A quick way to find the root cause

 

 

Having discussed the importance of data collection and finding a pattern for solving chronic problems in a professional environment, the next step is to fix the root cause by removing all the noises.
 
What is meant by root cause?

Among many causes that we assume contribute to the problem, only a few causes contribute to the problem significantly. That causes are called the root causes.
 
In quality management, we have been taught different tools and techniques to arrive at the root cause of the problem, like a tree diagram, why-why analysis, and cause-effect analysis. Those techniques, when we apply, eventually get into the likely root causes of the problem. However, it is a time-consuming process.

One thing i learned by working with many organizations on solving business or people-related problems is that ultimately we end up with either PEOPLE or PROCESS as the root cause for any problems.
 
Either people are unaware of the approach or do not adhere to the rules, or we have not yet defined the process. There is no other root cause than people or process,

We may argue that money, materials, and equipment may be contributing to the root cause. When we go deep beyond those causes, we only end up with either people or processes.

That is what i realized in many organizational problems.
 
For example, for the poor business results, the business head and their team used to point out lack of equipment capacity, lack of conducive business environment, lack of funds, etc., as the root causes of the problem.

When we work with them to improve the business performance, eventually, we all come to the realization that either we do not have business processes for solving capacity issues, handling the external environment and fund flow, or the people are not engaged or not aware of the business processes. That is the root cause, and when we fix it, we see a business improvement.
 
My personal experience and firm belief is that in all the technical or managerial or business problems, the root cause lies in either process or in people.
 
How this insight will help you for solving the problem?
 
As a manager or leader, you need not reinvent too much on finding the root cause for any chronic problem, just use the filter of people and process. You can quickly get into the root cause of the problem. This will save your time and effort.
 
Always look at the problem by fixing either the process or people, by that way, you are very close to the solution to the problem.
 

Have a great week ahead.

The 80-20 Principle- Book Review

 

 

To our last week's discussion on " finding a pattern" in any situation or problem, the book 80-20 Principle is relevant to get more perspective about cause and effect.

In the best seller book " 80/ 20 Principle", the author Richard Koach tried to interpret and expand the findings of the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto's work in the 19th century.

The Pareto found an observation that in Italy, 80 % of the country's wealth was with 20 % of the population. He found similarities in many economic relationships, and later, this principle was named after him as the Pareto principle. Eventually, the Pareto principles were further extended to all professions  and fields,

Although the 80/20 principle has long influenced the business world, the author reveals how it works in personal and professional life and shows how we can use it systematically and practically to increase our effectiveness and improve our career success with many examples...



If you want to get more perspective on cause and effect or pattern findings, i suggest reading this book.

As the book was published 22 years ago and in many languages; it is now available in many formats to read/download.

Happy learning.

https://amzn.to/3rtXRjO

Have a great week ahead.

Developing data skill-finding a Pattern

 

As we have discussed in developing the data skills, the first step is to clarify what data we want; the second step is to look for patterns.
 
What is meant by pattern?

The pattern is something that is repetitive and follows a rule.
 
For example,

You are commuting from home to the office daily…If you plot your arrival data to the office, you can see some patterns like arriving in the office on time with a variation of + / - 5 min or some other patterns.
 
Likewise, if you consider your product variety and volume, you may observe a pattern that a specific product set contributes to high volume.
 
If you have many customers for your products/ service, you may observe a pattern that only a few customers contribute to sales growth, or you may find a pattern that a few customers give you troubles like non-payment on time, complaints, etc.

If you have many reporteees, you may observe a pattern that very few people are consistent in delivery and relationship, and others are mediocre and low performers.
 
The key insight we need to learn is that in any situation or in any set of data for a longer time duration, you can find a pattern…The pattern will never change until we make some improvements or disturbances to the situation.…

How will this insight help you?

