RKL eSolutions Blog Trends and Insights

What's Wrong with "Brainstorming" for Business Improvement Solutions - Part 3

NOTE: In order to understand this series completely, we strongly advise that you start with reading Part 1. See the links to Part 1 and 2 at the bottom of the post. Thank you.

Previously in this series we have covered:

  1. The critical problem with the use of “brainstorming” as a business improvement tool is the context in which it is generally applied.
  2. Most applications of “brainstorming” are in seeking local optima or solutions to a single issue within the business environment.
  3. A truly reliable and consistently effective process of ongoing improvement (POOGI) requires that those involved consider the entire “system”—the entire business or enterprise—not just individual departments or functions.
  4. In order to understand whether a “system” is functioning properly, we must understand its purpose and, in for-profit organizations, that purpose should be “to make more money tomorrow than we are making today”.

THE SYSTEM’S GOAL AND GLOBAL PERFORMANCE METRIC

If, as we have suggested, the goal or purpose of a for-profit enterprise is to make money, and a POOGI would suggest that the goal is “to make more money tomorrow than we are making today,” then we have a very simply global metric by which to measure the performance of the “system”—the enterprise. That global metric is “profit.”

In the terms we stated in earlier portions of this series, profit can be calculated as follows:

P = T – OE
where P = Profit, T = Throughput and OE = Operating Expenses

By now, we should understand what our “system” is (our enterprise, taken as a whole) and what the goal or purpose of our system is. We also know how to measure the system’s effectiveness in achieving our goal.

AGREEING ON OUR SYSTEM’S CURRENT REALITY

Before we can build a better roadmap to success for our system, we really need to understand where we are. We need to comprehend our present situation.

At this point, the numbers are far less important than understanding how our system really operates and to get a clear grasp of just how it operates, we need to begin unlocking the “tribal knowledge” in our organization. We need to find out what our people can tell us about cause-and-effect relationships as goods and services flow through our supply chain (our extended system) and our system—our organization—on the way to producing Throughput.

But we need a tool—a method—by which to document these cause-and-effect relationships so that we can read them, reread them, discuss them and agree upon them.

Eliyahu Goldratt’s Thinking Processes provide just such a method, and it’s simple to understand.

TP Example - Simple

The example in the figure above is pretty intuitive to read. The arrows between the entities are read as “if-then” statements. The ellipse that encircles two or more arrows is read as an “and” join. So, we can read the example (adapted from Thinking for a Change by Lisa J. Scheinkopf) as follows: “If I have the key and I turn the key with sufficient force and it is 20-degrees below zero where my car is parked and my car’s battery does not hold sufficient charge, then the starter does not turn the engine over.” The next segment, reading from bottom to top, reads, “If the starter does not turn the engine over, then my car will not start.”

By the way, where did we get this information about the cause-and-effect relationships in this “system”? We didn’t need to read technical manuals or consult specialists. We were able to gain all this information from “tribal knowledge.” Our friends and family—with experience in this realm—were able to tell us all we needed to know.

Here we have a Current Reality Tree (CRT) for an automobile ignition system where the goal or purpose of the system is to start the car. It’s failure to perform to the goal is stated at the top of the CRT as a NEGATIVE. We call this negative result an Un-Desirable Effect (or UDE, for short).

At the base of the CRT we have four “roots”—those elements with no preceding cause.

This very simple example shows us the focusing power of the CRT approach.

A POTENTIALLY RATIONAL APPLICATION OF BRAINSTORMING

Now that we have identified the potential “root” causes of our system’s failure to achieve its goal—starting the car—we could use brainstorming to attack the root causes.

  • If I don’t have the key (or the correct key), where might I go to get it or find it (if it has been lost)?
  • If I am not turning the key with sufficient force to engage the starter, what must I do to apply more force?
  • If it is 20-degrees below zero where the car is parked, is there any economically sensible action that can be taken to change that circumstance?
  • If the car’s battery is failing to hold sufficient charge (at this moment), what economically sensible options are available to me to address that root cause?

Now, with this tool in place, we are very focused. While brainstorming might aid us in addressing the “root causes,” the entire CRT keeps us focused on the goal (at the top of the tree) and our need to turn that UDE into a DE (Desired Effect)—starting the car. We aren’t seeking to optimize the “key finding process” or the “parking location process.” We are interested in optimizing the system in reaching the goal—starting the car on demand.

This is just a very, very simple example. Other Thinking Process tools can help us in complex situations. These include:

  • Future Reality Tree – a logical tree depicting how we want our system to function after we’ve understood our current reality
  • Transition Tree– a logical tree depicting the “injections” we will make all along the tree (from bottom to top) to help our system turn UDEs into DEs in order to reach our goal
  • Others – Prerequisite Tree, Negative Branches, a Conflict Cloud to aid in resolving troublesome conflicts, and more

We hope this discussion has been helpful. Get in touch with us if you would like to see more real-life examples of CRTs in order to understand their impact and application more fully.


Contact us!

RKL Team

Written by RKL Team

Since 2001, RKL eSolutions has helped growing companies maximize their technology resources and investment. Over the years, we have helped hundreds of small and medium sized businesses as their strategic business partner. We specialize in the needs of Entertainment, Software & SaaS, Professional Services, Manufacturing, and Non Profit organizations. Our experienced consultants have a passion for making every facet of your business successful and are intent on building a long-term relationship with every client.