, Machines, Materials and People.

Under each category, identify potential causes for the problem relating to the category. For example, if the fact that incorrect parts are being delivered to the assembly is a potential cause for the problem being addressed, that would be listed as a branch under "Materials."

Both Fishbone Diagrams and the Five Why analysis are simple, very useful methods for problem solving. One of the first steps to creating a Lean culture is to turn every employee into a problem solver. This should begin with teaching the use of "The Five Why's" on a regular basis.

Simplified Failure Modes and Effects Analysis
Simplified Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (SFMEA) is a top-down method of analyzing a design, and is widely used in industry. In the U.S., automotive companies such as Chrysler, Ford and General Motors require that this type of analysis be carried out. There are many different company and industry standards, but one of the most widely used is the Automotive Industry Action Group(AIAG). Using this standard you start by considering each component or functional block in the system and how it can fail, referred to as failure modes. You then determine the effect of each failure mode, and the severity on the function of the system. Then you determine the likelihood of occurrence and of detecting the failure. The procedure is to calculate the Risk Priority Number, or RPN, using the formula:
RPN = Severity × Occurrence × Detection

The second stage is to consider corrective actions which can reduce the severity or occurrence, or increase detection. Typically, you start with the higher RPN values, which indicate the most severe problems, and work downwards. The RPN is then recalculated after the corrective actions have been determined. The intention is to get the RPN to the lowest value.

Conclusion
These four tools can be effectively utilized by natural work teams to resolve most problems that could confront them as part of their day-to-day activities. None require special skills. Instead, they rely on native knowledge, common sense and logic. The combined knowledge, experience and skills of the team is more than adequate for success.

Daily problem-solving tips in a lean organization:

Keep what may seem like 'little problems' from adding up and becoming big problems in the future. The only way to work on tomorrow's problems is to work on the problems today while they are still small.

Use visual management and standard work tools to catch problems before they start adding up.

Build the skills, tools and systems needed to deal with those problems as soon as possible.

Start using 5-Why analysis. Continue asking "Why?" at different stages in order to dig deeper into the root cause of a problem.

Use Plan-Do-Check-Act, or PDCA. Without fully understanding the cause of what is happening in a situation, an organization will not have the control in its processes in order to sustain lean.

Understand that the small problems are a valuable contribution for future results.

About the author:
Keith Mobley is a consultant with Life Cycle Engineering. He has earned an international reputation as one of the premier consultants in the fields of plant performance optimization, reliability engineering, predictive maintenance and effective management. He has more than 35 years of direct experience in corporate management, process design and troubleshooting. For the past 16 years, he has helped hundreds of clients worldwide achieve and sustain world-class performance. Mobley is actively involved in numerous professional organizations. Currently, he is a member of the technical advisory boards of: American National Standards Institute (ANSI), International Standards Organization (ISO) as well as American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and others. He is also a Distinguished Lecturer for ASME International. To learn more, visit www.LCE.com.

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Problem-solving techniques for a high-performance team

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While most people associate lean with tools and principles such as value stream mapping, one-piece flow, kanban, 5-S, Total Productive Maintenance and kaizen events, few people think about the more mundane aspects of lean. Problem solving is one of the keys to a successful lean implementation because it empowers all of those involved.

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PDCA

http://padlet.com/wall/sij7hp6r5u

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Each student: please add 3 posts, with the name of a problem solving technique and URL