The role of the Problem Statement and Goal Statement in process improvement and lean

1. The Problem Statement and
The Goal Statement
Ross Maynard FCMA
www.ideas2action.co.uk

2. • Both the Problem Statement and the Goal Statement are
useful marker posts in an improvement project
• The Problem Statement succinctly summarises the
problem in a way that everyone understands. It provides
the foundation for the improvement project
• The Goal Statement defines a clear vision for the
outcome of the project, with measures
Milestones towards Improvement

3. The Problem Statement
• The Problem Statement comes after you have
mapped the process and identified the problems,
constraints, delays and risk points in the process
• You need to study the process in some detail before
you can compose a useful Problem Statement
• It provides a summary of what is wrong with the
process in a way that those outside the improvement
team can buy into

4. The Problem Statement
• The Problem Statement summarises the issue we are
addressing in three or four sentences:
▫ What is the business problem?
▫ What are the consequences of the problem?
▫ Who is affected, and how?
▫ What are the impacts of the problem on the process or
organisation? (quantify if possible)
• Avoid identifying the cause of the problem, or solutions
at this stage

5. Often the problem statement
looks like this:
“Currently the XYZ Process is [deficient in
this way]. This results in [specific
problems] for customers and [specific
problems] for the organisation”
If you can’t define the problem in two or three
sentences then you don’t understand the process

6. The Goal Statement
The Goal Statement is effectively the opposite of the
Problem Statement and should also comprise a couple
of sentences
The Goal Statement is a short vision statement of what
we would like to achieve by addressing the problem
1. What would we like the process to achieve?
2. What will the impact be on customers and on the
organisation?
3. How will key metrics be impacted by the improvement?
(targets are appropriate here)

7. The Gap
The Goal Statement provides a “vision” of where we
would like the process to be – complete with measures
of good performance
The Problem Statement defines all that is wrong with the
process as it current operates
The gap between the Problem Statement and the Goal
Statement shows what we need to improve. The job of
the improvement team is now to develop plans to fill that
gap
"Don't fight the system; change the rules and the
system will change itself." - Russell Ackoff

8. Ross Maynard FCMA
www.ideas2action.co.uk
Thank you