Fix

Do you know what is a 'Fix'?

When you notice that there is a problem, it means that there is a non confirmance to the performance requirement, leading to loss and waste. 'Fix' is a temporary solution to arrest this non confirmance and to reduce the loss till a permanent solution is found out. Once a 'Fix' is in place, follow up action like finding the root cause, identifying a permanent solution, implementing the solution, following it up and removing the 'Fix' has to be done.

Unfortunately, people and organizations are short sighted. They tend to forget about the problem once the 'Fix' is in place, till it snowballs into a major crisis later.

Let me give you some examples,

Most of the middle class houses in India have wash basins. The tap invariably is of poor quality and starts malfunctioning leading to water dripping. As a 'Fix', the residents close the gate valve under the wash basin which is kept for an emergency. This is fine. But then they are expected to rectify the defect in the main tap or replace it. This is never done,leading to the 'Fix' of controlling the water flow using the gate valve becoming a permanent solution.

At a macro level, let us look at the plight of farmers who are driven to suicide by wrong governmental policies. Government, typical of its ostrich like approach, has applied a 'Fix' by announcing a 60000 crores rupees loan waiver. This is fine. But have we heard a peep from the Government regarding analyzing the root cause of the problems faced by the Agricultural sector and finding long term solutions for it. The answer is a resounding 'No'. It has been found that 72% of the fruits produced in the country goes waste.

Another case is applying a 'Fix' to tackle inflation. Inflation is not something that cropped up one fine day morning. Everyone saw it coming but did nothing till it started shaking the foundation of the Government. Then the 'Fix'ing started. First it was the raising of Interest rates, then banning of exports and then increase in CRR of Banks. These don't constitute permanent solutions. The root cause is more structural in nature. We do not have a long term inflation managment policy. But who cares? The RBI Governor and Finance Ministry says inflation will be down to 6.5% in 3 months as if that is a relief. Contrary to what many think, food is not the cause for inflation. Government slept through when Steel producers and Cement producers formed cartels and started raising the prices. The Government hardly raised a finger when it knew there was a wheat shortage, and that it had to import wheat to make up for the shortfall. It didn't do anything to procure wheat when the prices were low in international markets, but placed orders when the prices had hit the roof. Even allowing that food consumption is on the higher side, Government should have seen it coming as people don't just start eating more overnight. Now they have come up with another ingenious 'Fix' - let people change their food habits. Is there anything more ridiculous than this?

Whenever you apply a 'Fix', please ensure that you go back to the problem, analyze it carefully, identify the root causes, find solutions, implement them diligently - and................don't forget to remove the 'Fix'