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RECENTLY, I WAS mildly ravaged by a sudden, unexpected demand for
medical care due to a persistent hang nail in my right foot.
Well, OK it was not a serious medical problem that would require me
to stay several nights at the 5-star Asian Hospital, except to say
that the thought quickly faded into dim memory once I think of this
column … and of course, the hospital bill.
This is exactly the point why I’m promoting
good governance in business. It has a therapeutic effect on me
that I can always look back at my hangnail with actual fondness.
My hangnail can put me into deep meditation so
much so that it helps me to use the Japanese-favored problem-solving
tool called 5 Whys.
We need 5 Whys to get to the root cause of a
problem. I mean every problem. It helps you to arrive to
a broad base of perspectives that could be useful to solve a problem
or gain greater understanding of an opportunity.
Take this example from the book GembaKaizen
(McGraw Hill 1997) which was made popular by Sensei Masaaki Imai, my
former boss at Kaizen Institute. In your visit at the factory,
you fin’d a worker throwing sawdust on the floor in the corridor
between machines.
Your question: “Why are you throwing
sawdust on the floor?”
His answer: “Because the floor is slippery and
unsafe.”
Your question: “Why is it slippery and
unsafe?”
His answer: “Because there’s oil on
it.”
Your question: “Why is there oil on
it?”
His answer: “Because the machine is
dripping [with oil].”
Your question: “Why is it dripping?”
His answer: “Because oil is leaking from
the oil coupling.”
Your question: “Why is it leaking?”
His answer: “Because the rubber lining
inside the coupling is worn out.”
Although it is called 5 Whys, you can ask as
many “whys’ as possible or as necessary to get to the real issue
at hand and depending on the complexity of a perceived problem.
5 Whys is necessary because there are people out
there who could readily jump to a conclusion that throwing sawdust
will solve everything. It is a very simple technique that
children for many years have used to understand and learn about the
world.
That’s why each one of us should go back to
relive our kindergarten days.
This technique kept popping into my brain while
I was on the phone with a certain Attorney Esacon (read backward: no
case) who was explaining to me in detailed legal terms how come this
country has more lawyers than engineers, etc.
“Do you have any question?” he kept
asking me after each and every statement that he made.
“I’m taking down notes and will ask
them later.” I replied while scribbling “How many lawyers do we
have in Congress? How could lawyers pursue good governance in
business and politics? How do we measure economic progress in
terms of lawyer-engineer-doctor-scientist statistics?”
“OK, I’m done.” Attorney Esacon said.
But I never found the courage to ask these
questions except to promise that I will send them by e-mail.
And so I hung up. I felt how come this country needs another
“communal action” as called by the Catholic bishops. To my mind,
I believe that is like saying that Hiroshima needs another atomic
bomb.
Maybe we need “communal action” alright.
I’ve not seen a key witness like Jun Lozada so much passion and at
the same time discomfort since the time of other whistle blowers who
were eventually silenced and probably enjoying their harvest.
So I wonder while Mr. Lozada is making sound
track noises from The Exorcist to thrash this government.
Finally I was able even without having adequate legal training to
figure out myself what was wrong. We’ve to define the root
cause of the problem.
Rey Elbo is a business consultant
specializing in human resource and total quality management as a
fused specialty. Reader’s feedback to kairoshq@info.com.ph
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