Agent skill
a3-problem-solver
A3 problem-solving and status reporting skill with structured thinking and coaching support
Install this agent skill to your Project
npx add-skill https://github.com/a5c-ai/babysitter/tree/main/library/specializations/domains/business/operations/skills/a3-problem-solver
Metadata
Additional technical details for this skill
- domain
- business
- category
- continuous-improvement
- specialization
- operations
SKILL.md
A3 Problem Solver
Overview
The A3 Problem Solver skill provides comprehensive capabilities for structured problem-solving using the A3 methodology. It supports problem statement crafting, root cause investigation, countermeasure development, and PDCA-based follow-up tracking.
Capabilities
- A3 template facilitation
- Problem statement crafting
- Current condition analysis
- Target condition definition
- Gap analysis
- Root cause investigation
- Countermeasure development
- Follow-up tracking
Used By Processes
- CI-002: A3 Problem Solving
- LEAN-003: Kaizen Event Facilitation
- SIX-005: Root Cause Analysis
Tools and Libraries
- A3 templates
- Coaching frameworks
- Collaboration tools
- Progress tracking systems
Usage
skill: a3-problem-solver
inputs:
problem_type: "problem_solving" # problem_solving | proposal | status_report
problem_owner: "John Smith"
coach: "Jane Doe"
problem_description: "Customer lead time increased from 5 days to 8 days"
current_condition:
metric: "lead_time"
current_value: 8
unit: "days"
target_condition:
target_value: 4
unit: "days"
timeline: "90 days"
outputs:
- a3_document
- problem_statement
- root_cause_analysis
- countermeasure_plan
- implementation_schedule
- follow_up_checklist
A3 Document Sections
Left Side (Understanding)
| Section | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Background | Why is this important now? |
| Current Condition | What is happening today? |
| Target Condition | What should be happening? |
| Gap Analysis | What is the difference? |
| Root Cause Analysis | Why does the gap exist? |
Right Side (Action)
| Section | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Countermeasures | What will we do? |
| Implementation Plan | How and when? |
| Follow-up | How will we verify? |
| Results | What did we achieve? |
Problem Statement Criteria
A good problem statement:
- Specific - Clear and measurable
- Observable - Based on data/facts
- Non-judgmental - No blame
- Gap-focused - Current vs. target
- Bounded - Defined scope
Example
Poor: "Quality is bad" Good: "Defect rate on Line 3 increased from 2% to 5% in Q4 2025"
A3 Thinking Process
PDCA Cycle
- Plan - Understand problem, identify root cause, develop countermeasures
- Do - Implement countermeasures
- Check - Verify results
- Act - Standardize or adjust
Coaching Questions
| Section | Coaching Questions |
|---|---|
| Problem | Is it measurable? Based on data? |
| Current | Do you understand the process? |
| Target | Is it realistic? Stretch enough? |
| Root Cause | Did you verify with data? |
| Countermeasures | Do they address root causes? |
| Implementation | Who, what, when? |
Integration Points
- Project tracking systems
- Knowledge management
- Coaching platforms
- Performance dashboards
Recommended Agent Skills
Expand your agent's capabilities with these related and highly-rated skills.
gsd-tools
Central utility skill for GSD operations. Provides config parsing, slug generation, timestamps, path operations, and orchestrates calls to other specialized skills. Acts as the unified entry point that the original gsd-tools.cjs provided via its lib/ modules (commands, config, core, init).
model-profile-resolution
Resolve model profile (quality/balanced/budget) at orchestration start and map agents to specific models. Enables cost/quality tradeoffs by selecting appropriate AI models for each agent role.
verification-suite
Plan structure validation, phase completeness checks, reference integrity verification, and artifact existence confirmation. Provides the structured verification layer ensuring GSD artifacts are well-formed and complete.
state-management
STATE.md reading, writing, and field-level updates. Provides cross-session state persistence via .planning/STATE.md with structured fields for current task, completed phases, blockers, decisions, and quick tasks.
git-integration
Git commit patterns, formats, and conventions for GSD methodology. Provides atomic commits per task, structured commit messages, planning file commits, branch management, and milestone tag operations.
frontmatter-parsing
YAML frontmatter parsing and manipulation for .planning/ documents. Provides read, write, update, query, and validation operations on frontmatter blocks in GSD markdown artifacts.
Didn't find tool you were looking for?