Root Cause Tip: A Day Late But Worth the Wait

Thought it would be fitting to post this on Thursday instead of Wednesday (when we typically post Root Cause Tips) considering the best practice being discussed.  Today’s topic covers lessons learned during TapRooT® implementation and resource management as it applies to analyzing and correcting Generic Causes.  The following is a recent discussion that I had with one of our proactive clients.

Generic Causes, also known as business and operation level process issues, are often a new concept to companies when they are introduced to the 7 Step TapRooT® Process. A recent client took this concept and ran with it with full force. An unintended consequence of identifying and analyzing for Generic Causes is the added time needed to complete a full analysis if required. This in turn delays the implementation of Corrective Actions for the Incident’s Specific Root Causes. In other words, the Causes that are closest to the initial Incident that need to be fixed immediately.

There is great value for the facilitators/investigators and the Incident’s process or department owners to be involved in the identification of Generic Level Issues. Once identified, the Generic Issues should/could be turned over to key employees who can run the higher process analyses.

Benefit: Less time to complete initial investigation, faster implementation of initial corrective actions, reduced backlog of Incidents waiting to be analyzed.