Converting Current Reality Tree (Problem) to a Future Reality Tree (Potential solution)

In a prior post (& video) I have presented a Current Reality Tree that I have scrutinized and improved as a tutorial. A Current Reality Tree is a thorough analysis of a problem, usually a complex one, aiming to uncover its critical root causes. Yet achieving to build a robust, logically sound Current Reality Tree …

Deeper dive into UnDesirable Effects (UDEs)

All too often, what is presented as an Undesirable Effect is simply a matter of personal preference/dislike and not a real problem or issue. In order to qualify as Undesirable Effect, the supposed UDE has to be undesirable for the system as a whole. In this video I share a specific definition and comment the …

Do not confuse brainstorming and analysis

When it comes to problem solving or goal setting, I often hear or read “brainstorming” when the appropriate word is “analysis”. What people try to express is the search for possible causes that trigger the problem or the search for objectives to achieve a Goal. Brainstorming is a creativity technique used to generate a maximum …

The Right Way to Solve Complex Business Problems

The Right Way to Solve Complex Business Problems is the title of a december 04, 2018* episode of IdeaCast, the podcast from Harvard Business Review. In this episode, Curt Nickisch (HBR) interviews Corey Phelps, a strategy professor at McGill University and author. *I’ve listened the podcast in early April 2019 The interview on podcast and …

Problem solving: start asking what was the last change?

This post could be a sequel of “Yeah, problem solving” in which I used Peter Senge’s quote: “Today’s problems come from yesterday’s solutions”. Quite often people we consultants meet are puzzled by a problem they can’t understand: a reliable process or machine suddenly seems out of control, steady performance dropped unexpectedly and with no apparent …

Yeah, problem solving

Most people love to solve problems and feel the satisfaction of getting rid of some nasty tricky problem. It’s an outdated but still lasting belief that management is about problem solving. Problem solving turned in some cases into the managers’ and engineers’ holly mission and in some minds, the more problems the manager/engineer solves, the …

Bill Dettmer refining some points about Logical Thinking Process

In this video, an excerpt of Bill Dettmer's Logical Thinking Process (LTP) training course in Paris, June 2015, Bill refines some points about LTP. First, the two first tools (Trees) of the LTP, namely the Goal Tree (GT) and Current Reality Tree (CRT) are based on facts. The others, Evaporating Cloud (EC), Future Reality Tree (FRT), …

Performance improvement: simple things can earn big results

Silly things can cost a lot in terms of productivity and output. In this video interview, Philip Marris asks me about lessons learnt while helping a pharmaceutical plant to improve productivity and deliver drugs to patients faster. It is about how simple actions solve those silly small problems and bring big results at literally no cost.

5S in hospital

5S are as well an approach, philosophy and methodology to better workplace organization, foundations for efficient and safe work, as well as insuring quality and continuous improvement. They originated in their current form* in industrial workshops in Japan, leading many people to think "this is a production thing". The following video shows a good example …

10 signs you need consider Logical Thinking Process

Here are 10 signs pointing to the need to consider using the Logical Thinking Process in order to help you solve your complex problems and structure your transformation plan. Don’t know what The Logical Thinking Process is? >The Logical Thinking Process in a nutshell The Logical Thinking Process is a great help if You: do …