How Did the TapRooT® Root Cause Analysis System Get So Far Ahead of the Rest?
I was at a conference yesterday and one of the talks was about advanced root cause analysis. The presenter’s company had their own “home grown” root cause analysis system and they discovered that they were not getting consistent results. Improvement was needed!
They studied their system and discovered something that was missing – management system causes. In the TapRooT® System we have called these “Generic Causes” since we copyrighted the first TapRooT® manual in 1991.
It made me think … Why did they wait 24 years to discover something we’ve known about since before 1991?
Next, I talked with an engineer who had been trained in a common cause and effect system. He wasn’t too pleased with the results he was getting. He wanted to know how TapRooT® could help. Was it different?
I shared how TapRooT® works (see this LINK for the explanation) and it took quite a bit of effort to get beyond the cause and effect model that he thoroughly understood so that he could understand why he was missing things. He was really smart. He asked very insightful questions. He latched onto the reasons that the less systematic cause and effect analysis led to inconsistent results. He saw how TapRooT® could help investigators go beyond their paradigm and get consistent results.
By the end of this second conversation I started thinking … How did we get so far ahead of common root cause systems?
I think I know the answer.
It starts with the Human Factors training that I received at the University of Illinois. It really showed me how to think about human centered design – including designing a root cause analysis system that people could use consistently.
Second, I was fortunate enough to work in the Nuclear Navy where there was an excellent process safety culture and for Du Pont where there was an excellent industrial safety culture. This helped me see how management systems made a difference to performance. (My boss and I at Du Pont actually coined the phrase “Management System” that is now commonly used throughout industry.)
Third, I was well trained by my mentor at the University of Illinois, Dr. Charles O. Hopkins, how to do applied research. So the research I did studying root cause analysis in the mid-1980’s and early 1990’s really paid off when we created the TapRooT® System.
Fourth, we had a really good team that brought out the best in each other during the early development.
Next, we were lucky to have some excellent clients in the nuclear, oil, and aviation industries that were great early adopters and provided excellent feedback that we used to quickly improve TapRooT® root cause analysis in the early and mid-1990’s.
Finally, I made friends with and/or listened to many industry gurus who were experts in safety, process safety, quality, and equipment reliability. Their influence was built into TapRooT® and helped it be a world-class system even in it’s early stages. These experts included:
- Jerry Ledderer, aviation safety pioneer
- Dr. Charles O. Hopkins, human factors pioneer
- Smoke Price, human factors expert
- Larry Minnick, nuclear safety expert
- Rod Satterfield, nuclear safety expert
- Dr. Alan Swain, human reliability expert
- Heinz Bloch, equipment reliability expert
- Admiral Hyman Rickover, father of the Nuclear Navy and process safety expert
- Dr. Christopher Wickens, human factors expert
- Dr. Jens Rassmussen, system reliability and human factors expert
- W. Edwards Deming, quality management guru
- Admiral Dennis Wilkerson, first CO of the Nautilus and first CEO of INPO
That’s quite a list and I was lucky to be influenced by each of these great men. Their influence made TapRooT® root cause analysis far ahead of any other root cause tool.
So that’s why I shouldn’t be surprised that others are finally catching on to things that we knew 25 years ago. Perhaps in a century, they will catch up with the improvements we are making to TapRooT® today (with the help of thousands of users from around the world).
If you would like to learn the state-of-the-art of root cause analysis and not wait 25 to 100 years to catch up, perhaps you should attend a TapRooT® Course in the next month or two. See our course schedule for upcoming public courses at:
http://www.taproot.com/store/Courses/
And get information about all the courses we offer at:
http://www.taproot.com/courses
And if you would like to learn about the state of the art of performance improvement, attend the 2015 TapRooT® Summit coming up on June 1-5 in Las Vegas. Get more information and download the brochure at:
http://www.taproot.com/taproot-summit
But don’t wait. Every day you wait you will be another day behind the state-of-the-art in root cause analysis and performance improvement. Don’t be left behind!
TapRooT® Root Cause Analysis
Changing the Way the World Solves Problems
