Problem-solving Success Tip: Avoid Bug Mentality
Fixing bugs fixes symptoms: like taking aspirin for a headache, it may provide temporary relief but does nothing to prevent the next headache. It's ok, and often necessary, to relieve the symptoms but you have to dig deeper if you're going to prevent problems from recurring.
The reasons and benefits for getting past the symptoms to the root causes are well-known, but many companies still tend to confine their root cause analysis efforts to well-defined technical problems such as physical component failures. We need to apply the same philosophy to general business problems, especially if they are chronic.
The first difficulty in getting to root causes of business problems is in identifying that a problem is chronic in the first place. To continue the headache analogy: taking aspirin and forgetting about it is appropriate behavior for the occasional headache that most of us get. However, if the headaches are chronic, it's time to find out why they're happening. In the business world, we tend to treat customer trouble calls as isolated incidents-the occasional headache. We treat the symptoms, get the customer back in business, and move on to the next one. To get past the bug mentality, we need to look actively for the patterns that will tell us if a chronic problem is developing.
The second key difficulty is maintaining focus (and resource commitments) long enough to finish identifying and eliminating the root causes of a problem. When a crisis situation occurs, we correctly focus on treating the symptoms and getting things operational again. That's when the root cause analysis effort should begin to determine why the crisis occurred and take the appropriate steps to eliminate those causes. What usually happens, though, is everyone involved heaves a huge sigh of relief at having survived and moves on to the next crisis. To get past the bug mentality in this situation, we need to change the business model so we don't consider a crisis over until the root causes are identified and fixed.
Copyright 2007. Jeanne Sawyer. All Rights Reserved.
Related Tags: teamwork, business, tips, project management, problem solving, process improvement, root cause analysis
Jeanne Sawyer is an author, consultant, trainer and coach who helps her clients solve expensive, chronic problems, such as those that cause operational disruptions and cause customers to take their business elsewhere. These tips are excerpted from her book, When Stuff Happens: A Practical Guide to Solving
Problems Permanently. Find out about it, and get more free information on problem solving at her web site: http://www.sawyerpartnership.com/.
Recent articles in this category:
- 5 Reasons That a Restaurant Should Use a Restaurant Recruiter
Have you ever noticed how many restaurants pop-up over time but then disappear just as quickly? Runn - Does Money Motivate?
Some say money can't buy happiness, but data shows that for those who can barely pay the monthly bil - Because Workforce Friendly Policies Payoff
Employer-sponsored wellness programs are becoming more popular as companies strive to maintain a hea - EAP Value
Life would be simpler if we could set aside our personal issues and emotional baggage when the workd - Hiring an Expert SEO Company to Improve Your Online Business
Search Engine Optimization or SEO Services are used to make your website or online business popular - Why Safety Training at Workplace is Important
Safety training at workplace should be one of the top priorities of your business. An effective safe - Team Building: Brain and Sweat to Attain Company's Central Goal
Are you one of those employees branded ineffective and unproductive? Reasons might be the sense of d - Security Alarm System
It is a must that houses and offices install a security alarm when we speak about safety reasons. Se - Workplace Safety Tips
When we speak of safety based on books, its importance is next to food. It is essential to all indiv - The Benefits Of Lease-to-own Properties
One of the hit real estate investments today is to buy properties that will later be put up as "leas
Most viewed articles in this category:
- A Map Mural for Your Business
Yay! That retail store you've been planning has finally opened its doors and you are officially in b - Attracting Customers Through An Improved Shopping Experience
So many new shopping malls and supermarkets are put up every year. Many more are already in business - "To Oz!": Leading a Resilient-High Achievement Organization
One of my favorite movies is "The Wizard of Oz" based on the book by Frank Baum. The story is about - 5 Critical Items Never to be Included in Cost Benefit Analysis
When dealing with decisions using Cost Benefit Analysis techniques it is very important to follow th - Collaboration and Change
I’m an expert on change and leadership, but my most popular speaking topic this past year, and - Workplace Gap
In your workplace, are you a manager with a smart group of people and they aren't responsive to your - Leadership - The Proper Relationship with Subordinates
In the army, "the men" are kept separated from those known as "the officers." This comes from the id - The 10 Most Asked Questions of Cost Benefit Analysis
When dealing with decisions using Cost Benefit techniques it is very important to follow the proven - Cubicle Space Planning
Space planning is an essential element of any project and efficient planning serves the dual purpose - Why Passenger Surveys are a Transport Operators Best Friend
Public transport operators who already use passenger surveys may not fully appreciate the multiple b