itSMF 2017 September Bulletin Bulletin - September 2017 | Page 8

“We are all responsible for
problem management”
- Um, not yet we aren’t!
By Michael Hall & Brad Schimmel
Remember the 1980’s film Flying High? It had a budget of $3.5 million and
took $150 million at the box office. But that’s not important right now.
Our hero in the film is Striker, a passenger on a doomed
flight where both pilot and co-pilot become unable to
take control of the aircraft because of food poisoning.
Says the air traffic controller “we need someone who can
fly this plane who didn’t have fish for dinner”.
Here is some commentary from Michael’s book* that
you might find useful when thinking about this
concept:
 'Often technical and application staff are not
trained in problem analysis. There cannot be a
high degree of confidence that they will find
the real cause and not just a symptom (or
worse, something convenient and easy to
blame). Also, there is good evidence that
similarly-skilled and like-minded teams are not
as effective at solving problems as
cross-functional teams.
 From talking to some of the organisations that
take what I call this 'passive' approach, it is
clear to me that engaging problem managers
fully in problem analysis ('active' problem
management) results in much better
outcomes, with lower problem recurrence
rates than those taking the
'passive' (management and tracking)
approach.
 One way of thinking about this issue is in
terms of timing ... The end state of a problem
management implementation is where
Luckily, Striker knows how to fly a plane. He flew planes
in the war. While he didn’t have fish for dinner, he does
need to get over a few things before he gets back in the
cockpit and lands us safely.
As a fellow passenger, I’d be happy for Striker taking
control because at least he knows how to fly a plane.
Unlike myself. The risk of a crash landing putting
hundreds of souls in jeopardy is far higher with me than
an ex-fighter ace. Problem management is no different.
Are we putting the one Service Management practice
that improves long term performance in the hands of an
untrained problem manager? Then wondering why we
don’t see the expected improvement in service?
Experience shows that problem management is one of
those functions that is learnt by doing. People have to
experience good problem management, led by a trained
problem manager, before they can start to own and run
their own problems.
8 itSMF Bulletin—September 2017