•  You will realize that any complexity of a situation or data can be made simple if you find a pattern and take action on it.
• Finding a pattern in any situation or data will help you remove the noises or non-repetitive instances from the population, and you can progress towards the next step in solving the problem.

How can we develop the skill of finding data in any situation or data set?

By breaking the complex project or data set into multiple small  GROUPS, you can find a pattern. By practicing with many situations, you eventually get to see patterns in any complex case..Anyone can learn this skill...

Have a great week ahead.
 

The first step in developing Data skill

 

 

As we have discussed developing the data skill, one aspect is to avoid the tendency of bias toward your opinion on the data. The second aspect is to be aware of what you want from the data.

By nature, some data is registered in the system every second or every transaction.

For example, consider any equipment in your organization. Every second, it gives us data like the energy spent, cycle time, idleness for various reasons, and many such data.

Similarly, consider your product or service, or customer. Much data is being generated in every transaction like volume, value, complaints, quality or service feedback, etc. 

What do you want from those data? 

When you want to improve your data skill, the first step required is CLARITY on what you want to solve from the data. What data do you want from the pool of data mine, and how will it help solve the problem?
 
How will this clarity help you?

As a manager/leader, if you know what you want to solve or what information you want, you can design your FORMAT, TEMPLATE, or FILTER the unwanted data.
 
Today the problem is not on the data availability; As Managers/leaders, we need to learn to ask the right questions about the correct data required to solve the problem.
 
In one organization, i observed that the team spent resources like software and human resources to capture the plant data, organize and send the report to all. Still, the organization struggled to know the exact reason for delivery failure. The reason i found was that the leaders/managers were focusing more on technology on capturing the data and engaged in the data storage and retrieval process than on finding the right question on which data or insight they have to look for to solve the business delivery problems.
 
The point is that technology is an enabler, and it is the managers/ leaders who need to know how to use the technology to filter out the RIGHT data for solving the functional or business problem.

Clarity on what you want from the data pool or what data is essential from the gold mine will help improve the data skill of the practicing managers/leaders.

Have a great week ahead.
 

Developing Data Skill

 

Unlike crisis moments, all chronic problem-solving requires an essential ingredient: DATA.

In an organizational setup, the data is created in every transaction or moment, and the data is considered a hidden treasure or gold mine. The way the managers/ leaders access the correct data, refine it for decision-making makes a difference in their problem-solving capability. That is data skill.

Data skill is the ability to get the correct data and interpret and use the insight to make decisions.

Generally, most of us tend to either give immediate solutions based on the data or give our opinion about the data, which leads to a different direction. If you are at the influencing level, your opinion counts much, and the truth from the data will drift.


 
For example,
 
You have data that say that the "machine breakdown on an avg 3 hrs per day".
Here, the opinion could be "our machine is old, thereby we get this trouble," or "Maintenance service provider is not providing good service,"
 But, the truth could be that machine lubrications are not ensured at the right time or periodically.

Your opinion strongly drifts the data far away from the truth, and the data may not be helpful.
 
The data skill is how you collect RIGHT inputs, identify some of the noises, remove them, and finally get into the TRUTH. That is a skill every manager needs to learn for better problem solving and decision making.

In one of my client organizations, the delivery was not consistent, and when the team collected the data, they found some supply chain partners were not supplying on time. This is DATA as registered in the system.

The team shared the OPINION that the cash flow was the primary reason, as the firm could not pay to supply partners on time; in turn, they could not deliver the material on time.
 
Later, the team found the truth that there were planning and communication issues like forecasting, coordinating with supply partners and the cash flow was a relatively minor cause for the problem.

That is learning data skills for using the data, removing the noises, and reaching out to the truth. 
 
The point is how we collect the right inputs, filter out some of the noises, weigh down opinions, and get into the truth.It is essential in data analytics as a skill.
 
We need to introspect our bias towards data, opinion and truth in solving chronic problems or even in data to day interactions.

Let us discuss some more insights on data analytics and skill development next week.
 
