Why?
Philip Holt
Business Transformation Leader and COO | MBA | Leadership | Business Transformation | Operational Excellence | C-suite Level Engagement | Lean Thinking | Organisational & Value Stream Design
When I was a young Child I used to drive my Parents mad by constantly asking 'Why?' whenever they asked me to do something. "But there's got to be a reason" was my normal response if they simply told me that was how it was.
"But there's got to be a reason"
Who would have known that years later I would still be asking that question, only now it is my work colleagues, rather than my (grateful) parents, who are the recipients.
I've found the question 'Why?' to be an extremely powerful ally in the Lean journey toward Operational Excellence in 3 main ways:
1. Challenging Paradigms
2. Communicating Change
3. Problem Solving
Taking them in that order:
1. Challenging Paradigms
In this use of Why?, we question the reason for a process, activity or sub-task, trying to understand why it is required to deliver the Customer Value.
Even where it is necessary at the top level, we should challenge why we do it the way that we currently do and if we could do it more effectively.
Often we are stuck in paradigms, taking for granted that the way we do things is 'just the way that it is done' and so taking the time to challenge ourselves to ask why we do it that way, or even why we do it at all, can help to break the mental model.
External parties can often help in this regard but external doesn't need to mean someone external to the organisation, location, function or team but can simply be someone who doesn't normally work on that value stream or process. This is where Kamishibai can really help to ask the 'Why?' question and breakdown paradigms.
By gaining this 'outside-in' insight we can challenge ourselves to improve our processes and this challenge of the 'norms' is integral to creating a Kaizen Culture within an organisation.
2. Communicating Change
In Kotter's Change Leadership Model Communication is one of the key steps and, integral to the success of the communication, is how you do it. It is extremely important that the communication strategy is based on explaining WHY the change needs to happen, HOW it will happen and WHAT will happen.
However, what is equally important is the order in which this is done, as most of us have a propensity to focus on the WHAT, as it is more rational and easier to communicate. Nevertheless, we must start with WHY, as codified and explained excellently by Simon Sinek in his TED Talk and Book of the same name.
Starting with Why helps to establish the case for change, which is crucial to opening up people's minds to the need for change and move the balance of risk, making the risk of not changing greater than the risk of changing.
What is also extremely critical to this is ensuring that the case for change is made on the basis of what's in it for the individuals as well as the organisation, ensuring that we answer not only the question of 'Why should the Organisation change?' but also 'Why should I change?' for everyone impacted by the change.
3. Problem Solving
The question 'Why?' is used many times in Problem Solving and is the 'bread and butter' question of problem solving.
When defining the Problem Statement in the first place, we will often use the 5W&1H approach, which is an approach to determine:
What is the Problem?
Why is it a Problem?
Where is it a Problem?
When is it a Problem?
Who is it a Problem for?
How much of a Problem is it?
By answering these questions we can establish the problem statement in a much more robust manner, ensuring that the root cause analysis and countermeasures are much more robust.
Within these set of questions, Why? and How? are essential in establishing whether the problem is substantive and worthy of investing resource into solving. Together they can help to determine whether the problem should be solved by the current owner, delegated, escalated or ignored for now.
Once we have established the problem statement and are undertaking Root Cause Analysis (RCA), 'Why?' plays a major role in getting to Root-Cause as opposed to stopping at the symptom or headline Cause level.
'5 X Why?' is a method which demands that the question 'Why?' is asked sufficiently to establish the true root-cause of a problem before counter-measuring, avoiding jumping to conclusion on the cause of a problem.
For example:
Machine X in the Dartford Factory continuously breaks down due to Gear Failure after only 500 Hours of operation versus a planned run life of 2000 Hours, causing Customer Service Level to be below target (89% vs. 99%), increased Quality issues (>6000ppm vs. <2000ppm) and higher maintenance costs (Euros 120K vs. Euros 30K).
Potential Causes had been prioritised and it was determined via data that an over-heating Motor was the most likely cause of the frequent Gear Failure:
Q: Why does the Motor overheat?
A: Because the Oil is overheating
Q: Why does the Oil overheat?
A: Because the Oil Cooling system overheats?
Q: Why does the Oil Cooling system overheat?
A: Because the system is fouled by metal shavings
Q: Why is the system fouled by metal shavings?
A: Because the water inlet has no filter
At this stage (despite actually only being at 4 X Why?, which is guidance not a requisite) the Root Cause is deemed to have been reached and a Countermeasure (placing a filter on the water inlet) is determined.
Whilst this might seem simple, problems like this are often 'solved' without getting to root-cause by asking '5 X Why?'. For example, in this case a 'solution', such as changing the cooling system, might have been implemented at much higher cost and with much less effect.
To summarise, the three main applications of 'Why?' are essential for the Lean Leader to continuously improve their organisation's performance and I would encourage everyone to practice their use because:
"There's got to be a reason"
Feel free to visit my Website and Blog at: LeadingwithLean and my other LinkedIn posts may be found at this link.
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I am an experienced Senior Operations and Business Transformation Leader with over 15 years experience delivering value and improvements globally and a track record of Lean Transformation within a Global Blue Chip Organisation. I am passionate about delivering Operational Excellence through Lean Leadership and enjoy sharing and discussing my experiences with others.
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Global Operations Head at Infosys BPM
8 年it is true that we are molded through our education system to align our thoughts/reading within our curriculum books for each of our grade and ultimately we lost our skill of questioning.
Director, Regulatory Affairs US&Can
8 年Burba Gianni I love this article. Thanks for sharing
Passionate transitional healthcare leader to make IT happen
8 年Why did you post this ?
NPI Manager DACH bei RB
8 年Serkan ülker