I seldom have trouble getting buy-in for most companies on developing the left side of the A3. More precisely the planning side where we define the problem, define the gap with a stated target condition, address the point of concern and seek root cause. Speaking generally, most companies adapt to this thinking and especially if they are trying to use A3s to develop Lean Thinking.
On the right side of an A3, we start with developing a countermeasure. The problem is we really don’t look at as a countermeasure but more as a solution. We may even try a few countermeasures to see which one is most effective, but we all know we have our favorites. It is like playing checkers against yourself, sooner or later you pick a winner. What we need to do is prevent ourselves from finding favorites. The favorites often result from who said it (influencer), the one the user likes or some other reasoning beyond what may be termed the “best” countermeasure.
I think finding the best countermeasures are not quite that simple? Most of our countermeasures could lend themselves to be viewed in the same vein as how we manage dilemmas. Before we start the right side, we typically review what our target condition is after we have defined the root cause. The problem when we more towards countermeasures is that anymore it is just if not more difficult in deciding the direction to take to solve the well-defined problem. Dilemmas tend to be messy so having a solution to formulate messy countermeasures may not be a terrible idea?
Learn Lean Sales and Marketing thru A3s
We have a vision, a target condition that we are aiming toward. But what if we admit to ourselves that we are not sure of the path. We are not quite sure starting out what will work and what will not, the essence of adaptive planning. But that is not where I want to take this blog post, I think I covered my thoughts in 5 Core Sales Concepts of Lean Thinking.
I think what happens with most countermeasures efforts is that we formulate them as a waterfall plan. We do this, and this will happen. Are we on plan, if not get to the plan? For heaven’s sakes, these are not solutions to a problem these ARE CURRENT IDEAS on attempting to solve a problem. Our ability to learn and understand our current ideas is what we should be trying to accomplish.
We must find easy tasks to start with, something we can get done and learn from. Then we start networking our other ideas, other countermeasures to this original thought. We cluster and build rather than walk up a staircase to the target. As we do this, ideas are conglomerated, tried in a different setting, taken apart, refined and variations created.
The ability to get started of course is very important, but the other part of doing is the learning aspect. If we work to a defined plan, I think it will it take longer and just ensure a less effective result.