Have a great week ahead!
 

Why should we define an Objective clearly before solving a problem?

 Why should we define an Objective clearly before solving a problem?  

(Emotional Management for Personal & Professional Growth Series)

As we discussed the insights in structured problem-solving methodology, first, we have discussed how the business managers can choose or prioritize the problem in the organization. The next step after selecting the problem is         " Defining the objectives clearly."

What is meant by Objective?

Objective means aim or goal or target or where our effort should go towards solving the problem.

For example," Reduce the customer complaint by 50%" is an objective, goal, or target.

Why should we define the Objective clearly?

First, it gives clarity to all what we intend to solve
Second, it sets the boundary condition or scope under which we are going to work 
Third, it improves the focus as we define the end and the scope clearly at the beginning.
 
Without a clear objective definition, the team may divert the focus in many sub-problems related to the main problem and go endlessly without achieving the goal.
 
For example,

As a business head, you set the goal to increase the business profitability by 25% in the next financial year.
 
To achieve this goal, you may have multiple options, and you can pursue all the possibilities. In the process, you may be chasing many options, achieving the goal, or failing to achieve it.
 
When you define your Objective clearly, like by specifying the result and the focus area, like
to increase profitability by 25 % by introducing new customers or new products, it sets sharp direction and clarity to you and the team on which path you want to pursue. By establishing a clear objective, you are certain to focus your energy on building new products or new customers, and most likely, you may achieve the result.

Likewise, instead of defining objectives like reducing rejection by 50 %, if you define clearly, like, reducing the supply base rejection by 50 % within three months timeline, you are giving more clarity and direction to the team, where they suppose to focus. Otherwise, the team can choose to work on supply rejections, inhouse manufacturing rejection, customer rejection, and so on…
 
The point is that articulating the objectives clearly helps to reduce ambiguity and improve the focus. 

Suppose managers and leaders learn to articulate the objectives with a clear target, timeline, scope, which will likely improve the team's effectiveness in solving the problems. Also, it helps them become better problem solvers in their careers.

Have a great week ahead!

How to prioritize problems?

 How to prioritize problems? 

(Emotional Management for Personal & Professional Growth Series)

                              

 As we discussed the steps in structured problem solving, in this series, let us discuss some of the insights in each step as this helps the Managers/ Leaders to get a perspective on the practical dilemma in problem-solving.
 
One of the challenges for most managers and business leaders is "How to prioritize the problems in the organization ?"

The question arises as there are many problems in the organization, and almost all work on one or other problems. Still, in the end, the quantum of the problem remains the same, or the organizational objectives are not met consistently. This scenario is most common in an organization where people are busy managing a day-to-day crisis.

Some leaders are good at prioritizing the problems, channeling all the resources in solving that problem, and finally making an impact on business, thereby creating a pleasant work environment.This competency is required for every leader and can be learned as well.

One method of prioritizing the problems in the organization is through  Impact Vs. Complexity.

Impact vs Complexity:

Impact means if the problem is resolved, it will improve business performance like delivery, revenue, customer retention, morale etc.

Complexity means the solution calls for many stakeholders or cross-functional teams and the problem arises due to a variety of reasons like people, equipment, money, communication issues etc. Generally, a day-to-day crisis management methodology cannot solve the complexity.



For example, 

As a leader, if you choose a "customer delivery problem" as a priority for solving through a structured approach, it will significantly impact the organization. The delivery problems also call for involving cross-functional stakeholders and addressing many areas.

when you choose the high impact vs high complexity problem and involve many stakeholders as part of the structured problem solving and delegate in submodules, eventually, the solutions will make the organization make a high impact on business performance and morale of the people.

alternatively, when we choose low impact and less or more complex problems, neither the organization will realize many benefits nor the problems deserve much attention from many .

As Managers / Leaders, we need to have clarity on where to focus for higher impact!

Have a great week ahead!