Root Cause Analysis Methods & Tips

You fell and hurt your arm. X-rays reveal that it’s broken, and you’re in a lot of pain. What would you think if the doctor gave you pain medication and sent you home, without doing anything else? Speaking personally, I wouldn’t have a very high opinion of the doctor. The pain is just a symptom and treating it is a temporary fix. The broken bone is the root cause. If it isn’t addressed, the symptom will persist and the problem itself will get worse over time. Training solutions can fall into this same pitfall. If they don’t address the root cause of a performance issue, they won’t resolve it or have lasting positive impact.

I’ve given an example of root cause analysis before, so this time let’s dive deeper into the “how to”.