5 Steps to Problem-Solving: The Toyota Way

The level of discipline that Toyota brought to their manufacturing plants was one of the things that propelled them into being a dominant player in the automotive industry. What’s less known is that they’ve since brought that same level of precision to virtually every function across their organization.  Today, we’ll look at one of the tools that helped them to create that precision company-wide.

To identify and help address business partners’ goals, Toyota uses a standardized problem-solving process to ensure high-quality issue diagnosis and solution development. Before setting out to solve a problem they thoroughly check to ensure that they’re even solving the right thing in the first place. Toyota does this by using a 5-stage problem-solving process:

Step 1 – Clarify Stated Problem: Systematically clarify the actual problem that the requester is trying to solve. This isn’t about needs, it’s about outcomes. Once they figure out what outcomes they’re trying to achieve, they compare that to their current state to identify exactly which gaps need to be closed.

Step 2 – Identify Primary Root Cause:  Identify the root causes of that problem and determine which one is most pressing and addressable.

Step 3 – Set Target Metrics: Identify the specific behaviors Toyota needs to modify in order to address the root cause, and then determine the specific metrics they’ll use to gauge the progress of their change efforts. Toyota then sets the target they’re ultimately trying to achieve.

Step 4 – Analyze Key Obstacles:  Analyze the key obstacles preventing them from modifying their target behaviors.

Step 5 – Develop Solutions: Evaluate a range of solutions that will allow them to remove those obstacles, and then ultimately determine which of those solutions they’re going to pursue.

You’ll notice that Toyota spends 80% of their problem-solving time on diagnosis and only 20% of their time on solution development. Why? Because they want to ensure that everyone spends sufficient time diagnosing business problems prior to considering or pursuing any solutions.

When using this tool, Toyota spends the majority of the time in face-to-face meetings between the support function (Sales Ops, for example) and the requesting partners (Marketing, Finance, Product Development, Sales, etc.) This is a highly collaborative exercise where ideas are white-boarded, root causes are vetted, metrics are examined, and so on. Now, of course, they also work individually – collecting data or thinking independently – before sharing with the group.

This process might take a couple of hours, a couple of weeks, or a couple of months depending on the scope of the project, but the result of all of this effort is an agreed-upon path from problem to solution for any given project.

 

CEB Sales Members, review the best practice to learn more about Toyota’s Problem Reframing Process. Also, download the “A3 Planning Worksheet” Toyota uses to help guide problem-solving.