Blog - Operational Problem Solving

Blog 3 of 5 

The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.
-Albert Einstein

In Part 2, we discovered how a group of participants coped with being exposed to the Polestar Business Simulation. It is important to reiterate that the participants were totally unprepared for the exposure and were expected to fail abysmally, which they did!

We often do ‘root cause analysis’ and conclude that a specific cause is present, for which cause we promptly proceed to solutions, to only find in due course that the same problem recurs.  While in such cases we may seem to be following proper process, we are in actual fact not doing so, else the problem would not recur.  As people who have a natural tendency to jump to conclusion and to fix urgently since this solves the issue.  For tougher problems, to avoid this pitfall, we can exploit the human inclination of quick conclusion and solution, and add a little patience and use more time.  

Try the following sequence (if you are familiar with a KEPNERandFOURIE CauseWise at all levels, this adjusted approach will be familiar to you):

1. Do a Proper Problem Statement with Object and Fault.
2. List 2 or 3 critically unique features of the problem.
3. Now accommodate your urge and list possible causes.
4. Test the possible causes using the “Thinking On Your Feet” Approach, and eliminate those possible causes that is clearly not the cause.  This results in a short-list of possible causes.