O N T H E T R A I L
T O A S O L U T I O N . . .
A seven-part series to improve your organization’s problem-solving efforts
Part 2: What’s In? What’s Out? Defining Your Problem
James J. Rooney and Deborah Hopen
In the fall issue we launched this series, which is
designed to address issues with the systematic applica-
tion of structured problem solving — particularly the
fact that employees often find the process to be
arduous. A six-step problem solving process was
introduced, as shown in the sidebar. We presented
the fundamentals of the process, including the use
of teams, and we compared that problem solving to
treasure hunting, a process that is generally considered
invigorating and rewarding.
In this installment, we’ll introduce some theories
related to human happiness and how those theories
might affect the structured problem-solving process.
We’ll also focus on the first step of the process, “define
the problem,” and we’ll suggest ways to improve
problem-solving efforts through treasure-hunting
techniques and other nonconventional wisdom.
About Happiness
Obviously, it would be better for the organization
and employees if the problem-solving process were an
enjoyable experience. It’s unfortunate therefore, that so
many team members report their experiences as tedious
and a waste of time. In order to identify ways of making
the process more stimulating, it may be worthwhile to
investigate psychological research related to human
emotions and happiness.
• Effect of time of day on mood. Research has discovered
that most people experience positive emotions
earlier in the day and that negative events during the
day lead to negative moods later. Usually, people
have their best frames of mind between the second
and seventh hours after they rise. Other research
indicates that afternoon gloom is almost always
lifted by the next morning. “If anything, people tend
to rebound from bad days to a better-than-usual
good mood the following day.”
• “Feel-good, do-good phenomenon.” Psychological
research has consistently found that people are
more willing to help others when they feel happy.
• Money and happiness. Contrary to common sense,
money doesn’t buy happiness. Numerous studies
in affluent countries all over the world indicate
that the percentage of people who are very happy
34 THE JOURNAL FOR QUALITY & PARTICIPATION Winter 2004
has remained very stable in the past 50 years despite
the fact that personal income has more than tripled.
In fact, other studies indicate that people who strive
to acquire wealth tend to be less satisfied.
• Relationships and happiness. On the other hand, college
students and alumni who prefer having very close
friends and a close marriage were almost twice as
satisfied with their lives as those who valued a high
income and occupational success.
• Adaptation-level principle. Prior experience has a
powerful influence on our feelings of happiness.
Our current perceptions and moods are affected by
recent events. When we experience positive events,
such as increases in finances or social prestige, we
feel an initial mood elevation, but over time that
higher level becomes our new neutral level because
we’ve adapted.
• Relative-deprivation principle. Additionally, our percep-
tions are affected by how we compare ourselves to
others. If we focus on those who are better off, we
will tend to feel envy; if we focus on those who are
worse off, we will probably feel contented.
• Factors affecting happiness. Researchers have found
that happy people usually have high self-esteem;
are optimistic, outgoing, and agreeable; have close
relationships; have work and leisure activities that
engage their skills; have deep faith; and sleep well
and exercise. Much to the surprise of some people;
however, age, gender, education level, parenthood,
and physical attractiveness have little influence on
happiness.
Happiness and Problem Solving
So how does this research relate to problem solving?
Here are just a few ideas that come immediately to
mind. We encourage you to develop your own creative
ideas on how to leverage these findings.
• Schedule problem-solving team meetings in the morning.
Tap into people’s natural tendency to feel happier
earlier in the day.
• Build teams that are composed of members who have positive
working relationships. All too often team members are
selected solely on their roles in the organization and
their availability. Clearly, knowledge of the problem

Six-Step Problem-Solving Process
1. Define the problem.
• Select a high-priority problem or opportunity.
• State the problem in terms of a gap between the
current state and the desired future (expected) state.
• Show why the problem is important, using facts
and data.
2. Gather data about the current state.
• List the three most likely potential causes.
• List the three primary factors affecting the results
from each of those causes.
• Develop a sampling plan to use for data collection.
• Prepare check sheets for recording the data.
• Gather data and create a database of information
about the problem.
3. Determine the root cause.
• Propose a root cause.
• Verify the root cause by experimentation.
4. Select the best solution.
• Develop a list of potential solutions.
• Evaluate each one for feasibility and difficulty of
change.
• Test the most promising solution.
• Revise the solution based on the test results.
5. Develop an action plan and implement the solution.
• Develop a list of all the specific activities associated
with putting the solution in place.
• Establish measurements to ensure implementation
activities are completed as intended.
• Assign a person to each of the tasks.
• Monitor progress and take appropriate corrective
action.
• Document activities and results.
• Compare the implementation results to the original
and desired states.
