Comments on: How To Perform A Successful Root Cause Analysis

By: Barb

Barb — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 13:07:13 +0000

Andre, thanks for the question. We hold two-to-five day public courses worldwide. You can find more info including all our brochures at our website.

By: André

André — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 17:19:15 +0000

Barb, how do you train your people to use a root cause analysis? A project at my company failed (a migration to Windows) and my bosses wants me to do an analysis to figure out where it went wrong but i just don’t know how.

By: Learn Sigma

Learn Sigma — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 19:17:57 +0000

By: Sherri

Sherri — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 15:34:37 +0000

James, thanks for the kind words and I completely agree with you, 5 Whys is a great tool for understanding anything on a deeper level. And thank YOU for posting my article here and giving me an opportunity to contribute to your site!

Barb, awesome! We were just starting to explore Taproot at the company I was with before I went on maternity leave but unfortunately, I wasn’t able to see it through. I think root cause analysis is often overlooked in our personal lives because it is a lot of work and requires digging and answering the tough questions. Thanks for leaving a comment.

Mark, thankyou for the link, it’s a great example! I still like the 5 Whys approach but it definitely shouldn’t be limited to ONLY give. I think it’s a great tool to get people thinking a bit deeper – beyond their initial gut reaction. With the example you linked to I feel you would have to dig much deeper and explore employee training, QA, thoroughness of audits, etc… I think that if you were to stop at there being no filter on the pump you would still be addressing a symptom and not the true problem. Thanks so much for the comment and giving us more to think about.

By: Mark

Mark — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:42:45 +0000

Thanks for the advice on root cause analysis. I saw Barb beat me here with her comment about going beyond 5 Whys. There's been a big debate about its effectiveness at our blog. It has an example of 5 Whys from Tailchi Ohno (the creator of the technique) and then critiques the example. You might find it interesting.

By: James

James — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 13:48:26 +0000

Thanks for the guest post Sherri, it was really well written. I particularly love the 5 Whys technique. It’s something I do regularly without really realizing it. It doesn’t have to apply to problem areas in life, it can apply to anything that requires further understanding. I always question everything. It can annoy people, especially when you keep asking them why they think this, why they believe in that, etc. But I believe it’s an invaluable trait to have.

By: Barb Phillips

Barb Phillips — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 13:01:03 +0000

Nice article! As Alex mentioned, it does seem like overwhelming at first glance, but at my company we train people all around the world to use root cause analysis on their jobs in just a few days! It is interesting how much I also use these skills in my personal life. Great stuff. Thanks for the info, Sherri!

By: Sherri

Sherri — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 21:02:51 +0000

Hi Alex, that’s great! I’m glad you enjoyed the article. Taking ownership is a huge first step and drilling down further and further until you find the real reason for a problem is a very effective way to get to the bottom of it. Thanks for leaving a comment and for all the promotion.

By: Alex

Alex — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 20:18:46 +0000

So funny because I read the title and skimmed the article as I hit the page and I was like, “Wow, complicated personal development stuff that I’ve never heard of… cool!” So i read it and it’s something I’m doing constantly, just without calling it root cause analysis. I’m very big on responsibility and asking why. Inspiring post, stumbled and tweeted.

By: Serene Journey

Serene Journey — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 19:50:10 +0000