The 5 Whys and Affinity of the DMV - Essay Example

The five whys will help identify a core problem at the DMV. The first question one might ask is “Why are the lines so long” - lines being the symptom. The answer to this would probably be “too many people and not enough staff.” The second logical question would be “why are there not enough staff to quickly and efficiently address all the patrons?”, to which a DMV apologist might answer “because there are not enough resources allocated to staffing the DMV.” Finally, a fourth “why” question will get at the cause of the issue.

“Why are not enough resources allocated to the DMV to allow it to operate properly?” to which the answer may be “because there is no incentive to improve customer service.” Finally, the question to get at the root cause would probably be “why is there no incentive to improve customer service?” with the answer being, “because the DMV has a monopoly on its services.” One solution might then be to contract it to outside companies, using wait times as an evaluation tool, or else giving bonuses to DMVs that handle the most patrons the fastest to incentivize short wait times and create artificial competition.

Affinity could help build a roadmap toward fixing these problems by collecting customer feedback and channeling it appropriately and concisely.