Day 22 - Problem Solving Skill

Picture credit - Business-online-learning

Day 22 - Problem-Solving Skill

1 May 2020

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Prabodh Sirur

sirurp@gmail.com

What is Problem-Solving Skill?

Problem-Solving Skill is the ability to determine the source of a problem and find an effective solution.

My learning for the day

Sharing my learning about the Fishbone Diagram (also called Ishikawa diagram), a problem solving tool.

This tool was created by Kaoru Ishikawa (1915-1989) in 1968. Kaoru Ishikawa was a Japanese Professor at the Faculty of Engineering at The University of Tokyo, noted for his quality management innovations.

What is the fishbone diagram?

The Fishbone diagram is a visual tool used for root cause analysis. 

Once we understand, using this tool, the root causes of the problem, we can put our efforts to find ways to rectify the causes.

The Fishbone diagram consists of Head of the Fish (to write the problem) and its skeletal bones (to write down the cause of the problem).

This is a typical workflow of how Fishbone diagram is created

Step 1: Write the problem in the head of the fish

Step 2: List all causes and group them into categories (or choose one from existing known categories e.g. T.P. Write’s 5M model for manufacturing industry, E. Jerome McCarthy’s marketing mix model for marketing sector or 4S model for service industry)

Step 3: Feed all the categories (and causes under each) in the skeletal bones of the fish to get a visual view of the problem and all possible causes 

Step 4: Identify action plans to rectify key causes

Typical fishbone diagrams 

Based on T.P. Write’s 5M model (for manufacturing sector)

Based on E. Jerome McCarthy’s marketing mix model (for marketing sector)

An example - Service failure in a hotel

Mr. Reo Enud (imaginary word scrambled from ‘Rude One’) booked a customer accidentally in a ‘smoking room’. On top of that the person in reception gave the wrong key card to the customer. All the rooms were full.

Problem - Service failure

Category (buckets of causes) chosen - 4S (Surroundings, Suppliers, Systems, Skills)

Causes under each category - 

Surroundings - Upgrade not possible because rooms were full, No arrangement with other hotels to shift the customer

Suppliers - Nothing under this category, at least in the first round of brainstorming 

Systems - The computer system did not capture information about customer preferences (e.g. smoking, non-smoking, veg/ vegan/non-veg.....), there were no processes (e.g. how to manage if all rooms are full, how to compensate for workplace mistakes…)

Skills - Lack of customer centricity, No culture of saying sorry

I have provided only a few causes. A good brainstorming within the team can bring out many more causes.

Once we put the above in the fishbone diagram, we clearly see which area to focus on.

Hope this gives you the basics of the Ishikawa diagram.

How to improve your problem solving skills?

Set a goal to become a go-to person by mastering the art and science of problem-solving. 

Follow the LAST model to build your personal brand as a Guru of problem-solving. 

1. Learn - Invest time in learning different frameworks/ models/ techniques of problem-solving 
2. Apply - 
• Identify a model suitable to you
• Create a template to document the flow of the process
• Find opportunities to use the selected method/ template
• Maintain record/ process flow of every important activities you did to with respect to problem-solving
• Maintain notes of your thoughts/ insights/ failures/ challenges…. to be used for sharing/ training others
3. Share - Share the insights captured in step 2 above in a planned manner (social media posts, blogs, videos, study notes…)
4. Train - Generate opportunities to train your peers and team members so that, over time, your organization benefits from your efforts

Purpose of this document

I took a 66 day challenge to study Life Skills last year (10 April 2019). To my astonishment, I succeeded in studying for 66 days one skill a day. 

My objectives of learning these skills were - To strengthen my mind to face life’s challenges with ease, To use these skills in my worklife for a better performance, To use these skills in my personal life for enriching my relationships, To open new possibilities to surprise myself. 

This is my next 66 day challenge (from 10 April 2020) - To share my Life Skills learning with my social media friends. 

I pray that my toil helps you in your success journey.

What are Life Skills?

UNICEF defines Life skills as - psychosocial abilities for adaptive and positive behaviour that enable individuals to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life. They are loosely grouped into three  broad categories of skills

• cognitive skills for analyzing and using information, 
• personal skills for developing personal agency and managing oneself, 
• inter-personal skills for communicating and interacting effectively with others.

Which LifeSkills are covered?

The World Health Organisation identified these basic areas of life skills that are relevant across cultures: 

1. Decision-making
2. Problem-solving
3. Creative thinking
4. Critical thinking
5. Communication
6. Interpersonal skills
7. Self-awareness
8. Empathy
9. Coping with emotions
10. Coping with stress.

Some trivia

‘Life skills’ was never part of the school curriculum. WHO/ UNESCO mandated academia to teach these skills in all schools across the globe in 1993.

Different countries educate their children in these skills with different objectives

• Zimbabwe and Thailand - prevention of HIV/AIDS
• Mexico - prevention of adolescent pregnancy
• United Kingdom - child abuse prevention
• USA - prevention of substance abuse and violence
• South Africa and Colombia - positive socialization of children.