8D - 8 Disciplines Problem Solving

Recently Vice President Kamala Harris went to Central America to find "root cause" for "the problem at the US Southern border".

Initially, I thought, wow, root cause, good job.  But after thinking about it some more, I realized she jumped ahead a little.  Root cause of what?  What is "the problem at the Southern border"?  From whose point of view?  Who is impacted?  How does that impact manifest itself? What is the context?  What does success look like when "the problem" is resolved.  The issue is that Vice President Harris didn't really define the problem.  As such, what was she searching root cause for?

Following the 8D (8 Disciplines) problem solving methodology would have helped.

1. Create a team to resolve the problem.  In my experience, the team should be led by the person accountable for the process that is causing the problem.
2. Define the actual issue.  Not the perceived issue.  I'd also recommend that you make sure that all your stakeholders agree this is the problem that is being solved.  Define that as who is involved, what is the impact (pain point), what is the context, what does resolution look like and how is that measured.
3. Take containment actions.  Protect the "who" defined in the problem identified in D2.
4. Identify root causes of the issue.  Use techniques like 5 Whys, fishbone diagrams, etc.
5. Define and implement corrective actions.  Fix the issue and eliminate the problem.
6. Validate that the corrective actions are indeed working.
7. Prevent recurrence of the problem.
8. Congratulate and recognize the team.

Managing Change - 10 Steps to Manage Resistance

I recently saw an ad where the state of West Virginia is having a lottery and offering custom guns, custom trucks, scholarships, lifetime fishing and hunting licenses, and even cash prizes up to $1.5M if residents get vaccinated.  This is essentially an incentive program to entice people who are resisting getting vaccinated to do so.

I recommend an more holistic approach to getting people to exhibit a desired behavior in order to achieve a desired outcome.

1. All change begins with understanding "Why?"  Give people information about the nature of the change, why it is important, and the risk of not changing.
2. All change requires a personal decision.  You can't make people do something, they have to want to do it.  But you can tell them what's in it for them.  What are the benefits to them.
3. Once people have decided to get on board, they must know how to perform the new behavior.  In WV, do people know how or where to get the shot?
4. All the above doesn't actually accomplish the desired behavior.  In our WV example, nothing changes until more people get vaccinated.  So people must demonstrate the ability that is desired.
5. Finally, all change should be reinforced.  If someone gets their first shot, how do you make sure they get their second.

If you go through this comprehensive approach to managing change and people are still resisting, then take these 10 steps to managing resistance.  It's important to start with the first 4 in order.  Then you can use the rest as applicable.

1. Listen and understand their objections
2. Focus on the "What" and let go of the "How"
3. Remove barriers
4. Provide simple, clear choices, and consequences
5. Create Hope
6. Show the benefits in a real and tangible way
7. Make a personal appeal
8. Convert the strongest dissenters
9. Demonstrate consequences
10. And finally in the case of West Virginia, provide an incentive

Why Am I Talking - WAIT

Do you often find yourself talking too much. Do you get nervous when presenting and ramble on. Do you feel the need to give context to all the complexities and hard work you have done before arriving at your solution?

When communicating with others, especially Executives, the trick is to slow down to give yourself time to think, listen with an intent to understand what they want, and always let them decide the level of detail that they want.

Have you ever heard the saying “Listen twice as much as you talk.” This is based on a quote by a Greek philosopher "We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak."

One of the strengths of listening twice as much as we talk is that it encourages us to carefully reflect on what we are sharing and think about our thinking, and giving us room to see how the audience is responding. Any habits and protocols that encourage us to slow down a little are really valuable at improving the quality of our dialogue and discussion.

I often tell people to think about communicating as a pyramid. At the top of the pyramid is literally the point. What is the point? Each layer of the pyramid has more detail till you get to the bottom of the pyramid which has all the details and even some extra. Many people make the mistake when presenting with an upside down pyramid to build an iron clad argument. One where they first start by sharing everything there is to know so that when they finally do get to the point, no one can argue with them. In this style of communication, all the detail is at the top and the point is at the bottom. The problem with that form of communication is that it is very difficult to accomplish and you also lose people along the way because the audience is literally asking themselves, "What's the point?".

Let's examine some other reasons why some of us talk too much, sometimes even when we are not presenting, but are in meetings. In many of these cases, we are not talking for the benefit of others, we are talking for ourselves.

The following is from a post on the The Power of TED* website. It encourages to ask ourselves a few questions when we are about to talk.

• Am I talking for approval and to be overly helpful? (Rescuer)
• Am I talking to control and take charge of the situation? (Persecutor)
• Am I talking to complain and whine about all I don’t like? (Victim)
• What is my intention behind what I am about to say?
• Is there a question I could ask that would help me better understand what the other person is saying and perceiving?

So if we are doing all this talking for ourselves, how can we then change that so we listen and talk for the benefit of others? How might you simply listen and let go of your urge to talk in this moment?

Try practicing WAIT, which stands for Why am I talking?

The WAIT habit encouraging us to ask the following questions:

• Is this the time to share?
• Is what I want to share on topic?
• Don’t divert the conversation away from what they are speaking about just because, “that reminds me of a time when…”
• Is it my turn to share? Are you mastering the pause?
• Is what I want to share going to add to or subtract from what they are sharing? The temptation here is to divert the conversation from them to you.
• Is what I want to share fact or opinion? If it is not, then WAIT.
• If you do interject, be concise. Add value and then shut up.

Remember the upside down pyramid I talked about earlier. Well turn that pyramid right side up. If you do need to talk, here are a few steps to help you to keep it concise, even if you are nervous.

• Step 1. Make sure you practiced WAIT
• Step 2. Frame your response at a high level
• Step 3. WAIT. This gives the audience time to process what you said.
• Step 4. Ask the listener if they want more detail or what other information they want. Remember, the trick is to let them decide the level of detail they want. They may say, "No, you have my approval", or they may say, "Tell me more about how you know you have the right plan"
• Step 5. Then go back to step 2- frame your response at at high level.
• Step 6. Go back to step 3 and WAIT again.
• Step 7. Go back to Step 4.

By learning and practicing communicating this way, it shows you as someone who can have efficient, strategic conversations. It shows that you can get to relevant points without dragging them through all the things they don't want to hear or care about. You will build credibility.

Effective Meeting Outcomes

Are you spending too much time in meetings and the meetings you do attend are ineffective?  

In this chat I talk about how to reduce the number of meetings you attend and how to make the ones you do attend more effective.

In order to reduce the number of meeting you are attending, if you are the meeting holder, ask yourself a few questions:

Do I need outside input to make progress?  If not, then just schedule time to do your own work? Do I need real-time input from others?  If not, send an email. If you decide you do need real-time outside input then follow the following meeting guidelines to have more effective meetings.

1.  Identify a desired outcome.  What do you want to have accomplished by the end of that specific meeting.

Direction Alignment/Influence Decision Help Needed

2.  Get the right people in the room to facilitate your desired outcome

Decision makers Stakeholders Team members

3.  Properly facilitate the meeting

Start with articulating the desired outcome of the meeting and the agenda Actively manage the agenda Resist the urge to work problems that come up

4.  Take notes and send out meeting minutes

Have a template for taking notes A good start is: Context; Direction; Alignment' Decisions; Help Needed; Actions; Next Steps

5.  Have a follow-up plan if you did not reach your desired outcome

Schedule follow-up meetings for specific outcomes that were not reached Set aggressive but appropriate deadlines Hold each other accountable for actions and commitments