I often get assignments at organizations where I am required to take aside a group of people, either within the building facility or off campus, to focus on issues or problems. Typically these groups spend a considerable amount of time to summarize and present a well-defined problem. The next step is to review the data to determine if the problem has been quantified well enough to conduct a root cause analysis. If not, things are put on hold until the needed information is collected. Of course, this is "distasterville" if it is an off-site meeting. At some point, we determine that we have enough sound data to investigate why the problem happened. Once the root causes are defined, the group typically starts to brainstorm on how the problem can be corrected. Usually the group agrees on a plan of action to implement the solution.

 …