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Brainstorm Possible Problem Solutions

Once your team members have gotten back to you with their narrowed-down list of problem causes, the next step is to brainstorm possible solutions. Begin the process by pasting the responses in a new e-mail and send it to each member. For example:

Subject: Root Donut Problem Cause
From: Howard Uno
Date: Oct 15
To: Donut Team

Dear Team:

Thanks for your responses. There was a lot of agreement about the real, root cause of our donut problem. It was: The donuts are smaller than they used to be—50 donuts now is equal to about 35 donuts a year ago. Now that we have consensus on the cause, I want your input about what to do about it. Yes, we could buy more donuts, but I am interested to know if you have any other ideas. Again, the idea here is to brainstorm, so please send me as many ideas as you can think of—even if they seem somewhat off the wall. Please send me your ideas for solving this problem by end of day Wednesday.

Thanks,

Howie