Speedy Problem Resolution

We analyzed 1000+ incidents. Here's what separated 15 min fixes from 2 hr outages: Most teams focus on getting better tooling or more data access. But here's what actually determines resolution speed: → Knowing which questions to ask first → Understanding what patterns indicate problems → Having context about past failure modes → Seeing how similar issues were solved before Think about your best engineer during an incident. They're following an investigation pattern built from years of experience: → "Last time this happened, it was a connection pool issue" → "When I see this error pattern, I usually check..." → "This metric spike typically means..." This is the "senior engineer algorithm" - and it's usually invisible to everyone else. Making these investigation patterns visible and reusable in the throws of an incident is huge: → Knowledge transfer happens naturally → New engineers learn actual debugging patterns → Teams discover common failure modes → Investigation steps become reusable These days tools and data aren't the bottleneck. It's scaling your team's incident investigation knowledge.

Time-to-resolution is one of the most important metrics you aren’t tracking. For years, data and AI teams have operated under the belief that more testing would deliver more trust. But data trust isn’t predicated on the number of tests you write or even the number of issues you detect– It’s predicated on the number of issues you resolve. There are essentially four steps to a useful incident management process: - Define your critical data products and create monitors - Define accountability model - Define your communication plan: the right message, to the right team, at the right time ( ie, incident owner, dependent teams, consumers; effective escalation and delegation, etc) - Accelerate your process with useful automation Data and AI trust will always be downstream of your incident management process. And how quickly you can resolve an issue after detection is one of the single greatest signals that your process is performing efficiently. Monte Carlo’s new Troubleshooting Agent is a strong example of a tool that can help teams accelerate their time-to-resolution at scale. It tests hundreds of different hypotheses across your tables to understand why each break happens (whether it was an issue in the data, the system, the code, or the model output itself), and what you can do to resolve it quickly. This process leverages dozens of subagents investigating in parallel, and while it only takes a couple of minutes to complete, it can reduce the average time to resolution by 80% or more. How do you reduce time-to-resolution? What are you learning? Let me know in the comments!

Forget long reports. A3 solves problems in one powerful page.   Solving problems isn't hard. But most teams do it the wrong way. Here’s how to fix it using Toyota’s A3 method:   A3 is not a tool. It’s a mindset in one page.   → It finds the real problem → It maps the current pain → It sets a clear goal → It digs into root causes → It builds real solutions → It creates an action plan → It tracks what worked   But here’s where people mess up: → They skip steps → They don’t ask “why” → They pick fast fixes, not right ones → They forget the team   If you want to solve smart, do this:   1/ State your problem → Pick a clear issue → Show how it hurts   2/ Assess the situation → Use real data → Make it visual   3/ Set a goal → Make it clear → Make it count   4/ Ask why (x5) → Go deep, not fast → Fishbone works best   5/ List the fixes → Pick the few that matter → Don’t fix symptoms   6/ Plan the how → Set who + when → Track what moves   7/ Follow-up → Compare wins → Share the lessons   A3 is not just a doc. It’s how top teams think.   Use it once. You’ll never solve the old way again.   *** ♻️ Share to help others become better problem solvers. ➕ Follow Sergio D’Amico for more insights on continuous improvement.

𝗗𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺𝘀 3𝘅 𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿, 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗼𝘄? In my work with leaders, I discovered 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀 that were secretly sabotaging their team's performance: 1. 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺𝘀: Teams were experiencing cascading issues that went undetected for months, creating massive hidden inefficiencies. 2. 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘃𝘀. 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: Leaders were constantly firefighting instead of systematically preventing problems. 3. 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗠𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: Execution was disconnected from strategic objectives, causing significant performance gaps. These challenges taught me a 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗻: Daily management isn't just a process—it's the heartbeat of organisational excellence. By implementing a structured daily management system, leaders can transform reactive cultures into proactive, high-performance machines. My 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 came when I introduced a simple, yet powerful daily management framework. We created visual management, implemented 15-minute daily huddles, and established problem-solving to act when we saw issues. The 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀? Dramatic improvements in response times, team alignment, and strategic execution. For senior executives, this isn't just about efficiency—it's about 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗹𝘆 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀. 🔑 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆: Start with a 15-minute daily team huddle focused on identifying and solving problems in real-time. Watch how this simple practice can revolutionise your organisation's performance.

"Don't come to me with problems, come with solutions." For the first 10 years of my career, I heard this on repeat. And guess what? It worked... sort of. I got really good at solving problems fast. And I took pride in walking into the office with a “fix” ready to go. But here's what I didn't know: Quick fixes are like painkillers for a broken arm. They mask the pain. But the bone is still broken. Then, at Stanford, I learned something that changed everything: The most expensive solutions are the ones that fix the wrong problem. Here's my 3-step framework to never make this mistake again: 1/ Map the Iceberg ∙ List what's visible (the symptoms) ∙ Ask "Why?" 5 times ∙ Document patterns  ∙ Example: A team missing deadlines wasn't about time management. It was about competing priorities no one dared to question. 2/ Find the Leverage Points ∙ Identify what moves the needle ∙ Look for recurring patterns ∙ Target the root, not the symptom  ∙ Reality: 80% of our "crises" traced back to the same 3 root causes we were too busy to address. 3/ Design Before Deciding ∙ Create a problem statement ∙ Test your assumptions ∙ Share it with stakeholders  ∙ Game Changer: When we spent 55 minutes understanding and 5 minutes solving, our solutions stuck. The breakthrough? Quick fixes are expensive band-aids. Deep understanding is the real investment.