A3 Problem Solving

“As I see it, Curmudge, an A3 report is an excellent tool for today’s workers in gemba to use in problem solving. It’s concise and thus consistent with modern reading habits, and it’s visual, which should help people who grew up in front of a TV set. Is that how you grew up?”

“Not quite, Jaded Julie. My first TV-watching experience was when I was a teenager. I was tossed out of a bar while trying to watch the World Series (1950?) on the only TV set in town. But I am fairly good at visualizing. One had to be in order to ‘watch’ The Lone Ranger on the radio.”

“You promised last week that we’d probe more deeply into A3 problem solving. Shall we do it?”

“Without delay. A3 problem solving acquired its name from the use of an A3 report for its planning and communication. As we learned, the medium of the A3 report is a single sheet of A3 (11 by 17-inch) paper. The report flows from top to bottom on the left-hand side of the paper, then top to bottom on the right side.”

“Because Blogger software doesn’t seem to like sketches, Curmudge, it looks as if you are going to have to use 1000 words in place of one picture. Our goal of achieving simplicity is defeated before we even start.”

“Unfortunately true, Julie. But perhaps we can reach our objective of piquing someone’s interest in A3 reports enough to steer them toward the work of Cindy Jimmerson that we’ll reference below. So let’s proceed. At the top left of the A3 sheet is the Issue Statement, usually as seen through the eyes of the patient. Below that is the Background, which helps us understand why the issue is important.”

“My kids would like the next part, a sketch of the Current Condition. We draw storm clouds for problems and icons for people like in value stream mapping. I guess that’s why we studied VSM a couple of weeks ago.”

“Right, Julie. But we must draw with a pencil so it’s easy to erase and make changes. The value of the sketch is that it inspires everyone’s thinking—the members of the team as well as the person with the pencil in his/her hand. We need to remember to KISS visually.”

“That might be considered suggestive spoken by most anyone else, but not by you, Curmudge.”

“At the bottom of the left half of the A3 is the Problem Analysis. We want to identify the problems signified by the sketch’s storm clouds and use the 5 Whys to find their root cause. What is learned here will help determine whether we have discovered too many problems for a single A3.”

“We are back to sketching again at the top of the right side of the A3. Here we want to show the Target Condition. This will be a graphic—again drawn with a pencil—that shows the process with problems, workarounds, and re-work eliminated. As Jimmerson states, this will illustrate ‘a new way to work that is closer to ideal.’ See, Curmudge, I’ve been reading the stuff that you recommend.”

“Countermeasures are listed in the next step down the page. These are the changes needed to get from the current condition to the target condition. One might call these ‘solutions’ if they produced the ideal result. But ‘countermeasures’ are more consistent with the Lean concept of achieving incremental improvements. Then comes the Implementation Plan, or how we are going to make the countermeasures occur. Sometimes the activities are shown in a matrix describing who, what, when, and the anticipated outcome.”

“I remember, Curmudge. We talked about a matrix a year ago—on September 25, 2007.”

“We’re almost finished, Julie. Costs and Benefits are estimated so we can list what the countermeasures might cost and the savings that should accrue. If a time saving is multiplied by a charge rate and hours per year, the dollars saved could be eye-catching. If a Test can be devised that will quantify the improvements, it should be noted here. Then comes the Follow Up in which the test results are shown and a path forward is proposed. Finally, way up in the top right corner, is the Title Information. This is just boilerplate showing the title of the A3 report, to whom it is directed, the author(s), and the date. So, Julie, do you now understand an A3 report and A3 Problem Solving?”

“No, of course not. You said it yourself, ‘A blog is not a teaching medium. It should simply arouse the reader’s interest.’ And there’s one more problem with a blog.”

“Oh, what?”

“Although the A3 is great, the blog isn’t visual enough. Remember, Curmudge, my generation grew up in front of a TV set.”

Affinity’s Kaizen Curmudgeon

P.S.—Cindy Jimmerson’s workshops as well as her book, reVIEW, are excellent. See also an older, all-text report, A3 Reports: Tools for Process Improvement and Organizational Transformation, by Durward K. Sobek, and Cindy Jimmerson, found at http://leanhealthcarewest.com/a3_problemsolving.html.