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LiveChapter 9·Updated 17 Sept 2026

Sensei – Problem Solving

Sensei is a thinking partner, not a decision-maker — a coach grounded in your map, your takt, your losses. Review every suggestion before acting.

The Problem-Solving Hub

Every root-cause analysis in the Space — anchored to a process step or standalone. Start a new problem, or start from a step on the map.

Figure 9.1 — The Problem-Solving Hub — every analysis in the Space.
Figure 9.1 — The Problem-Solving Hub — every analysis in the Space.

Define the problem first

The intake is 5W+1H, plant style: what is wrong (the object and what deviates — "Changeover on the filling line takes 45 min against a 20 min standard"), actual vs standard, where it shows, when it happens, who found it — a source to ask, never someone to blame. Then the standards gate: does a standard exist? Is it used? Is everyone trained? Not knowing is a finding.

Figure 9.2 — The 5W+1H intake, plant style — and three honest Don’t knows on the standards gate.
Figure 9.2 — The 5W+1H intake, plant style — and three honest Don’t knows on the standards gate.

Choose the route

Sensei recommends — you decide:

  • 5-Why drill — one clear symptom, drill straight down.
  • Fishbone (6M) — spread candidate causes across Method, Man, Machine, Material, Measurement & Management, Mother Nature before drilling anywhere.
  • Write the standard — when the intake finds no standard to deviate from, writing one is the first countermeasure.
  • Straight to a Kaizen card — the cause is already known.
Figure 9.3 — Sensei reads what you defined and recommends the route — you decide.
Figure 9.3 — Sensei reads what you defined and recommends the route — you decide.
Figure 9.4 — A fishbone (6M) with candidate causes spread across the six bones before drilling anywhere.
Figure 9.4 — A fishbone (6M) with candidate causes spread across the six bones before drilling anywhere.

The red thread

The 5-Why ladder keeps every answer: verified causes, parallel causes you capture along the way, branches marked dead-end (and reopenable — a dead-end is a decision, not a deletion). Sensei nudges answers back to the process when they drift toward people, and when a branch stops but the cause above it is actionable, it offers the harvest: treat as root cause → draft an action. Approved drafts become Kaizen cards, linked back to the analysis.

Figure 9.5 — The 5-Why ladder — verified causes, parallel causes, dead-end branches.
Figure 9.5 — The 5-Why ladder — verified causes, parallel causes, dead-end branches.

Every analysis prints as a Problem-Solving Record — intake, standards gate, fishbone, red thread, and the cards it raised, on one A3.

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