The “Four Types of Problem – from reactive troubleshooting to creative innovation” is a book by lean expert, Art Smalley. It is one of those seminal lean works that belong in the category of “books I wish had been around years ago.”
Mr. Smalley comes to this subject as an expert born out of the famous Toyota Kamigo engine plant, which itself was the testing ground of the legendary Toyota Production System (TPS), under the eyes of the great Taiichi Ohno.
In short, Art Smalley knows his stuff. In this book, he shares his know-how with the humility and the clarity that can only come from a deep, almost molecular understanding of his subject. The result is a book that may well become required reading on many lean learning programmes of the future.
Mr. Smalley’s contribution recognizes that humanity has always been solving problems, but that at least some of our successes have been by more luck than judgement.
By describing problems across the spectrum of business endeavour, from the small quick fix to the game-changing innovation, Mr. Smalley succeeds in finally making the term “problem” synonymous with the word we always wanted to use: opportunity.
Mr. Smalley offers routines to guide you in extracting the highest value from each level of opportunity and includes methods to help unfetter the thinking to capture those opportunities, of which we are not yet aware.
The author, helpfully, provides a framework which you can use to hold a mirror up to your business and people. How well do you really solve problems?
Many of us, including myself, cannot claim proficiency in all four of the levels described by Mr. Smalley, but thanks to this engaging author, I am at least in a place to brush up on my skills.
The “Four Types of Problem” is written in a clear style that is informative and easy to read. The book is academically referenced and contains a bibliography that will add significantly to your reading list, so beware! But such is Mr. Smalley’s obvious passion and knowledge for the subject of lean and problem solving that he has been able to produce such an important and accessible work.
This book is a must-read for lean students, from beginners to experts alike. There is something here for everyone, and all will take away something to refresh their perspective.
This work is highly recommended, is a modern-day business class, and merits an easy five stars.
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