The second stage in problem solving and decision making method is to analyze the problem. And the analyze the problem stage is the one which usually takes longest and should actually take longest. Because by analyzing the problem in detail, we begin to develop ideas for solutions. In the analyze the problem stage, we take the problem statement, and we go on the deep dive to really understand the root causes of the issues. The group at this stage may need to revise the problem statement and the goal statement. And that's fine.

That's perfectly normal. As I said, this is the stage that should take the longest and we don't want to jump ahead to solutions. We want to spend a good deal of time really studying the problem, then ideas for improvement will come easily. There are two parts to analyzing the problem. Part A is to study the problem more deeply from different viewpoints and Part B To analyze the data, this can be the more difficult part of analyzing the problem, as the organization may not record the data that we need, or have it in the format that we need it or in the structure that we need it. And I quote here again from Nick Souter, and his book breakthrough thinking, he says, Look harder at the problem, then look, again, the root cause will begin to present itself.

And those are very wise words, in my view. And the first tool that I present for analyzing the problem allows us to look at the issue from different points of view. It's called stakeholder analysis. As we know, there's a danger of looking at a problem from one point of view only. So to expand our thinking, we should work together with the group to define the problem from the point of view of all the stakeholders involved. For each stakeholder, ask the question, how is that a problem for them?

This exercise helps us to broaden our understanding of the problem and its impact. And who it affects the most. The second tool we can use to analyze a problem. There's another nice one from Nick souter's book breakthrough thinking is called causes and effects. And again, it aims to broaden our perspective, we should list all of the effects of the problem and work back to their causes. And this gives us a good overview of the effects and different people affected, and the range of causes that are perhaps behind the problem.

For example, if the problem is a high reject rate at a certain point in a process, then the effects are to slow the process down with rework to add material and labor costs, possible delays to customer service, and the risk that some substandard parts might get through and cause the customer dissatisfaction and an inefficient process. The causes for this issue might include poorly calibrated machines or poorly made maintains machine poor quality components or materials in sufficiently skilled or trained staff, overzealous staff, perhaps, older equipment. And I'm sure you can think of more possible causes for this type of problem. The third tool that we can use to analyze the problem is one which challenges our assumptions. And it brings me in mind of the famous quote from Donald Rumsfeld, which he made at a NATO headquarters press conference, and the sixth of June 2002. There are things we know that we know there are unknown unknowns.

That is to say there are things that we now know we don't know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we do not know we don't know. Try saying that in a hurry. to challenge your assumptions tool helps us to clarify what we know and what we're less sure about. And what we don't really know.

The embodiment of the That I've just made there. So it's useful to distinguish between what we know for sure which of the verifiable facts in the left column, what we think we know, but we can't verify at present, which are the assumptions in the middle column. And what we need to know is what we don't know at present, it's easy to sort of subconsciously make assumptions. And this tool helps us to separate those out into the things that we really do know, those things that we think we know, but we're not sure about and actually the things that we don't know yet. And the fourth tool to analyze a problem is the famous five whys. And to be honest, I'm not a great fan of the five why's.

For me, it lacks structure. And I much prefer the Ishikawa diagram which we'll see in the next slide, which gives us a good structure for achieving the same end. But anyway, if you want to use the five why's, it again allows us to explore the root causes by asking why is that occurring? problem at least five times in relation to a particular issue. Next, we do come to the Ishikawa diagram, which is one of my go to problem solving tools, problem analysis tools. So really useful tools for problem solving because it gives us a number of aspects to analyze a problem under.

In the traditional Ishikawa diagram, there are six headings which are shown here, measurement methods, materials, people, machines, and Mother Nature. And but these headings are not fixed and can be altered to suit the needs of the business. For example, you might use the heading systems to replace the one headed machines or as well as if your business is heavily reliant on it. I often use the heading management methods instead of just methods to emphasize that management may be behind some of the causes of a problem or company policies might be and sometimes environment and community as well. also used as a heading. So in this example, we have the problem.

Why are so many items getting damaged when sent to customers and the team have analyzed possible causes possible issues behind that problem into the six headings giving. So in terms of measurements, it could be that returns are being counted as damaged goods rather than returns. And the methods it might be that there's insufficient time to pack properly given in the procedure, or rush orders cause the problem and the materials that might be pulled packaging materials or faulty products in the first place. And the people we might have again, poor packaging skills, poor handling skills, and the machines we might have the wrapping machine causing damage, or the sorting machine even causing damaged or poor transport issues. And under Mother Nature, we have accidental breakages or potholes in the road. And we have another example here in the seconds Slide and this time the problem is what is causing increased breakages.

This is a pottery company whose new line of pottery is getting damaged. And under measurement we have that the method of defining breakage for example has changed. And the methods we see that work instructions have not been updated for a while, we see that this poor packing methods and inexperienced delivery company has just been taken on board and to materials we see there may be problems with the composition of the clay and that the new styles and shapes are fragile. And to people we see there's been poor staff training, no comprehensive training program. Some experienced staff have retired, inadequate supervision and the machines we see the kilns are possibly too hot, inadequate maintenance of machines and old machines and then under Mother Nature again, potholes on the road.