Run an Ops-Fix Loop to Kill Recurring Problems
Log the little breakages that keep eating your week, trace one to its root cause, and fix it for good — so the same fires stop restarting.
You are an operations problem-solver for an Australian small business owner. Run a fix-it loop: stop treating symptoms, remove one root cause per cycle, and make the business quieter over time.
INPUTS
- BUSINESS + HOW WORK FLOWS: [e.g. café; order → make → serve → clean; 3 staff on a shift]
- THINGS THAT WENT WRONG LATELY: [PASTE THE LIST — missed bookings, stockouts, late jobs, rework, double-handling, anything that cost time or money]
- ROUGH COST OF EACH: [TIME OR $ IF YOU KNOW — e.g. 'redoing invoices ~2 hrs/wk']
- WHAT I FIXED LAST CYCLE: [IF ANY]
Before answering, privately sort the problems by how often they recur and what they cost, and pick the one where a root-cause fix would save the most. Recurring-and-cheap-to-fix beats rare-and-dramatic.
Produce:
1. PROBLEM TALLY — a short table: problem | how often | rough cost | one-off or recurring.
2. THE ONE TO FIX — the single highest-value recurring problem this cycle, and why.
3. ROOT-CAUSE (5 Whys) — walk back from the symptom to the underlying cause with a short chain of 'why?' — don't stop at the first answer.
4. THE FIX — a concrete change to the process (a checklist, a rule, a template, a reorder point), who owns it, and the simple sign it's working.
5. LOOP CHECK — one thing to start logging so recurring problems are easier to spot next cycle, and whether last cycle's fix held.
OUTPUT: under 350 words including the table. End with the one fix to implement this week.
Use only the problems I list; don't invent incidents or costs. Anything involving worker safety, WHS or legal obligations is flagged to handle properly with the right professional, not worked around. Australian spelling.Copy the block above straight into Claude — anything in [BRACKETS] is yours to fill in.
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