It takes a lot of hard work to make something easy. Then when you're done, people look at it and ask, "Oh, it's so simple; what was the big deal?"
- Ralph Johnson
What follows is an internal memorandum written by Edouard Michelin in 1912 and known in the company as "The Five-Step Method."
Memorandum from Edouard Michelin Regarding "The Five-Step Method"
A majority of the difficulties that arise in the company between men and between departments - not to mention a majority of the mistakes that are made - stem from the following causes, which the "five-step method" makes it possible to avoid almost every time:
(a) When a question has not been formulated with sufficient clarity. It is extremely rare for a question to be formulated properly right at the outset. You have to make clear where you are starting from. It can be said that a question that is properly formulated is a question that is halfway to being resolved.
(b) When your investigation has not been thorough. That is to say, when your reasoning has been done on the basis of incomplete facts. An investigation and analysis of the facts are of prime importance. Carnegie says that every time that he has lost money, it is because his investigation had been incomplete. If you look at the cathedral from Rue des Gras (one of the small streets close to the Michelin plant in Clermont-Ferrand), you see two spires on it. When you are inside, you cannot see them anymore, but you see the nave instead. When you see a squad of soldiers coming out of a small street, you do not know if there is a regiment or a brigade following on its heels. So, do not initiate your reasoning process by taking the fact that you have only seen the squad as the basis of your reasoning.
(c) When you have not considered all the possible solutions. In fact, it is often the solution rejected out-of-hand that would have worked.
(d) When you have adopted a solution without looking at all its disadvantages and dangers or its repercussions on other departments. Therefore, what needs to be adopted is the system that l have used for a long time, which I call "the system based on the table of advantages and disadvantages" (see below).
(e) When you have not considered the financial consequences. It is our goal to produce the best tires at the best possible price.
The Method Based on the Table of Advantages Versus Disadvantages
Take a piece of paper and divide it into two columns. To the left write down a complete, numbered list of advantages. To the right, write down a complete, numbered list of all the disadvantages. Make sure that you keep it all on one sheet. Once the list is made, you indicate with checkmarks the numbered points that you find the most worthwhile, and you lightly cross out the points of argument that have been judged, upon closer examination, to be insignificant, making sure to keep them legible. This is an excellent tool that can help people get used to judge what constitutes a serious point of argument; that is to say, a point that needs to have a bearing on any decision that is made.
- François Michelin, And Why Not?
