A3 Problem Solving
A3 Problem Solving is a practice pioneered at Toyota in which the whole story of a problem, from background and current condition through cause analysis to countermeasures, plan and follow-up, is fitted onto a single A3 sheet of paper. The sheet is drafted in pencil, discussed with a coach and the people affected, and revised until there is agreement. It became widely known outside Toyota through John Shook's book Managing to Learn, published by the Lean Enterprise Institute.
Facilitation script
- 1
Introduce the one-page format and its sections. Agree on the problem owner and write the background: why this problem, why now.
10 min - 2
Current condition: collect the facts and data the group has, sketch the process or situation, and mark what is still unknown and needs checking at the place of work.
20 min - 3
Goal: agree a measurable target and a date.
10 min - 4
Analysis: use 5 Whys or a fishbone diagram to trace the gap to causes the team can act on, and note which causes are verified and which are assumptions.
25 min - 5
Countermeasures: generate options against the main causes, compare them briefly and choose what to try first.
20 min - 6
Plan and follow-up: fill in who does what by when, and how and when the result will be checked.
15 min - 7
Read the whole sheet aloud as one story, list the open points, and agree who reviews the draft with which stakeholders before the next version.
10 min
Tips
Work in pencil and expect to redraw the sheet several times; a first version that is never changed usually means nobody questioned it.
Hold the group in the current condition and analysis sections longer than feels comfortable, because most teams arrive with a solution already in mind.
If you are the coach, ask what the owner saw and how they know, and keep your own answer to yourself.
A two-hour workshop produces a first draft, not a finished A3.
Common pitfalls
Treating the A3 as a form to complete, so the boxes are full but nobody has been to see the problem and the analysis rests on opinion
Starting from a favoured solution and filling in the left half to match it, which produces a tidy sheet and the same recurring problem
Writing it alone at a desk and presenting it as finished; without the rounds of review, the people who must carry out the plan do not agree with it
Stopping after the plan and never returning to the follow-up section, so the organisation does not learn whether the countermeasure worked
A coach who supplies the answers, which solves this case faster and leaves the owner no more capable for the next one
Variations
Section names and their number differ between sources; some templates use six boxes, others seven or eight, and the logic of plan, do, check, act stays the same. Solo with coach: one owner drafts and meets a mentor in short review sessions over days or weeks. Team workshop: three to eight people draft the left half together, then split to develop countermeasures. Remote: use an A3-shaped frame on a shared board and keep the one-page limit. The same format is also used for proposals and status reports.
Where it fits
When to use it
A problem keeps coming back after quick fixes and nobody can state its cause with evidence
Several departments are involved and each describes the problem differently, so a single shared page is needed before anyone acts
A manager wants to develop a team member's problem-solving skill by coaching them through a real case
An improvement event needs a format that links analysis, countermeasures and follow-up in one place
A decision has to be explained to people who were not in the room and will only read one page
When not to use it
The cause is known and the fix is obvious; just do it and check the result, without the paperwork
No data or direct observation of the current state is available; go and see first, for example with a Gemba Walk, or the left half of the sheet will be opinion
The issue is a complex, contested situation with no stable cause-and-effect chain; a systems tool such as a Causal Loop Diagram or Rich Pictures fits better
You need many new ideas quickly; run an ideation session and use an A3 later to test and plan the chosen idea
Leadership has already decided on the solution; filling in an A3 afterwards to justify it teaches people that the method is theatre
Related methods
Further reading
Frequently asked questions
What is A3 Problem Solving?▾
A3 Problem Solving is a structured way of working through a problem on one A3 sheet of paper. The sheet covers the background, the current condition, the goal, the cause analysis, the chosen countermeasures, the action plan and the follow-up. It originated at Toyota and is as much a coaching and alignment process as a document.
Why is it called A3?▾
The name refers to the international paper size A3, which measures 297 by 420 millimetres and is close to the 11 by 17 inch tabloid sheet used in the United States. The size is large enough for a full line of reasoning with a few graphics and small enough to force the author to be selective.
What sections does an A3 have?▾
A common layout has seven: background, current condition, goal, analysis, countermeasures, plan and follow-up. The left half usually holds the problem and its analysis, the right half the countermeasures and the plan. Templates differ in the number and names of boxes, and the sequence follows the plan, do, check, act logic in all of them.
How long does it take to complete an A3?▾
A team can produce a first draft in a workshop of one to two hours if data on the current state is at hand. The full cycle of observing, revising, reviewing with stakeholders, implementing and checking results runs over days or weeks. Treat the workshop output as version one.
What is the role of the coach in A3 thinking?▾
The coach, often the owner's manager, reviews the draft and asks questions about the evidence and the reasoning instead of supplying a solution. The aim is twofold: a better answer to this problem and a person who is more capable of solving the next one. This dialogue is the reason the method is described as a management process and not just a report.
Plan your next workshop with AI
Workshop Weaver helps you combine methods like A3 Problem Solving into a complete, timed agenda in minutes.
Try it freeMethod descriptions on Workshop Weaver are original content written by our team, based on established facilitation practices. This method was inspired by work from Toyota; described by John Shook, Managing to Learn (Lean Enterprise Institute).