• Analyze reasons for success/partial success and take
appropriate corrective action.
6. Establish reliable methods for maintaining the gain.
• Establish reliable methods to ensure compliance/
conformance.
• Document any side effects or findings that should
be addressed by other personnel/teams.
area is important and so is having enough
time to participate fully. It may be better
in the long run, however, to select a team
member if that person works better with
the others serving on the team.
• Start team meetings off by having members share
their recent learnings and successes — both from
their work and personal lives. By feeling that
their individual accomplishments are
recognized and appreciated, team members
will begin their work in a more cheerful
mood, which encourages helpfulness and
collaboration. Remember that happiness
increases helpfulness.
• Establish team practices that address members’
prior experiences. If team members aren’t
enthusiastic about their past problem-
solving work, they need to adopt norms that
will make the new experience more positive.
Even some minor changes can create a more
favorable experience in this case. If, however,
their past efforts were enjoyable, their neutral
level may be higher, making it harder for
them to take pleasure in the new project. In
that situation, it’s best for team members
to establish “stretch norms,” ones that will
encourage them to engage their deepest
skills so that they can have a greater sense
of accomplishment and joy.
• Focus problem-solving efforts on issues that affect
other people. Problems of this nature will tend
to make team members feel better off and
more upbeat. Later in this article we’ll
describe some ways to take problems and
convert them to people-oriented issues.
• Encourage team members to establish close
interpersonal relationships. In some regards,
traditional team-building exercises are
designed to do this; however, most of them
are superficial at best and all of them
presume that all members of the team
must unify. Although it is necessary for all
team members to work collaboratively and
support each other, it is highly unlikely that
close relationships will develop among all of
the pairs. Instead, it may be best to sponsor
less structured opportunities for team
members to mix and get to know each other.
Then assign tasks to pairs who volunteer to
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 work together because they are both interested in
the activity and want to have an opportunity to
work together.
Defining the Problem
As shown in the sidebar, there are three principal
tasks involved with this first step in the structured
problem-solving process. Overall, these tasks ensure
that the team’s efforts are focused on a high-priority
issue that is described so clearly that it will be easy to
document success. Understanding why the problem is
important to solve is a critical component of this step
because it builds commitment among team members
and other stakeholders to the process and the
solutions.
A Kepner-Tregow problem-solving guidebook
comments, “In the great number of instances our
first awareness that action is needed is when we see
a deviation between what we expected to happen
(should) and what is in fact happening (actual).”
Three types of issues are identified, as follows:
• Deviations. Current performance does not meet
expectations.
• Future threat. The current situation needs attention
because it may cause trouble in the future.
• Opportunity for improvement. It is possible and
desirable to improve current performance.
Regardless of the type of issue, it is necessary to
select one or more pertinent measures and define their
current levels of performance, as well as their desired
future levels. This task is the key focus of the “define-
the-problem step.”
Of course, most problems can be measured in
many ways. Organizations often emphasize financial,
productivity, and waste measures that are quite tangi-
ble. With the spread of the quality and performance
excellence movement, customer and employee
satisfaction measures are now quite common, too.
These latter measures are more stimulating to many
team members—especially if case studies and/or direct
feedback are shared during the goal-setting process.
In order to tap into management’s need to tie
problem-solving efforts to strategic business issues and
to leverage the “feel-good, do-good phenomena,” we
recommend measuring every problem in both ways.
While the team considers its goals for each measure,
we encourage team members to read complaints and
talk to customers so that the problem becomes more
people-oriented. Similarly, team members should
36 THE JOURNAL FOR QUALITY & PARTICIPATION Winter 2004
understand how the problem negatively does or could
affect employees. This step may be qualitative in nature,
but it can do much for engaging team members in the
problem-solving process.
Once a problem is selected and goals are set, team
members should discuss their interest in working on
the project. In the book, Winnie-the-Pooh on Problem
Solving, Pooh comments, “What…is…a…problem…for
one…maynotbeaproblemforanother.” The stranger who
is training Pooh and his friends on problem solving
replies, “That is exactly right, and everyone should
remember that is a very important nature of problems.
Deciding whether something is or is not a problem is
a personal decision. While many things are considered
to be a problem by almost all of us, it remains that the
determination that something is a problem, or how
serious it is, can vary from individual to individual….”
Before the team begins the detailed work of
gathering data about the problem and its causes, team
members need to evaluate their willingness to fully
engage in that work. A team member’s decision to
resign from the team should not be viewed with
disfavor; indeed it should be applauded for its honesty.
It is far better to find a new team member than to
drag along someone who is disinterested.
