The following is a typical conversation that might occur, indicating the trap
of jumping to solutions prematurely:
Manager:We have been having trouble with defects lately. (Note the vague
“definition” of a “problem”.)
Employee 1:A lot of the damage is coming from handling. (Note the “root cause
analysis”.)
Employee 2:Why don’t we get new carts? (Note the jump to a solution.)
Employee 1:Yeah, Joe had a design for one a while back. (Now the conver-
sation gets way off track!)
Employee 3:Do you know what happened to it?
Employee 1:No, but I know he had one.
Employee 2:I saw it too, but I’m not sure what happened to it. I think he told
the engineer, but nothing was ever done.
Manager:Would you ask Joe to find out about his design and see if he still
has it? (Now valuable time will be wasted chasing a “solution” to an unde-
fined problem.)
Employee:Yes, I should know something by next week’s meeting.
Problem solved! Or was it? What was the problem? “Defects” is a fairly
broad issue. Why did the employee jump to the conclusion that “defects” were
caused by handling? That may be his personal experience regarding “defects,”
but it’s only one possibility. Do you see how the process was so easily side-
tracked? The conversation went from a general statement about defects (not a
well-defined problem), to a cause (handling), to a solution (Joe’s carts), to an
action (follow up with Joe) in a matter of seconds. What will happen next?
There will be follow-up with Joe, additional meetings when time is spent (wast-
ed) debating why Joe’s solution was never used in the first place, and then
debate about whether it was actually a good design and a different design is
needed. Finally, a decision may be reached to build new carts, and they will be
put in place. Do you think the “defect” problem will be resolved? The sad part
326 THETOYOTAWAYFIELDBOOK
TIP
To avoid premature discussion of solutions and to keep the
process on track, record ideas for solutions with a statement such
as: “Okay, that may be a possible solution and I don’t want to
lose your idea, so I’ll write it down and we can discuss it later,
when we’re investigating possible solutions. However, right
now we want to stay focused on identifying the problem.”