Root Causes & Elusive Solutions

When seeking solutions to a work-related or process-related problem, people frequently miss opportunities for identifying sustainable solutions because they misunderstand the true root cause or causes associated with their problem.

Root causes are tricky and elusive things, and the most common culprit is an untested conclusion. Once people become convinced that they understand what’s causing a problem and that they know what’s needed to fix it, the search for the root cause stops. Consequently, group-think frequently prevents people from digging into the root of their problem.

Few things are more dangerous than common knowledge – when it is wrong!

Finding Possible Root Causes
Brainstorming and using the “5 Why” approach – a method developed by Toyota founder, Sakichi Toyoda, to identify the root cause by asking ‘why’ five times – is a good way to identify potential root causes, but only if you follow-through all the way to the “root” level.

Conway Management Company will be releasing a white paper on the best ways to identify and test root causes - we'll keep you posted!