The phrase “elephant in the living room” refers to a major problem that everybody knows is there, but nobody wants to acknowledge. Acknowledging and defining the problem is, of course, the first part of any closed-loop corrective action process. “Problem notification” and “problem identification” are the first two steps in the Automotive Industry Action Group’s Effective Problem Solving for Practitioners process. General Motors seems to have forgotten this.

It is, meanwhile, difficult to figure out how anybody can perform a failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) when he or she is discouraged from using words like “critical,” “serious,” “safety,” and “safety-related.” These were four of the 69 words that General Motors’ employees were told to avoid. Others, such as “rolling sarcophagi” and “malicious,” are admittedly not necessary for scientific risk assessments.

 …