Is or is-not narrows down the causes and the problem

- Imagine you and your team have been working on a problem for a while and have identified a very long list of potential root causes. You could go down each one of the causes on the list which will probably take a long time. Or you can use a better methodology. One that can help you narrow down to one or just a few most likely sources that are causing the problem. This is what the is and is not is meant to do. By asking who, what, where and when, and adding is and is not, you can isolate the causes to focus on. Take for example, a supplier of medicated skin lotions. They have been receiving return products from the customers complaining that the boxes arrived damaged. And in some cases, lotion has leaked out of the containers. Here's the thing. The company has over 200 types of lotion and 400 customers. So it made sense for them to narrow down the problem. Using the layout of an is and is not form like this one, these are…