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Step Six: Identify Effective Solutions
chart has been prepared properly, you will be more likely to convince
those who have the authority of the value and efficacy of the solution.
The Realitychart can significantly expand your sphere of influence
because it is not just another opinion-laced story. It is evidence-based
causal relationships, which are hard to ignore, and if the reviewer
does find issues with your chart, engage them and include their
perspective.
The criteria that causes such a wide variety of possible solutions is the
need for solutions to meet our goals and objectives. Most businesses exist
to make money, so the solutions should provide a maximum return on
investment (ROI). Many companies have an established ROI requirement
before implementing a solution. An alternative to measuring ROI is to
measure and correct the number of problems above some threshold
criteria, for instance, all events costing more than $50,000 in lost revenue.
If over time the number of events exceeding this level of concern goes
to zero, then your problem-solving process has been effective. If your
company is interested in continuous improvement, the threshold
criteria should be evaluated and changed according to your goals and
objectives.
An important aspect of the solution criteria is the “you” or “your.”
Your control and your goals mean the solution is owned by those who
are going to be responsible for the failure—no one else. The implications
of this are multifaceted. It means that no outside organizations have the
right to second-guess the solutions unless they are willing to accept the
consequences of failure. It also means all stakeholders must understand
what their goals and objectives are before they can be expected to be
effective problem solvers. Many employees simply have no idea what
their goals and objectives are, so they have been set up to fail as effective
problem solvers.
Every solution is directly related to the purpose for solving the
problem. When employees interject their own purposes into the
solution, they may or may not coincide with the purpose of the team
or organization. Look for these biases when evaluating solutions. For
example, if the purpose of an organization is to operate safely, the solution
to a production problem cannot include creating a safety hazard. Unfortunately,
we humans find it difficult to recognize all our goals and objectives
when considering problem solutions. We tend to be myopic and only
recognize one goal or purpose for a given problem. While many organizations
today have a set of company goals in the form of mission statements and
strategies, these are rarely internalized by every employee.
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