Watson, The Secret to Quality is Elementary!

The Secret to Quality often feels like just that, a mystery, and out of reach of most organizations. Yet we know that most mysteries are solved with the simplest of observations.

The Secret to Quality

I have always been fascinated with Sherlock Holmes. When presented with a mystery, he seems to extract so much information with his strong sense of curiosity and observation. Then he pieces together the details into a convincing explanation – just in time to solve the case! One such mystery occurred in my own life. Not only did I solve the “case,” I learned a principle that can help you build quality in your organization!

For some time, I struggled to understand the difference between a symptom and a root cause. It turns out that identifying whether something is a symptom, or a root cause is a basic skill for problem-solving – and quality improvements!

The Case of the Recurring Illness 

A few years back, shortly after the first of the new year, I trudged into my doctor’s office for the 7th straight year in a row, sick with the flu.

I asked him what he could do to get me over the flu quickly. He said that all he could do was to help me “feel” better, but he could not solve my problem.

That is when I realized that helping me “feel” better was only dealing with my symptoms, and NOT solving my problem, my root cause.

Shortly after that, I started asking myself the why questions. I started to ask, Why do I have the flu? Why have I gotten the flu for seven years straight? Why has it occurred at the same time each year?

And this is when I discovered…

By asking myself the why questions enough times, I realized each year, around Christmas and New Year, my wife and I attend several parties where there were a lot of people coughing and sneezing and using their hands to cover their mouths. Of course, this was when we all attended parties pre-pandemic.

I also considered how I love chips, any chips, and especially any flavored chips!

Then I concluded that the same people that were grabbing chips from the common serving bowls that I was reaching into, were spreading more than Christmas cheer as we munched on our chips!

Now that was my root cause.

More strategic/hygienic snacking addressed the root cause and solved my problem because I have never had the flu again. Case solved!

After my company held our first Operation QIC^® (pronounced “quick” for Quality Is Contagious) workshop, our people learned that the shortest route to higher quality in business was to identify and eliminate the root cause of barriers to quality.

We know from Scripture the importance of our attention being on the roots, as it leads to the fruit in our life as seen in John 15:5,

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

Every organization can understand the root cause of a problem by simply performing a root cause analysis.

Symptom vs. Root Cause

When an issue arises, it should be resolved as quickly as possible.

And when you’re resolving a problem, it’s important to understand the difference between a symptom and a root cause.

Symptom

A symptom is an indicator or sign that a problem exists.

Root Cause

A root cause is a fundamental reason for the source of the problem.

Root Cause Analysis

One way to understand the root cause of a problem is to perform a simple root cause analysis.  A root cause analysis just requires you to ask a series of why questions

For Example

If your employees have low morale, it is a sign of a problem. Low morale doesn’t happen by itself, and it can’t be resolved by itself.

The underlying problem may be heavy overtime, boredom, poor leadership, pending layoffs, etc.

Each time that you can answer the why question, you have probably identified a symptom that is caused by something else.

So continue to ask why for each answer until you can no longer generate a logical response.

You now have likely reached the root cause that has generated the observed symptoms.

Tip: Once you think you’ve asked your last “why” question, try to ask “why” one more time. Often, we need to push through to the end of this process to arrive at the genuine, root cause of our problem!

When you have identified the root cause, put an action plan in place to solve the problem. And amazingly, many of the symptoms will go away as well.

In business, you will find the root cause barriers to higher quality within certain processes. Namely, you’ll need to focus on eliminating processes that are the non-value-added steps and procedures that unnecessarily lengthen the time (cycle time) to process business tasks and transactions.

The Secret to Quality is Simple

Remember, time (cycle time), NOT quality, drives the business. And speed drives results.

When people can analyze their business processes, learn quickly from their experiences, and use those lessons to further simplify their work cycles, good quality occurs naturally. And the Secret to Quality is solved!

Just like Sherlock, we need to tap the power of curiosity and observation when it comes to improving our organizations.  When we do, we’ll ask “why” questions to identify and solve our quality problems!

• Have you discovered the secret to quality in your organization?
• Do you know the difference between a symptom and a root cause? 
• Have you used the “why” questions to uncover the root cause of a problem? 

Are you struggling to improve retention, engagement, productivity, and ultimately the bottom line, all while earning the respect of your employees? Hiring the right employees and spurring growth has more to do with the culture of the business than anything else. So if you sense an organizational shift is needed, you’re probably right! Take our FREE ASSESSMENT to evaluate your workplace culture and take the first step to a better work environment.

https://Values-DrivenCulture.com/wrkplc-culture-assmnt-spltst1/

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