Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
2007
CONTENTS
1) Background to Problem Solving 2) Setting the Problem Statement 3) Analyze the Problem in Detail 4) Identify Likely Causes 5) Define Actual Causes
(1)
What is PAID?
A logical problem solving process can be done through some steps called "PAID"
Problem Statement Analyze the problem in detail Identify likely causes Define actual cause(s)
Problems exist when someone or something is not performing as expected. Action needs to be taken to solve the problem thus action should follow from a clear understanding of the problem. To understand problem solving it is necessary to distinguish between symptoms of a problem and its causes.
Identification of the cause of a problem is the key to problem solving. Once you know the real cause of the problem, you can decide how to deal with it
Sure symptoms treatment not a solution but once you have found the real cause of a problem you can decide how to deal with it.
Diagram of a Problem
To help understand what we are looking for when finding the cause of a problem, it is worthwhile looking at a problem diagrammatically.
Look at the diagram on the right. It shows performance over time. In this case it is constant, but is there a problem?
Performance
Actual Performance
Expected Performance
T I M E
The area with the positive variance is called Opportunity" An opportunity is the exact opposite of a problem. They can be analyzed in the same way as problems. You want to find out what caused an opportunity to happen that you can exploit it to the full or make it happen elsewhere.
Positive Variance Opportunity
Performance
Actual Performance
T I M E
Problems don't occur without a reason. In any situation with a problem, there must be an historical point. When actual performance started to deviate. Something happened at the time x which caused the problem to occur.
Positive Variance Opportunity Expected Performance
Performance
X
Actual Performance
T I M E
Avoiding Pitfalls
(A) Giving up too early (B) Jumping straight to conclusions about the cause (C) Not getting the right people involved (D) Not collecting all the relevant data The worst one is B " because. It is always very tempting to think you know the cause of a problem straight away, jump to conclusions and take action to solve it.
(2)
Brainstorming
Creative thinking techniques have a potentially powerful role in the PAID process. They are a very good starting point when you have a blank piece of paper. They can help you get insights into the nature of the problem that purely analytical techniques couldn't. many people broadly know what it means, but don't do it properly. Even though it's a creative thinking technique it has several rules which must be followed to make it work.
Brainstorming
See if you can identify what we can use brainstorming for as part of sorting out a statement of the problem.
To generate as many ideas as possible about:
A. The overall nature of the problem B. The actions to be taken to solve the problem C. Possible causes of the problem D. Specific aspects of the problem
Brainstorming
See if you can identify what we can use brainstorming for as part of sorting out a statement of the problem.
To generate as many ideas as possible about:
A. The overall nature of the problem B. The actions to be taken to solve the problem C. Possible causes of the problem D. Specific aspects of the problem
Brainstorming
You are the leader of a brainstorm session looking at a customer service problem.
A member of the group gives an idea you know is completely irrelevant. What should you do?
A. Write down the idea as stated B. Modify the idea to make it relevant and write that down C. Ignore the idea completely D. Ask members of the group whether they think the idea is relevant
Brainstorming
You are the leader of a brainstorm session looking at a customer service problem.
A member of the group gives an idea you know is completely irrelevant. What should you do?
A. Write down the idea as stated B. Modify the idea to make it relevant and write that down C. Ignore the idea completely D. Ask members of the group whether they think the idea is relevant
Bug Listing
When listing the things they liked, the group got a very different set of ideas. It is quick and easy to use and very useful for getting a feel about problems. It can also be used later when you are looking for the areas you need to specify in detail.
Reversals
'Reversals' is a simple technique which is useful at any stage in the PAID process. It is good to use at the start of the process because it's fun. You simply take an issue that you planned to brainstorm and reverse it! You then brainstorm the reversed issue. It's best explained by example. Here are a few issues and possible reversals:
How to attract more customers into my store
How to reduce the number of customers visiting my store
Setting the problem statement is the single most important action you will take in the whole problem solving process. It is so important that you must be prepared to put in time and effort to get it right.
The problem statement provides the context within which all further work takes place.
(3)
Overview
Analyze the Problem in Detail
Though both activities are equally important, this is rarely reflected in how problem solvers behave. Individuals and teams attempting to solve important organizational problems, nearly always focus on what is wrong, ignoring what is right.
Overview
Analyze the Problem in Detail
The result are solutions that come to wrong conclusions, vital aspects of the situation are ignored and underlying problems remain unsolved. Make sure you avoid the trap of concentrating only on what is wrong and ignoring what is right
Herringbones
Herringbones are a variant of the Ishikawa Fish Bone and serve the same purpose. The Ishikawa Fish Bone was invented in Japan for use by teams working in quality circles when trying to solve problems. They are most commonly used in operations departments.
Herringbones
The technique is particularly useful in determining what needs to be analyzed. A herringbone is like a structured brainstorm. You write down the issue you want to cover in the box marked 'Problem Statement', then brainstorm it using the headings on the herringbone.
Look at an example of a completed herringbone The issue was a backlog of work. A herringbone is a structured brainstorm, where the headings on each 'bone' provide a structure appropriate to the problem that needs to be solved.
The list isn't exhaustive, but should be enough to give you a clue how to go about using them.
When did it go wrong? How much went wrong? Where did it go wrong? Who is involved?
(4)
Identify Likely Causes
What's different? What has changed? What are the most likely causes?
In this stage of the PAID process you are looking for things which are:
Distinctive in the symptoms identified which distinguish the problem situation from the areas where you are satisfied Distinctive in the parts of the organization and specific locations where the problem arises which distinguish them from the areas where you are satisfied
What's Different?
In this stage of the PAID process you are looking for things which are: Distinctive about the time a problem arises from times when it does not Different about a group which is affected by the problem compared to groups which are not affected by it
What's Different?
Testing that any assumptions you have made which support the analysis are accurate. Trying to replicate the problem situation in a controlled test.
Review
Once you have found the cause you should conduct a review to see if you can improve your performance next time round. The review should focus on three basic questions:
What went well? What went less well? What should we do differently next time?
Problem Solving
1) Background to Problem Solving 2) Setting the Problem Statement 3) Analyze the Problem in Detail 4) Identify Likely Causes 5) Define Actual Causes
Decision Making
The ICES decision making process stands for Initiate Criteria Evaluate Select
Decision Making
A decision is about making choices. It is the cut off point at which you stop the process of thinking and begin the process of action. There are many types of decisions including: Yes or no decisions Choose from a list Creative
Making Decisions
If a decision is a cut off point when the thinking process stops, Clearly the quality of thinking determines the quality of decisions. But what is involved in the thinking process? There are many ways to make decisions and all manners of decisions to be made. Which do you think are the most difficult type? All of them!
Evaluating Options
Generating several options will normally help you to select the one that will best help you achieve your decisions objectives. The time and effort spent generating options depends on the importance of the decision being made. Options can be generated by: Research Informal discussion Brainstorming Meetings
Evaluating Options
So far youve learnt how to initiate the decision making process by:
Describing the decision to be made Producing a set of essential and desirable criteria
There is not an optimum number of options for making an effective decision Sometimes a decision is simply just yes or no or a choice between two things.