In haar boek The Outstanding organizations stelt Karen Martin dat er 3 vaardigheden van die kenmerkend zijn voor 'buitengewone' organisaties:
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Excellente probleemoplossers
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Continu verbeterend
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Vasthoudend
Over hoe buitengewone organisaties omgaan met het oplossen van problemen, schrijft Martin het volgende:
Problem Solving
It's not much of a strech to say that problem sovling is the purpose of any organization. Organizations, in almost all cases, are formed to solve a problem - a gap between a current and a desired condition - be it an unmet customer need or a social issue. (...) In recent years, it has become populair to avoid the word problem in organizations, recasting it instead as an opportunity for improvement. While proponents of using more positive terms are surely well meaning, I think they've got it entirely wrong. The issue isn't that the word problem is negative, but that many organizations have forgotten that their core purpose is identifying and solving problems. These organizations begin attempting to hide or avoid problems, forcing executives to perform semantic gymnastics (such as substituting opportunity for problem) that waste everyone's time and ultimately erode trust.
Outstanding organizations, in contrast, never fear calling a problem a problem. Even more important, they don't fear aknowledging that a problem exists. In fact, they go out of their way at every turn to find the hidden problem and bring them out into the sunlight so that everyone can see them and can get on with the task of solving the problem in the best way possible.
Outstanding organizations, because they are constantly attuned to finding and solving problems, gain a great deal of expertise in identifying the most important, gain a great deal of expertise in identifying the most important problems and dealing with the root cause. Just to be clear, by problem solving I do not mean reactive firefighting. Simply 'solving' problems in such a way that the same problem reappears in short order - or the 'solution' simply causes a different problem that needs solving - isn't a marker of outstanding organisations.
True problem solving isn't something that just happen. Outstanding organizations teach effective problem solving through a highly detailed methodology that includes careful problem definition, root cause analysis, and evaluation of possible countermeasures. Theyn they take the time to study whether the countermeasures they chose to work and take further action based on what they learned. But it's not the specifics of the methodology that matter. ... [T]he real thing that sets outstanding organizations apart in problem solving is that they have invested heavily in developing their people's skills. In other words, the discipline and engagement of people matters more than any element of a methodology.
Zie ook: Problemen (geen uitdagingen) volgens Karen Martin