Fix it For the Last Time

Every day, in both our business life and personal life, there are problems to solve, solutions to devise, difficulties to overcome, challenges to meet and overcome. A good portion of the time we deal with these issues in the blink of an eye. Sometimes that's good enough. But often a "blink-of-an-eye" fix is just temporary. The problem keeps returning again and again and if that occurs, the quick-fix solution isn't good enough because it wastes the valuable resources of time and energy while causing frayed nerves, increased stress, and dissatisfied customers. Why not fix it for the last time?

When I ask that question, the answer I usually receive it that fixing the problem so it never happens again will be a lot of work and will take too much time to create the process. I reply that you always seem to be able to take the time to fix the problem every time it occurs wouldn't your business be better if that problem goes away forever?

I think the issue is really that few people really know how to institute change or are afraid of upsetting the "business as usual" system. But instituting change isn't very hard. It's a four-step process of Analysis, Brainstorming, Documentation, and Implementation.

• Analysis is discovering the cause(s) of the problem back to the source.
• Brainstorming is soliciting and creating possible solutions. It is important to not censor these as, while some ideas will clearly not be effective or prudent, the synergy of a group might develop brilliant modifications that will be transformational.
• Documentation is writing down what is to be done, when to do it, and who will do the various tasks so other people can learn how to do it in the future.
• Implementation is putting the changed process into practice. Like most new systems there will probably be some modifications necessary to make it work easily and smoothly.

That's it. See the problem. Fix it so it never happens again. Go on to find other problems that need to be fixed. It's a process that makes for a great business.

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