Ep. 3 We’ll Take the Problem Home
The End
Ep. 3 “We’ll Take the Problem Home”
Read the English script
Ep. 3 “We’ll Take the Problem Home” — English script
Page 1
Okayama means peaches and kibi dango!
This is an inspection visit. Look closely and bring the lessons home to Nashigasaka.
October. Outside Okayama Station.
Welcome to Momosta!
Every month we hold a meetup where people bring local and public-sector problems.
Can lunch — the peach parfait — go on expenses?
Of course it can't!
Problems, huh... Forget that. Peaches. Peaches.
Page 2
Usually we solve problems for companies.
But we have guests from Tokyo today, so: government!
This is how we work through a problem.
Give us one everyday problem with city services.
How about our guest from Nashigasaka?
M-me? Uh...
Moving house, right...
You apply online, and you STILL have to go to the counter?
...Could you tell us more about that?
Page 3
Moving out: done on your phone. Moving in: an hour at the counter!
Moving in needs an ID check and the card paperwork...
You can file a move-out notice on Mynaportal!!
Note: Real system: since 2023, Japan lets you file a move-out notice online with your My Number card. The move-in side still needs a visit.
But the move-in notice still happens at the counter!!
Come to think of it, some cities let you book a counter slot.
When you file the move-out, you can tell your new city when you'll come in.
Put those together and the wait could get shorter!
Oh, that's good!
Huh? Am I... on fire right now?
Page 4
And once you're at the counter, you write the same address on sheet after sheet.
A “no-forms counter” gets rid of that!
Note: “Kakanai madoguchi” (no-forms counters): staff fill in the paperwork from your ID and records, so you only sign. Many Japanese cities are adopting them.
But ours doesn't have one yet...
Tetsu is... being useful!?
Genda raised a sensible problem...
Please come back next month!
Less work for City Hall means less work for me...
Leave it to MEEE!
Page 5
About last month's problem — I brought an improvement plan!
November. The second problem potluck.
E-even an improvement plan...?
Nobody asked for one!
A workflow diagram makes every step visible!
Five Whys pins down the root cause!
Note: Five Whys: keep asking “why?” until you reach the root cause. Tetsu takes it a little too literally.
In one month, Tetsu had learned process improvement.
Page 6
Here's the move-in process as a chart. Every circle is where you write the same address again.
...That's exactly our counter!
We could actually fix this!
Let's go for it!
Then let's do a quick online meeting. Just once a week.
And fill in a checklist too. Just a little one.
...“Just a little”?
Page 7
Why do they write it at the counter? Why? Why? Why?
That's the thirtieth “why”...
The next week.
I added just a few items to the checklist.
It was one sheet. Now it's twenty pages...
The week after.
Sorry, let's run a little over.
The fifteen-minute check-in is now two hours...
And the week after that.
Tonight — a quick meeting at ten?
Under-18s can't work from 10 p.m.
Note: Same law as in the gym chapter: under-18s can't work between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.
That same week, at night.
Forty “just a quick check” messages today alone...
Final check in person! Print it out and bring it!
It's online, and we STILL end up at the counter...
The end of November.
Page 8
Today's theme is... “the problem bothering you most right now”...
Don't wanna hear “just a little” ever again...
December. The third problem potluck.
Twenty sets of minutes this month alone...
I skip the night meetings, so I'm fine.
Genda filed a hundred and twenty proposals this month alone...
Alright! Let's crank out some problems today!
Page 9
What's the problem that's troubled everyone most these two months?
Then... shall we all point on three?
Yeah! Don't hold back!
Page 10
One, two, THREE!
YOU!
...Behind me?
In front, Tetsu.
Genda. Over here.
M-MEEEE!?
Page 11
I'm trying to REDUCE the work!
So I can take my naps!
And the work you added to do that?
Root cause identified. We'll take it home and fix it.
One, two, THREE!
I'm... not a bug, I'm a FEATURE!
Note: “It's not a bug, it's a feature” — the classic excuse from software development.
This is a work of fiction. Nashigasaka City is invented, and nothing here reflects the real operation of any person, organization or public office. It is not an official publication of any government body.
The pages could not be loaded. Please try again in a little while.