) Share a major operational problem that is a day-to-day tactical pain point in your everyday life and/or works. Describe the problem as a statement in one or two lines only. (2 points).

Note on Problem Statement: In order for your business process to be effective and efficient, you have to define your problem. Every successful product or service reveals a few problem areas to the customer. If your product or service truly has no problem areas or pain points, then its highly unlikely to be successful. How do you discover the problem area from a day-to-day process perspective? If they aren't clear to you already, try asking yourself some questions about your product or service and, in turn, the underlying day-to-day- process from the customers perspective. You may think through also from a perspective of external customer feedback received from outside the organization like vendors, partners, clients, prospects, market insight, etc) or from a lens of an internal process or internal customer feedback (inside the organization) internal departments.

2) What do you think is the day-to-day process name linked to the above problem today? (1 point) Name (.50 points) and explain the process. (.50 points)

3) What are the key reasons causing the problem? Provide at least 2-3 reasons in a few words (1 point)

4) Do you think some or all of the causes driving the problem are part of the process you described above and it may warrant further investigation to potentially improve the process? Provide an explanation of why or why not (2 points)

5) Have you ever experienced a situation or project in which the problem was not correctly identified? What was the result? Did the people involved discover the real issues? If so, how did they react or respond to the discovery? If not, what was the outcome of the issue? (2 points)