Organizational problem: what it is and what it means

An organizational problem is an issue that keeps recurring because the way the work is designed makes it likely, whoever does the work. It is not recognized by its severity but by its repetition: if the same issue comes back with different people in the same place, the cause lies not in the people but in how the work is organized. At its origin there is always a step that lacks a piece of information, a criterion or an owner. It differs from an isolated incident because it has a frequency and not a date, and from a skills problem because it does not go away when you change who does the job. In companies it usually gets three wrong names (character, a bad patch, bad luck) that close the discussion without opening any intervention.

Distinctive: comes back with different people in the same place
Distinctive: not recognized by its severity but by its repetition
Distinctive: has a frequency and not a date
Essential: issue that keeps recurring
Essential: the way the work is designed
Essential: a step that lacks a piece of information, a criterion or an owner
Constant: whoever does the work

Glossary

Organizational problem

An issue that keeps recurring because the way the work is designed makes it likely, whoever does the work: you recognize it by its repetition, not by its severity.