Monday, November 08, 2010

Do we really know what the answer is?

I was driving around doing errands over the weekend, when suddenly in front of me was a car with a bumper sticker that resonanted with the current economic environment and workplace environment we live in. The bumper sticker was in this case black and white but the statement was short and to the point.

It stated " Don't Believe What You Think."

Reading the bumper sticker made me take a moment and consider question as to how often do we in human resources (or the business environment for that matter) find ourselves facing a problem and because we think we know the answer, we jump to a solution. Do we provide a correct solution in these cases?

The six sigma methodology teaches us to ask the "5 Whys" when confronted with a problem. The premise is that the first answer we receive when we question what we think is usually not the real answer we are looking for. To get to the root cause of the problem takes questioning it five times. So if this is true, when we belive what we think is the solution to a problem are we solving the problem correctly?

If you like we would be open to examples on both sides of the question.

 

Posted via email from hrstrategist@Net-Speed

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