More often than not, the most important step in solving a real-life problem is finding out exactly what the problem is. Obvious - and sometimes not so obvious. There are times when you will be called on to work with supervisors or clients who come to you for a solution but who don’t really have a clear idea of what the problem is, and it will be your job to get to the bottom of the situation by gathering the data that define the problem and that provide all that will be needed to solve the problem once it is identified. Defining the problem and coming up with a plan for gathering the appropriate data to think about the problem go hand in hand.
But how, for any given problem situation, do we recognize what data will enable us to first define the problem accurately and then later to analyze it? We need to learn how to isolate what is relevant to the problem from what is not relevant to it. We will see in the Examples and Exploration how to use the 5W+H thinking strategy to recognize and isolate relevant information from a problem situation. In most cases, the strategy must be applied twice: once to the problem context, in order to understand what is going on and how one might resolve it, and once to the communicative context, in order to understand the purpose for solving the problem and how the results are to be shared.
In the problem context, we ask questions to help understand the perception of the problem, the causes of the problem, and the consequences of the problem. In other words, they help us develop an accurate picture of chain of cause and effect involved in the problem. If the perceived problem is ”poor customer service” at your fast food restaurant, one needs to know a great deal more before trying to solve the problem. Who is complaining about the customer service? Is it a particular type of customer, customers placing a particular order, or something else? When are the complaints occurring? Are they around the clock, only at certain times of day/night, or are they connected to a particular staffing arrangement? Where are the complaints centered? Are they at the counter, drive-through, or both? What do the customer complaints even mean? Are they in regards to waiting too long for food, lack of friendliness, lack of cleanliness, or some other aspect of customer service? Why have these complaints just been brought up? Has something changed about the customer service? By first asking these questions, and then systematically collecting data to answer them, one can develop a better picture of the problem context. One can then attempt to resolve the problem as it actually exists. Without relevant data in the restaurant example, a manager might be tempted to push her employees to work faster, trying to minimize service times, when the real issue is that no one is keeping the dining area clean. Solving the wrong problem is often costly in time and money, and it still leaves the original problem unsolved.
Capturing the needed information in analyzable forms, however, is not always easy. Here are four ways to collect data that you might consider when defining the problem:
We will use observations and survey questionnaires in later sections. You might consider, however, using any or all of these methods of data collection when doing the memo problem at the end of this chapter.