Root Cause Analysis Tip: Going Beyond Root Cause Analysis to Fix Company-Wide Problems
All TapRooT® Users have experienced the effectiveness of using the Root Cause Tree® and Dictionary to find the specific root causes of a particular incident. They fix these causes and eliminate (or at least reduce) the chance of identical repeat incidents.
Here is the question …
Can we do more?
The answer is … YES!
In the TapRooT® System, the next step after determining the specific root causes is to identify the Generic root causes.
What is a Generic root cause?
Generic Cause
The systemic cause that allows a root cause to exist.
Fixing the Generic Cause eliminates whole classes of specific root causes.
These are the causes that are present across the organization. Think of it as looking at the big picture.
If you have a problem with a procedure, what in the procedure writing system is allowing the problem to exist?
If you have a training issue, what in the way you develop and provide training or test people for proficiency is causing problems?
Get the idea?
Sometimes using the Corrective Action Helper® Guide can help you identify Generic Causes.
To do this we use this three step process:
For each root cause identified using the Root Cause Tree® Diagram:
- Review the “Ideas for Generic Problems” section of the Corrective Action Helper® Guide for the root causes you have identified.
- Ask: “Does the same problem exist in more places?”
- Ask: “What in the system is causing this Generic Cause to exist?”
Once you identify the systemic cause (or causes), you fix them!
You then need to do a system wide evaluation to correct all the problems that exist from the old system by implementing the changes recommended for the new system.
Once you complete these corrective actions, you have fixed the immediate issues and made sure that you won’t create new issues in the future.
That’s going beyond simple root cause analysis.
