All Root Cause Analyses Are NOT Created Equal
I saw an article about a hospital error that injured a patient. The article said they were going to perform a root cause analysis. It’s strange how a simple line in an article can get me WORKED UP.
Why am I WORKED UP? I know that many root cause analyses are BAD. What defines bad root cause analysis?
- They look to place blame.
- They look to cover up mistakes.
- They look for easy answers.
- They jump to conclusions.
- They pick their favorite root causes.
- They don’t improve performance.
That’s a BAD list. But I see it all the time.
In fact, that’s why I started to work inventing TapRooT®. I wanted to solve those problems. And for many TapRooT® Users, we have.
But there still is a long way to go.
There are still people who think that 5-Whys is a good system (some would even say an advanced system) for finding root causes.
Some don’t recognize the drawback of using cause and effect to analyze problems. That there is a tendency to find the answer that you want to find (rather than looking at the evidence objectively).
Some think that just filling out a form is good enough. Somehow this will prevent mistakes and save lives.
WELL, I HAVE NEWS FOR THEM … It hasn’t worked for years, and it won’t start working tomorrow!
The definition of insanity is to keep doing things the same way and to expect a different result.
Don’t be insane!
It is time to try TapRooT® and see how it can help guide you to the real, fixable causes of problems.
We guarantee our courses.
Here is the guarantee:
Attend the course, go back to work, and use what you have learned to analyze accidents, incidents, near-misses, equipment failures, operating issues, or quality problems. If you don’t find root causes that you previously would have overlooked and if you and your management don’t agree that the corrective actions that you recommend are much more effective, just return your course materials/software and we will refund the entire course fee.
If you are investigating serious problems, then attend a 5-Day TapRooT® Advanced Root Cause Analysis Team Leader Course. Here’s more information about the course: https://www.taproot.com/course/5-day-taproot-advanced-root-cause-analysis-team-leader-training/
Here are our upcoming public courses being held around the world:
https://store.taproot.com/courses
