{"id":4856,"date":"2020-07-01T09:39:59","date_gmt":"2020-07-01T09:39:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/?p=4856"},"modified":"2023-12-31T01:51:06","modified_gmt":"2023-12-31T01:51:06","slug":"techniques-to-get-to-the-real-root-cause-of-a-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/techniques-to-get-to-the-real-root-cause-of-a-problem\/","title":{"rendered":"Techniques to get to the real Root Cause of a Problem"},"content":{"rendered":"

What\u2019s really causing the problem?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

You solved a problem at work \u2013 well done you! But, a few days or weeks later, the problem rears its ugly head again \u2013 how?<\/p>\n

Turns out your time and efforts were misplaced, and what you thought was the problem was in fact merely a symptom or knock-on effect of the real underlying issue<\/a>. In medical parlance, you applied a sticking plaster to a gaping wound!<\/p>\n

Solving problems<\/strong><\/h4>\n

When attempting to resolve an issue<\/a>, the hardest part can be defining the real problem and the root cause<\/strong>. If you don\u2019t deal with the problem at its source, then don\u2019t be surprised when it keeps coming back to haunt you. Think of the gardener who pulls up a weed, but only gets 90% of the plant \u2013 most of the root is still in the ground. One week later, the weed has grown back!<\/p>\n

So, we need a way to \u2018drill-down\u2019 into the problem to discover what\u2019s really driving it. Here are a couple of useful techniques:<\/p>\n

The 5 Whys<\/strong><\/h4>\n

This technique was originally developed by the Toyota Motor Corporation during the evolution of its manufacturing processes. Its primary aim is to determine the root cause of a problem or defect by simply repeating the question \u2018why?\u2019 Each answer provided leads to the next \u2018why?\u2019 question.<\/p>\n

There are 5 whys because it was observed that this was the average number of why questions that usually needed to be asked, in order to resolve the problem. You may need more than 5 to get to the root cause, or possibly fewer!<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s an example \u2013 my car won\u2019t start:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Why? The battery is dead.<\/li>\n
  2. Why? The alternator isn\u2019t working.<\/li>\n
  3. Why? The alternator belt has broken.<\/li>\n
  4. Why? The belt was well beyond its useful service life and hasn\u2019t been replaced.<\/li>\n
  5. Why? The car hasn\u2019t been maintained according to the recommended service schedule (a root cause).\"\"<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The Ishikawa diagram (or \u2018fishbone\u2019 analysis)<\/strong><\/h4>\n

    Developed by Kaoru Ishikawa<\/a>, the fishbone diagram allows us to graphically depict the problem and the factors which may be causing it.<\/p>\n

    All you need is a flipchart, pens and your team (or anybody affected by the problem). On the right-hand side, draw a box and write in it what you think is the problem, e.g. low staff morale. Draw a horizontal line across the page (the backbone of the fish) and add diagonal lines (ribs).<\/p>\n

    Now ask the group \u2013 what do they think is causing this? Record their answers on the diagram along the ribs. Add more ribs if you\u2019re getting lots of answers. If you\u2019re not getting much from the group, prompt them for ideas using the default 4 M\u2019s: manpower, machinery, materials or methods? Do they think the problem is linked to any of these areas?<\/p>\n

    Hopefully, you now have lots of potential causes recorded on the diagram. But which ones are causing the problem? Now you need to gather evidence, by monitoring the different areas over time, perhaps weeks or months \u2013 this is not an overnight solution! Eventually, you should have a good idea of the root cause(s) of the problem.<\/p>\n

    Conclusion<\/strong><\/h4>\n

    When trying to solve a problem, we must make sure we\u2019re focusing our time and energy in the right place. If the same problem keeps happening again and again, then we probably haven\u2019t identified the real problem yet. Instead, we\u2019re just trying to fix the knock-on effects of the underlying root cause. The techniques described above enable us to \u2018drill-down\u2019 into the problem to understand its origins. Now we know what we\u2019re looking at, we can sort it out!<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    What\u2019s really causing the problem? You solved a problem at work \u2013 well done you! But, a few days or weeks later, the problem rears its ugly head again \u2013 how? Turns out your time and efforts were misplaced, and what you thought was the problem was in fact merely a symptom or knock-on effect […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[634,633],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-management-training","category-professional-development"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4856"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4856\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5229,"href":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4856\/revisions\/5229"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}