Root Cause Analysis … Unfair Comparisons

Let’s Do a “Root Off”

Several times, I’ve been asked to do a “Root Off” … A competition with other root cause analysis techniques to compare the results. I always refuse. In the next section, I’ll explain why these competitions don’t work (i.e., are unfair). Then, I’ll explain what you need to do to compare root cause analysis techniques.

What’s Wrong with a “Root Off”?

Back in the 1990s, I was first asked to do a “root off.” At first, I thought this might be a good idea. But then I asked:

“How are we going to do this?”

 
That’s where things get tricky.

They said they would give every competitor the same information to identify the root causes.

At first, this sounded OK. But then I started thinking about real investigations.

In a real investigation, nobody gives you the information (or the answers). In fact, the most difficult job in a real investigation is collecting evidence. That is where many techniques go astray. The techniques don’t help the investigators ask the right questions.

Plus, for major investigations, collecting evidence can take days (or even weeks). So a “root off” where you are given the facts isn’t a real test. It’s a trick. You aren’t testing one of the most important parts of the system – how to collect relevant information – and then organizing that information into a sequence of events with Causal Factors.

The next step is finding the root causes of the Causal Factors. But many systems don’t have Causal Factors. They might have only a single “Why Tree” that starts with the incident’s negative consequence. Therefore, they don’t find multiple causal chains. See THIS ARTICLE for an example.

If you read the comments in the example article above, you will see that several people say the comparison is “unfair.” Why? Because we didn’t give the same information to each participant. But that’s the point. The different techniques will yield different results BECAUSE they cause the investigator to dig for different (or additional) facts.

OK, so if we gave the same root causes to each system (the answers), would that yield the same results? NO! Why? Because teams with the same root causes won’t develop the same corrective actions. In the TapRooT® System, we use SMARTER, the Corrective Action Helper® Guide, and the hierarchy of controls to develop superior corrective actions.

One more missing element of a “root off.” The root off doesn’t test the software. TapRooT® RCA has award-winning, patented TapRooT® RCA Software that makes the TapRooT® System easier to use and more accurate. This isn’t usually a specified part of a root off.

How Can You Compare Root Cause Analysis Techniques?

If “root offs” don’t work, how can you compare root cause analysis techniques?

First, no one has time to do a detailed comparison of all the root cause analysis techniques out there. Therefore, you should probably narrow your selection down to techniques that are used by industry leaders who have published their success stories. For TapRooT® Root Cause Analysis, you can find the success stories HERE.

Next, you should pick out a course (or courses) to attend. It would be nice if you could test the system being taught to analyze one of your incidents. You can do that at TapRooT® Courses.

The course I would suggest for people interested in the TapRooT® RCA System is the 5-Day TapRooT® Advanced Root Cause Analysis Training. This advanced training includes modules on:

• Interviewing and collecting evidence
• Using all the essential and optional TapRooT® Techniques
• Using the TapRooT® Software to simplify your investigation
• Human error and human performance improvement
• Major examples every day to practice the skills you learn
• Using root cause analysis proactively
• How the system works together as an investigation system

To see the complete course outline, CLICK HERE. To see upcoming course dates and locations, CLICK HERE.

One other important aspect to help select a course is the course guarantee. TapRooT® Root Cause Analysis Training comes with the following guarantee:

Attend a course, then go back to work and use what you have learned.  If you don’t find root causes that you previously would have overlooked, and if you and your management don’t agree that the corrective actions that you recommend are much more effective, just return your course materials and we will refund the entire course fee.

Can you find any other course with this comprehensive guarantee?

Once you have been trained in a particular root cause analysis technique, go back to work and use it on real investigations. Try it on safety issues, quality problems, equipment failures, operational upsets, and/or cost overruns. Did it help you go beyond where you would have gone before you had the training? Did it help you develop superior corrective actions that are more effective than the other techniques that you tried?

I think that you will find that the answer is clear. The TapRooT® Root Cause Analysis System, with its patented software (which you will get a free test of when you attend the course), will outperform any other system that you test.

Don’t Be Tricked by a Root Off

People will try to convince you that their system is “just as good” as the TapRooT® System. They may even try to present you with a “root off” prepared by them. Don’t be fooled. Do your own comparison after you are trained and see how much better one system is than another on a real investigation.

Don’t wait. Register for TapRooT® Training and put our claims to the test. We are confident of the outcome.