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So you have a customer complaint. It’s not just any complaint, but a huge one from your biggest customer. The problem affects millions of dollars in business and threatens the survival of your company. Are you going to take action? Of course! You put together a team of top players and attack it head-on.
Team members investigate the problem and perform a detailed 5-Why analysis. They start with the problem statement and ask, “Why did that happen?” repeatedly, drilling down deeper with each iteration:
Problem: There were seven data errors in reports issued to our largest customer in the last month
• Why? Because lab reports are getting in the wrong project folders.
• Why? Because the project numbers are written illegibly on the folders.
• Why? Because the customer service representatives are rushed when preparing folders.
• Why? Because there are only two representatives taking calls for all divisions.
• Why? Because business expanded rapidly in the past year and management neglected to re-examine the work load of the customer service representatives.
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Comments
The bigger picture
Another excellent article by Craig, that speaks to the issues of effective business management.
I would like to add: viewing the bigger picture quite literally, in my experience, enables a fast track improvement process that leads to positive action.
A gap exists (read chasm) between the common view of business system being heavily linear in appearance and understanding. While linear is necessary, a non linear view of process and system is IMO required to see the bigger picture of where we are, and where we want to be regarding business systems.
I have found that using a graphical format for expressing process and system, enables linear and non linear aspects of a business system to be more appreciated as continuously evolving rather than being a static unappreciated pattern of processes.
Solving the issues associated with business systems in this portion of the century, must needs IMO, be more aligned to whole brained thinking, as Dan Pink states in his excellent book “A whole new Mind.
Great writing Craig.
Process Improvement
Very well framed and meaningfullly articulated.....some very subtle yet helful tips
5why in interreaction with other tools
As a matter of fact, 5why need to be always treated as part of this kind of methodology like 8D in problem solving aspecially in complaints
Keeping this great tool with Cause and Effect Diagram, prioritization matrix can really be effective
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