Problem Solving: The Kobetsu Kaizen Approach
Master the design, preparation, and facilitation of Kobetsu Kaizen problem-solving workshops — from investigation principles to countermeasure selection.
Course Content
Coach Problem Solving So Teams Find Evidence, Not Better Opinions
This Kobetsu Kaizen Samurai course shows you how to guide teams through Ishikawa analysis, verified root causes, 5 Whys coaching, countermeasure selection, A3 closure, and follow-up that actually sticks.
Start access to all Samurai Level Courses
Prerequisite: Ninja-level problem-solving understanding or equivalent knowledge of Pareto, Ishikawa, 5 Whys, A3, countermeasures, and standardization.
The Problem
Problem-solving teams do not usually fail because nobody has heard of Ishikawa or 5 Whys.
They fail because nobody coaches the thinking.
So the workshop starts well enough. The problem is on the wall. The team has markers. Someone draws a fishbone. People suggest causes. A few are useful. A few are opinions. One person starts blaming the operator. Someone else jumps straight to “change the supplier.” The loudest person dominates. The quiet person who knows the process says nothing.
And now the workshop is drifting.
Not dramatically. Professionally. Which is worse, because everyone can pretend it is still working.
A real Kobetsu Kaizen facilitator does not just run the agenda. He coaches the team to separate facts from assumptions, describe causes with measurable parameters, verify hypotheses at the Genba, drill the 5 Whys without stopping early, and choose countermeasures that actually eliminate the root cause.
That is what this Samurai course gives you.
The facilitation system for coaching problem-solving teams from vague causes to verified action.
Inside This Kobetsu Kaizen Samurai Course, You’ll Get:
- The workshop preparation checklist that forces the problem statement, data package, team composition, Genba access, and sponsor alignment to be ready before people enter the room.
- The 7 investigation principles that keep the team focused on the real phenomenon, real evidence, measurable parameters, and one problem at a time.
- The Ishikawa facilitation method for getting broad input without letting dominant voices, vague causes, blame, or premature solutions hijack the session.
- The 5 Whys coaching discipline that stops teams from accepting “lack of training,” “operator error,” or “maintenance issue” as lazy root causes.
- The EFSUD decision matrix that helps the team choose countermeasures based on effectiveness, feasibility, speed, sustainability, and side effects — not politics, convenience, or whoever talks loudest.
Why You Need This Now
A weak problem-solving workshop creates two problems.
First, it fails to solve the original issue.
Then it damages your credibility.
Because when the team leaves with a fishbone, an A3, and a list of actions, people assume the problem has been handled. If it comes back three weeks later, nobody says, “Maybe the sticky notes were arranged beautifully.”
They look at the facilitator.
The team will naturally drift toward opinions, assumptions, blame, and fast fixes. Not because they are bad people. Because real investigation is uncomfortable. Evidence takes effort. Genba verification slows down the easy story. Parameter thinking exposes sloppy causes. The 5 Whys becomes annoying right before it becomes useful.
Your job is to hold the line.
Kobetsu Kaizen Samurai gives you the structure for that job: how to prepare the workshop, guide the Ishikawa, verify causes, coach the 5 Whys, select countermeasures, complete the A3, and run follow-up checkpoints until the improvement is either verified or corrected.
Not “facilitation tips.”
Not a pile of templates.
A workshop control system for coaching problem solving so teams find evidence, not better opinions.
Built by the Kaizen Coach Team
Kobetsu Kaizen Samurai was built by the Kaizen Coach Team — Lean coaches with more than 20 years spent inside production environments, where problem-solving workshops either produce verified causes, countermeasures, and follow-up… or become another meeting people quietly resent.
We built this course for the person who has to coach the team.
The facilitator. The CI lead. The internal consultant. The project manager. The person standing between a chronic problem and a room full of opinions, assumptions, politics, and people who want to jump straight to solutions.
Kobetsu Kaizen Samurai does not treat facilitation as “keeping people engaged.”
Engagement is nice. So are biscuits.
The real job is harder: prepare the workshop, protect the method, guide the Ishikawa, force parameter-level thinking, verify causes at the Genba, coach the 5 Whys, select countermeasures with discipline, and run follow-up until the improvement is proven or corrected.
Because a good problem-solving facilitator does not make the room comfortable.
He makes the thinking honest.
Real-World Experience Behind The Training
The Samurai course is built around the parts that decide whether a Kobetsu Kaizen workshop actually works: Preparation, Delivery, Follow-Up, the 7 investigation principles, parameter-based investigation, Ishikawa facilitation, verified root causes, 5 Whys coaching, EFSUD countermeasure selection, A3 closure, and weekly checkpoints.
That matters because workshops do not usually fail loudly.
They fail when assumptions are accepted as facts.
They fail when “operator error” becomes the lazy answer.
They fail when the team votes on causes instead of verifying them.
They fail when the 5 Whys stops at “lack of training.”
They fail when the countermeasure is fast, cheap, and useless.
They fail when nobody follows up after the room empties.
The approach behind this training also comes from work with teams inside companies such as:
- Sanofi
- Rio Tinto
- Henkel
- Electrolux
- Ferrero
- De’Longhi
Those are not environments where “we had a good workshop” means anything if the problem comes back.
Kobetsu Kaizen Samurai gives you the practical facilitation system for coaching problem-solving teams toward evidence, verified root causes, selected countermeasures, owners, deadlines, and standards that hold.
That is the difference between “we filled the wall with ideas” and “the team found the cause, changed the work, and proved the problem stayed solved.”
Start The Kobetsu Kaizen Samurai Course Today
Get access to Kobetsu Kaizen Samurai and learn how to design, prepare, and facilitate problem-solving workshops that produce evidence, not opinions.
You’ll get the facilitation system for preparing the workshop, enforcing the 7 investigation principles, guiding Ishikawa analysis, coaching 5 Whys, verifying causes at the Genba, selecting countermeasures with the EFSUD decision matrix, closing the A3, and running follow-up checkpoints until the improvement is proven.
Because a problem-solving workshop that ends with a full wall and no verified cause has not succeeded.
It has only used stationery.
The next time you are asked to lead a root-cause team, you can either rely on templates and hope the room behaves…
Or you can walk in with a facilitation system that keeps the team focused on facts, parameters, evidence, countermeasures, and follow-through.
Click below. Start Samurai. Coach the team through problem solving like someone who knows where the workshop must land before the first marker hits the wall.
Access is $50 per year.
Start access to all Samurai Level Courses
Prerequisite: Ninja-level problem-solving understanding or equivalent knowledge of Pareto, Ishikawa, 5 Whys, A3, countermeasures, and standardization.
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