Treasure Hunting and Problem Solving
The following treasure-hunting tips that were
mentioned in the previous installment of this series are
particularly relevant to the define-the-problem step:
• Believe in treasure. Indeed team success is fundamen-
tally dependent on its members’ belief that a
worthwhile solution can be identified…and that
the solution will be implemented. Most teams have
sufficient confidence to buy into the first premise,
but one of the most commonly cited issues with
problem-solving efforts is that the proposed
solutions never get implemented. A variety of reasons
cause this situation, including managers’ tendencies
to pick apart the proposals and stakeholders’
resistance to changing when they weren’t involved
directly in designing the new system.
As risky as it may seem, savvy managers
understand that the best way to encourage problem-
solving efforts and continuous improvement is to
establish clear constraints, such as budgets and
requirements for customer and employee acceptance,
at the beginning of the process—not after a solution
is proposed. If appropriate boundaries are set when
the team is formed, managers can grant the team
 authority to implement the solution without
additional approvals. This approach is the surest
way to communicate that managers have faith in the
team members’ abilities and to provide a treasure,
an implemented solution, for team members to
discover.
• Set a goal. “To succeed as a treasure hunter, you must
first define the level of success you wish to attain,”
states the How to Succeed at Treasure Hunting guide.
This first step in the problem-solving process
requires that teams determine the best way to
measure success and to set tangible goals. This can
be a scary process for team members who may
have concerns that a solution which doesn’t exceed
the goal will be viewed as a failure, rather than a
partial success. Successful leaders understand this
difference and are able to establish an environment
that acknowledges efforts and recognizes and
rewards significant progress. There is a way to
reduce team members’ anxiety related to goal
setting, however.
Instead of setting one goal for each measure of
the problem, establish three- to five-step goal levels
that encourage teams to solve the problem cyclically,
building solutions that address one root cause at a
time. For instance, suppose the measure associated
with the problem is on a negative trend, the goal
levels might range from “stop decline” (lowest level)
to “change direction,” “noticeable improvement,”
“significant improvement,” and finally “desired long-
term achievement” (highest level). For problems that
involve opportunities to raise performance, which is
currently acceptable, but that serve as differentiating
factors in the marketplace, the goal levels might be
called “change lanes,” “pass competition,” “leave
competition in the dust.” This latter example shows
that you can use creative names for the levels to
make the goal setting more fun; in fact, there’s no
reason why each team couldn’t establish its own
names for each level.
• Develop a treasure attitude. The report authors
mention two traits in particular: belief in yourself
and that you will succeed and an awareness of the
treasure possibilities around you. When setting
goals, team members can demonstrate belief in their
capabilities by setting the highest level targets
beyond management’s expectations or at multiples
of the current level, such as 200% improvement. As
long as there are reasonable intermediate milestones,
these stretch milestones should energize team
members, realizing that they’ll achieve them one
step at a time.
Additionally, give opportunities for team
members to select their own problems — as long as
they can show the importance of those problems
to business performance. Some treasurer hunters
prefer to search for jewels, some for lost artifacts,
and others for gold and silver. Every organization is
surrounded by problems and opportunities. Except
for extremely strategic initiatives, there is much to
gain by solving any problem.
In the Next Issue
So far we’ve presented a six-step process for problem
solving and an overview of the issues associated with
team problem-solving efforts. We’ve reviewed research
on happiness and how to make problem solving a
more enjoyable experience for team members. We’ve
also studied the first step in the process, “define the
problem,” more deeply. In the next issue, we’ll look at
ways to “gather data about the current situation.”
References
Myers, David G., Psychology. (New York, NY: Worth Publishers,
2004), pp. 522-528.
Kepner-Tregoe, Problem Solving and Analysis. (Princeton, NJ:
Princeton Research Press, 1979), pp. 5 and 12.
Allen, Roger E. and Stephen D. Allen, Winnie-the-Pooh on Problem
Solving. (New York, NY: Dutton, 1995), pp. 24-25.
Thuels Bookstore, How to Succeed at Treasure Hunting.
www.infolink.morris.mn.us/~rbanders/freereport1.html
James J. Rooney is a senior risk and reliability engineer
with ABS Consulting’s risk consulting division in
Knoxville, TN. He earned a master’s degree in nuclear
engineering from the University of Tennessee. Rooney is
a Fellow of ASQ and an ASQ certified quality auditor,
quality auditor-HACCP, quality engineer, quality
improvement associate, quality manager, and reliability engineer.
Deborah Hopen is editor of The Journal for Quality
and Participation and News for a Change. She
is past president of the American Society for Quality.
After more than 20 years as a practitioner in quality and
human resources management, she began consulting to
the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors. She can
be reached at dhopen200@yahoo.com.
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