[MUSIC] Now let's talk about A3 Problem Solving. A3 Problem Solving is something that comes to us from Toyota and uses the A3 tool. You may wonder where does the A3 tool get it's name, and it's quite simple really, it comes from the international paper size A3, which is roughly 11x17 inches. This came to us through Toyota where the gurus at Toyota in the quality circle, back in the 60's, one of the managers Nemoto really demanded that people have a very concise idea of problems and to be able to share them on a single sheet of paper. And the A3 was the biggest piece of paper available, and so the A3 became the tool of choice for capturing those ideas on a single sheet of paper. It also had the benefit of creating visible thinking. You can actually see the thought processes of the teams that are working through the problem using the A3. It also promotes thinking out loud, so as teams meet together and they review their A3, it encourages debate over the true causes and potential interventions that might be helpful to address a problem. And most importantly, it's an iterative process. So it's very important that we learn as we go, as we're attacking this problem. That we take our time, and learn with each iteration of the A3 A3 Problem Solving helps promote collaborative problem solving, and we know that teams outperform individuals. So being sure that our A3 is not an individual sport, and we are bringing in all the folks needed to help solve this problem. We also have the ability to identify true root causes when we use some of the tools that are helpful in using the scientific method to solve a problem as we work through our A3. And this communication also helps build consensus. This is really important that we have consensus, both on the problem that we're trying to solve, what we believe is causing the problem, and then also that consensus then builds into our interventions that we'll select to help address the problem. Additionally, it does establish of means of feedback and follow-up, so that we can learn from our interventions to see what's working and what's not working and what our next step should be. So thinking about the A3 tool, which is the piece of paper that captures ideas versus A3 thinking, it's really important to note that the format is not as important as the problem solving process. This is meant to be a vehicle for learning and mentoring, and as such it can take many different types of formats. What is important is that the thinking behind this is the scientific method that's intended. So getting started. One of the biggest tips is to only fill in as much as you know. It is not at all helpful for someone to sit down and try to complete an A3 tool at one sitting by themselves. This should engage all stakeholders and should have a good understanding of the problem. You don't want to waste efforts on the wrong problem, and the best way to avoid that is to go to the gemba. Gemba is a Japanese word for where the work takes place, and going to the gemba will give you a much better understanding of the problem that you want to address. Here's a traditional outline of an A3, and again, this format can change depending on the organization and the problem that you're addressing. However, the left hand side of the A3 should primarily be about understanding the problem. So this section usually contains background, current conditions, metrics and goals and also an analysis of root causes. So on the left hand side, which would be the plan of the Plan-Do-Study-Act, really wants to get at what problem are we trying to solve and what do we know about it. It's really important to spend a lot of time on the plan side of the A3, and again, get consensus and get a lot of input from the people who are on the front line, the subject matter experts. Once you have consensus on the root causes and the problem that you're trying to solve then you can move to the right hand side of the A3, which is where you'll capture the interventions that you've chosen to address those root causes that you've come to consensus on. In addition, you'll be able to capture evaluation of effect of any of those interventions and then next steps to continuously iterate on the process. It's a working document so you absolutely can use pencil if desired, not important that it's on a computer. Absolutely can be in just a sheet of paper and a piece of pencil, because you are going to want to revise as needed based on new information. So from week to week more information may come in based on your learning that you will want to capture on that document. Importantly then you do want to capture the revision date for your document, as mentioned, it's an iterative document so it will change over time. So important to capture which version you're looking at. I mentioned earlier the scientific method. That means Plan-Do-Study-Act. Really that provides us with tools for a deeper dive into really understanding the data that will help identify the true reasons for failures. And we'll go into these in more detail in a follow on module. However, some of the tools are swim lanes, process maps. We also have five why's, fishbone diagram and pareto diagrams. And importantly you also want to make it visual, the A3 really does become your story board. So you want to use pictures and graphs generously to tell the story. And as mentioned at the beginning, it's more than just a tool. A3 thinking has the ability to provide a system for organizational problem solving, and at the same time create a culture and mindset for continuous improvement and learning.
