Why the Same Problems Keep Coming Back in Your Business

When someone asks me what I do for a living, I generally start with, "I help businesses with people and processes." Which has a good ring to it, but in reality, I work with businesses to SOLVE PROBLEMS related to people and processes. I don't like to bring up the bad p-word (problems) first. Once I say what I do, leaders tend to talk about problems on their own. A small percentage of leaders will spend 3 minutes telling me the reasons why they have 0 problems, then run away.

I'll let you in on a secret I've learned in my travels... All businesses have problems (insert surprised emoji). Second secret... I have them too!

What's important is how the problems are handled. Luckily, we have plenty of extra time to stop and solve them all. Right? (crickets) Right?!?

We don't always have the time to work through all our problems. So, we slap a band-aid on it and move along. The problem will come back in a few days, but it is "solved" for now. We'll get to it later. Next thing you know, 2 years down the road, the same problem still shows up. At this point, the problem is part of our workflow, and we get very efficient at changing the band-aid.

"It's Only 15 Minutes Every Few Days"

If you are running 5 days a week, that's about 21.5 hours per year on band-aid duty. Maybe that doesn't seem bad. But you need to ask:

• How many people must stop working while we change the band-aid? Multiply that by 21.5 hr/yr.

• Does this band-aid impact my customers? Quality, defects, and lead times could be impacted. The loss of a large customer can change everything.

• How are my employees affected? Any safety concerns? At the very least, we aren't fostering a culture of problem solving.

Maybe we do the math, and the impact isn't a big deal. If it's only 1 problem, it might not be noticeable. But we never have just 1 problem to deal with. If our standard is that recurring problems "are what they are," they can add up and bury us.

How can we dig our way out?

Use Tools to Find the Root Cause

Problems and weeds have a lot in common.

• If you try to remove the weed with your weed eater, you will see it again next week.

• It will take more work if you want it gone. You need to bend down, grab the weed near the bottom, and pull the entire root system out.

• If the weed is huge, you may need a tool (shovel).

• If there are 300 weeds, you might need some help.

Enough about weeds. How do they relate to problems? Let's see if I can make this analogy happen.

"If you don't get to the root cause of the problem, you will see it again next week."

I think I covered that pretty well when I talked about band-aids in the first part.

"Do you want the problem gone? You need to sit down, grab a pen, and use 5 Why."

5 Why is a tool for root cause analysis. 5 Why is a great tool when the problem is specific and not complex. You state your problem, then ask why until you hit the root cause. It sounds easy, but it is tough to master. It can take more or less than 5 whys and even go down multiple paths.

Missing follow-up emails to customers would be great for 5 Why. Here is an example of how that may look:

Problem:
I miss follow-up emails to Customer X.

Why?
I forget.

Why?
No reminders.

Solution:
Set reminders.

Now, this is where many people would stop. But if you miss follow-ups to Customer X, I bet they aren't the only ones. I would like to keep going further. Let's go back to:

Why?
No reminders.

Why?
No system in place to ensure follow-ups take place.

Why?
Ummmmmm.....

I always say when you start feeling smoke come out of your ears, or the whys stop making sense, you probably made it to the root cause.

Solution:
Set up a simple system to ensure follow-up.

At that point, you decide what the system needs. Start small with reminders, and maybe we realize that having a follow-up deadline will keep everyone accountable. Now we have a simple system that should improve our outcomes.

Most recurring problems don't need a bigger band-aid. They need someone willing to slow down long enough to find the root cause.

Of course, finding the root cause is only half the battle. If every problem in your business still lands on the same person's desk, you're going to stay pretty busy.

In my next article, we'll look at fishbone diagrams, bigger problems that need more than a simple 5 Why exercise, and how to build a culture where more people are equipped to solve problems before they turn into fires.

About the Author

Randy Kowalczyk is the owner of Real Workforce Evolution, where he works with organizations to improve how work gets done and how leaders lead.

Real Workforce Evolution provides practical coaching, training, and facilitation in continuous improvement, leadership development, and structured problem solving. The focus is on helping teams build systems and behaviors that last, not quick fixes that fade.

Randy partners with organizations across West Virginia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, working alongside leaders and teams to turn ideas into action and make improvement a habit.