Tool: System Failure Diagnostic

Many organizational problems aren't people problems. They're systems problems. The challenge is that "systems problem" isn't a diagnosis.

So where do you start?

When I'm trying to understand why a process isn't working, I don't start with solutions.

I start with questions.

• Who owns the process?

• Can anyone see where work is sitting?

• Where does work change hands?  

• Is the process documented?

• How do people report problems, and what happens after they do?

  
  

None of those questions tells you the answer. But together, they tell you where to look.

I've put those questions into a one-page System Failure Diagnostic you can use before deciding whether you need more staff, different technology, or a new process.

Sometimes the problem really is capacity. Sometimes it isn't.

The point is to diagnose before you prescribe.