Assessment Directions

Apply Competency 3 Knowledge/Skill: Root Cause Analysis and Strategic Systems Thinking

Now that you have completed a Gemba walk where you have gathered information about the organization and identified opportunities to eliminate inefficiencies, reduce waste, improve a product, or streamline a process, it is time to take a closer look at these potential improvements and get to the root cause of why the issues are occurring. After reviewing these potential opportunities for improvements, you will analyze how you can apply systems thinking at the strategic level for your organization.

Create either a Five Whys or a Fishbone diagram for each of the opportunities (two short-term and one long-term) that you identified during your Gemba walk. Work through each step of the Five Whys or Fishbone processes to find the root cause(s) of each problem and the potential opportunity for its solution within your organization.

Review the SWOT Analysis you completed in Competency 2 along with the diagram you completed above. Focus on the bigger picture that addresses your organization's overall strategy in terms of the strengths and opportunities you identword strategy proposal that identifies 3 key organization strengths and the role they play in identifying and building upon 3 key opportunities that fit your organization's overall strategy.

Identify the following in your strategy proposal:

Elements of "chaos," identified through your Five Whys or Fishbone diagram, that can be turned into "butterfly effects" or potential large-scale strategic opportunities for your organization

Potential opportunities for projects that apply creativity in the solution of identified "chaotic" issues or problems within your organization

Potential leverge points that will help your organization build on a strength(s) to take advantage of strategic opportunities

Describe how chaos theory applies to your strategic opportunities.

Prepare a final systems thinking diagram that focuses on strategic project opportunities for your organization.

Cite 3 reputable references to support your diagram and paper (e.g., trade or industry publications, government or agency websites, scholarly works, or other sources of similar quality).