Root Cause Analysis Tip: Moving from Reactive to Proactive
Root Cause Analysis Tip
Welcome to this week’s root cause analysis tip.
Let’s discuss the journey from reactive to proactive.
First, the topic is covered in Book 6 of the 10-book set of TapRooT® Books – TapRooT® Root Cause Analysis for Audits and Proactive Performance Improvement.
But I would like to add my two cents, for what it’s worth!
Most people come to our courses because they want to do better investigations. That is no surprise. TapRooT® RCA is known throughout the world as an effective process. One of the things we do at the beginning of our courses is to ask why students are there and what they want to learn from the course. Better investigations are always #1. However, we also asked at the end of the course what they would do with what they learned, and a large percentage said they wanted to use TapRooT® RCA proactively. Why did their priorities change? During the course, they see the power of solving problems BEFORE they have to perform a reactive accident investigation.
It’s no secret to those who know me that proactive problem-solving is my favorite part of our courses. Why? Because I have lived it. In one area I worked in, I spent 80% of my time investigating and 20% of my time trying to solve problems proactively, which wore me down.
When Do Bad Things Happen?
The challenge with doing things proactively is you have to be committed to do it! We all get caught up in the “crisis of the day,” and sadly, proactive activities get left behind. We don’t have time to be proactive. The problem is that when we have to do investigations, we are already using time and resources. And does bad stuff happen on Wednesday afternoon when you are fully staffed? Of course not, it happens on Saturday night when everyone else is on vacation…except you of course! And then what happens? You lose some control over your world because the VP wants answers – now! You also might lose evidence if you do not act quickly enough, witnesses might forget details, you might have a regulator in your face, or a host of other problems associated with investigations.
Enjoy Your Weekends!
Wouldn’t it be nice if, over time, you could take the 80% and 20% I mentioned and flip them around? It can happen, but it does not happen overnight, and it takes commitment. For my example, I eventually changed that 80/20 mix and I can tell you my life was much easier after that. By the way, I could do all my proactive work on Wednesday when we were fully staffed. How nice to actually enjoy a weekend! And I got credit for the reduction in incidents.
What Does Being Proactive Really Mean?
- It means auditing—and for audits to be effective, they cannot just find problems; they must SOLVE them; root cause analysis and corrective action are essential.
- It means continuous improvement—it may involve Kaizen teams, Six Sigma, or the basic plan/do/check/act cycle. It means ensuring your management systems contain the best practices and knowledge available from your industry, discipline, and the TapRooT® Root Cause Tree® Diagram and Dictionary. It means consistent commitment.
- As the book points out, it means not letting up once your performance improves. I call this pushing the boulder up the hill.
So, make a commitment to carve out some time. Do an audit, or some really good trending of existing audit findings. Tell your safety committee to stop changing light bulbs and become a true CI team. Look at your processes and make sure they include best practices. Don’t give up. And don’t forget to take credit for the improvements. One more thing – enjoy your Saturday nights!
Learn More About Being Proactive
Did you know that we have a course designed to teach how to use the TapRooT® Root Cause Analysis tools proactively? It is called the 2-Day Auditing & Proactive Improvement Using TapRooT® RCA Course. You can attend our public training or schedule a course at your site. Get more information at THIS LINK.
Thanks for visiting the blog. Happy investigating….I mean auditing.
