NO TIME TO WASTE · ISSUE 29
Why Most Improvement Projects Fail Before They Start
Research suggests that around 70% of business improvement projects fail globally. Not because the solutions were wrong — but because the problem was never properly framed.
We see this pattern constantly. A team is given a project. They jump straight to solutions. Weeks later, the initiative has stalled — not for lack of effort, but because nobody stopped to ask: what exactly is the problem?
THE BIG IDEA
The Problem Statement Is the Foundation
At LeanTeams, we separated our Business Simulation from the Lean Practitioner programme for one reason: to assess readiness.
Before anyone starts the full programme, they submit a one-page project outline.
We assess it against five criteria. Our aim is to get every participant to a perfect score before they begin the main programme.
Why? Because we’ve learned that getting the problem statement right at the very start has a major influence on the level of success of the entire improvement project.
Get it wrong, and even the best tools won’t save you. Get it right, and the rest of the process has a clear direction.
The five criteria we assess are simple but rigorous:
- Current State & Problem Definition — Is the current process described clearly and factually? Is there one specific, well-defined problem? No ambiguity, no blending of multiple issues.
- Scope — Is the exact process named? Is the team or area identified? Is the timeframe clearly stated?
- Use of Data — Are there clear frequency and impact measures? A defined denominator? A time basis — per week, per month, per project?
- Impact & Organisational Alignment — Is the impact clearly explained and linked to organisational objectives — cost, quality, delivery, safety, customer?
- Lean Thinking Discipline — Is this a pure problem statement? No solutions. No causes. No blame. Just the problem, in one to two sentences.
“If I had an hour to solve a problem, I’d spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about solutions”
— Albert Einstein · AttributedMost project outlines we receive on first submission score 4 or 5 out of 10.
- They describe a solution rather than a problem.
- They use vague language.
- They blend several issues into one.
- The data is missing or unclear.
This is not a criticism — it’s the norm.
We are naturally wired to jump to solutions. The discipline of holding back and defining the problem clearly is one of the hardest — and most valuable — skills a team can develop.
IN PRACTICE
I’m reminded of a volunteer youth club committee I was part of years ago.
One evening, a member hijacked our meeting with a burning issue: children were walking home in the dark after Friday night club.
Solutions flew around the room — hire a bus, organise car-pooling, buy hi-vis vests, change the club time.
After 30 minutes, someone asked: how many children actually walked home in the dark last Friday? After a few phone calls, the answer came back. None. Two brothers had been collected five minutes late. One volunteer had been frustrated at being delayed.
We had spent half our meeting solving a problem we hadn’t understood. In business, the cost of this is far higher than half an hour.
We see the same pattern with Lean Practitioner candidates. One participant recently proposed ‘installing a lift’ as their project. When we asked them to define the problem rather than the solution, it turned out the real issue was that there was no process for scheduling material deliveries to the mezzanine floor. The team were waiting — but nobody had measured how often, or why.
Once the problem was properly framed, the solution didn’t require a lift at all.
TRY THIS WEEK
Three Steps to a Stronger Problem Statement
“If you can’t describe what you are doing as a process, you don’t know what you are doing”
— W. Edwards Deming
(1900–1993)
The problem statement is not paperwork.
It is the foundation of every successful improvement.
The teams that invest time here — who resist the rush to solution — are the ones who deliver results that stick.
Getting to 10 out of 10 before you start is not a hurdle.
It’s the single biggest predictor of success.
UPCOMING PROGRAMMES & EVENTS
New to Lean? Learn the principles and basic tools on our one day training experience. See how a process can be transformed with the application of Lean Thinking.
Apply Lean thinking in 12 weeks. Start with our Lean Business Simulation on February 10th in Dublin.
A full day of high-quality content, bookended by exclusive Lean Practice Days at Toyota UK’s Burnaston and Deeside plants. Learn and apply the Lean Transformation Framework (LTF) Diagnostic.
At LeanTeams, we help teams frame problems properly before they invest in solutions — through our Business Simulation and Lean Practitioner programmes.