Reflection: Are You Solving the Right Problem?
From the article, to solve the right problem, first of all, we have to set the need for a solution. There’s no doubt to find out and focus on the basic need which is the core of the problem instead of jumping to a solution. I strongly believe that there’s no one right way to solve a problem, and if we rush to find the solution, we may trap into the problem and never solve it.
In my opinion, every problem is arisen form the need. We expect certain desirable outcome once the problem is solved. As mentioned in the article, it may be useful to apply the 5-Whys technique, which is to identify the root cause through asking the why-question repeatedly, so as to explore the cause-and-effect relationships underlying a particular problem.
However, this approach needs someone who has sufficient knowledge and experience to perform; otherwise, it may just investigate the cause wrongly. Also, this approach is mainly based on personal opinion to decide what root causes are. As a result, sometimes there will be several root causes come up whit different participants for the same problem. Therefore, it may be a subjective judgment that we have to, based on personal expertise and view, make a prioritization by the problem’s severity and the possibility of happening. The investigators may even tend to stop at symptoms other than doing deeper -level analysis, and just pick up a single cause because they don’t want to elicit other causes.
Second, according to the article, we have to justify the need and ensure it’s worth your time. I totally agree that if the need doesn’t satisfy our ultimate goal or align with company’s vision and mission, it will just waste your time and effort. By using SWOT analysis, we are able to determine the strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities of the company. For example, a company with internal strengths of strong financial position, efficient work force and innovative technology, and external opportunity of high demand potential of its new
In my opinion, every problem is arisen form the need. We expect certain desirable outcome once the problem is solved. As mentioned in the article, it may be useful to apply the 5-Whys technique, which is to identify the root cause through asking the why-question repeatedly, so as to explore the cause-and-effect relationships underlying a particular problem.
However, this approach needs someone who has sufficient knowledge and experience to perform; otherwise, it may just investigate the cause wrongly. Also, this approach is mainly based on personal opinion to decide what root causes are. As a result, sometimes there will be several root causes come up whit different participants for the same problem. Therefore, it may be a subjective judgment that we have to, based on personal expertise and view, make a prioritization by the problem’s severity and the possibility of happening. The investigators may even tend to stop at symptoms other than doing deeper -level analysis, and just pick up a single cause because they don’t want to elicit other causes.
Second, according to the article, we have to justify the need and ensure it’s worth your time. I totally agree that if the need doesn’t satisfy our ultimate goal or align with company’s vision and mission, it will just waste your time and effort. By using SWOT analysis, we are able to determine the strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities of the company. For example, a company with internal strengths of strong financial position, efficient work force and innovative technology, and external opportunity of high demand potential of its new