QUALITY TOOLS: Tools for planning How-How diagram Problem occurs  “How?” Given the cause of a problem, the requirement then is to find a solution which will permanently fix the cause.

How it works? The How-How Diagram works by repeatedly asking the same question of a problem, breaking down the solution into more and more explicit elements. At each stage, there can be multiple answers to the ‘How’ questions, which results in a hierarchical tree-structure.

Advantages It allows a group of people to share the mental model of the situation and hence work more harmoniously on it. It allows re-examination of parts of the analysis, so you can change, remove or add to it at any time. This supports the non-linear way in which we tend to think. It allows you to consciously not to follow some paths, digging only into the most likely areas.

QUALITY TOOLS “BRAINSTORMING” Tool for thinking and creating ideas

BRAINSTORMING Brainstorming is a method for being creative in groups and uses four simple rules: 1.No judgement or criticism. 2.Quantity over quality. 3.Freewheel. 4.Mutate and combine

How to use it … We fix a time. During this time everybody musts contribute with their own ideas. It’s not good for the group to have a leader. All the ideas should be written, for example, in a blackboard. When time has expired it’s usual to have a break. The whole group decides which ideas they are going to reject but respecting the points mentioned before. In the end only ONE idea is going to “be alive” and that idea will be better one.

Finally … There are many variants of brainstorming, including: –ways of approaching the problem. –gathering ideas. –evaluating the ideas afterwards. There are also critics of brainstorming, who consider it an inefficient and old-fashioned approach. However, it has broad acceptance and, when well-managed, can and has yielded many good ideas.