Are recurring issues preventing your team from consistently delivering value to your customers?
Are you struggling with measurable gaps in safety, quality, timeliness, or cost that are affecting your performance?
Are your meetings driven by the loudest voice rather than by facts, data, and first-hand observations?
We’ve transformed the unmatched A3 problem-solving process from Managing to Learn—the award-winning, best-selling workbook by management expert and former CEO John Shook—into a course that teaches you how to apply the powerful A3 methodology. Based on the proven scientific method of Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA), this course will help you address critical business problems within your organization.
What makes the A3 problem-solving approach so powerful is that it is a complete process — a way of thinking, leading, communicating, learning, getting things done, and developing an entire organization of problem solvers.
Our skilled facilitator will guide you step by step through creating your own A3. Attending each live session is crucial, as it provides instant feedback to enhance your abilities in real time. By consistently participating in every class and applying the lessons at work between sessions, you’ll steadily refine your problem-solving skills using this proven approach.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this course, you’ll be able to:
- Select, define, and investigate real problems from your work environment, leading to practical and impactful solutions.
- Align with others: Ensure you have a shared understanding of the problem and therefore a shared motivation to address it.
- Uncover Root Causes: Investigate and confirm underlying causes of problems, and analyze barriers to improvement, ensuring that solutions address the root of issues.
- Drive Organizational Learning: Lead the planning and implementation of countermeasures, and follow up to resolve execution issues, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and organizational learning.
Group Discounts
- Register three or more students from your organization and save 12.5% off every registration. This discount will be automatically applied at checkout when you register with your group.
- LEI Co-Learning Partners: Receive 25% off the current price. No group discount can be applied.
Cancellation Policy
To cancel, please call LEI at (617) 871-2900 or email registrar@lean.org.
- 2+ weeks before start date: full refund
- Less than 2 weeks before the start date: $350 fee
- After the start date: no refund
Schedule Overview – Online
The 7 sessions are hosted over 7 weeks with one to two hours of assignments in between.
January 24th – March 7th, 2024 Course
All sessions hosted 2:30 PM – 4:30 PM ET and instructed by Lavon Medlock
- Friday, January 24
- Friday, January 31
- Friday, February 7
- Friday, February 14
- Friday, February 21
- Friday, February 28
- Friday, March 7
Select a Problem
• Locate a problem in work content
• Grasp the problem’s scope and impact
• Understand the PDCA cycle as part of the A3 story
Clarify the Problem
• Go to see and hear about problem details first-hand
• Visualize and describe the workflow
• Find facts to confirm problem conditions
Define the Problem
• Describe what should be happening/the target condition
• State the problem as a measurable gap to close
• Set a goal and target for the performance improvement
Identify Potential Causes
• Understand cause and effect
• Identify and check direct cause(s)
• Prioritize to the most likely direct cause
Confirm True Causes
• Confirm cause/effect relationships
• Analyze to root cause
• Test logic of the 5-Why chain
Select and Evaluate Options
• Engage with others to identify countermeasures
• Evaluate, rank, and propose countermeasures
Make a Plan
• Agree on actions to take, timing, and responsibilities
• Lead scheduled Plan versus Actual reviews
• Identify and resolve problems during execution where needed
Duration
Seven (2-hour) sessions (one class per week)
Two focused days, 8 am – 4 pm
Location
Through Zoom at a location of your choosing and convenience (home office, work, etc.). This is great if you have a stable day-to-day schedule and want to go and see the work while working on the problem in between sessions.
Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan (30 miles from Detroit). This is great if you are someone who has a busy work calendar, with a high potential of being distracted and prefer stepping away from the office for trainings
Interactions/
Networking Opportunities
Interact and engage virtually with instructor and other attendees in class and during breakout sessions
Interact, engage, and network with the instructor and other attendees during class and working session, breaks, lunch, and before/after class. Opportunistically engage with instructor 1:1 with your specific A3 questions.
Benefits of Online vs.
In-Person
Sessions spread over several weeks, allowing time to go and see the work, and apply, reflect, and build out your A3
Pre-work to build out your problem definition using A3 thinking, so that during the condensed two-day in-person class, you can work on building out your A3
Materials
Order Managing to Learn book ahead of class (cost included in registration fee), and use the book to guide you in building out your A3
A link and code will be provided in your confirmation email after registration to order the book ahead as it is encouraged to read prior to class. However, a physical copy of Managing to Learn can be provided during class for your own reference if needed.
Lavon Medlock has spent over two decades enhancing leaders’ skills in problem-solving and coaching. Skilled in a variety of continuous improvement methods, she has trained leaders in creating effective daily management systems, deployed an integrated facility design approach to new construction projects like a 90,000-square-foot patient tower, and enhanced operations across different sectors. With a […]
Read more about Lavon Medlock
Eric Ethington
Senior Coach and Chief Engineer
Product and Process Development
Lean Enterprise Institute
President, Lean Shift Consulting
Eric has distilled his passion for and knowledge of lean thinking and practice in product and process development, nurtured over 30 years of work experience, into The Power of Process: A Story of Innovative Lean Process Development (2022). Before founding Lean Shift Consulting and becoming a coach and program manager at LEI in 2016, he […]
Read more about Eric Ethington
Karen Gaudet
Senior Coach, Lean Enterprise Institute
Karen has over 30 years of experience leading, training, and developing the capability of team members and executives in rapid-growth environments. Most recently, she’s coached clients in various industries as they adopt lean thinking and practices. They include Microsoft (data center construction), Legal Seafood (hospitality); TriMark (distribution); Abiomed (medical research and device manufacturing), and the […]
Read more about Karen Gaudet
Mark Reich
Senior Coach and Chief Engineer, Strategy
Lean Enterprise Institute
During his extensive career, Mark has led lean transformations and coached executives in various companies and business sectors. Clients include GE Appliances and Ingersoll Rand (manufacturers); Michigan Medicine and Mt. Sinai (healthcare systems); Turner Construction; Kroger (retail); Legal Seafood (hospitality); and Microsoft (software). As LEI’s chief engineer, strategy, Mark leads the development of new learning […]
Read more about Mark Reich
David Verble
Lean Coach, Lean Enterprise Institute
Partner, Lean Transformations Group
A performance improvement consultant and leadership coach since 2000, David has been an LEI faculty member for 17 years. Recognized as one of the first Toyota-trained managers to bring A3 thinking from Japan to the United States, he has conducted A3 problem-solving and leadership programs for 30 years. Overall, his work focuses on supporting clients […]
Read more about David Verble